Braised Beef Short Ribs in Barbeque Sauce

This past weekend my husband and I were shopping at Central Market and saw the most gorgeous package of beef short ribs. These brought back memories of the chunky, tomato-y barbeque short ribs my mom used to make in her dutch oven. By the way, a dutch oven is an oven-safe (no plastic or wood handles) pot with a lid. My favorites are made of cast iron with an enamel coating. Make sure to wash cast iron right away and dry it in the oven at a low temperature so as to not allow any rusting to occur.

Ingredients

1 pound high-quality, boneless, lowest-fat beef short ribs

Sauce
1 – 15oz. can diced, no-salt added tomatoes
¼ onion, chopped fine
3 tablespoons organic ketchup
2 tablespoons white (or apple cider) vinegar
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
5 tablespoons organic blackstrap molasses
¼ cup brown sugar
2 drops Tabasco hot pepper sauce
¼ teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 large garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon chili powder
¼ teaspoon cayenne powder

In a dutch oven, combine all of the sauce ingredients. Cook the sauce on medium-low for 5 minutes. Drop in the short ribs. Turn on the oven to 300°F. Bring the ribs to a strong simmer. Cover the dutch oven and place it in the oven. Bake for 2 hours, until the meat is tender and falls apart.

Serve with a baked potato and your favorite veggies. If making baked potatoes, place in the oven with short ribs after the first hour. When the ribs are done, let them rest on the stovetop while turning up the oven to 400°F. The potatoes will be done in 30 minutes.

4 – 6 servings