Adam’s Apple Ribs

The sweet innocence of Summer is over and we are now banished from our lovely outdoor gardens and forced to cover up our twigs and berries with more respectable coverings. To keep even warmer during the chilly winter try something that will stick to your ribs and make some sticky apple ribs. Sweet blushing apples make a sinfully-sticky-sweet slow-cooked short ribs that fall off the bone. If you make them a day ahead the flavours will evolve wonderfully over night. Be sure to make lots of these tempting ribs because you won’t want to spare a single rib... not a damn rib will go to waste! 

INGREDIENTS

2 pounds of short ribs (cut short by butcher)

1 Litre of apple juice

1 oz of brandy or sherry

1 onion, peeled and cut in half

2 ribs of celery, cut into 3 inch lengths

3 apples, cored and quartered

1 beef bouillon cube

6 cloves of garlic, whole

4 cloves

4 sage leaves

2 sprig of rosemary

2 sprigs of thyme

2 bay leaves

pinch of cinnamon

soy sauce as needed, instead of salt

PROCEDURE

Get a large pot with a tight fitting lid. Get it on the stove over medium heat at let it heat up for 5 minutes. Your pot might begin to smoke a little which is good. Preheat the oven to a relatively low 250˚F. While the pan heats up get your ingredients ready. Drizzle the beef with oil and toss to coat them evenly. Place the meat in the pan. Two tips for really good browning 1) don’t crowd the pan and 2) place them once and don’t keep moving them. When the one side is beautifully golden brown (approx 3 minutes) you can turn them to the other side and brown (approx 3 minutes). Now you can just pile in all the other ingredients in whichever way suits you best, just making sure the beef is at least half submerged in the juice. Plop the lid on tight and blap the whole thing into your oven for 5 hours. Use the next 5 hours to practice using your apple-induced knowledge. Ask yourself the tough questions like ‘Did Adam and Eve have belly buttons?’ and ‘If humans started with just two, doesn’t that mean their kids’ kids are inbred?’ and ‘Is ignorance really bliss?’. When the ribs are done slow-cooking, remove the ribs from the sauce and set aside in a dish. Strain out the herbs and aromatics from the cooking liquid by passing it through a sieve. Reduce the strained liquid over high heat until it is saucy, but not too thick.  Taste the sauce and add some soy sauce as needed instead of salt. Drizzle the sticky apple rib sauce over the ribs and serve with lots of napkins or leaves for wiping your face. Remember to share your newfound shortrib knowledge with everyone you know… knowledge is power.