Today’s recipe is inspired by old salty himself, Uncle Dave. He loves his short ribs and his slow cooker, so I thought I would share this recipe I have been working on. Personally, I like a bottle of Red Bridge in my recipe, but any Mexican beer will do. The darker beers will add a hint of bitterness to the ribs, so add some sugar if you use a dark bitter beer.

Enjoy!

Uncle Dave’s Short Rib Tacos

INGREDIENTS:

5 lbs beef short ribs
3 tbs olive oil
2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp chipotle powder
3 cloves garlic, smashed
1 red onion, cut into two large pieces
3 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 12 oz. beer
1/2 head red cabbage, thinly sliced
2 limes (zest and juice)
1 large red onion, thinly sliced
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1 tsp salt
12 oz. Mexican cheese

DIRECTIONS:

1. Just a heads up, the short ribs take 8 hours to prepare.
2. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Once hot, add garlic and cook for 1 minute. Then add the short ribs and sear on all sides until golden brown; about 1 minute on each side. Pour the entire mixture of ribs, olive oil and garlic into slow cooker.
3. In a small bowl, combine salt, pepper, paprika, garlic powder, and chipotle powder and mix well. Add mixture to short ribs, rubbing it into the meat. In a separate bowl combine beer and vinegar, then pour mixture in to slow cooker.
4. Set the slow cooker on low for 8 hours.
5. Once meat has finished cooking, transfer to a large clean cutting board. Let the ribs cool and remove the meat from the bone. Make sure to fish out the garlic and cut that up to combine with the meat.
6. When your meat has about an hour left to cook, make your slaw and onions.
7. In a large bowl combine cabbage, lime zest, lime juice with a pinch of salt and mix up.
8. In a separate large bowl combine thinly sliced onions with vinegar, and salt. Mix well, then let sit at room temperature for at least 1 hour.
9. Crumble cheese and place in a small serving bowl.
10. To serve, warm up a gang of tortillas, add meat, slaw and onions and cover with cheese. I like to add hot sauce as well…and remember this serves one.

John

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