I'm giving it one more try to find the Anchos. We have several chain grocery stores here in Calgary. They do carry chilis in cellophane pkgs but so far no Anchos. I always ask before I leave as well just in case but I'm getting the same answer. I'm pretty sure I saw the Pastillo chilis though - maybe they would work okay but if they aren't the same then I might not risk it just yet. We also have specialty food stores here and I've called several and no luck. One store that sometimes has them told me where try but even then no luck. If I don't find them today then I will make the peppercorn ribs which also look good. And while I'm on the topic of foods I can't find I had the same rotten luck finding Morel mushrooms. Found a lot of other ones but not morels! Thanks, everyone for your comments and wish me luck on my last attempt to get some (Anchos or Morels)!

I'm considering doing this with a large 4lb chuck roast. Wondering whether the halfway up the pot roast rule applies or the 2/3rds up the meat braising rule would apply. Any reason not to substitute a pot roast for the short ribs? Any tips on adding flavor to the browning portion? When doing a pot roast, I usually create a paste of garlic, salt, and rosemary and insert it into the roast before browning. Any suggestions on what I could do similarly to compliment the flavors of the Ancho Chiles?

Thanks,

David

I have not tried this myself but I am sure it would be good. As for adding more flavor, out of curiosity, have you tried this recipe before, as it already has quite a bit of flavor? And, as for the level of liquid I would go for the halfway up, as shown in the "How to Pot Roast lesson", which I am assuming of course you have watched :-). Good luck and let us know how it goes for you. Cheers!

dawn: I certainly have made it before and u r right....enough flavor. One question remains though. The ancho braised ribs suggest 350 degrees. Most of my pot roasts and certainly the recommendation on Rouxbe is to go low and slow with pot roast, e.g. 200ish. What is the recommendation if doing pot roast with this particular braising liquid? Any reason not to try 200 degree? Will I not get the same caramelization or flavor development in the sauce at 200? Thx!

No reason at all not to cook it at 200°F. You can read more about why this one was cooked at 350°F in this previous comment from page 2 of this thread. Good luck and enjoy it!

OK Dawn, last question. I would anticipate that at 225 degrees, we would be talking about an 8 hour braise, no different than in the slow cooker. Is this correct?

Second, is there any risk to combining slow and low for the first few hours, then finishing off at 350 degrees so as to speed up the process? If this heat combo could work, would it work better reversed, e.g. 350 for a few hours, then slow for the last few hours?

Advice?

You are right - slow and low is just like a slow cooker - nice, even heat. You can certainly turn up the heat but heat is heat no matter what and not matter at what point you decide to turn it up. Slow and low will give you the best results; however, if you are short on time, it's ok to turn it up a bit. The main thing to understand is why you are doing what you are doing and the impact it has on the results. That's all. It leaves you - the cook - in control to decide.

As for how long it will take to cook, there is no definite answer here. When I went to culinary school the answer was always "It is done when it's cooked" :-) Indeed at a lower temp it will take longer but again you just need to cook it until it is fork tender. This could take 4 hours, but then again it could take 6 hours. For more on this you may want to watch the lesson called Combination Cooking Fundamentals (and maybe even the Pot Roasting lesson).

Hope this helps. Cheers!

Dawn:
I noticed watching the video that the sauce you pour over the short ribs is actually quite thick. I've made this a few times, and my sauce is always very soupy. After removing the meat, do you ever reduce the leftover cooking liquid to concentrate the flavors?

Thanks,

David

By all means, if your sauce is thin, you can reduce it or thicken it as per the lessons. I have never had to do this for this particular recipe but it can certainly be done. Cheers!

Holy cow, I finally found them! Same store chain I hunted in before but different neighborhood. They are labelled Anchos on the store card, Pasilla negro on the pkg label, but they look like Anchos and not Pasilla's. They are dried but still raisony, and not really crispy. Either way, they are gonna go into this recipe. Still need to find decent short ribs though. I bought 5 lbs from a butcher and they are unbelievable inconsistent. Over a pound are lost as they are really only soup bones, there is that little meat on them. The remaining 3.5 lbs are really mixed - anywhere from 1/2" to 2" of meat. Some with a small bit of fat and some with tons of fat. They were only $4/lb while pricier butchers want $8/lb. Makes the dish a bit pricey if you want 6 lbs to serve 4 people. So now on the hunt for a decent butcher with decent prices.

