Red Wine Braised Beef Short Ribs with Buttermilk Mashed Potatoes & Sweet Peas

Ahhhhhh....feels sooooooo great to be back in the kitchen post surgery!!! Cooking for the ones I love is truly therapuetic! Think of this as a marriage between beef stew, shepard's pie and beef burgandy....can you say yum to the max!?

1/4 cup Olive Oil
3 lbs boneless beef short ribs
kosher salt and freshly cracked pepper
1 small sweet onion, chopped
2 handfuls baby carrots, cut into halves
3 stalks celery, sliced into 1" pieces
1/4 cup sherry
5 cloves garlic, minced
6 sprigs fresh thyme
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried rosemary
1 bay leaf
3 cups beef stock
2 cups red wine (Shiraz, Zin or Pinot Noir is best)
14 1/2 oz can diced tomatoes with juice
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 packet McCormick Reduced Sodium Brown Gravy Mix

Buttermilk Mashed Potatoes for serving

1 can sweet peas, drained and heated thru for serving


Preheat oven to 350. In a large dutch oven heat olive oil over medium heat. Pat ribs dry with paper towels and season with salt & pepper. Cook ribs, in batches, until browned. Remove ribs to a plate. Add onion, carrots and celery to pot and deglaze with sherry, making sure to scrape up the browned bits on bottom. Cook veg until sherry is almost completely cooked off, 4-5 minutes. Add garlic, thyme, bay leaf, oregano and rosemary and stir until garlic is fragrent. Add wine, stock, tomatoes and vinegar. Stir and bring to a boil. Cover pot and place in oven. Cook 2 1/2-3 hours or until meat is tender. Remove from oven and place on stove top. Remove ribs and most of veg from pot; cover and keep warm. Remove & discard thyme and bay leaf. Add gravy packet to dutch oven, stir to dissolve. Simmer sauce until reduced and slightly thickened, about 30 minutes. Return ribs and veg to pot and warm thru. Taste and correct seaoning with salt and pepper. To serve - in a pasta or soup bowl place a generous spoonful of mashed potatoes. Place 2-3 ribs on top of potatoes and ladle some sauce & veg over top. Sprinkle about 1/4 cup peas over dish and serve.

Buttermilk Mashed Potatoes

6-8 large buttergold potatoes, scrubbed, peeled and cut up
kosher salt
freshly ground pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
buttermilk
4 tbsp butter

Place potatoes in large pot of salted water. Heat over medium heat and cook until potatoes are tender, about 25 minutes. When potatoes are cooked thru, remove from stove top and drain into large colander. Return potatoes to pot. Add 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper, garlic powder and butter. With potato masher, mash potatoes and incorporate butter & seasonings. Add 1/2 cup buttermilk. Stir to combine. If potatoes are stiff, add 1/4 cup buttermilk (at a time) until desired consistency is reached. Taste and correct seasoning with salt and pepper.