Curried Beef Short Ribs with Creamy Coconut Rice

It would be tragic if I didn’t give this dish some recognition. A contestant in my Calphalon Slow Cooker contest, it wasn’t the ultimate winner, but it was a very close second place.

The recipe was submitted by Traci Wilbur, saying, “This is one of my absolute faves. It’s an easy ‘comfort’ meal plus fabulous when we have guests.”  I completely agree, it is a perfect dish for dinner guests, as I myself served it to seven friends at a dinner party.

Those seven friends then proceeded to rave about it, deeming it one of the best meals they’d ever eaten. (Granted, there had been a couple of  bottles of wine consumed before sitting down to dinner, but still.)

Ultimately, when it came down to making the final decision, the fact that it was a bit more complicated and time consuming than your typical crockpot meal knocked it down a few points. Also, I think the coconut rice I cooked to go along with the beef had a lot to do with my friends going ga-ga over the dish. The combination of the curry flavors in the beef and the creamy richness of the rice were just out of this world!

Even though I did a bit of tweaking to end up with the amazing final product, I am so thankful that Traci pointed me to these curried short ribs, and as a show of my gratitude, I’m giving her a little something too!

You know those cookies I raved about yesterday? Well, Traci, I’m going to send you a dozen! Be on the lookout for an email from me and then get back to me with the flavor you’d like :-)

Curried Beef Short Ribs with Creamy Coconut Rice

Serves 8. Short Ribs adapted from Cooking Light and Coconut Rice from Me.

Print Recipe

Ingredients:

Curried Beef Short Ribs

2 tsp canola oil

2 lbs boneless beef short ribs, trimmed

1 1/2 tsp kosher salt, divided

1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper, divided

1/3 cup minced shallots

3 Tbsp minced garlic

3 Tbsp minced peeled fresh ginger

1/4 cup water

2 Tbsp red curry paste

1/4 cup light coconut milk

1 Tbsp sugar

1 Tbsp fish sauce

1 tsp grated lime rind

1 Tbsp fresh lime juice

Coconut Rice

2 cups brown basmati rice

1 3/4 cups light coconut milk (this is the remainder of the can from above)*

1 can coconut milk

1 1/4 cup water

1/2 tsp salt

1 Tbsp olive oil

Directions:

Curried Beef Short Ribs:

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle ribs with 3/4 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Add half of ribs to pan; cook 2 minutes on each side or until browned. Place ribs in an electric slow cooker. Repeat procedure with remaining ribs.

Add shallots, garlic, and ginger to pan; sauté 2 minutes. Stir in 1/4 cup water and curry paste; cook 1 minute. Stir in coconut milk, sugar, and fish sauce. Add coconut milk mixture to cooker. Cover and cook on LOW 6 hours.

Remove ribs from cooker; keep warm. Strain cooking liquid through a colander over a bowl; set solids aside. Place a zip-top plastic bag inside a 2-cup glass measure. Pour cooking liquid into bag; let stand 10 minutes (fat will rise to the top). Seal bag; carefully snip off 1 bottom corner of bag. Drain drippings into a small bowl, stopping before fat layer reaches opening; discard fat. Stir in remaining 3/4 teaspoon salt, remaining 1/8 teaspoon pepper, rind, and juice. Pour back into crock pot, adding the leftover solids of shallots, garlic and ginger. Shred rib meat with 2 forks and add back into crock pot. Mix together, and then serve by spooning onto plates over the coconut rice.

Creamy Coconut Rice:

Rinse rice in cold water to remove excess starch. Combine rice, coconut milk, water, oil and salt in a heavy saucepan. Allow mixture to rest for 15 minutes. Bring mixture to boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to low setting, cover with tight fitting lid and simmer for 35 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat, fluff with fork and serve.

*A 2-cup measure of dry basmati rice needs to cook with a total of 5 cups of liquid. Each can of coconut milk is about 2 cups (usually just slightly less)

I chose to use the remainder of the open can of light coconut milk, which equated to approximately 1 3/4 cups. To ensure creaminess, I then used 1 full can of regular coconut milk, which equals almost 2 cups. To make up the difference, I added the rest in water.

You can choose to use all coconut milk if you want, which should result in an even creamier final product.