Cranberry Short Ribs

cranberry beef short ribs

Have you ever been in the grocery story and you see something you want to experiment with, then it sits in the fridge for weeks upon weeks and then..... it goes bad?

That's me every year when it come to fresh cranberries. They look so festive and fun to add into a recipe. I purchase them, ponder about them and then I never knew what to do with them. 

This year, when the cranberries started showing up in my local Trader Joe's, I was committed to getting a bag and finally mustering up the courage to actually make some delicious dish with them. 

Beef Short Ribs is one of my absolute favorite winter meals. I have been attending a lot of cattlemen's conferences lately and I swear short ribs are always on the menu at these events. To be clear, I am not complaining about always being served short ribs. It just is an indication that most cattlemen love short ribs too!

I decided that I wanted to add these shiny plump red cranberries to my short rib recipe and doll it up a bit for a more Christmas-y spin on this dish!

Some other differences I adjusted for this recipe:
~Sweet potatoes. I LOVE SWEET POTATOES. Traditionally, short ribs are served on a bed of regular mashed potatoes. However, I felt like the sweet potatoes would pair well with the cranberry sauciness from the short rib broth. 
~Omit mushrooms. I just felt like mushrooms didn't make sense for this recipe. So I left them out.

Ingredients:

- 3 to 4 pounds beef short ribs

- one finely diced white onion

- one bag of cranberries

- 3 to 4 minced garlic cloves

- 2 cups red wine (I used a cabernet)

- 2 cups beef broth (see my beef bone broth recipe here)

- salt and pepper to taste

- a bag of small rainbow carrots (I used the Trader Joe's brand)

- few springs of rosemary

- 3 to 4 sweet potatoes 

Directions:
1.) Season the beef with salt & pepper and brown it on a medium high heat on a skillet. I used an enameled LeCruset with these type of braising or slow cooking recipes.

2.) Remove the beef and set aside in a crock pot. Add in the onions, garlic and cranberries and cook down until cranberries start to pop.
3.) Add in the wine & beef broth and bring to a boil. Add in the salt & pepper.
4.) Pour this cranberry saucey-ness on top of the short ribs, add the rosemary & carrots and slow cook on high for 8 hours.
5.) Serve on top of mashed potatoes of your choice & garnish with fresh chopped rosemary. I like using sweet potatoes personally, but my kids and husband enjoyed just plain mashed potatoes!

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