Braised Beef Short Ribs

This is the best short rib recipe. So many of them are so greasy and you taste nothing but the grease. But this one, is wonderful. I really like the boneless short ribs - they are really easy find at Costco if you have one near. It actually makes it easier to cook,store and use with other dishes when they are boneless. You can really taste the flavors of the braise as well as the tender meat. When I made the short ribs for the beef stroganoff I used the cheese cloth for presentation purposes, but not the parchment lid - I just askewed the lid. When I was having the short ribs on their own I didn't use either the cheese cloth or the parchment lid. Still looked and tasted amazing!

The sauce is fabulous; the meat is fabulous. All my criticisms seem like nitpicking in light of the great flavor achieved. But here goes anyway: my experience is that it's very hard to find the short ribs all in one piece--certainly not at most markets (not even Whole Foods) and even the independent butcher is unlikely to have it on hand. Second, the whole deal with the cheesecloth seems absurd to me--I have no problem with bits of herbs sticking to my meat. Similarly, the parchment lid is a bit much for a recipe designed for home cooks. But the bottom line is terrific---really tender meat, succulent sauce, well worth the effort. I would add that in the heat of summer, this can be done in part in a slow cooker instead of the oven. And it makes sense to make a fairly large batch as it freezes beautifully and the meat is lovely as is or on the Catalan stew.