The Art of Braising Short Ribs with The Botanist Gin

When it comes to slow-cooked meats, short ribs are one of the most tender and flavorful options available. In this episode, we're going to explore the art of braising short ribs using The Botanist gin, a unique combination of aromatic botanicals that adds depth and complexity to our dish.

To start, we need to prepare our ingredients. For this recipe, you'll need 4 pounds of beef short ribs, 2 tablespoons of olive oil, 1 onion, 3 cloves of garlic, 1 cup of red wine, 1 cup of beef broth, 2 tablespoons of tomato paste, and 2 teaspoons of dried thyme. You'll also need some fresh parsley for garnish.

Now that we have our ingredients ready, let's start by browning the short ribs in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. This will give us a nice crust on the meat, which will add flavor to our dish as it cooks. Once the short ribs are browned, remove them from the pot and set them aside.

Next, we'll add the olive oil to the pot and sauté the onion until it's translucent and fragrant. Then, we'll add the garlic and cook for another minute, stirring constantly to prevent burning. Now it's time to add our tomato paste and cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly, until the paste is lightly browned.

After that, we'll add our red wine and beef broth to the pot, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Bring the liquid to a simmer and let it cook for 5 minutes, or until it has reduced slightly and the sauce has thickened.

Now, it's time to add our short ribs back to the pot and cover them with foil. We'll transfer the pot to the oven and braise the short ribs at 275 degrees Fahrenheit for 4-5 hours, or until they are tender and falling off the bone.

While the short ribs are cooking, we can start preparing our sauce. To do this, we'll strain all of the solids from the braising liquid into a bowl through a fine-mesh sieve. Then, we'll skim off any excess fat from the surface of the liquid and discard it.

Next, we'll transfer the strained liquid to a clean pot and bring it to a boil over medium-high heat. Once the liquid is boiling, reduce the heat to low and simmer for 1-2 hours, or until the sauce has reduced to a syrupy consistency.

Now, it's time to serve our short ribs with the rich and flavorful sauce. We'll place the ribs on a plate and spoon some of the sauce over them, then garnish with fresh parsley and serve.

To complete this dish, we're going to pair it with a Negroni Bianco cocktail made with The Botanist gin, thyme-infused vermouth, and a bitter Italian bitter. This cocktail is the perfect complement to our braised short ribs, with its bright and herbaceous flavors adding a nice contrast to the richness of the dish.

To make our Negroni Bianco, we'll combine equal parts Botanist gin, thyme-infused vermouth, and bitter Italian bitter in a mixing glass filled with ice. We'll stir the ingredients together until the glass becomes frosty, then strain them into a rocks glass filled with clear ice cubes. Finally, we'll garnish the cocktail with a sprig of thyme and serve it alongside our braised short ribs.

The Botanist gin is a unique and flavorful addition to any dish, and its combination of aromatic botanicals makes it the perfect pairing for our braised short ribs. With its complex and herbaceous flavors, The Botanist gin adds depth and nuance to our recipe that's sure to impress your guests. Whether you're cooking for a special occasion or just want to try something new, this recipe with The Botanist gin is a must-try.

How to Make the Perfect Negroni Bianco Cocktail

If you're looking for a refreshing and unique twist on the classic Negroni cocktail, look no further than our Negroni Bianco made with The Botanist gin. This cocktail is the perfect way to enjoy the flavors of The Botanist gin while pairing it with seasonal ingredients.

To make our Negroni Bianco, you'll need equal parts Botanist gin, thyme-infused vermouth, and bitter Italian bitter. You can infuse your vermouth with fresh thyme by simply adding a few sprigs to the bottle and letting it steep for a few days. Then, combine all of the ingredients in a mixing glass filled with ice and stir them together until the glass becomes frosty.

Once the glass is frosted, strain the cocktail into a rocks glass filled with clear ice cubes. Finally, garnish the Negroni Bianco with a sprig of fresh thyme and serve it alongside your favorite seasonal dish.

Tips for Braising Short Ribs

When braising short ribs, there are a few things to keep in mind to ensure that they come out tender and flavorful. Here are some tips to help you achieve the perfect braise:

* Use a good quality cut of beef: Look for short ribs that are at least 2 pounds each, as these will be more tender and flavorful.

