Chow chow and Ultimate Comfort Food....SHort Ribs and Mac and Cheese

I can't think of anything yummier than this on a cold winters day. Creamy, cheesey mac and cheese served with melt in your mouth short ribs.


And since my kitchen usually looks very neat in my pics I decided to fess up and show you what it actually looks like when I am cooking. I go through about 4 sink fulls of this mess during any one recipe.


I love the flavor of slow cooked rib and shank meat. I make it a lot. For this recipe I started out by browning some diced pancetta.


And added a lot of diced onions.


Ditto with the carrots.


Diced into small pieces.


This is the shank meat.


You always want to remove the 'silver' from the meat because this does not break down during cooking. You just slide a sharp knife underneath it and run it along the length until it is removed.




I dry out all of the meat on paper towels.


Then sprinkle it heavily with freshly cracked pepper.


And cover it with sea salt.


Then dip each piece in flour to coat.


The meat should be at room temperature.


Melt a bit of bacon grease with some olive oil in a heavy pan.


Then sear each piece of meat on each side until crisp and browned.


Do not crowd the pan.


Put some anchovies, or in this case, anchovy paste in a small bowl...


...along with about 4 tablespoons of tomato paste.


Saute' the carrots in the bacon grease and oil until just beginning to soften.


Add the diced onions.


When the onions become translucent, add about 4 cups of red wine.


Then about 3 tablespoons of beef demi glace.


Then add the anchovy and tomato pastes.


And the browned pancetta.


Bring it to a boil.


Add a bunch of fresh thyme.


And several sprigs of fresh rosemary.


Then add about 4 cups of beef stock.


Then place all of the browned meat into this mixture.


I used boneless beef short ribs in this recipe and to compensate for the lack of bones, I added a few marrow bones to the stock mixture.


Cover the pot and place it in a 300 degree oven for about three hours.


You can tell when the meat is ready by the presence of a certain someone in the kitchen. The Teddy timer has just gone off. The floor is thoroughly inspected for any signs of kitchen mess. Teddy wishes I was a bit messier.


She looks pleadingly for an offering. A tiny morsel for me mama? I am a hungry pup!


Chow chows have tunnel vision so she looks very closely to make sure she didn't miss anything.


Come on mama...there is six pounds of beef in that recipe, can't you just slip me a little?


After a couple hours, remove the pot from the oven.


Remove the marrow bones scraping all the marrow from the inside of each bone.


You can see it floating on the surface. I use an emersion blender to blend this into the sauce.


Meanwhile, while the ribs are cooking, melt 8 tablespoons of butter in a heavy sauce pan. I add some granulated garlic and onion to this instead of fresh because it blends in better.


Boil some pasta...I used 2 # of cavetappi.


Shred about 2 cups of cheddar and 2 cups of a mild blue. I used buttermilk blue in this recipe.


Add about 8 tablespoons of flour to the melted butter and stir over medium heat for several minutes.


Grate some fresh nutmeg and add it to the butter mix.



Add some paprika.


Then add some salt and pepper.


Stir this all together and add about 4 cups of whole milk.


Continue to stir over medium heat until it begins to thicken. You don't want it to be too thick because you are aiming for a creamy result.


While it is thickening, dice up some oven roasted tomatoes. If you don't have any on hand just skip this step.


Add the cheese to the slightly thickened mixture.


Then stir in the tomatoes.


Ignore the change in color. I just remembered to turn on the cooktop light.


Stir in the cooked pasta. Always under cook your pasta because it will continue to cook in the oven.


Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes.






Serve it side by side so you can take a fork full of pasta and scoop up some of the meat at the same time.

* I make the meat a day ahead and refrigerate it so I can remove the fat before serving.

** Remember to enter the giveaway by clicking on the button on the sidebar.

Comments

Yum, I am always look for mac and cheese reciepes - definately giving this one a try!!

Thanks as always!

Cheers!
What a rich, brown, meaty stock -- it looks so delicious!
Very yummy recipes! If I could I would join Teddy and stand in your kitchen begging for a bite!
Thanks for stopping by my blog and for your nice comment.
Karen
Oh yummy! New twist on mac n` cheese. Short ribs and nut brown sauce ~ luscious and stick to the "ribs" comfort food.

The magnetic aroma pulls Teddykins right to the kitchen. The girl can't help it.

Great all around post. This food wants to come and sit in my plate, on my table, and so it will.
Cindi Myers said…
STOP IT! STOP IT RIGHT NOW!!!
I can not take it!
There goes my diet!
You need a TV show! It looks TOO Yummy!
I can almost taste this now :-)

I remember when my mother decided to fry a hare in the owen and forgot to remove that "silver" from the animal. I can assure You that it was a dinner to remember :-) :-) :-) Every time she gets a hare from some one it comes home to me instead :-)
Have a great day now!
No blog from me today, it´s getting a bit late here and I have no idea where the time has flown :-)
Christer.
Felinae said…
This looks delicious!
brokenteepee said…
Mmmm, I love short ribs. I have a recipe that takes 5 days in all including marinating, cooking, resting and reheating but it's worth it.
Suzie said…
Number one rule to self: Stop visiting Jaz's blog right before you begin to prepare dinner. Mine will never be appealing to me after I see what she has prepared.

Major YUM!!! It is only 14 degrees here, with a wind chill in the minus range, and it is only going to get colder. .I've been "inner cold" all day, and your meal is absolutely perfect for what is ailing me! :-)
Sharon Day said…
I love that! My aunt used to make short ribs in the hills of West Virginia that were so good I swore I'd never make them and would be disappointed, but your recipe made me think I'm ready to try it. I love the combo--yummers! And lucky Teddy--that kitchen must smell like heaven. No doubt her salivary glands are going overtime. I have an extremely gallant hubby who is so thankful for the yummy suppers, he cleans up all that stuff in the sink--just like your picture. I enjoy cooking even more knowing I don't have to clean up. Hee hee
Laura said…
i have never found a really great mac and cheese recipe that i love, but yours sounds great. i'm going to have to try that one. I'm also glad to see that i'm not the only person that makes a mess when cooking! :)
blessings
~*~
Bitsa Lit said…
ohhh yummy!! I just came down with a head cold and this seems like it would fix me up nicely!
Thanks for sharing!!
Em
Bridgett said…
Oh. my. goodness.

This looks delectable! Mac n' cheese is one of my favorites and yours looks sooo good, Jaz.

Poor Teddy. I hope momma gave in and shared a little meat with her. :D
Joyce, this looks delectable and I read every single word AND there was a time that I wouldn't
have been able to pass it up, but today with the children all gone and just the two of us, I have gotten away from cooking. I mean FAR away! Now and again I get motivated to cook.
OK..OK.. :) I can't pass up this recipe. I am going to copy it down and give it to my daughter. She will love this recipe and loves to cook and cooks all the time. The family always gathers at her home and this is too good to pass up. :)
Thank you Joyce, for taking them time to share wonderful recipes with us. It is appreciated.
Hugs,
Mona