Braised Short Ribs & Garlic-Horseradish mashed potatoes

Braising makes practically anything delectable, even leeks. Remember braised leeks? those were amazing, but this. This is a whole new level of deliciousness. Just imagine fall-off-the-bone flavorful meat with sauce so good you want to slurp with a straw. Oh, and don't let me forget the mashed potatoes. I served them as a bed for the gorgeous short ribs so that each bite would have a bit of tender meat and soft creamy potato. This is truly a fool-proof feast. It's hard to mess up because if you find that the meat is not fall-off-the-bone tender, than you just stick it back in the oven. Please make this. You will not be sorry. I promise.

Braised Short Ribs, serves 2

adapted by Pioneer Woman

4-5 short ribs, bone-in

kosher salt

ground pepper

dried thyme

about 3 carrots, diced

1/2 large onion, diced

1 shallot, diced finely

2 cups red wine

2 cups beef or chicken stock

2 bay leafs

1 Preheat oven to 350. Heat a dutch oven to high heat with a bit of olive oil. Season the short ribs with kosher salt, ground pepper and dried thyme on all sides (if you have fresh thyme, use it). Sear each side of the ribs in the dutch oven until nice and deeply browned, not just gray. Once all the ribs are browned on all sides, remove from the dutch oven onto a plate and let rest.

2 Lower heat to medium high and throw in the diced carrots, onion and shallots into the same dutch oven and cook for about 2 minutes. Raise heat to high and pour in red wine to deglaze the pot, scraping up the brown bits of flavor from the bottom of the pot. Bring to a boil. Pour in the stock and cook for another 2 minutes.

3 Season with salt and pepper and drop in the two bay leaves.

4 Return the short ribs to the pot and cover. Place in the oven for 2 hours. Then lower the heat to 325 and cook another 30 minutes.

5 Remove the dutch oven and let rest, covered, for at least 20 minutes. Once rested, skim fat off with a ladle or large spoon (or refrigerate so that fat solidifies at the top, and then reheat on the stove) and serve on mashed potatoes and spoon plenty of sauce on top.

Garlic-Horseradish Mashed Potatoes

3 medium sized potatoes, peeled and quartered

1 cup milk

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

3 cloves of garlic, peeled

1 teaspoon prepared horseradish

1 When there is about 20 minutes left of braising, cover the peeled and quartered potatoes and garlic cloves with cold water, season with salt and bring to a boil.

2 When potatoes are fork tender, drain in a colander and return the potatoes and garlic cloves to the original pot. While on low heat, add milk, butter and horseradish. With a potato masher, mash all together until smooth and creamy. The garlic cloves will be soft and will mash with the rest of the potato mixture.

3 Spoon half the mashed potatoes on a plate and smooth with the back of the spoon. Serve with two short ribs and spoon more sauce on top to finish.