Deck's Coca-Cola Braised Short Ribs

Every now and then a group of guys get together to watch sports and eat meat, a day known as Meat Day.  When I received my first invitation to a Meat Day, I knew I wanted to make something that would assure I got a second invitation.  After a bit of consideration, I decided that I wanted to do a Coca-Cola braised short rib; trying to infuse some sweet and some spice to my Meat Day offering.  However, after looking online for a recipe, I couldn't find anything that I really liked.  Many of them had a lot of different ingredients, or were braised at a high temperature.  After, a few different sites, I just decided to do it on my own and come up with a recipe.  I don't know if you would call this so much of a braise since I ended up using the slow cooker, and quite a few ribs were completely submerged, but it definitely produced the result I was looking for.

This recipe is very simple, but it does take a bit of prep time.  You start seasoning a minimum of 12 hours prior to placing the ribs in the slow cooker, and then let them cook for at least 6 hours.  But it's worth it when the meat develops a buttery texture that just falls off the bone!

Deck's Coca-Cola Braised Short Ribs

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

4 lbs. Beef Short Ribs
2 Liter Coca-Cola
~30 Bing Cherries
1/2 lb. thick cut bacon
3 Fresno chiles
1 small onion
1 cup chicken stock

2 tablespoons Worchestershire Sauce

Dry Rub:

1 Tbsp Cinnamon

1 Tbsp Ground Nutmeg

2 Tbsp Light Brown Sugar

1 Tbsp Paprika

1 Tbsp Garlic Powder

1 tsp Jalepeno Pepper

2 tsp Ancho Chile Pepper

1 Tbsp Black Pepper

Step 1 - About 12-24 hours prior to cooking, salt and pepper the ribs.  Leave them out at room temperature for about 30 minutes before recovering and putting back into the refrigerator. 

Step 2 - 6 to 12 hours after salting, pull the ribs back out of the refrigerator, and liberally coat with the dry rub.  Again, allow the ribs to sit out for about 30 minutes before returning them to the refrigerator.

Step 3 - After the ribs have had time to absorb the flavors from the spice rub, they will need to be browned before adding to the slow cooker.  Heat a couple tablespoons of oil in a sauce pan.  Lightly dredge the ribs in some flour.  Then quickly brown all sides, about 1-2 minutes per side.  Add the browned ribs to the slow cooker.

Step 4 - While the ribs are browning, pit and cut the cherries in half.  Also slice the Fresno chiles, cut the onion into 8 pieces, and cut the bacon into large chunks.  All of this can be put into the slow cooker at this point.

Step 5 - Once all of the ingredients have been added to the slow cooker, add the braising liquids.  Start by adding about a cup of the Coca-Cola first.  Then add the chicken stock and the Worchestershire Sauce.  Finish by adding enough Coca-Cola to have the pot just more than 3/4 full.  All of the ribs should be at least 1/2 covered by the liquid.

Step 6 - Set your slow cooker to low, and set the timer for 6 hours, and let it go.  At the end of the cooking time, you can leave it in the pot on warm for up to 6 hours before putting it into the refrigerator.  At this point, you can also pour some of the liquid into a sauce pan to reduce and make a sauce.  Be sure to skim off the fat from the sauce.

That's all.  The ribs should be very tender and succulent with just a bit of heat, and pull right away from the bone.