With fall comes comfort food; short ribs are a must

Saturday night (or early Sunday morning) we 'fall back' an hour. In exchange for the extra 60 minutes of sleep that I gain, is fewer hours of daylight, heightened pallor, minimized vitamin D, and potential seasonal acute depression (SAD). While some girls might cure these symptoms with a visit to the tanning bed, I have a feeling Dr. Robin might not approve (even if I DID wear the SPF 100 that I have seen time and time again in our closets). Instead, I'll make do with a little comfort food - short ribs! I decided to wait before including osso bucco...the marrow that's an essential element of osso bucco freaks some people out - but short ribs hit the comfort-food-spot, and best of all? They're still great after cooling/reheating or freezing! To be honest, I'm not sure about the exact science behind it, but I'm pretty sure I has something to do with the amount of collagen present and breaking down certain connective tissues, resulting in a more tender, falling-apart piece of meat. You can sop up the remains with many a starch: couscous, mashed potatoes or pasta do the trick, but my fav is barley, which combines with short ribs to form a hearty and healthy stew. There are a plethora of short ribs recipes, but the true secret is solely to give them enough time braising in the oven with enough liquid to absorb it all and  slowly disintegrate into a lovely, tender mixture. On top of the addition of salt (and maybe a little balsamic??) at some point, I suggest serving most short ribs with a touch of dijon mustard on the side... never an insult to the chef, but the addition of a little cold tang to some hot stew makes all the texture and flavour difference in the world. Enjoy!

Here's a slideshow of 12 yummy-looking recipes, most of which have my vote. Feast away! http://www.bonappetit.com/recipes/slideshows/2009/10/short_ribs_slideshow

SUPER simple, but you need many hours (5-8, but it can be divided e.g. turn it on for 3 hrs in the morning, 3 hrs in the evening): http://www.bonappetit.com/recipes/2008/10/braised_short_ribs

Just as easy and much shorter cooking time. They suggest marinating the short ribs overnight which surely does wonders, but I bet you could even do it for just a few hours before cooking: http://www.bonappetit.com/recipes/2007/10/cabernet_braised_short_ribs_with_gorgonzola_polenta_and_mixed_herb_gremolata

And last but not least: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Braised-Beef-Short-Ribs-with-Root-Vegetable-Ragout-100597

Again, I tried to stick to the more simple, non-scary ones, but feel free to peruse websites for a few more additions! And I always like adding a little mushrooms to the sauce as it's braising in the oven.