Jim Cohen’s Sephardic Short Ribs

Supper underway in the crockpot … bread rising in the oven for fresh bread … and chicken thawing for tomorrow’s Supper: I am on top of things today ;-)

Tonight we will be eating a favorite recipe Jim Cohen has cooked for The Lodge at Vail, Colorado. This recipe is delicious and can be made using flanken, short ribs, or brisket; I use Country Ribs … and cook this meal in my crockpot adding the flour to make a gravy AFTER the meal has cooked ;-)

Short Ribs on left; Flanken on right

Jim Cohen’s Sephardic Short Ribs ~ serves 8

4 pounds Flanken (or beef short ribs) * Salt & Pepper to taste * Flour for dredging * ¼ cup Olive Oil * 2 Onions, diced * 1 teaspoon chopped fresh Ginger * 1 teaspoon Cinnamon * 3 cups Orange Juice * 2 cups dried pitted prunes * 2 cups dried Apricots * 4 cups Chicken Stock * ½ cup hot red pepper sauce * Saffron Rice (or mashed potatoes)

Season the meat with salt and pepper and dredge with flour. Heat the oil in a large sauté pan and brown the meat on all sides. Remove from pan.

In the same pan, over medium heat, sauté the onions and ginger until the onions are transparent. Sprinkle the cinnamon over the onions. Stir in juice, stirring and scraping up the browned bits from the pan.

Put the ribs in a heavy casserole. Pour sauce over the ribs. Add ½ the prunes, ½ the apricots, the stock, and red pepper sauce. Cover and cook in a preheated 350-degree oven until the ribs are tender – about 2-1/2 hours. (If you use a 5-pound Brisket, cook for 3 hours)

Cool and refrigerate a few hours or overnight; remove the fat that congeals on the top.

A half hour before serving, plum the remaining apricots and prunes in warm water.

Puree the sauce in a food processor or blender and reheat with the meat and serve with the plumped fruits and saffron rice or mashed potatoes.

**CROCKPOT METHOD: Put all ingredients into crockpot and set to LOW cooking for 6 to 8 hours until meat is cooked through. Remove meat from juice and keep warm in oven. Cook rice or potatoes and add flour to rib juice to make a gravy. When rice or potatoes are done, remove meat from oven and serve with gravy. Simple! And yummy too :-D