Cookin' ATVS Style: Abita Turbodog-Braised Beef Short Ribs

My proclivity for recipes that feature beer, especially Abita's brews is pretty established at this point, and I've been itching to try this one out of the Abita cookbook. It turned out to be pretty damn good, which is no surprise. I'm a huge fan of using Turbodog in recipes, due to its rich, dark flavor.

Ingredients

2 tbsp vegetable oil
4 thick-cut, meaty beef short ribs
salt/pepper to taste
2 tbsp butter
1 large onion, thinly sliced
1 carrot, finely chopped (I used baby carrots out of necessity. FYI, 6 baby carrots = 1 full-size one.)
4 garlic cloves, chopped (overkill is underrated here)
1/ 4 cup all-purpose flower
1 12-oz bottle Abita Turbodog (recommend pouring it into a measuring cup to flatten some)
1 quart beef stock
2-3 sprigs fresh thyme (also underrated here)

Note: You'll note in the pictures that I increased this recipe several times for company, and some of the short ribs were rather small.

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 325. Salt and pepper the short ribs to taste.

2. In a large, oven-safe pan, heat the oil over medium-high, and brown the ribs on both sides. Get them good and browned, so lots of the beef drippings get into the pan. Remove and set aside on a platter.

3. Lower the heat slightly, pour off all but 1 tablespoon of the oil (note: be very careful handling hot oil, please), add the butter and stir until melted. Add the onion and carrot and cook for three minutes, or until the onions wilt. I went a little farther until there was a little brown on them. Then add the garlic and cook, stirring well for a minute.

4. Add the flower and stir well to incorporate into a light roux. Deglaze the pot with the beer, stirring well and making sure to scrape the bottom and get any stuck bits loose.

5. Bring the mixture to a boil, and add the stock and the thyme.

6. Return the ribs to the pot, cover, and place in the oven and cook for two hours, or until the ribs are good and fork-tender.

7. When done, you might want to skim some oil off the surface of the gravy, taste and adjust seasons as necessary, and remove the thyme sprigs and discard. Place the span back on the stove and cook until the sauce reduces and thickens well, which should take about 10 minutes.

If the ribs are big enough, this can serve four, with lots of gravy on top of a hearty starch like some good mashed potatoes. If they're smaller, they won't go as far, and frankly, if small is all you can find, a few more in the pot won't overwhelm the amount of sauce. Some of the meat may just fall off the bone in the pot.