Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Cranberry-Braised Short Ribs from The Autoimmune Paleo Cookbook

Ever since I found Mickey Trescott's Autoimmune Paleo Cookbook, I've been mesmerized by the picture of the Cranberry-Braised Short Ribs.  I felt like the time was right to make this dish as cranberries are in season, I had some beautiful grass-fed short ribs from Tendergrass Farms, and I'd just received some Fatworks Tallow to review.  With quality ingredients like this, it would give this recipe its best chance in my kitchen.  


I got started  by heating some tallow in my 5.5 quart Le Creuset Dutch Oven and pre-heating my oven to 300 degrees.  Mickey doesn't specify what sort of fat to use, but Tallow is an AIP friendly fat and I was in the process of trying out some Fatworks Pure Tallow.  I figured the mild beefy flavor of the tallow would be great in this dish.

Take a look at the beautiful color of the Tendergrass Farms short ribs.  Just gorgeous. 




Once the ribs were browned and seasoned, I basically added all of of the ingredients to my dutch oven per Mickey's recipe instructions.  I went ahead and cut the ribs down so they would fit in the pot better.


I put the lid on and set a timer for an hour so I could check on the level of the liquid in the pan.  Here is what I had after the first hour.  There really wasn't any liquid loss.  I used my tongs to get the meat better submerged in the cooking liquid and put the lid back on for another hour.    


And here is the pan after the second hour.  The meat was tender, but not falling off the bone.  There still wasn't any liquid loss from the pan.  Thankfully, my Le Creuset's lid fits pretty tight.  I had time, so I decided to let it go for another hour.  


Here's my pot after the third hour.  I declared them done.  


While the ribs cooked, I prepared some cauliflower mash to serve with the ribs.  


And another tasty angle. Mickey's pictures in the book show the bone.  Mine had all fallen off the bone so I decided to just leave them in the pan.  



Accessibility & Cost of Ingredients:  You should be able to find grass fed short ribs at Whole Foods. The ribs I used were from Tendergrass Farms.  They were lovely.  I dad to get a pretty large jar of cranberry juice.  I went ahead and froze what I had left using the large cube silicone trays I use for my bone broth.  If you make this around Thanksgiving and Christmas, you'll have no trouble finding  fresh cranberries.  While I know it's important to cook seasonally, I wonder if this would work with frozen cranberries? 


Preparation & Cooking Time:  It took me 10 minutes to brown the meat and add the rest of the ingredients before putting the pan in the oven.  I braised the ribs for 3 hours.  

The Paleo Review:  Two Thumbs Waaaay Up!  Oh, for the love of tender flavorful beefiness.  With each bite you get this awesome beefy flavor with a touch of the tart and sweetness of the cranberry. This dish is the least fussy dish I've made in a while.  I was shocked at how easy this was to get in the oven. This would great for a dinner party.  With only 10 minutes of active time other than checking the oven, you're freed to go do other things like making side dishes or whatever.  Yum.

Even though, this recipe is available on Mickey's website, her ebook is quite a bargain given the wealth of awesome recipes that just happen to be AIP friendly (I've cooked a few of them.).  I'm really excited for Mickey as she an "upgraded" print version of her Autoimmune Paleo Cookbook coming out in print in March.  If you already have the e-book, the print version will offer new recipes and more pictures.  You can pre-order that book here.