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Looking for a way to cook short ribs until perfectly tender without having the meat fall apart? Brining is the answer; it firms the meat enough to keep it on the bone and adds flavor, too.

Ingredients:

Serves 4

Brine:
2 quarts water
2 cups brown sugar
2 cups kosher salt
2 Tbs. juniper berries
3 bay leaves

4 cross-cut short ribs, about 1 lb. each
Olive oil
2 cups coarsely chopped onion
1 cup coarsely chopped carrot
1 cup coarsely chopped celery
1 cup red wine
1 quart chicken stock

Directions:

To make brine:

1. Bring all ingredients to a boil in a saucepan, stirring to dissolve sugar.
   
2. Cool completely.
   
3. Cover short ribs with brine and refrigerate 3 hours.

To make short ribs:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
   
2. Remove short ribs from brine and pat dry.
   
3. Heat a large high-sided sauté pan over moderately high heat until hot.
   
4. Add a film of olive oil. When oil begins to smoke, brown short ribs on all sides. (They brown quickly because of the sugar in the brine.)
   
5. When richly browned, place in a dish that can go from stovetop to oven.
   
6. Add onion, carrot and celery to sauté pan and cook over moderately high heat until vegetables are well caramelized.
   
7. Transfer vegetables to dish with short ribs.
   
8. Add red wine to sauté pan and simmer until reduced by half, scraping up any stuck-on bits with a wooden spoon.
   
9. Add stock, bring to a boil and pour over short ribs.
   
10. Bring short ribs to a boil on top of the stove, then cover and bake until fork-tender, about 3 hours.

Copyright NapaStyle, Inc. 2000 by M. Chiarello, D. Shalleck