Irresistible Organic Beef ribs slow cooked with BBQ Beer sauce

We might sound wildly optimistic but here goes anyway…BBQ season is upon us!Well, it could be, for the brave amongst us. Or those clever enough to know that you don’t need 20° and sunshine to enjoy delicious BBQ food from the comfort of your own kitchen.There is absolutely no shame in cooking up a BBQ feast indoors and enjoying it on a nice dry chair. In fact, it’s a fantastic way to spend an evening. Better still, if the sun does show its face for a short while, you’re more than prepared to dash outside and soak it up. Win-win!So, in the spirit of well-prepared, optimistic grilling, here’s a fantastic recipe for beer glazed short rib of beef with home-made BBQ beer sauce. 

(This picture has just sold it for you, hasn’t it?) This one comes from Paul aka the Yorkshire Gourmet, friend of Swillington and co-host of our Fire & Dine events (find out about the last one in our review here).Here are his brilliant recipes in full for you to try out at home – either on the BBQ or in your oven: 

The Beer Glazed Short Rib of Swillington Organic Beef

 Invest some time into making these organic beef short ribs and you’ll be rewarded with deep-flavoured meat that falls off the bone. The meat is cured in a spice rub for 24 hours then slow cooked in the oven for 3 hours. Finish the ribs with the BBQ Beer Sauce either in the oven or over some hot coals on the barbecue.Ingredients:1.5kg Swillington Organic Farm Grass Fed Short Rib of BeefOlive OilDry Cure Salt / Spice Rub:2tbsp Sea Salt2tsp Black Pepper, freshly ground1tsp Ground Ginger2tsp La Chinata Smoked Paprika1tsp Cayenne Pepper1tsp Ground Cumin1tbsp Mixed Dried HerbsBraising Liquor:1 Onion, peeled and chopped1 Large Carrot, peeled and chopped3 Garlic Cloves, peeled and chopped500ml Leeds Brewery’s Midnight Bell Premium Dark Ale (4.8% ABV)500ml Beef Stock2 Bay Leaves2 Thyme Sprigs1 Small bunch of Flat Leaf Parsley1 Tin of Plum Tomatoes8 Black Peppercorns, crushedMethod:

  1. First you need to cure the meat for 24 hours or overnight. Mix all the dry ingredients together then rub it into the short rib of beef, place the meat pieces into a large glass or plastic bowl and scatter the remaining spice rub over the meat. Cover with cling film and refrigerate.
  2. Take the meat out of the fridge about an hour before you intend to cook it. Rinse the spice rub off the meat under cold running water then pat the meat dry on kitchen paper.
  3. Preheat the oven to 200°C. In a large flameproof casserole pan, add a glug of olive oil over a medium heat then brown the meat in batches, transfer the meat to a warm plate.
  4. Pour off any excess oil leaving a little in the pan to briefly sauté the onion and carrot, then add the chopped garlic. Soften the vegetables but don’t brown them. Pour in some of the beer to deglaze the pan scraping up all the brown bits (there’s lots of flavour there). Put the meat back into the pan then pour in the rest of the beer followed by the remaining ingredients. Bring the braising liquor just to the boil on the hob before covering the contents of the pan with a sheet of greaseproof paper. This is to keep the meat moist during cooking as any meat that becomes exposed above the liquid will be protected by the greaseproof paper which stops it from drying out.
  5. Put the lid on the casserole pan then put the pan in the preheated oven and cook for 3 hours. If you intend to finish the ribs with the sauce on the barbecue then light the barbecue before the end of the cooking time.
  6. Remove the meat from the braising liquor and transfer to a warm plate and brush the pieces with barbecue sauce. Finish the ribs on the barbecue over a moderate heat just enough to infuse the smoke from the coals and char the edges to your liking. Make sure the meat is well coated in the sauce. Alternatively, if you’re finishing cooking the ribs in the oven, transfer the pieces to an oven tray and brush generously with the sauce. Return the meat to the oven and cook for a further 10 to 15 minutes.

 

The Yorkshire Gourmet BBQ Beer Sauce

 For this recipe use Leeds Brewery’s Midnight Bell Dark Ale. If you can’t obtain Midnight Bell Dark Ale then substitute it for a similar dark ale, try and avoid anything too bitter or too strong otherwise you’ll have a bit of extra work balancing the flavour.Depending on the beer you choose, tweak the flavour with an extra splash of vinegar, soy, Henderson’s Relish or honey if you think the sauce needs it and keep tasting it as it cooks. The ingredient quantities specified here are balanced to the ale. I created this sauce specifically for brushing over beef short ribs on the barbecue but it’ll also taste great with pork ribs or slathered onto a burger.You can even pour it into a sterilised bottle and it’ll keep for a couple of weeks in the fridge.Ingredients:1 Medium Red Onion (peeled and roughly chopped)2 Cloves of Garlic (peeled and crushed)1 Scotch Bonnet Chilli (de-seeded)1 Fresh Red Chilli (de-seeded)2tsp Root Ginger (peeled and finely grated)40g Unsalted Butter1tbsp Olive Oil2tbsp Soft Dark Brown Sugar1tsp Colman’s English Mustard Powder1tsp La Chinata Smoked Paprika1/2tsp Chipotle Chilli Flakes500ml Leeds Brewery’s Midnight Bell Premium Dark Ale (4.8% ABV)400ml Tomato Ketchup4tbsp Henderson’s Relish4tbsp White Wine Vinegar2tbsp Dark Soy Sauce2tbsp Runny Honey3tbsp Tomato Puréea splash of Hickory Liquid Smokea few drops of Tabasco2 Bay LeavesSea SaltMethod:

  1. Put the red onion, garlic, chillies and root ginger into a blender and blitz until the mixture is smooth.
  2. Melt the butter in a medium-sized pan then add the olive oil. Add the blended onion, garlic, chillies and ginger and cook over a medium heat for about 8 minutes until soft but not browned.
  3. Add the sugar, honey, mustard powder, paprika, chipotle chilli flakes and stir until the mixture is smooth.
  4. Add the rest of the ingredients (apart from the salt) and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer gently for about an hour, stirring from time to time, until the sauce has thickened. The flavour will develop as it cooks (and mellow slightly after), check the seasoning and add a sprinkle of sea salt to taste towards the end of cooking. For a smoother finish, put the sauce in a blender then pass through a sieve.

Fancy having a go? Simply order your organic short rib of beef from our online shop, or stop by the farm shop and pick one up.We’ve got summer dates lined up for the next Fire & Dine events, where you will be treated to some of the Yorkshire Gourmet’s delicious off-grid cooking. Find out more here. Keep up to date with all of Swillington’s other events and Meet Ups over on our events page, or by following us on Twitter and Facebook.

RecipeSwillington Farm Team