A Story of Braised Beef or How I Made Stroganoff From Cheap Meat

I've had a beef short rib craving since summer. I tried short rib sliders at two different locations and because I didn't write them down (which is something I think I need to start doing), I can't remember exactly how they were seasoned. All I can remember is how meltingly delicious the meat was on those little brioche buns. YUM!! I've made short ribs once since then, simply seasoned with salt and pepper, and I want to try other flavors, like a red wine braise or a sweet chili one. The problem I run into is cost. Short ribs used to be cheap, like flank steak, but because the cuts have become popular with celebrity chefs, the cost has gone up. Because beef short ribs are marbled with fat, the cut needs to be cooked low and slow in moist heat; braised. This allows the fat and collagen to break down and renders the meat so moist and tender.

I went in search of beef short ribs this last week. I ended up buying chunks of beef on the bone, which was labeled as "bone-in beef stew chunks", mainly because they were on sale and also because I wanted to see what I could make from them. They went into the slow-cooker with a little salt and pepper and braised for 10 hours. I then stored them in the fridge as-is, still in the slow cooker insert and still in their own rendered fats, gelatin, and juices. There's a couple of reasons I do that; first, it allows the meat to reabsorb some of the moisture lost during cooking. Second, once the meat cools, the rendered fats harden on top of the cooked meat and you can pull it off in chunks rather than trying to deal with hot fat.

I spent some time deciding what in the world to do with this mess of meat. Once I pulled the meat off the bones (and there were a lot more bones than I expected), I thought about smothering it in barbecue sauce and making sandwiches. In the end, I was inspired by my brother and sister-in-law. They make stroganoff once a week and I realized that the meat would be perfect for that. Plus, I had mushrooms, an onion, sour cream, and pasta all waiting to be used.

Here's how it came together in the end:

In a stockpot, I melted the rendered fat which I removed from the beef and added a diced onion and a couple cups of diced mushrooms. I cooked them down for a bit with some salt, pepper, and a pinch of savory until the onions and mushrooms were just turning brown. I added about a quarter cup of flour and cooked it for a few minutes, then I added the beef which I had shredded and the gelatin as well along with a few shakes of Worcestershire sauce. I cooked the whole delicious smelling mess for a few more minutes and then added two cups of milk to create a cream sauce and let it simmer for about ten minutes to thicken up. After the stroganoff cooled, I stirred in a dollop of sour cream for added richness and tang and served (to myself) over noodles. Yum! I ended up with so much that I ate it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for three days. I think I'm satiated now.

The only drawback I had was with the type of pasta I used; it turned out mushy. Like, icky mushy. I've used the particular brand of pasta before and it cooked up al dente. This shape of noodle recommended cooking for eight to ten minutes which usually means that I start testing them for doneness at six minutes. Which I did and they were already mushy. Not pleased. No pasta should ever be mushy, no matter what the intended use.

In the long run, my beef experiment turned out delicious and I found beef short ribs marked down $3 at the store, so I snapped them up and put them in the freezer for later in the month. I look forward to cooking those up and sharing the recipe with you!