Short Ribs - Just Like the Chef at Universal Studios Makes!!!

When we went to Las Vegas to visit my brother over Thanksgiving, I may have mentioned that we went to LA and toured Universal Studios.

Bo and Sarah treated us to the VIP Tour, and part of the package (which included looking down at the little people who didn't get to get out and wander around the sets and who had to stand IN LINE to ride the rides) was a buffet lunch at a fancy restaurant with cloth napkins and a chef in a white jacket and toque and everything!!

In the buffet line there was a lot of seafood - it was California, after all - and then I spied the short ribs!!  The chef smiled approvingly as I grabbed one - he told me that I had made an excellent choice!  And he was correct - they were so good!

So yesterday while Mary and I were at the commissary, seeing if we could in fact spend ALL the money in my bank account, I remembered to pick up a package of short ribs.

Short ribs used to be a kind of a scary cooking proposition until one day when I was at work at my old job at Alvey's a little family run grocery store that had the best butcher and the freshest meats in the area.  They showed us how to cook them so that they were tender and flavorful - yum!

Beth at the fancy buffet.

So here is my recipe for Short Ribs!  Enjoy!!

You will need:

One package of short ribs
One envelope of dry Lipton Onion Soup mix.
3 cups water
1 cup good wine - red or white
2 beef bouillon cubes
2 onions sliced in large slices
8 oz of mushrooms - optional
olive oil, salt and pepper
2 packages of brown gravy mix
one can of mushroom soup

Brown the short ribs on all sides in hot olive oil on high heat in a large skillet. Salt and pepper them. 
Set a  dutch oven on a burner and add the water, wine, bouillon cubes, and soup mix and bring to a simmer.
When the short ribs are browned place in the liquid in the dutch oven, and saute the mushrooms in the skillet that you browned the short ribs.  Salt and pepper them, then add them to the dutch oven.  Add the onions to the skillet and lightly brown them.  A(dd a little more olive oil if the pan looks a little dry.)  When the onions are browned, put about a cup of the liquid from the dutch oven into the skillet to deglaze it and add all to the dutch oven.
Put the lid on the dutch oven and set in a 325 degree oven for 3 or 4 hours til tender.
Take the short ribs out of the pan and set aside in a warm spot.  Put the dutch oven back on the burner and set on medium high heat.
In a quart size mason jar, dump a cup of water, the contents of the gravy mix and the undiluted mushroom soup.  Put a lid on the jar and shake until it is thoroughly mixed.\Pour the mason jar mixture into the dutch oven and stir quickly with a whisk until the gravy is thickened and bubbly.
Serve with boiled or mashed potatoes or rice or noodles.
YUMMMM!!!

Short ribs, mashed potatoes and gravy and cauliflower and cheese....