While people traditionally think of ribs as a summer BBQ food, beer braised beef short ribs are the perfect hearty food for the winter, especially when served over a bed of smashed red jacket potatoes.

• 2-4 lbs of beef short ribs
• Salt and fresh cracked black pepper to taste
• 4-6 slices thick cut bacon
• 2 red onions, sliced thinly
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 tablespoons flour (sweet rice flour for gluten-free)
• 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
• 3 cups Guinness Stout (gluten-free beer for gluten-free)
• 2 cups gluten-free chicken stock
• 2 teaspoons dried thyme (or 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme)

1. Preheat your oven to 300 degrees.
2. Season short ribs liberally with salt and pepper and bring to room temperature.
3. In a large, oven proof dutch oven, crisp bacon over medium high heat. Remove bacon from oil with slotted spoon and set aside.
4. Working in batches so you don’t overcrowd the pan, brown short ribs on all sides in bacon fat over medium high heat. Put them in the pan and maintain contact with the bottom without moving it, about 4-5 minutes per side. Remove short ribs and set aside.
5. Add red onions to bacon fat. Allow to sit in contact with medium high pan for 2-3 minutes before stirring. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until onions begin to brown, about 5 minutes.
6. Add garlic and cook just until it releases its scent – about 30 seconds.
7. Add flour. Cook, stirring constantly, until flour loses raw flavor, about 3 minutes.
8. Add vinegar and beer to pan, scraping up all the browned bits on the bottom of the pan.
9. Add thyme and return short ribs and bacon to pan. Bring to a simmer on the stove top.
10. Cover tightly with the Dutch oven lid and place in the preheated oven.
11. Cook for about 3 hours, until meat is tender.
12. Remove ribs from pot and set aside on a plate, tented with foil.
13. Put pan back on the stove over medium heat. Simmer liquid in pan until reduced to create desired consistency.
14. Serve ribs on a bed of smashed potatoes with sauce spooned over the top.

Roasted Garlic Red Jacket Smashed Potatoes

• 2 heads garlic
• Drizzle olive oil
• Sea salt
• 1 pound baby red potatoes
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
• Salt and cracked black pepper, to taste

1. Several hours before you make the potatoes, preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cut the tops off the heads of garlic and place garlic, root side down, in an oven-proof glass dish.
3. Drizzle the garlic with olive oil and sprinkle with salt.
4. Cover the glass dish with foil. Put in the oven for 60 minutes – until the garlic is soft.
5. Set aside to cool.
6. When garlic has cooled, squeeze it out of the bulbs into a dish and set aside.
7. Clean red potatoes and place them (whole) in a large pan. Cover with water.
8. Put the lid on the pan and bring potatoes to a boil over medium-high heat.
9. Boil potatoes until they are soft – for baby potatoes it should take about 20 minutes.
10. When potatoes are done, drain them and put them back in the pan.
11. Add garlic, butter, and heavy cream to the potatoes.
12. Use a masher to roughly mash the mixture to the desired consistency.
13. Stir in chives.
14. Season with salt and pepper to taste.