* Brown the meat properly: Take the time to brown the short ribs thoroughly before adding them to the pot. This will give them a nice crust on the outside and add flavor to your dish.

* Use a good quality liquid: Use a high-quality red wine or beef broth in your braising liquid, as these will add depth and complexity to your dish.

* Don't overcook the ribs: Cook the short ribs for at least 4 hours, or until they are tender and falling off the bone. Overcooking them can make them dry and tough.

By following these tips and using The Botanist gin in our braised short ribs recipe, you'll be able to create a dish that's both flavorful and visually appealing. Whether you're cooking for a special occasion or just want to try something new, this recipe with The Botanist gin is sure to impress your guests.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en- This episode issponsored by The Botanist gin.The Botanist is from the island of Islayoff the coast of Scotland.It is distilled from a uniquecombination of 22 botanicalsthat are all hand foragedlocally and sustainablyon the island, so you couldsay it's Islay in a bottle.The complex flavors in the ginand the distinctive methodin which it is distilledmake for a truly balancedand versatile spiritwhich works well in almost any cocktail.This week I'm feeling likea Negroni, but with a twist.So I'm making a Negroni Bianco to sip onwhile I show you the basics of braising.Let's get down to Basics.(fast-moving, cheerful music)So to make braised short ribswe're going to need some short ribs.I've got a whole rack of shortribs here with three bones.You want to figure aboutone bone per person.You want to look for thatnice bright red colorand a whole lot of marbling.The more fat the better it'sgoing to be able to stand upto the braise.Now, whole racks like thisare something of a rarity.More likely than not you'regoing to find them cutlike this into English-style short ribs,which, just like pretty much any meatdestined for the Dutch oven,we're going to startby seasoning generouslywith kosher salt andfreshly ground black pepper.Make sure you season them on all six sidesand you can season the final sideby rubbing them into the tableto pick up any excesssalt and pepper spiltduring the seasoning process.Now that everybody's nice and seasonedwe're headed on over the stove topwhere, Oh, nevermind, I forgotto show you that you needto remove the excess layerof silver skin and fatatop the rib.Brazed pure fat is pretty grossand no matter how long you cook itthe silver skin will never breakdown into something tender.Now that those are all good to go,we still need to prepour aromatic vegetables.Simply peel about half a pound of carrotsand chop them in half.Cut the head off a few stalks of celeryand likewise chop in half.And we're going to cutin half, peel and slicetwo large onions,so basically a big old chunky mirepoix.Okay, now we're ready tohead over to the stove topwhere we're going to heat atablespoon of vegetable oilover medium high flameuntil wisps of smoke emergefrom its surface, at which pointit is ready to receive our short ribs.Make sure that you don't overcrowd themand we're going to brownthem on all sides in batches.This is both going to givethem a beautiful crustand develop some beautiful fondon the bottom of the pot.To prevent the fund from burningyou want to try toplace the ribs back downexactly where they were.Now if you're like me andyou browned five short ribsto begin with and thenall you have left are two,how are you going to brownthem without burning the fond?And the answer is onions.If you have exposed fond duringyour final batch of searingyou can throw some onionsin there to protect themand prevent our lovely brown stufffrom turning into charcoal.Once all the ribs are seared,we're gonna add the restof the onions to the potand saute them in the fat.Once they're soft and lightly brownedwe're gonna add our aromatic vegetables.Then we're going to realizethat not only is this pointlessbut we forgot the tomato paste,one of the essential parts of this recipe.So we're going to dig out those vegetablesand dump about a half acan or three tablespoonsof tomato paste into the onionsand saute for an additionaltwo to three minutesuntil just starting to darken.Then we're going to add ourmuch more manageably-sizedaromatic vegetables,saute for just a littlebit to warm them up,add five or so cloves of garlicand here you could add twocups of a nice dry red wine,like a Cabernet Sauvignon.But I'm going with twocups of an amber ale,nothing too hoppy or fruity.Two cups of chicken stock,a little splash of soy sauceand the surprise ingredient,a half a cup of