Cola-Braised Birthday Short Ribs
Serves 6-8
Adapted from Bellalimento
4 pounds beef short ribs
Salt
Pepper
2 tablespoons fresh thyme, coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons fresh rosemary, coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 medium to large carrots, peeled, halved, and finely chopped
3 stalks celery, halved and finely chopped
1 small onion, diced
3-5 cloves garlic, minced
12 ounce can of cola
2 cups beef broth
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 bay leaf
Rice, for serving
Place the ribs into a bowl large enough so they can all fit. Season with salt and pepper, to taste, plus the thyme and rosemary, making sure all ribs are evenly coated. Cover and allow the ribs to come to room temperature.
Preheat the oven to 350 °F. Heat a Dutch oven, or large heavy bottomed cooking pot, over medium heat. As it’s heating up, add the olive oil. Once hot, while working in batches, cooks the ribs so that all sides are browned. Make sure not to crowd the pan and not to cook the ribs all the way through, that’ll happen while it’s in the oven. Set the seared ribs to the side when done.
In the same Dutch oven, add the carrots, celery, and onion. Sauté until the onions become glassy, around 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic and cook for an additional 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly so as not to burn the garlic.
Add the cola, beef broth, and tomato paste and stir to combine everything. Finally, add the bay leaf and give everything another good mix.
Return the ribs back to the Dutch oven, making sure to submerge as many of the ribs as possible. Cover the pot with a tight-fitting lid and put it in the over. Cook for 2 hours, turning the ribs halfway through.
After 2 hours, remove the lid and let the ribs cook until they are fall-off-the-bone tender. For me, this took about 30 minutes, but it may take longer for you, as the weight of the ribs impacts its cook time.
When you’re ready to eat, remove the bay leaf. Serve the short ribs with rice and spoon the sauce and the veggies over the rice.
Enjoy!