Short Rib Shepard's Pie

I have never been a big fan of shepard’s pie until I saw this recipe. Traditional shepard’s pie is made with ground beef and the texture was something that never really caught my fancy. The use of short ribs slow cooked in red wine and then shredded was a much more pleasing texture to me. And the flavor that the short ribs had was out of this world. I think everyone at dinner wished I had doubled the recipe because they could have eaten at least another serving each. The only thing I plan on doing next time I make this recipe is to add more vegetables to the filling so it doesn't feel like it is only meat topped by fluffy and crunchy potatoes.

This recipe does take quite a long time to make, but I had a roomful of happy faces tell me it was definitely worth it!

Short Rib Shepard’s Pie

From Cooking for Friends

Ingredients:

4-5 lbs boneless beef short ribs

Sea salt and ground pepper

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 large onion, chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped

6 cloves garlic, crushed

1 carrot, chopped

3 ½ cups dry red wine such as Syrah

3 bay leaves

1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves

4  cups, or as needed beef stock

1 ½ lbs Yukon gold potatotes, peeled and quartered

¼ milk

4 tbsp unsalted butter

1 egg yolk, beaten

Directions:

Season ribs with salt and pepper and refrigerate for at least 6 hours or up to overnight. Bring to room temperature and season again with salt and pepper.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Heat a large sauté pan over high heat until hot. Add olive oil and heat until shimmering. In batches, sear ribs on all sides, turning as needed, until well browned. Transfer to a Dutch oven. Pour off all but 2 tbsp fate from sauté pan and return to medium heat. Add onion, celery, garlic and carrot and sauté until beginning to caramelize, about 5 minutes. Add wine, bay leaves, and thyme, raise heat to medium-high, and boil to reduce wine by half. Add stock, bring to a boil, and pour contents of pan over ribs. They should be just covered with liquid; add stock as needed.

Cover tightly and braise in oven, adding stock as needed to maintain liquid level, until a fork slides easily through meat, about 2 ½ hours. Skim off any fat from surface, let ribs cool in liquid until they can be handled, then remove ribs from pot and pull meat from bones. Shred meat into bite-sized pieces, return to Dutch oven, and discard bones.

While ribs are cooling, in a saucepan, cook potatoes in boiling salted water until tender, about 15 minutes. Drain, dry in pan over low heat, then pass through ricer back into warm pan. In a small saucepan, heat milk and butter until mixture is steaming. Pour into potatoes, add egg yolk and fold to mix well.

Raise oven temperature to 400 degrees F. Transfer contents of Dutch oven to a 9x13 inch baking dish or divide among 6 – 8 individual gratin dishes. Cover top(s) evenly with potatoes. Bake until topping is golden, 35-40 minutes. Serve at once.