National Geographic Traveller (UK) - Food
| Grape leaf braised short ribs
One of my favourite parts of a pot of stuffed grape leaves is the meat lining the bottom — crispy in parts, but mostly melt-in-your-mouth tender and rife with flavour. I don’t always have the patience to spend several hours wrapping a whole pot of grape leaves, so I found this way to braise meat, which yields the best part of the whole dish with a fraction of the effort.
SERVES: 4-6 TAKES: 3 HR 40 MINS
INGREDIENTS
795g bone-in short ribs or veal shanks
795g boneless beef short ribs or beef cheeks 3 bay leaves
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp pomegranate molasses
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp nine-spice mix (see recipe online), baharat or
Lebanese seven-spice blend
½ tsp ground cumin
30-40 fresh grape leaves
METHOD
Place the meat in a large bowl. Add the bay leaves, olive oil, pomegranate molasses, soy sauce, spice mix, cumin, 2 tsp salt and ½ tsp black pepper and mix until evenly and fully coated. Cover and put in the fridge overnight to marinate.
Heat oven to 260C, 240C fan, gas 10.
Get a roasting pan that’s large enough to snugly fit your cuts of meat and line it with half the grape leaves. Remove the meat from the fridge and rest it on top of the grape leaves. Cover with the remaining grape leaves, ensuring no meat is visible.
Put a layer of parchment paper over the roasting pan, then tightly cover with a layer of foil.
Put the pan in the oven and immediately reduce the temperature to 200C, 180C fan, gas 6. Roast for 30 mins, then reduce the heat to 140C, 120C fan, gas 1 and roast for another 2-3 hrs until the meat is fork-tender. The meat should release enough juices to keep it moist and give you nice pan juices at the end, but check once during the cooking time and, if the pan is dry, add a few tablespoons of water, cover tightly again, and return to the oven until done.
Serve directly from the oven or transfer to a serving platter, then pour the pan juices over the top.