Home >Recipes >Brined Short Ribs with 5 Onion Cavalo Nero

Serves: 4

• For the brine
• 2 quarts water
• 2 cups brown sugar
• 2 cups kosher salt
• 2 tbsp juniper berries
• 3 bay leaves

• For the ribs
• 4 cross-cut short ribs, about 1 lb each (ask your butcher to cold smoke them if he can)
• olive oil
• 2 cups coarsely chopped onion
• 1 cup coarsely chopped carrot
• 1 cup coarsely chopped celery
• 1 cup red wine
• 1 quart chicken stock

• For the 5 Onion Cavalo Nero
• 2 cups leek whites, small diced
• 2 cups scallion whites, sliced
• 2 cups shallot, small diced
• 2 cups red onion, small diced
• 2 cups yellow onion, small diced
• 2 cups carrot, grated
• extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 cup golden raisins
• 1 case black cabbage, chiffonade

Preparation Time: 3 hours
Cooking Time: 4 hours

For the brine

Bring all ingredients to a boil in a sauce pan, stirring to dissolve sugar. Cool completely. Cover short ribs with brine and refrigerate 3 hours.

For the ribs

Preheat oven to 300°F.

Remove short ribs from brine and pat dry. Heat a large high-sided sauté pan over moderately high heat until hot. Add a film of olive oil. When oil begins to smoke, brown short ribs on all sides. (They brown quickly because of the sugar in the brine.) When richly browned, place in a dish that can go from stovetop to oven.

Add onion, carrot and celery to sauté pan and cook over moderately high heat until vegetables are well caramelized. Transfer vegetables to dish with short ribs. Add red wine to sauté pan and simmer until reduced by half, scraping up any stuck-on bits with a wooden spoon. Add stock, bring to a boil and pour over short ribs. Bring short ribs to a boil on top of the stove, then cover and bake until fork-tender, about 4 hours.

For the 5 Onion Cavalo Nero

Slowly sweat all onions and carrot in olive oil. Add raisins, sweat briefly. Add cabbage and cook slowly stirring frequently until cooked very soft. This will take about two hours.