Slow Cooker Pedro Ximinez Beef Short Ribs With Cauliflower Puree
An Original Recipe by Lorraine Elliott
This recipe is brought to you by Woolworths Gold
Serves 4
- 2kgs/4 pounds beef short ribs
- 3 tablespoons plain all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
- 1 teaspoon pepper, plus more to taste
- Oil for frying
- 3 rashers of rindless middle bacon, diced
- 1 carrot, cut into four batons
- 2 onions, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, diced
- 2 cups Pedro Ximinez, divided in two (not your best one, save that for drinking)
- 500ml/1pint Woolworths Gold King Island Beef stock
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 teaspoons Vegemite
- A teaspoon of sugar if needed
Cauliflower puree
- 1 head of cauliflower - once I removed the leaves mine was 1kg or just over 2 lbs
- 1 cup Woolworths Gold Free Range Chicken stock
- 3/4 cup cream (you can try evaporated milk if you want to keep it lower in fat)
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 3 teaspoons sugar
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Freshly grated nutmeg
Honey & Sumac Roasted Carrots
- 6 carrots, topped and tailed and sliced in half horizontally
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 1 tablespoon runny honey
- 1/2 teaspoon sumac
Step 1 - Mix the flour, salt and pepper together and coat the beef ribs on all sides with the seasoned flour. Heat a frypan on medium to high heat and add the oil. Brown the beef ribs on all sides. Place the ribs in the slow cooker. Deglaze the pan with a few tablespoons of the Woolworths Gold King Island Beef stock and add this to the slow cooker.
Step 2 - Place the bacon, carrot, onions, garlic, 1 cup of Pedro Ximinez, Woolworths Gold King Island Beef stock and bay leaves in the slow cooker. Cook for 8-9 hours on low heat. Cool and refrigerate. I put the ribs in one container and the stock in another to make skimming the fat off easier. There is a lot of fat that comes off the short ribs.
Step 3 - About 1.5 hours before you want to serve the beef, heat the oven to 210C/410F. Line a baking tray with parchment and place the carrots on it. Drizzle the oil on top of the carrots and bake for 40 minutes or until they are caramelised and tender. Drizzle or brush the carrots with the honey and dust with sumac and return to the oven for another 5 minutes.
Step 4 - Reduce the heat to 190C/374F. Place the beef short ribs on a tray and pour a cup of Pedro Ximinez on top of them. Place the ribs in the oven to heat through for 20 minutes or so until melting and delicious again.
Step 5 - Meanwhile make the sauce. Skim the solid fat from the top of the stock and place the stock in a small saucepan. Heat on high and reduce the stock by simmering it on medium to high heat without a lid so that it is concentrated. Add the Vegemite to give it flavour and season with salt, pepper and sugar until you get a flavoursome sauce. Strain the sauce to get a rich jus. Don't throw away the bacon and onion mix, it's tasty on a toasted sandwich and is a distant cousin of bacon jam!
Step 6 - To make the cauliflower puree, steam the cauliflower until very soft. Place it in a food processor and process with the Woolworths Gold Free Range Chicken stock, cream, butter, sugar. Season with salt and pepper and add some nutmeg to taste.