The beauty of cooking meat in a slow cooker is it comes out falling off the bone. And the time it spends marinating low and slow infuses the meat with wonderful aromas and flavours.
We were looking for a new beer to try with slow-done beef ribs. Then we discovered a great stout just last week – Railway City Brewing’s Black Coal.
Paul Corriveau, a founder of the brewery and its director of business development, gave Steve and I a great tour of St. Thomas – aka The Railways City – and its namesake brewery. We later joined a taproom packed with regulars for Wednesday night trivia, pizza and a taste of their award-winning craft beers.
Black Coal, we discovered, opens with a bitter-sweet chocolate that melts into a roasted coffee finish. It won a gold medal at the Canadian Brewing Awards. We found it incredibly drinkable.
After eight hours in a minimally seasoned mixture of beef stock and Black Coal, the meat was dark and charred on the outside, rare red on the inside and tender enough to cut with a fork. It had a nice depth of rich flavouring and toasted coffee finish.
We’ll be profiling Railway City early in the New Year. In the meantime, try this beef rib recipe with Black Coal or, really, any of your favourite craft beers.
Ingredients:
30 mL olive oil (2 tablespoons)
1.36 kg bone in beef ribs (approx 3 lbs) ((we used back ribs, not short ribs))
1 onion, diced
500 mL sliced celery (2 cups)
500 mL sliced carrots (2 cups)
6 cloves garlic, smashed
15 mL dried Thyme (1 tablespoon)
15 mL dried Sage (1 tablespoon)
473 mL (1 can) Black Coal Stout from Railway City Brewing Co. (or your go-to favourite craft beer)
1000 mL beef broth (32oz / 4 cups)
3 bay leaves
Kosher Salt (to taste)
Fresh cracked pepper (to taste)
45 mL corn starch (3 tablespoons)
84 mL heavy cream (1/3 cup)
Fresh parsley for garnish
Instructions:
Heat oil in a large sauce pan over medium heat.
Sear ribs, 1-2 minutes per side until a dark brown crust forms, remove ribs & set aside.
Add onion, carrot, celery and a large pinch of salt & pepper to the pan. Cook, stirring frequently, for 10 minutes.
Reduce heat to medium and add smashed garlic, sage and thyme. Cook for one minute stirring frequently.
Transfer veggies to the slow cooker. Add the seared ribs.
Add beer, beef broth, bay leaves and another couple of large pinches of salt & pepper.
Cover & cook on low for 8 hours until the beef falls off the bone and shreds easily.
Gravy instructions:
Remove 750 mL (3 cups) of braising liquid from the slow cooker, pour through a strainer into a small sauce pan over medium heat.
Combine cornstarch with 45 mL (32 tablespoons) of cold water until dissolved. Add to the sauce pan and stir to combine.
Simmer braising liquid over medium to medium-low heat for about 5 minutes or until it thickens significantly (and almost seems TOO thick). Remove from heat and stir in the heavy cream. Season to taste with salt & pepper.
Serve with: mashed potatoes, grits or mac and cheese.
Thanks to Kylie for her slow cooker recipe at midwestfoodieblog.com/slow-cooker-beer-braised-beef-short-ribs/
Beer Bards 