72-Hour Braised Beef Short Ribs

Yes, you read it right. Seventy-two hours. That's three full days of cooking.

I found the recipe on the Modernist Cuisine site and figured I'd give it a try. I bought two small packages of beef short ribs, vacuum-sealed them in a bag, and put them into a very large pot with the sous vide set to cook for 72 hours at 144 degrees.

... toe tapping ... waiting ... waiting ... checking ... waiting ...

I was a little worried about how much water would evaporate, particularly overnight, so I used a big pot and filled it to the max line on the Anova sous vide device. Then I used aluminum foil to cover the pot.

I did replenish the water a couple times, when it had noticeably dropped, but I might have been able to cook it the whole time without refilling. It didn't evaporate all that fast. Probably because the temperature wasn't all that high, hmmmmm?

Okay, confession. These didn't actually cook 72 hours. They cooked for about 71 hours because I wasn't thinking quite straight when I started cooking, and at 71 hours it was dinner time and I didn't want to wait any longer. But I figure that the difference between 71 hours and 72 hours wouldn't have been that significant.

The short ribs were pretty amazing. They were incredibly tender - possibly even more tender than a traditional long-braised beef. And not stringy. Still pink inside. And even though I didn't add any salt or seasonings (because I wanted to see what the sous vide did for the flavor) they were incredibly flavorful.

If I never ever ever cooked anything else sous vide, it would be worth it to have the Anova just for this. Seriously.

Three-pepper braised short ribs

Although this has three types of peppers, it isn't spicy since all the peppers involved are mild. What this really is, though, is comfort food. A rich, beefy, tomato-laden stew that you can serve with noodles or mashed potatoes.

I opted for the mashed potatoes.

This sort of meal fits perfectly into my current lifestyle. My daily schedule is unpredictable, depending on what's going on at the hospital, so I did the cooking and prepping at somewhat odd times.

It took several days before I had this finished, but that was okay - and it was well worth it. I had enough stew for quite a few lunches and dinners, so once it was complete I could heat what I wanted and have a meal in minutes.

Three-Pepper Braised Short Ribs

3 pounds short ribs
1 28-ounce can whole tomatoes
3 fire roasted red peppers
1 onion
2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon paprika
Several grind black pepper

If the short ribs are super-fatty, you can trim them a bit before cooking. Otherwise, just toss them into your slow cooker. Add the tomatoes, crushing them a bit to break them up.

Cut the peppers into pieces  - you can fire-roast your own, or buy them in a jar. The amount isn't critical, so if you're buying jarred peppers, just estimate how many pieces would be equivalent to about three average red bell peppers.

Dice the onion and add it to the crockpot. Add the salt and paprika and grind on some black pepper - as much as you like. Add enough water to go about halfway up the sides of the short rib pieces.

Cover the slow cooker and cook on low until the meat is very tender. It took about 10 hours for mine, but crockpots vary.

Transfer everything to a storage container and refrigerate until fully chilled.