Low Country Boil with High Performance Cookers
April 13, 2025Braised Beef Ribs
Traditional BBQ is a slow-cooked culinary art rooted in deep culture and tradition. It involves smoking meats low and slow over wood or charcoal, allowing smoke to penetrate and add additional flavor to the meat. Traditional BBQ is centered around the meat, where sides are sometimes considered almost a distraction.
Recipes like these braised beef ribs deviate from traditional BBQ recipes and instead utilize those low and slow techniques to add additional complexity and flavor to dishes that are not usually in the BBQ cannon. It includes both traditional BBQ and traditional French techniques and flavors to celebrate both forms of cuisine in one dish.
One of the major components of this recipe is the braising liquid. I like to make my own out of homemade stock, but if you wanted to cut down on some of the time and effort, you could absolutely pick up a high quality beef broth and use that in place.
Broth can be an expensive recipe, if you are purchasing everything you need, just to make it. Instead, make your stock with your leftovers and scraps. Save them all up in bags in the freezer until you have enough. Then, rather than costing you money, your stock is essentially saving you from wasting your money.
I like to make my stock in advance and freeze in an ice cube tray. Then when I am ready to make gravy, I just pull out a few cubes and I’m good to go.
Beef Stock From Scratch
Ingredients
- 5 to 6 pounds beef bones and trimmings.
- 2 medium onions, quartered
- 2 large carrots, peeled and cut into 2-inch pieces
- 2 stalks celery, with leaves, cut into 2-inch pieces
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 3 1/2 quarts water, divided
- 1 large bay leaf, or 2 small bay leaves
- 3 to 4 sprigs fresh parsley
- 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme, or 1 to 2 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns
Method
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Preheat oven or smoker to 400F. Start by trimming off any of the large pockets of fat from your beef trimmings/bones. Some fat is fine. Lay out on a deep oven tray and cook for about 40 minutes, turning occasionally. The bones and beef should be a dark caramel brown color.
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Add onions, carrots and celery to the pan. Coat evenly with oil. Return to the heat for another hour, turning a few times so that the mixture roasts evenly.
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Add the roasted vegetables and beef to a large stock pot. Discard any excess grease from the pan. Add 1 T of tomato paste and cook over medium heat until the bottom of the pan develops those brown crispy pieces.
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Remove vegetables and bones from the pot. Add 2 cups of water to the pan to deglaze. Scrape up all of those brown bits-These bring a lot of flavor.
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Return the mixture back to the pot and add 3 qts water. The liquid should just cover the bones. If it doesn’t, add a little more.
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Add bay leaf, parsley, thyme and peppercorns. Bring to a boil over medium high heat, skimming off any scum that forms.
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Reduce heat to a simmer for 4-6 hours, or until the flavors become concentrated. Strain the liquid through cheesecloth and discard the vegetables and bones.
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Allow liquid to cool and fat to solidify. Remove the hard fat and discard. At this point, the stock can be used or frozen for later.
Braising Liquid
Ingredients
- 4 Cups homemade beef stock
- 4 T Butter
Method
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Place stock into a skillet over medium heat. Allow to simmer until the sauce has reduced by half.
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Turn off the heat and add cold butter. Whisk until fully incorporated.
Smoked Beef Ribs
Ingredients
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1 rack of Beef Short Ribs from Marbled
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4 T yellow mustard
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½ C Grim Reaper Rub (Get yours here)
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1 C Apple Cider Vinegar
Method
- Start by trimming up the ribs. Flip the ribs bone side down and remove the thick fat cap and the membrane beneath. Flip the ribs bone side up and lightly cut through the membrane between each bone. This will help improve smoke penetration.
- Coat all sides of your beef ribs with an even layer of yellow mustard, before liberally covering all sides with the Grim reaper rub. Across the bones, add a minimal coating of the rub.
- Preheat smoker to 250F and place on your favorite smoking wood. For beef this could be any fruit or hard wood, but hickory, oak and pecan are all popular. Place a water pan beneath the ribs. This will help to moisten the air in the smoker, as well as make clean up much easier.
- Place ribs bone side down, onto the grill grates and smoke indirect until ribs hit an internal temperature of 203F, which will take anywhere between 10-12 hours, depending on the ribs themselves.
- After the first 3 hours, spritz ribs with Apple Cider Vinegar every 90 minutes. This along with the Grim Reaper Rub and mustard binder, will help to build a great bark.
- Once internal temp is hit and beef ribs are probe tender, tent lightly in foil and allow ribs to rest for 60 minutes. Remove and slice between the bones to serve.
Mashed Potatoes with Chives
Ingredients
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4 lb potatoes (Yukon gold are great for mashing)
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1 ½ C whole milk
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½ C heavy cream
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1 head garlic, halved
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3 Sprigs rosemary
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2 sticks butter, room temp
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1 bunch of chives, finely chopped
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Salt & Pepper to taste
Method
- Place peeled potatoes in a large pot and pour in cold water to cover by 1". Season heavily with salt and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are very tender 30–35 minutes. Drain.
- Warm milk, cream and in a pot. Add garlic and rosemary and heat until fragrant.
- Pass hot potatoes through ricer. Add warmed milk mixture ½ cup at a time, stirring after each addition until smooth. Season with salt and pepper and add 3 T of diced chives.
Right before you are ready to serve, warm the braising liquid in a skillet and place the slice beef rib in the center, over medium heat. Spoon braising liquid over the rib for 10-15 minutes. You will see some disruption to the bark, but a thick, firm bark will mostly hold in place.
Lay down a base of the creamed potato, top with the braised beef rib and spoonful’s of the braising liquid. Top with more chives and serve immediately.
