This is one of my all time favorite luxurious recipes that I like to cook over the holidays or for special occasions. I first had this dish at Daniel Boulud’s restaurant in Las Vegas circa 2007 or 2008. My family went for Thanksgiving and we ordered his braised Short Ribs with a Red Wine Beef Reduction and were BLOWN AWAY. After that I searched for the recipe online which wasn’t as easy back then as it is now and then once I found it, I played around with it until I was able to recreate my original Las Vegas experience.

The fall-apart ribs are not the only star of this show. The insanely rich and flavorful reduction sauce will blow you away. It is made with 3 BOTTLES OF WINE!!! Beef broth, short rib juices, and then some delicious vegetables and herbs- trust me, the sauce is pretty insane.

This is a great meal to cook for special occasions. I like to make it a couple of days ahead of time and I cook the recipe until the ribs are done and then I refrigerate. On the day I want to eat it, I skim the fat from the top and then reheat and reduce the sauce and cook the grits.

Enjoy this recipe. Daniel Boulud’s original recipe is found in his cookbook (affiliate link) Daniel: My French Cuisine

The recipe below is SLIGHTLY modified.

Some Cooking Essentials:

Daniel Boulud's Beef Short Rib Recipe with Parmesan Polenta

Yield: 6-8

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Ingredients

Short Ribs

3 bottles dry red wine
2 tablespoons sunflower oil/canola oil/ vegetable oil
10-12 short ribs, trimmed of excess fat
Salt and crushed black peppercorns
Flour, for dredging
8 large shallots, peeled, minced
3 medium-sized carrots, peeled, sliced thinly
3 ribs of celery, sliced thinly
2 medium-sized leek (white and light-green parts), washed and dried, sliced thinly
10 cloves of garlic, peeled, chopped
6 sprigs flat-leaf parsley
3 bay leaves
3 thyme sprigs
3 tablespoons tomato paste
3 quarts beef broth
Freshly ground white pepper

Parmesan Polenta/Grits

4 ½ cups chicken broth
2 cups water
1 ½ cups polenta or coarse-ground cornmeal (for grits)
1 ½ teaspoons salt, plus more to taste
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
3/4 cup heavy cream

Instructions

Short Ribs

Pour the wine into a large saucepan and heat it over medium heat. Once the wine is hot, ignite it carefully. Allow the flames to extinguish, then turn up the heat to boil the wine until it reduces by half. After it's reduced, remove the saucepan from the heat.
Set your oven rack in the center and preheat the oven to 350°F.
In a large, heavy, oven-safe pot, heat some oil over medium-high heat. Season the ribs with salt and crushed pepper. Lightly dust the ribs with a little flour (about 2-3 tablespoons). When the oil is hot, add these ribs to the pot, searing them for about 4 to 5 minutes on each side until they're nicely browned. Move these ribs to a plate, then repeat with the remaining ribs. Reduce the heat to medium, and add in your vegetables and herbs. Sauté until the vegetables start to brown slightly, around 5 to 7 minutes, then stir in the tomato paste and cook for another minute.
Add the short ribs back into the pot, along with the reduced wine, and beef broth. Bring everything to a boil, cover securely, and transfer the pot to the oven to braise for about 2 ½ hours, or until the ribs are very tender. Skim off any fat from the surface every 30 minutes. OR, for best results, let the ribs and broth cool in the pot overnight in the refrigerator; this will allow you to remove the solidified fat easily the next day. I actually made this dish on a Monday to this point, and then refrigerated until Thursday for Thanksgiving!
To proceed, warm up short ribs in the pot and then remove them and keep them warm. Carefully strain the broth from the solids, pressing down on the solids to remove extra liquid. Add the broth back to the pot and boil down the liquid in the pot until it's reduced to about 1 quart. Season with salt and pepper.

Parmesan Polenta/Grits

In a medium bowl, combine the 1 ½ cups of grits with 2 cups of cold water. Stir until the grits are well mixed with the water and there are no lumps. This step helps prevent clumping when you add them to the hot liquid.
In a large saucepan, bring 4 cups of chicken broth to a boil over medium-high heat along with 1 ½ teaspoons of salt.
Slowly whisk the cold grits mixture into the boiling liquid and stir continuously for 5 minutes.
Reduce the heat to low so the mixture is just simmering. Cover the saucepan for 15-20 minutes. The grits should be creamy and tender. If they're too thick, you can add a little more broth or water.
Once the grits are cooked to your desired consistency, remove from heat. Stir in the 3 tablespoons of butter until it's completely melted, then gradually add the cup of Parmesan cheese, stirring until well incorporated. Add the heavy cream and stir in until completely combined.
Taste and adjust the seasoning with additional salt or pepper if necessary.
Serve the grits hot in a bowl, top with short ribs, ladle red wine beef reduction on top and enjoy this luxurious meal!