Oven-Braised Boneless Short Ribs Beef Stew

I must say, I am really loving my Paleo lifestyle since stumbling upon Michelle Tam's website: http://nomnompaleo.com/

Her dishes are always delicious yet I have yet to master following a recipe to a tee.  I would fail if I attended Culinary school.  I normally follow rules almost always to my demise but with cooking...well when I follow the recipe almost always something goes wrong! Go figure! LOL
 
Nonetheless, I am always looking for new beef recipes especially since the Big Wong loves beef.

So today as I sat in my car after dropping Izzy off, I came across this:

http://nomnompaleo.com/post/2727452571/oven-braised-beef-stew-with-carrot-parsnip-and

PERFECT! I remembering seeing parsnips at Trader Joe's the other day and thought it would be a great gateway dish for my family to get acquainted with parsnips.  Sadly they were out...and I had to think how I could adapt this recipe so that my family would eat it.

Her recipe called for chuck roast but she mentioned she loved using boneless short ribs and my family loves short ribs so that was the first change.  The next was (already stated) the parsnip absence...and sadly the Kale as well. I must state, I bought it but it was more for my consumption than theirs. Lastly besides also changing the required amount of ingredients, I changed the mushroom type. :)  LOL I really deviated from the recipe thus I changed the title and could not just link my pictures to her dish...it's almost not fair to her creativity and inspiration and to my "Wong Family Friendly" dish! :p

This is what I used for 1 adult and 2 toddlers...and enough for a neighbor with leftovers!

• 3 lb boneless short ribs (I purchased about a little under 5 lb, I have another dish for the leftover!)
• 3 large leeks, white parts only (split down the middle and sliced crosswise)
• 4 shallots, peeled and trimmed
• 4 tablespoons, divided of coconut oil, or oil of choice
• 5 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
• 6 ounces King Osyster mushrooms, washed and quartered
• 2 celery stalks, cut into medium sized pieces
• 4 large carrots, cut into fourths
• 14.5 ounce can of diced tomatoes
• 2 bay leaves
• 4 sprigs of fresh thyme
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

I preheated my oven to 300 F.  I removed my middle rack since I need the lower rack to fit the dutch/french oven.

I prepped my veggies and mushrooms as directed.  

  Yes I know, a little over 3 lb!  I was too lazy to cut take out the 0.08 difference.  I cut the boneless short rib into 1 inch strips.  Initially I cut the strips in half as well but there is usually fat running right through the middle, which will separate in the cooking process.  So it saved me a step.  Seasoned them with salt and pepper and set aside.

In my french over, I sautéed my leeks and shallots over medium heat with 1 tablespoons of coconut oil. (I don't have a large cast iron skillet as the recipe called for so there was a lot of transferring).  I seasoned them with a pinch of salt and pepper and as they were softening, I added the garlic and lightly brown. 

 Then, I transferred them to a dish so I could cook the other ingredients. 

Next, I sautéed my mushrooms in 2 tablespoons of coconut oil with a generous pinch of salt and pepper.  Lightly brown the mushrooms and add the celery and carrots with another pinch of salt and pepper.  You may be wondering why I decided on another kind of mushroom.  Well I personally love all kinds of mushrooms...but the family does not. Esp when I had used cremini in the past, they picked it out...not sure why.  Anyway, I decided on the King Oyster because it's very dense and meaty and holds up really really well in stew.  The family thought it was potatoes because the stem cut into fours looked like chopped potatoes. Also it doesn't have that mushroomy taste...A little less earthy. :)

 Then, I transferred them to a dish so I could cook the star of the dish.

I heated a tablespoons of coconut oil (for each batch) over medium high heat and seared the beef cubes in 2 batches so the pan wasn’t overcrowded and the beef would brown properly (I should have done it in 4 batches as Michelle recommended but I had 5 other dishes to make today so I was sort of rushing!  Also if you overcrowd meat, it will steam instead of brown).

After I was done searing the beef, I added the cup of chicken broth to release the meaty browned bits, and poured in the rest of the cooked ingredients.  Added the cider vinegar, bay leaves and thyme sprigs and mixed the contents in the the French oven. 

I learned a great tip!  Covered your French oven with a piece of Parchment paper and then put the lid on.  I believe it's to keep the lid from producing steam condensation but beware when you take it out of the oven.  You may get too excited like me and lift the lid and paper!  It was like a steam bath on my hand! HOT doesn't even begin to explain it!

I used Michelle's photo to demo her tip since I forgot to take one of my red one! Photo from http://nomnompaleo.com/

I popped the stew in the oven for 2.5 hours or until the meat is nice and tender.

As Michelle mentioned, since during the cooking process, you will be adding salt and pepper that I actually did not have to add any more salt or pepper after the stew was done.

 Voila! A Wong Family approved beef stew!

So what did I do with the rest of the boneless short ribs?  I made a Korean marinade, added the meat, dated it and threw it into the freezer! So on the days that we have to run around and are low on leftovers, I can pull out the frozen ribs and defrost in the fridge.  It will marinade in the process...as it marinated as it freezed as well! 

Enjoy! XOXO