Followed the recipe except subbed Pasillas for Anchos. Used only 3 of them as they looked like they might be a bit larger than Anchos. Also made the Chipotle paste and used 4 TB in the recipe. There is more than a little heat. In fact a lot of heat! According to the Scoville scale, the Pasillas are the same rating as Anchos, so don't know why the result is so hot. I can only assume that subbing Pasillas for Anchos isn't such a good idea. Too bad because the smell coming from the oven was amazing but the spiciness was overpowering and it was hard to taste anything else ):

Even though I really loved this recipe, I've only made it once because decent, nice meaty short ribs are hard to find and/or expensive.

Wonder how this would turn out using some big, meaty turkey thighs. Skin on, for a little added fat, or is the thigh meat fatty enough without the skin?

I'm sure turkey thighs would work with or without the skin on. Good luck and let us know how it turns out! Cheers!

I do not have a pot like the ones you show in your video. I would be very hestitant to put either of my pans shaped like yours in the oven because they are stainless steel (not very thick) and almost sure the handles are plastic and would melt. Is there a plan B you would recommend?

Once you have finished steps 1 and 2 you can transfer everything to a heat-proof pot (that has a lid) and place into the oven. If the pot is thin, I would recommend cooking the ribs longer at a lower temperature so they cook slow and low. There is more information about slow and low cooking and also about choosing the right pot in the lesson on Combination Cooking Fundamentals. Cheers!

We made these on Friday, a day before they were to be served for brother & sister-in-law. We were so afraid they would be too spicy, since brother-in-law does not like spicy food. On Fri night we tasted and were really nervous, but on Sat. , after the flavors had time to develop, they were wonderful. We were going to serve the juice, on the side, to put on potatoes, but that was really spicy. He raved about it, and wants to come back for a repeat...Thank you Rouxbe.

what can i do to cut done the spicy of the sauce for my 6 years old nephew? should i cut down on the dried ancho chilis or canned or maybe the onions? I plan to make it on Saturday and serve it on Monday. Besides on a scale of 1 to 10 how spicy is this dish?

Thanks I love Rouxbe, the chefs are wonderful.

I would suggest that you cut down on the canned anchos and depending on how much spice you want to cut out you may want to use less of the dried chilis as well...though generally dried anchos are not too overly spicy.

In regards to "on a scale of 1 to 10 how spicy is this dish?" it is hard to say. For me, I would rate it about a 5 or 6 out of 10; however, someone else with a higher or lower tolerance for heat may rate it higher or lower. I do know that when it is first made I do always think, "oh this is quite spicy" but then when I go to serve it, which is never the same day, I think "ah, that's just a nice amount of heat".

Hope this helps. Cheers!

What is the best way to reheat my cold cooked braised short ribs? Still in my Dutch oven

Please see the attached Video Dril-down in Step 3 called "Tips to Making Ribs Ahead" as this is covered in that video. There is also much more information on this sort of thing in many of the Combination Cooking lessons from the Moist-Heat section of the cooking school. Cheers!

I made this last weekend with some boneless short ribs I picked up, it was a big hit, I added a tablespoon of ground dried Mexican oregano and about a tsp of ground cumin for the last hour of the braise.

I'm thinking this would be great with ox tails

I entered these at our annual family rib cook-off and won FIRST prize! I made two substitutions. First, I used pork ribs. I cooked them at 200F for 3 hours and let them rest for two days before the competition. They were tasty and fell off the bone. Second, I could not find the dried ancho chilis nor the canned chipotle chilis in adobo sauce, even though I tried three grocery stores and two specialty markets. (I live in a fairly large city in Northern Ontario.) I substituted with pureed chipotles that came in a jar. I used 4 tbsp which was a bit too much heat. Next time, I will only use 2 tbsp of the pureed chipotles. During my acceptance speech, I gave full credit to Rouxbe for providing such great lessons. Thank you for the inspiration!

Congratulations Lianne. Keep up the great work!!!

Cooked 15 # of ribs in two crockpots for dinner of 10. They were a hit !
Making them the day before made the dinner so much nicer for me. and the ability to remove the fat layer made them that much better.
The day i made them, the dish was way up there on the heat scale, made me so nervous I made a batch of sauce with no chilies, (added some paprika, and chili powder to get the color right), and mixed in a little of the existing sauce from the recipe. This gave the option of heat or now heat for my quests. To my surprise, the High heat from the night before had mellowed to a perfect level.....I thought things got hotter as they sat ?.....anyway both versions where a winner !