If this doesn’t get your significant other all heated up inside (if you know what I mean), nothing will.

This is the meal I intended to make for my beloved on Valentine’s Day (whether or not I receive the mixer – because I am just that nice), but it turns out he’ll be out of town on the 14th, so I’ll make it for him on Saturday night as a sort of pre-Valentine, pre-birthday, bon voyage dinner.

I made these shortribs with horseradish cream sauce for a small Christmas dinner at my home. Normally I do scalloped potatoes with this, like Mama used to make, but my husband has a really unexplainable love for the baked potato. Don’t get me wrong – I can be down with a baker drowned in sour cream, butter, and salt and pepper from time to time, but you know. Boring. So in order to keep us both happy, I’ll do extra-special twice baked potatoes. More on those another day. And The Best Green Beans, which I will also share another day. I use Sister Schubert’s rolls, because I don’t bake. And they are a testimony to why it is really not necessary for me to bake.

This is really a very easy meal to make, and I suggest that if you are looking to win someone over – man, woman, or child, you should make these short ribs. I must say, at Christmas, it came out PERFECT. Better than perfect. Oh lord, I can’t stop thinking about them.

Braised Short Ribs

8 or so short ribs (2 packages)

1 whole box of beef broth (I recommend Kitchen Basics)

1 cup of red wine (If you wouldn’t drink it, don’t cook with it)

1/3 cup of balsamic vinegar

2 minced garlic clovesfresh thyme (or dried – whatever you got)

Kosher salt

Cracked pepper

Several tablespoons of olive oil

Step 1:Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

Heat three or four tablespoons of olive oil in the bottom of a dutch oven or heavy stock pot until it’s almost smoking. (Sidenote: I did two different pots as an experiment. My calphalon hard anondized pot did the job a lot faster, and I ended up with a crispy outside/tender inside thing going on. The [less expensive] multi function dutch oven did fine too, and cooked slower and more evenly. Better result? I liked the ones with the crispy outside better, but it’s strictly a matter of opinion. Nevertheless, watch your food based on how much heat you think your pot retains.)

Salt and pepper your short ribs liberally, all over. Sprinkle with thyme. Use Kosher salt, kids – not table salt.Then sear the short ribs on all sides. Do not skimp on this step. Get them good and brown on all sides. Here’s where it’s nice to have a heavy duty set of good long tongs. You can do this in a frying pan but A) you’re going to splatter a lot of grease and B) that’s just one more pan to wash. I recommend doing it in the stock pot.

Step 2:When you are done searing, pour the braising liquid into the pot. That’s most of the box of broth, the vinegar, and the wine. Do not cover the ribs, because that would be making soup. It should come up about halfway. Be sure your ribs are standing bone end up – not bone horizontal. Toss in a little more salt and pepper, and your minced garlic for good measure. Oh, and some more thyme. Why not.

Step 3:Move your stock pot to the oven. Cook there for about half an hour at 400, then reduce heat to 325. Cook for another two hours or so, but be sure to check on the amount of liquid in your pot from time to time, and be sure you aren’t charring your meat. If it appears to be falling off the bone, that’s good. If it is little black charcoal briquets, that’s bad.I found that by using my super hot calphalon pan, I was able to reduce the cooking liquid and achieve a crispiness on the outside that normally one would only achieve by taking the finished ribs out of the pan and dry roasting them in the oven after you’re done braising them. I prefer this “crispy outside/softy and juicy inside” effect – it reminds me of myself. There is not a carnivore in the world who would not tear into these babies with the abandon of a coyote with his prey. Speaking of coyotes, we saw one just sitting on the edge of the highway the other day. No roadkill around or anything. Maybe he was looking for a shortrib.

Horseradish Cream Sauce

I’m not sure if these babies could be made better, but I sure the heck did like the addition of the sauce.

1 cup COLD half and half

1/2 cup mayo

3 tablespoons (or as much as you like – I use more) horseradish

1 tsp. salt

2 tsp. pepper

Wisk that half and half in a smallish bowl. Don’t make it into butter, but you want to thicken it a little.

Add in the mayo, wisk some more.

Add in the horseradish, salt, and pepper, and let it stand for an hour. It will thicken itself.

Oooh, baby.