I asked my dad what he’d like for an early Fathers Day celebration and he voted French so after some thought I decided a beautiful slow cooked short rib stew was the go. It’s a beautiful dish, rich in flavour and comforting to eat… much like the big poppa.
FRENCH DAUBE
Serves 4-6
2.5k-3kg beef short ribs
1 orange, zest and juice
2 cups dry red wine
2 star anise
1 stick cinnamon
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
4 carrots, diced
4 stalks celery, diced
1 onion, diced
1/4 cup finely chopped garlic
150g bacon, diced
2 tbsp flour
1x 400g tin chopped tomatoes
2 cups beef broth / stock
6 anchovy fillets
1 cup green olives
Salt and pepper
To serve: steamed potatoes, green beans and baked pumpkin
Add orange zest and juice, red wine, star anise and cinnamon to a deep container, season, stir then add the short ribs and mix to coat. Cover and marinate overnight. Bring them out of the fridge an hour prior to cooking. Preheat oven to 160C. Heat olive oil on medium in a large 30cm French oven pot. Drain the ribs from the marinade and pat dry. Reserve the marinade. Add ribs to the pan (cook in batches) and brown off on each side then set aside. Add carrots, celery, onion and garlic and toss, then pop the lid on and sweat the vegetables for 5-6 min. Remove lid, add bacon and toss, cook until bacon is golden then add flour, tomatoes, beef stock, strained marinade anchovy fillets and olives and stir. Bring to a simmer then add the beef short ribs back in. Cover and place in oven for 4 hours. Once cooked, the meat should be falling off the bone, ready to eat. Serve with steamed vegetables and a good grind of black pepper.
