Cemen Beef Short Rib with Brown Butter Bread Sauce (for FFMM)

Serves 5 – 6                                                                                              Adapted from Selin Kiazim’s Oklava

For the beef

1 kg Beef Short Rib cut to 80g pieces

Salt and white pepper

90g Çemen paste

1 large white onion, sliced

1l beef stock

Baking paper

For the Brown Butter Sauce

1 Tbsp sunflower oil

1 shallot or ½ white onion, diced

3 garlic cloves, grated

125g butter

100g fresh white breadcrumbs (from a few stale slices of white bread)

500ml milk

80 ml cream

Salt

To serve

¼ cup chili (harissa/sriracha) butter, melted (optional)

6 Tbsps finely chopped parsley (Italian or curly)

Heat the oven to 180 ° C

In a large bowl, season the beef short rib with salt and white pepper. Spread the Çemen paste all over the pieces using your (latex glove covered) fingers or the back of a spoon so that each piece is well coated with the paste.

Place the beef in a casserole with a lid and wedge the onions slices in between the short ribs. Pour the stock over the meat to almost cover the meat. Cut a circle of baking paper to cover the casserole. Cover with a lid and bake at 170°C for 2 ½ hours.

Remove from the oven. The meat should be tender and almost falling of the (rib bone).  Allow to cool and the leave in the fridge overnight to rest (a little sleep?).

To make the sauce, add the oil to sauce pan and sweat the shallot or onion with the garlic for 5 – 7 minutes until fragrant and softened.

In a separate medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until the butter turns a nut brown colour and becomes toastily fragrant. Strain this brown butter through a sieve lined with paper towel and set aside.

Add the breadcrumbs to the softened onions and garlic, followed by the milk.  Cook gently over a low heat, stirring until thickened (this will happen quickly).  Add the cream and the salt to season (do not be tempted to add any other herbs or seasonings at this point). 

Use an immersion blender to purée the onion-bread-milk mixture, drizzling in the brown butter as you do this.  Keep the sauce warm for serving or allow to cool and then re-heat gently in a small saucepan.  You may need to add a little milk if the mixture has become too thick.

When you are ready to serve, remove the cold fat from the casserole. Remove 1 ½ cups of liquid from the casserole and add to a pot.  Allow this gravy to simmer and reduce and keep warm for serving. Reheat the beef gently on a stove top over medium heat, allowing it to simmer gently over low heat in the remaining liquor of the casserole. You can also heat the dish in the oven, covered, at 180°C for 30 – 40 minutes.

To serve:

Spoon a good serving of the brown butter sauce onto each plate.

Carefully spoon 2 pieces of beef short rib onto the bread sauce along with a few onions. Pour some of the reduced sauce over the beef.

For over-the-top indulgence, drizzle over some chili butter and serve immediately