Beef Short Ribs, Potato Latkes and Chunky Apple Sauce

Beef Short Ribs

The first time that I made short ribs, I think I spent over $100...I invited friends over to my parents' house, used two bottles of quite good wine in the braise, spent about $40 on the actual ribs...they were good, and that was fine, but it was an ordeal.

I also made a lavender infused pumpkin flan, and I have not idea where the recipe is, although I've been actively looking.

I've made them a few other times, and I think I've refined the recipe to be simpler, less expensive, less fatty, and quite delicious.

Beef short ribs - I bought three pieces from my butcher. I asked him to cut 'em up, and each of them produced three pieces of meat on the bone. It was about 4 lbs, cost $17, and will serve at least   people.
Onion - I used one large one. Or two medium ones. Large dice
Carrots - 2 - large dice
Celery - 2 ribs, large dice
tomato paste - half a small can
thyme - 1 teaspoon, dried
rosemary - .5 teaspoon, dried
salt
pepper
red wine - 2 cups
water or broth

Step one - wash the meat, dry it and cover it with way too much kosher salt and pepper. Get a large and heavy pan, and heat it up. Place the pieces of meat in the pan and brown it very well, on all sides. DON'T crowd the pan. A lot of fat will release, and you should pour it off. I got over half a cup of fat! Take the meat out and place it in a dutch oven. (You could do all the cooking in the dutch oven, but I needed the extra space of the large pan to brown the meat.)
In the same pan, start cooking the onions, then add the carrots and celery. Add some salt and pepper. Add the tomato paste and cook it a bit, mixing it well with the veggies.
Add some wine and mix well, so all the yummy brown comes off the pan. Pour it over the meat in the dutch oven. Add more wine and water/stock/broth to cover the meat. Cover with the lid and cook it at 300 degrees for three hours. You can cook it faster at 375 for two hours, or longer at a lower temperature.

IMPORTANT STEP!!! Take the meat out of the liquid and cover both the liquid and the meat and store them in the fridge. After a few hours, remove the AMAZING amount of fat on top of the liquid. You can then leave the veggies whole or puree them with an immersion blender. Add the meat back in and heat it on the stove.

You could serve it over mashed potatoes or just as a stew. I served them with potato latkes. Recipe:

2 large potatoes, grated. Use the large holes on a box grater.
2 medium onions, i whirred them in my mini food chopper, that comes with the immersion blender.
1 egg
salt
black pepper
2 heaping teaspoons of flour
olive oil

Mix it all up and let it sit for 5-10 minutes. Heat up the oil to medium high, drop small tablespoons of mixture avoiding some of the liquid that the mixture has given off. Cook a few minutes on each side until nicely browned. Serve with apple sauce and short ribs.

Mama makes this apple sauce - peel, core and quarter two lbs of apples. Place it in a heavy pot. Add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice, small pinch of salt, two cinnamon sticks and a teaspoon of vanilla. Cook it over medium heat until it starts breaking down but it still chunky.