Feeding My Inner Fat Kid: Short Ribs and Molay Molay Molay!

This is technically just short ribs and "mole" (pronounced mol-ay), but my irreverent brain kept cheering "Molay molay molay!" throughout the afternoon, like Austin Powers in that scene where the kid from Wonder Years has a huge mole on his face. The mole in this recipe is a traditional Mexican sauce that has a vast number of variations. Most recipes are way more complicated than what I created today, but I went with what was already in my kitchen and it turned out pretty good, in my opinion.

The idea for the short ribs came from a review for the restaurant I wrote about last weekend, Flour Restaurant in Moreland Hills, Ohio. In this review, the chefs admitted that they simmer their short ribs in chocolate milk. This sounded so odd that I absolutely had to try it. By the way, this recipe could probably be cut in half... we're going to be eating short ribs and mole for months.

Equipment needed:

Food processor or blender

Large skillet (preferably cast iron) - my cast iron skillet is 11 3/4" in diameter and about 2 inches deep. A dutch oven or deep sauce pan would also work.

Metal tongs

Slow cooker

Ingredients:

4 1/2 lbs short ribs

1 T canola oil

1/2 cup red wine (cabernet or a spanish wine is best)

1 quart chocolate milk

Sauce group one:

7 oz. chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (1 small can)

2 T unsweetened cocoa

1 T garlic powder

1 t cinnamon

1 t cumin

1 t chili pepper

2 T cilantro

1/4 t ground cloves

Sauce group two:

2 T butter

1/2 yellow onion (diced)

1 T minced garlic

1 28-oz can whole stewed tomatoes
1 t salt

4oz semi-sweet chocolate chips (1/3 bag)

3 T peanut butter (preferably natural/unsweetened)

Mix peppers and spices (sauce group one) in a food processor or blender until smooth. Rub canola oil on inside of cold cast iron skillet until pan is covered. Heat empty skillet on medium-high heat. Using a butter knife or small spatula, smear this mixture on all sides of the short ribs. Sear the short ribs in the hot skillet, only a minute or two on each side so each one is brown on the outside but not cooked through. Metal tongs are handy for this part for easy meat-handling. Set aside on a plate until all ribs have been seared. Searing the meat like this helps keep the juices inside while cooking. Once finished with the meat, turn the skillet down to low and immediately add the wine, stirring and scraping the bottom of the pan with a spatula. Add the rest of the pepper/spice mixture (whatever you didn't use on the meat) and 1/2 cup of water, stir, and leave on low heat. Stir often so it doesn't burn.

There's just something therapeutic about spending a Sunday afternoon stirring sauce.

While sauce is stewing, pour 1 quart chocolate milk into empty slow cooker. Arrange seared short ribs in the milk so they are mostly submerged. Cover and cook for 4 hours on high heat.

In a separate skillet, melt butter on medium heat. Add minced garlic and cook for a minute or two before adding diced onion. Cook until onion is soft but not turning brown. Remove from heat. In food processor or blender, combine onions, garlic, and can of tomatoes; blend until smooth. Stir this mixture in to the sauce that is already cooking in the large skillet. Add salt. Add chocolate chips, stirring until melted. Add peanut butter, stirring until melted.

Keep this sauce on low heat for the next few hours (until meat is done), stirring often and occasionally adding 1/2 cup of water if sauce is becoming too thick. "Too thick" means thicker than your average store-bought tomato sauce. "Stirring often" means every few minutes. When I make recipes that require this much attention, I use the time between stirs to do dishes, clean the kitchen, and call family, so I'm not really just standing at the stove all afternoon.

After 4 hours, remove short ribs from slow cooker and serve with mole on top. Today I served them with purple mashed potatoes on the side, because Dr. Oz told me to eat purple potatoes and it sounded like a fun idea. Freeze excess mole and use it in the future as a sauce for chicken or enchiladas.