I Tried Smitten Kitchen’s Short Rib Onion Soup and It’s the Most Comforting Recipe I Made All Year (2024)

FAQs

Why are my braised short ribs tough? ›

If they aren't braised long enough, they can be super tough to eat; if they are cooked too long, the meat will just fall apart. The key to preparing short ribs is to cook them until they reach a point that is just before they would fall apart.

During ancient times (and still today), onions were cheap and easy to grow, and hence, readily available. For the poor, the onion was a savior, with onion soups being popular during the Roman times. In fact, a version of the recipe first appeared in Taillevent's 14th-century cookbook, Viandier.

With such a soup, a knife is your friend, not your enemy. Using both the soup spoon and the knife, push the baked cheese against the rim of the cup or bowl and cut it gently with the knife. Once you've broken the cheese barrier, you can use the knife again to nudge bits of cheese onto the spoon.

To prepare the meat for braising, the traditional way halmonis and ummas would make it is to soak the meat in water for a minimum of an hour. This way, you remove the iron which sometimes turns into impurities and has a metallic odor when cooked.

These ribs are chunky, with plenty of meat surrounding the bones and dense fat marbling throughout. This flavoursome fat and connective tissue means that beef short ribs need long, slow cooking in order to become tender.

If you cook beef back ribs to around 135F, you end up with something that is quite edible, but, quite rare. If you cook it over that, they get tough to chew, and the fat renders poorly. Then around 195F or so, it gets tender and moist (not juicy, moist).

A few sprigs of thyme and a bay leaf elevate the soup even more, but I take it a step further, adding a splash of fish sauce for complexity and depth—don't worry, it won't taste fishy—and a hit of cider vinegar to balance some of that oniony sweetness.

What is the Difference Between Onion Soup and French Onion Soup? French onion soup is always made with beef stock. Other onion soups can be made with chicken, vegetable, or beef stock. Additionally, French onion soup typically contains wine or sherry, which isn't typical or necessary in other onion soups.

Wounded Viking warriors ate strong onion soup.

If a man was wounded in the stomach during a battle, women would feed them a potent onion soup. If they could smell the broth through the wound, they knew the stomach wall was cut—signaling that the man would not survive his wounds.

Eating with your hands is considered impolite, so make sure to tuck into that steak frites with your knife and fork. Notable exceptions include bread and certain dishes including asparagus. One thing you may have noticed in France is people do not cut their salads. Do so, and you might receive a few funny looks.

Is French onion soup good for your gut? ›

Onions are a great source of soluble fibre and therefore a good prebiotic; food for the good gut bacteria. Optimal gut health is crucial for weight loss and this delicious soup provides great nutrients to help boost weight loss as part of a weight management programme.

French onion soup is the ultimate comfort food. Onions get slowly cooked until sweet and caramelized, then simmered in rich broth until they're practically falling apart. To finish it off, toasted bread is added to give it that lovable crisp-gone-soggy texture and a generous amount of Gruyère cheese is melted on top.

Since short ribs come from the area between the chuck and rib, they combine characteristics of both cuts. Short ribs get the rich marbling of rib steaks with the deep beefy flavor of chuck roast. In short, they're an indulgent treat for anyone who loves beef and a real “stick to your rib” (haha) comfort food.

Braising, which is actually slow simmering (after browning in a bit of oil or butter), brings irresistibly tender and boldly flavored results to this meaty cut of beef. Because short ribs require long, slow cooking for tenderness and flavor, braising is the perfect technique for cooking them.

Most recipes for marinating meat and poultry recommend six hours up to 24 hours. It is safe to keep the food in the marinade longer, but after two days it is possible that the marinade can start to break down the fibers of the meat, causing it to become mushy.

Don't Overcook the Beef.

Believe it or not, it is possible to braise short ribs for too long. While you want the short ribs to be fall-apart tender, cooking them too long will result in ribs that are mushy.

To keep meat tender yet safe during braising, you must maintain an important balance. Cooking temperatures must be high enough to kill microorganisms, yet not so high that the meat toughens. Use a thermometer to check the temperature of the surrounding stock and keep it at a simmer of 180 F/82 C-190 °F/88 °C.

The long, slow cook time helps develop flavor and turn even the toughest meat cuts fork-tender. One of the most popular types of braised beef is pot roast, which is usually a chuck or round roast with added vegetables.

Your ribs will be tough either because you didn't cook them long enough, or you cooked them too long at a high setting. If the latter, they will also be dried out. How do I make my beef short ribs tender? For tender beef short ribs, cook them “slow and low.” A slow cooker (Crock Pot) is ideal for this method.