While I am certainly no butcher, short ribs – which can be taken from the brisket, chuck, plate or rib areas of a cow -- are usually cut in an “English” (parallel to the bone, somewhere between 4 to 6 inches (10.16-15.24 cm) in length), or, “Flanken” (about 1 inch (2.54 cm) thick and cut across multiple ribs) style.▫️
To help break down the connective tissue, and to tenderize the meat, this item is usually braised; a combination of covered roasting and steaming (with the protein partially immersed in liquid).
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Celebrity chef Tom Colicchio prefers to marinate his ribs with vegetables in wine. To replicate his recipe, you’ll need canola oil, onions, carrots, celery ribs, garlic cloves, dry red wine, thyme sprigs, chicken stock and Flanken-style short ribs with bones.
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Now, the whole point of braising is to make the meat tender and “fall-off-the-bone” delicious. But that’s not what we got at “Lettuce & Tomato Gastrobar” – located at 17070 West Dixie Hwy, North Miami Beach (Florida). We found their “Braised Short Rib -- Chimi Aioli, Slaw, Slaw, Potato, Pickled Onion” ($15), gritty and salty. And not only were the accompanying fries bland, we thought they needed to be crispier and fluffier. Given those issues, a “C-“ came as no surprise.
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Let’s just say that was a brutally bruised braised beef (and feloniously foul fries).
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