Beef or bison ribs will be the best here, but you could use ribs from elk, moose, bear, nilgai or oryx. If you use elk or moose ribs, trim most of the fat.
Recipe by Hank Shaw on January 9, 2023
Prep time: PT60M
Cook time: PT180M
Total time: PT240M
Rating
5 stars (13 reviews)
Keywords
short ribs
Ingredients
2 heads garlic
Olive oil for drizzling
4 pounds short ribs
Salt
4 cups sliced yellow onions
1 tablespoon flour
1 to 2 bottles dark, malty beer ((see above for styles))
1 tablespoon juniper berries ((optional))
1 tablespoon dried marjoram or lovage
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
A splash of Worcestershire sauce
black pepper
Categories
Main Course
Cuisine
American
British
Steps
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Slice the top third of the heads of garlic off. Set them in a foil packet. Drizzle some olive oil over the cut tops, then close up the packet. Pop into the oven for 1 hour. If this is the first thing you do, you will be mostly done chopping and browning things by the time it's ready.
In a large Dutch oven or other heavy, lidded pot, sear the short ribs over medium-high heat, starting with the fattiest side down. This renders fat for browning everything else. If you are using elk or moose ribs, or your ribs aren't fatty, add some olive oil, lard, bacon fat or butter. Salt the ribs as they cook. Brown them well on every side except for the side that's just bone and membrane. Take your time and do this in batches if need be. Remove the browned ribs for now.
When all the ribs are done, add the sliced onions, some salt, then brown them well. You might need to add more fat or oil. This step can take a solid 10+ minutes. When this is done, check the garlic to see if it has browned and softened. If not, wait until the garlic is ready before proceeding. Just turn the heat off the pot.
When you are ready to add the garlic, squeeze it into the pot, stir and add the flour. Cook this over medium heat for a few minutes. Again, this step takes some time because you want the flour to brown. If you use Wondra flour you'll save a few minutes.
Once the flour has browned, add some beer to the pot and use a wooden spoon to deglaze it. Add the remaining ingredients, stirring well, and then return the ribs to the pot. If the level of beer isn't up to the top of the ribs, add some water or stock. Cover the pot and put in the oven, which should still be hot from the garlic. Drop the heat to 300°F and simmer for at least 2 hours, and in some cases as much as four hours. (Five hours is not unheard of, but is rare.)
When the ribs are tender, gently remove them to plates. Add salt and black pepper to taste, then spoon sauce over them. Serve with mashed potatoes or other root vegetables, bread or roasted root vegetables.
Nutitrion
Serving Size: 1 serving
Calories: 454 kcal
Carbohydrates: 15 g
Protein: 44 g
Fat: 23 g
Saturated Fat: 10 g
Cholesterol: 130 mg
Sodium: 205 mg
Sugar: 5 g
Unsaturated Fat: 11 g
Reviews
Mark Smith on 2023-07-20 (5 stars): Made this last night with very fatty bear ribs. Used Guineas as the beer, and added additional stock made of bear bones and scraps to cover the ribs before they went into the oven. After about 4 hours the ribs were super tender, but looked pale from being submerged. I happened to have a hot grill available when I pulled them out, so I seared them on the grill for a couple minutes on each side. They were incredible! Easily one of the top 5 most memorable wild game meals I’ve ever made (out of many hundreds, with many animals and cuts of meat). It inspired my wife and kids to try harder to fill our bear tags this autumn.
Hank: your recipes and techniques are second to none. I’ve been cooking at eating game for more than 25 years. In the last couple years since I was gifted Buck Buck Moose and used your web site as a resource, my understanding and approach to cooking is on a different level: sophisticated, highly effective, yet often simple and versatile. The proof is on the serving platter. My family and I thank you for this!
Crystal R on 2023-03-22 (5 stars): This was delicious! Will try with a Guinness next time, this time I used Black Butte Porter so I'm excited to see the difference between the two. The BB had a hint of bitterness, not bad at all, but definitely interesting. I will also go oven vs IP next time as I had to pressure cook mine for 1.5 hrs to get them good and tender. Thanks for another great recipe, Hank!
Laura on 2023-01-26 (5 stars): I used a bear roast for this recipe. We had fantastic meal! Thank you.
rich marchisotto on 2023-01-23 (5 stars): It was fantastic!
L. Allen on 2023-01-18 (5 stars): Made this tonight with about 5 lbs of short ribs. It is amazing. Just amazing. I used guiness as my beer because that is what I had around and served it with mashed creamy parsnips to soak up all that gravy without the extra carbs.
Steve Engelhardt on 2023-01-12 (5 stars): A-FRICKING-MAZING!!!!
Kim Walker-Daniels on 2023-01-09 (5 stars): I'm a short ribs fan, so I have to try this. I usually use red wine when I braise short ribs, but your dark beer sounds like a nice twist. Oh, and thanks for using roasted garlic, definitely makes this a lot easier than peeling and mincing.
