This recipe comes from the mother in-law who happens to be a gourmet cook in her own right. Last year for the Chirstmas holiday, she prepared this delicious short rib recipe and this year Laura decided to give it a whirl. Now please bear in mind that the recipe that we used has been tried and adjusted as needed and is not quite the same as the original.

Ingredients:
Seasonings:
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp chile powder
1/2 tsp ground coriander

Meat:
8 – 3 inch long meaty beef short ribs

Sauce:
2 Tbs olive oil
1 1/2 cup chopped white onion
6 large cloves of garlic, minced
1 14oz. can low-sodium chicken broth
1 cup canned diced tomatoes, drained
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1 1/2 Tbs canned chipotle chiles, seeded & diced

Directions:
Add/mix seasonings. Generously season all the sides of the ribs (roll ribs in seasoning). Put ribs in an air tight tupperware container and refrigerate overnight.**Seasoning recipe can be doubled as needed.

Throw oil into LeCreuset pan (large dutch oven). Fry the seasoned ribs in olive oil until browned on all sides. Transfer ribs to plate.

Reduce heat to medium. Add onions & garlic to pot. Cook until transparent. The add broth and bring to a boil. Add tomatoes, lime juice & chipotles. Let simmer until sauce becomes slightly gooey. Return ribs to pot, cover with sauce and put entire dutch oven into the oven for 1 1/2 hours at 350 degrees.

Not very pretty straight out of the oven, but the smell is delicious!

Serving:
To serve, remove bones from the ribs – they will most likely have become separated from the meat while in the oven. Serve the ribs over a serving of garlic mashed potatoes and cover with some of the sauce from the pan.

The final dish won’t be so spicy that you can’t serve to your holiday guests, but it will be spicy enough to make your tastebuds notice. The ribs come out of the oven so tender that you can cut them with a fork and the chunky sauce makes the best topping. The original recipe can be found here – it calls for a ton of cilantro and a green chile sauce to finish instead of the red sauce from the pot. Try it out and let me know what you think!