slow cooker cabernet short ribs

holy cow (maybe minus the "holy" and amp up the "cow") these slow cooker short ribs with cabernet sauce are yummersons! i know, "yummersons" is super dorky but it is what it is. deal with it! i'm learning more and more that slow cooker recipes really are the way to go. set it and forget it. yes please! all you've done this morning is throw some ingredients into a cooker, plugged that bad boy in, and voila(!) you come home and dinner is practically served, thanks to you and all that thinking ahead you did.

one evening with nothing to do, we decided to prep some stuff for these short ribs for the following day. typically you just toss some meat, seasonings and liquid of some sort into the cooker, set it to high or low and leave it for hours to cook, but this recipe requires a little more prep work than that. it's totally worth it though. we got the recipe here and pretty much followed it exactly except that we'd bought less meat. it came out wonderfully tender, flavorful, juicy and the meat practically slipped off the bone! we served it with some sauteed kale and rosemary roasted potatoes to round out the dinner. without them we'd feel like cavemen.

cabernet short ribs

ingredients:

- 3 1/2 lbs short ribs
- 2 shallots, minced
- 3 celery stalks, diced
- 2 tbs vegetable oil
- 2 1/2 c cabernet (we used Barefoot, like the recipe said)
- 1 c beef broth
- 3 tbs brown sugar
- 2 tbs tomato paste
- 1 1/2 tbs all purpose flour
- salt & pepper

directions:

1. heat oil in skillet over high heat
2. season short ribs with salt & pepper
3. brown short ribs in pan on all sides
4. remove short ribs from pan and place in slow cooker
5. in the same skillet, reduced to medium heat, cook shallots and diced celery until tender and translucent
6. add tomato paste and cook for a few minutes
7. stir in wine and beef broth
8. add brown sugar, salt and pepper until brown sugar has melted down
9. sprinkle in flour while constantly stirring so that it doesn't form clumps
10. bring sauce to a boil, then reduce to simmer for a few minutes.
11. pour sauce over ribs in slow cooker
12. cook on high for eight hours