We’re beyond thrilled to announce the first post in our new recipe series with our fabulous partners at Food52!
The goal of this recipe series is to provide nearlyweds and newlyweds with recipes, resources, and products to guide them through their “food firsts” after tying the knot. What should you cook for your first dinner party? What about your first holiday as a married couple? Which products can you add to your registry to help you kick off married life in the most delicious way
We teamed up with Food52 to make the early “firsts” stages of married life a little bit easier, and much, much tastier. Our first newsletter highlights one of the most trendy kitchen products on the market—pressure cookers and multi cookers. They’re widely loved for their array of functions and especially for the time they save on slow cooking. You don’t have to wait all day for a beef stew with a multi cooker—you can have a hearty, deeply flavored dish in an hour or less.
Multi cooker meals are a great option for couples who are looking to budget, meal prep, save time without sacrificing flavor, or a combination of all three. Prep your ingredients ahead of time, dump them in your multi cooker, press a few buttons, and you’ll have a comforting meal in no time. Even the most inexpensive ingredients can taste like magic when cooked under pressure (see what we did there?).
To start you off on your newfound pressure cooker kick, we’ve chosen the oh-so-comforting Sheri Castle’s Bourbon + Cola Beef Short Ribs, originally published on Food52. This recipe uses ingredients you either already have at home or can find easily at your local grocery store and can be adapted for any pressure cooker. Prep and all, you’re looking at a wholly satisfying, stick-to-your-ribs, leftovers-for-lunch meal in just over an hour. Call that a win-win-win!
Sheri Castle’s Instant Pot Bourbon & Cola Beef Short Ribs
Serves: 6
Ingredients
- 3 to 3 ½ pounds boneless beef short ribs
- Kosher salt and ground black pepper
- 1 to 3 tablespoons tablespoons vegetable oil, as needed
- 2 medium yellow onions, chopped (about 4 cups)
- 6 large garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
- 1 cup cola, preferably sweetened with cane sugar (not diet)
- 3 tablespoons tomato-based chili sauce or ketchup
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- ¼ cup bourbon
- 2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves
Directions
1. Blot the meat dry with paper towels and then sprinkle it all over with 2 teaspoons salt and 1½ teaspoons pepper. Warm 1 tablespoon of the oil in the pot on sauté high. Add the beef to the pot, working in batches to avoid crowding (so the meat sears and browns rather than steam). Let the short ribs cook undisturbed until deeply browned on all sides, flipping with tongs, 3 to 4 minutes per side. (When the meat is sufficiently seared, it will release from the pot without tugging and lift easily with tongs.) Transfer the browned pieces to a large bowl and repeat with the remaining pieces, adding more oil as needed if the pot looks dry. Reduce the heat and add a few drops of water if the browned glaze on the bottom of the pot begins to scorch or does not loosen. (The multi cooker might issue a burn warning message if there are solids stuck to the bottom of the pot during pressure-cooking.)
2. Reduce the heat to sauté medium and add the onions and garlic. Stir to scrape up every speck of the browned bits and glaze from the bottom of the pot. Add a splash of water if necessary to loosen the browned bits. Cook until the onions begin to soften, about 3 minutes, stirring often.
3. Stir in the cola, chili sauce, Worcestershire, soy sauce, dried thyme, and paprika. Cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Return the beef to the pot. Cover and cook on high pressure for 55 minutes. Let stand for natural release of the pressure.
4. Use a spider or large slotted spoon to transfer the meat to a bowl, leaving the cooking liquid and vegetables in the pot. Spoon off as much fat as possible from the surface or use a fat separator.
5. Puree the cooking liquid and vegetables with an immersion blender directly in the pot. (Alternatively, purée in batches in a stand blender, filling it no more than one-third full with hot liquid. Return the puree to the pot.) Stir in the bourbon and season the gravy with salt and pepper.
6. Return the ribs to the pot, nestling them together and coating them in the gravy. Let the meat rest in the gravy on warm medium until warmed through, about 20 minutes. Serve warm, sprinkled with fresh thyme.
7. Hint: Braised beef always tastes best the second or third day, so when time allows, let the finished dish cool to room temperature, which you can speed up by setting the inner pot in a large bowl or sink of ice water. When it’s time to serve the dish, discard the fat that collects and solidifies on top. Wipe the outside of the inner pot dry, return it to the multi-cooker, and reheat the meat and gravy on WARM HIGH before serving.
Final Thoughts
If you’re loving this recipe, you’ll be glad to know it’s part of a roundup of the best Instant Pot recipes by Food52. Be sure to check them out and stay tuned for next month’s recipe in our Blueprint and Food52 recipe series. But in the meantime, try out Sheri’s short ribs and let us know how they turn out on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram!
Recipe and featured image were originally published by Food52.