prune juice.That's right, it isn't justfor keeping you regularin your twilight years, itcan also add a whole lotof depth of flavor to our eventual sauce,as will a few sprigs of fresh herbs,parsley and thyme, wild thymeif you want to bring outyour inner botanist.Once those are in, it's timeto nestle in our short ribs.Make sure they're justpeekin' above the liquidand try to face theirleast-brown side upwardbecause, even thoughtightly covered with lid,whatever is not submerged under the liquidis gonna pick up a lotof color in the oven,a 275 degree Fahrenheit ovenwhere these guys are goingto slowly bubble awayfor four to five hours.Check on 'em first afterabout three and a half hoursand give 'em a good stabwith a pairing knife.If they show no resistance tothis poking, they are done.Go ahead and give the sauce a taste.It should taste pretty good,but it's got a long way to go.First, we gotta fishout all the short ribstrying to keep the bones attachedif desired for presentation.But as you can see, this is so tender,most of them are falling off.Look, some meat even fell into my mouth.Ow, hot, hot, hot, hot.Up next up we are straining all the solidsout of the braising liquid.Then from this point, youcould let the liquid settleand carefully skim the fat off the topof the braising liquid, but,if you're making this ahead of timeit's much easier to let thisguy chill out in the fridge.We're gonna start byrapidly cooling it offby adding a couple of big old ice cubes,giving him 15 or 20 minutes to cool offand then wrapping tightly in plastic wrapand parking in the fridgeat least four hoursand up to overnight.This is both going todeepen our sauce's flavorand give us a convenientlysolid layer of fatfloating atop it, which wecan easily just pop right outas though we were a giantpeeling ice off of frozen lake.Once we've got all your fat removedit's time to boil the saucedown to a syrupy consistency.So in something nice and shallow and wide,like this high walled skilletwhich is going to helpmaximize evaporation,we are bringing this to a boiland letting it reduce by as much as 80%.This could take anywherefrom one to two hours.But your patients will be rewardedwith what is essentially apurified meat and beer extract.Once it's thick enough tocoat the back of a tiny spoon,out of the fridge come our ribsand into the bubblingcauldron of sauce they go,both to reheat and to help all the flavorsbecome reacquainted.Give them a little based with the sauceand then we're gonna cover this upso it doesn't reduce any further.We're gonna let thisgo for about 20 minutesor until heated through.And then when ready to serve,we're going to plate up apillow of palm puree or polentaand plop our picture-perfect pork on top.I know it's not pork,I just wanted to continuethe alliteration.Top with plenty o' sauce,garnish with fresh parsley,and you're ready to serve.As you can see the butterknife I'm using hereis used more for meatstabilization than cuttingbecause this is so damn tender.It is complex and flavorfuland just about the meatiestmeat that was ever meetedby meatkind.There's only one thing that I can imaginethat would improve this spectacular dishand that is of course,a delicious cocktail.I'm thinking a Negroni Biancowith some thyme-infused vermouth.I love the classicversion of this cocktail,but a Negroni Bianco is a great wayto try something different.The Botanist contains severaldifferent aromatic botanicalsincluding wild thyme, soto draw out its flavorI'm infusing my vermouth with the herb.It's a great way to put anice end of summer twiston the Negroni, if you have the thyme.Uuh, sorry.To make our Negroni Biancowe are combining equal partsBotanist gin, thyme-infused vermouth,and a bitter bianco orclear Italian bitter.We're stirring in a mixing glass with iceuntil the glass becomes frostyand serving in a rocks glasswith a beautifully clear ice cube.Double strain into the glass,garnish with a sprig of thymeand there you have it, theperfect cocktail to enjoywith and during thepreparation of our beef.Thank you again to The Botanist ginfor sponsoring today's episode.As you've seen over the past few weeks,I've paired Botanist cocktailswith seasonal recipes,like simple one-pot meals, lamb chops,and braised short rib.I try to cook with freshand local ingredientsand being able to blend thatwith a unique combinationof botanicals in The Botanisthas been really enjoyable.I appreciate The Botanistfor giving me the opportunityto try some delicious cocktailswhile making these meals.Try the flavors and essenceof wild Islay yourself.Order a bottle of The Botanist on Drizly,the link is in the video description.Cheers.(groovy music)\n"