Short Ribs - Ranch Style

Short Ribs - Ranch Style

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Whenever I cook with wine - and why I keep trying I'm not sure - I have to be sneaky about it.

There is a very discerning palate at my dinner table every night and it does NOT like things cooked with wine.  So I try to sneak it in and make sure the body attached to that palate does not walk through the kitchen while I'm pouring out of the bottle.  This also applies to vinegar.  

So I gathered all my ingredients first so that once I had the liquid out of the bottle it was quick to get into the oven.  We have lots of condiment packs that we get in the school lunches that our district has been passing out during the pandemic school closure.  3 small mustard packs = 1 TBSP (each pack is a tsp.)  I have a bottle of mustard in the fridge but I want to use my resources wisely.

When the pandemic first began and the meat department was crazy empty, I bought these ribs knowing I would use them with this recipe.  

Thankfully the meat shortage didn't last long and these stayed in my freezer for about two months.  I had these thawing in my refrigerator for almost 24 hours and to my surprise they were still quite frozen when I opened the package.

I pulled out a sheet of file that was twice as long as the cookie sheet.  Turns out that was a little much.

I put the sauce in the bowl then added salt and a pinch of red pepper flakes since I didn't have cayenne.  Stirred then added chopped onion and mustard.  I had a small bottle of red wine leftover from a previous recipe so I just used that without measuring.  I added it and stirred and thought somehow the mustard had curdled but realized it was just the chopped onion.

I poured sauce on top of each individual rib and let it run down the sides making sure it was evenly coated.  There was a bit left over so I just did a random pour.  Every time I fold foil like this it reminds me of Girl Scouts - where I learned how to do packet cooking.  

Bring the short ends together and roll down.

Once it is tight roll the long sides towards the center of the pan.

Aside from the objection to the wine - which was voiced in no uncertain terms - these ribs really weren't that great.  The meat was tough.  Perhaps it should've been cooked lower and slower.
I personally liked the sauce.  I served the ribs with Ranch Style beans and some of them mixed into the sauce.  I think, if I ever cooked beans from scratch, I would cook this sauce and put the beans into it.