Short Ribs Braised in Ancho Chile Sauce

Rave reviews from guests. Couple of suggestions. For nine people (including three teenage boys), I doubled the recipe and there was almost nothing left over. I served it over polenta, which I love. I added some red wine, molasses and salt to the gravy because it needed a little something more. Finally, next time, I would ask the butcher to trim off more fat. I know that short ribs are very fatty, but I skimmed of a huge amount of fat and still found it slightly greasy. The sauce was more than enough and I even have about two cups left over.

• kbaynes

• Albany, NY

• 11/16/2014

At this point, I have made this recipe at least 7x and should add my take. This has come out great everytime and company always enjoys these as well. Sometimes I mix the dried chiles up but find the recommended ones are the most flavorful. Using the canned adobo sauce has worked well. I have an espresso machine and make a half cup of coffee from a 3-shot basket. I think this is very important for richness. Some people may have had theirs go dry due to either not covering it tightly enough or remembering to make up the liquid maybe from throwing their chile soak out. I don't know, of course, but since having enough sauce has never been even close to a problem those are my guesses.

• msojka

• Northern CA

• 12/6/2013

I made this recipe as written and the results were fabulous. I returned to this recipe when I needed to serve a group of hungry guys. I used pork shoulder rather than short ribs and it was fantastic. Great depth of flavor. Didn't have Ancho chiles so used Guajillos instead and served it with soft polenta. Received rave reviews.

• cinderellarose

• Salem, OR

• 10/29/2012

Excellent and easy...

• Anonymous

• 3/2/2012

OMG my neighbor made this and served this to us tonight. Can not say enough good things. Served this with -- goat cheese mashed potatoes of all things... to die for. :)

• gidget265

• 12/31/2011

Excellent. Used 2-3 lbs of pork ribs and 1/2 the recipie for sauce. Cooked 2 hr 20 min- probably could have done less, maybe 1:45. Sauce almost all evaporated in the last hour, and I had to reconstitute with beef broth. Very tasty, will definately make this again. Easy, took 30 min to prep. Served with polenta and salad. Yum.

• Olas

• 10/24/2011

我喜欢这道菜,味道混合that you cannot detect the use of coffee. My addition is a few drops of orange blossom water just before serving - gives a nice high note!

• astartesands

• Vancouver BC

• 8/14/2010

We've made these twice now in two weeks. The first time, we used a small number of ribs, and I didn't pay much attention to it while it was cooking. The liquid did get quite low, but the sauce was really rich. This time we got a larger quantity (not quite the 6lbs it called for - my dutch oven won't accommodate that amount) and I kept my eye on it. There was no problem with the sauce evaporating. Both times I've substituted amber beer for the ancho chili water, and made a day in advance so I could skim the fat. The whole time it's cooking our eyes are watering! Yet it's not spicy at all when it's done. Make sure you've got your kitchen fan on. Maybe open a door...

• Anonymous

• Toronto, ON

• 3/28/2010

Super bland in my opinion. I made this for a dinner party of 15. I did it on mashed potatoes. I could just taste meat and heat out of the ribs so at the last minute I threw together a gorgonzola sauce and it saved the day but without that this would have been extremely disappointing.

• Meghpanek

• 1/31/2010

This recipe turned out amazing. The only changes I made was instead of using the Dried Ancho Chile and the water, I used only the chipotles and substituted in a dark beer. YUM! Served it w/ creamed spinach and mashed potatoes. There were no left overs!

• kojalvo

• 9/3/2009

this came out great and we eat short ribs a lot. I made with only 2 lbs ribs and used 3 cloves of garlic and a medium onion. I did have to add more liquid after 90 mins and again an hour later. We served it on cruchy potatoes.

• cohensa

• Cambridge, MA

• 5/12/2009

We made this for Passover Seder, and it got rave reviews from picky family members. The gravy is fantastic over potato kugel, and only bones came back to the kitchen. While mixing & cooking, the spice blend smelled quite strong, but all the chile mellowed. It was tangy and flavorful, but there wasn't any heat to scare away the delicate palates in the group. Variations as follows: Substituted ancho chile powder and beef broth, to save time. (Didn't really measure, but appx 1 Tbl per pound) Added some New Mexico Chile powder for fun. Added much more coffee to the liquid. Browned the ribs in a dry pan at 450 for 1 hour, instead of browning on the stove. Braised at 250 for 4 hours & refrigerated overnight. Skimmed off a ton of fat & reheated at 300 the following evening. An easy recipe. Would do this again.

• lorinrobyn

• Brooklyn, NY

• 4/10/2009

I made this twice...first time following the recipe exactly including preparing a day in advance. I found the flavor good but wanting so I added a stick of cinnamon when I reheated it and the result was fabulous. The second time I made it with country style pork (no bone), this time adding some chuncks of orange zest upon reheating. The pork version was lighter and delicious.

• bizdsign

• NY

• 4/6/2009

I tripled the maple syrup and was glad I did; doubled the coffee and that was good too. I added half again more chipotle and I think it's a little too hot. I cooked it for 8 hours in a slow cooker on low and the meat is perfect. It's missing something, though, I think it's what the port/red wine adds in other short rib recipes. Next time I'll try sweet vermouth instead of the maple.

• gordony

• NJ

• 2/16/2009

I was far from ancho chiles when I made this recipe and had to make it without the anchos, but with everything else. It was still so delicious I had to make it twice!

• Anonymous

• Benzonia, MI & Seattle WA

• 1/21/2009