Three days until Valentine’s Day. Do you have your menu planned? If not, then boy do I have a recipe for you!
Valentine’s Day is supposed to be decadent. Roses, chocolate, thoughtful gifts from/to the one you love. Special. So, your dinner should be pretty extraordinary too. Something hearty and full of flavor. This recipe for French Country Short Rib Stew is all of that and more!
A cross between French onion soup and a classic French beef stew, this dish is full of fresh aromatic herbs, chunks of succulent beef short rib meat and loads of onion and garlic.
Ok, so this isn’t a dish that you would serve early on in your relationship. You might want to save this dish for when you are truly comfortable with your honey. Because their isn’t enough Trident in the world to save you from this dish. But it’s entirely worth it. Trust me.
This recipe is slow food at its finest. The short ribs are cooked in an aromatic broth for two and a half hours. By the time it’s done cooking, the meat literally falls off of the bone.
Dredging the meat in flour ensures that the broth thickens and searing the ribs in olive oil creates delicious crispy tidbits on the bottom of the pan. A generous splash of wine and a few scrapes with the backside of a wooden spoon, and those tidbits are going to flavor the stew as it cooks for a couple of hours in the oven. Can you feel the love yet?
And a stew would not be a stew without the requisite onions and carrots. Cooked in the leftover fat from the seared short ribs, the onions and carrots gain a lot of flavor and make us feel better knowing that there is a veggie in the dish. Veggies make everything look a little healthier, don’t they?
But Valentine’s Day is not the day to be counting calories. Nope, it’s a day to celebrate and enjoy the good stuff. And this is certainly that. Good stuff indeed.
Once the short ribs have cooked for a good long time, it’s time to shred them. This will take no time at all because short ribs are such a tender meat. Just a few minutes with two forks and you’ll be good to go.
Enter the onions. A lot of them. As I said earlier, this is a cross between a stew and French onion soup. Four large onions are sliced and cooked until golden brown. Your home will smell like a French bistro. A more affordable French bistro, that is. You’d be shocked to see what they charge for this type of meal in a French restaurant.
Once the ribs are shredded and the onions are cooked, it’s back into the pot they go. A quick stir of the spoon to make sure everything is coated in that thick lustrous broth, and it’s time to put the stew into oven safe bowls.
Crowned with large hunks of toasted French bread and a mound of Gruyere cheese, they go into the oven under high heat to brown up the cheese and bread. Holy moly.
Have I sold you on this dish yet? If not, keep on reading. Clearly I need to seduce you with melty cheese shots….
Who needs Cupid’s arrow when you’ve got this? I think this stew might be the perfect potion that will put anyone under a love spell.
- 4 lbs beef short ribs
- Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper (to taste)
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 1 large onion, diced
- 2 carrots, peeled and diced
- 4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- 1 cup red wine
- 1 14oz can diced tomatoes
- 4 cups beef broth
- 1 Tbsp fresh rosemary, minced
- 2 Tbsp fresh thyme, minced
- 1 French baguette, cubed and toasted
- 8oz Gruyere, shredded
- Preheat oven to 325º. Season short ribs with salt and pepper. Dredge in flour.
- Heat olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium high heat. Cook short ribs in the oil until golden brown and crusty. About four minutes per side. Remove from oil and put on plate. Set aside.
- Reduce heat to medium and cook onions and carrots in leftover fat from ribs. Cook for five minutes. Add garlic, red wine, tomatoes, broth, herbs and short ribs. Cover with lid and place in oven. Cook for two and a half hours or until meat falls off the bones.
- Remove meat and place on a dish. Shred the beef.
- Using a strainer, separate the solids from the liquids. (i.e. the veggies) Skim the fat off of the strained liquid using a spoon or a fat separator.
- Once the fat is separated, add the veggies back to the liquid. Add the beef and onions and stir. Portion into oven safe bowls. Top with bread cubes and Gruyere.
- Bake in a 450º oven until brown and bubbly.
Holy Moses I can almost smell this! Good thing I have short ribs in my freezer already. I am so making this, but for Friday, Valentine’s Day is already taken care of. Your photos are gorgeous!
Thank you Sue!! I hope you like it. It was a huge hit over here. I also hope you had a fantastic Valentine’s Day!
Oh My! I can smell the garlic and onions too!! This is another fabulous looking and sounding recipe that I cannot wait to indulge myself in! Well done Melanie and Happy Valentine’s Day to you!! Thank you for the recipe!!
Yup, lots-o-onions. Well worth it though. Happy Valentine’s Day to you too!
YUM!! I would so love to try that recipe we love stew and french onion soup!! I am not too adventures though so the short ribs and red wine in the recipe scare me.
It looks incredible though!
Do not stress Karen! This recipe is so very easy to make. I promise!
This looks so good! I am definitely trying this recipe soon.
Let me know how you like it Martha.
What an interesting dinner idea for Valentine’s! I’d probably go for this rather than cake. I know, it’s weird seeing I love sweet things so much but this is the kind of stew you’d want to huddle up with your loved one, sipping and giggling together.
I think we would be great friends if we lived in the same country Jayne. We are very much alike.
Wow! Now that a seriously yummy looking treat!
Thank you Avril!
I’m sold! It looks so good! My husband would marry me again and again if I made this for him!
Thanks Angie! This is one man friendly meal. Very hearty for sure!
Ok my friend, this is the most decadent beef stew dish I’ve seen in a long time. WOW! I am over the moon about this and can’t wait to make it.
Thank you so much Karista. Coming from an accomplished chef such as yourself, that means a lot.
Melanie, this sounds so good I’m making it RIGHT NOW! Boy does it smell good in here! I noticed that the four onions that get cooked and put in with the shredded rib meat are not listed in the recipe at the bottom of your post. You described the procedure at the top, so I know what to do when things get done here. But I just thought I’d point out that you might want to put those other onions in the ingredients list and make a mention of cooking them in the instructions. Thank you so much for dinner tonight! Lisa
Thank you so much for making me aware of this. I will fix it as soon as I get back home. (I’m out of state right now) I hope it came out perfectly for you!