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Small Ribs of Beef, a LA Mode

Small beef ribs braised in sherry or Madeira, brandy, and consommé, then finished in the oven with glazed vegetables.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Sherry and brandy are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,209 recipes. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. The science ↓

Small Ribs of Beef, a LA Mode

Ingredients

Directions

Braise

  1. Prepare the ribs of beef for braising.

  2. Moisten with sherry or Madeira and brandy.

  3. Simmer the pan on the stove for about 15 minutes.

  4. Add consommé.

  5. Cover with buttered paper and lid.

  6. Simmer gently for 3 to 4 hours.

Finish and serve

  1. Drain the beef.

  2. Trim the beef.

  3. Place in a sauté pan with some of its own liquid.

  4. Dry in the oven for 1-2 minutes.

  5. Glaze the beef.

  6. Garnish with glazed carrots, turnips, and onions.

  7. Serve with the braising essence reduced to half-glaze consistency.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Sherry + brandytop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,209 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  2. Sherry + buttertop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,505 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  3. Brandy + buttertop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,127 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  4. Beef + buttertop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,847 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).

  5. Beef + sherrytop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together871 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Ribs of beef
Provides the meat that becomes tender as slow braising softens its connective tissue.
Sherry or madeira
Adds aroma and fortified wine flavour to the braising liquid.
Brandy
Adds aromatic depth to the braising liquid.
Consommé
Supplies moisture and savoury flavour to the braise, forming the base of the sauce.

The step that matters

Simmer gently for 3 to 4 hours. Long, gentle heat slowly converts the beef's connective tissue into gelatin, which makes it tender. A hard boil tightens the meat and dries it out, so keep the liquid at a quiet simmer.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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