The Best Short Ribs in the World
March 14, 2012 
Yeah, I know. That's a little bold, isn't it? But honestly this dish will have you groaning with gustatory pleasure. I guarantee it. There's a lot of very good short rib recipes out there but this one is special. What's so different about it? The power of reduction.
A typical recipe for short ribs would call for braising the beef in wine, broth and vegetables for a long period of time. And this recipe does just that, but there's an important difference - you start out with a reduction of a whole bottle of red wine and vegetables and then you add that to your beef braise along with more vegetables and beef stock and when that is finished, you remove the meat and reduce the sauce even more. You are left with liquid gold that is so delicious as a sauce you won't believe it.
Thomas Keller is the guy behind this recipe and he uses two interesting techniques here. One is that he fashions a little tool for this dish - a parchment paper lid. Instead of placing a lid on the pot for the long braise, he cuts out a "lid" of parchment paper with a hole in the middle. This allows some evaporation of liquid without allowing too much. It's really a brilliant little idea. I show you how to make one below. The other interesting thing that he does is to place a piece of cheesecloth between the meat and the vegetables, so that the flavor can pass through but the bits of vegetables don't end up clinging to the meat.
Keller calls for "boneless short ribs" for this dish. If you can't find those or can't find a butcher to prepare them for you, you can also just prepare a regular chuck roast using this method. Just slice it into smaller sections. It will be equally over-the-top delicious.
