Kurdish Style Boneless Beef Ribs

You've had your quick lesson on Kurdish cuisine...so let's go ahead and start cooking! I was really in the mood for some comfort food last night so I decided to make these short ribs that my mom always made for us growing up. It's a very simple recipe and the great thing about them is once you've made them, you can use the leftovers for other great recipes. Don't worry....I'll show you those, later.

Kurdish Style Boneless Beef Ribs:

3-4 lbs country style chuck beef ribs (I used boneless this time, but you can use bone-in if you prefer or substitute short ribs)

course salt (if you've got it) & black pepper

2 tablespoons olive oil

5 cups water

6 cloves garlic, (whole or chopped)

2 onions, (quartered)

1 tablespoon cumin

1 teaspoon oregano

1 tablespoon salt

1 tablespoon black pepper


1 teaspoon crushed red pepper (optional)

These ribs are a bit fatty but when you slow cook them you can let them cool and skim the fat off the top of the pot...but the fat is what makes them so good!
Season both sides of the short ribs generously with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a heavy pan and sear both sides of the ribs until golden brown. Put the ribs in either a large dutch oven or slow cooker. Add all of the spices, garlic and onions and give it a little stir. Put your pan back on the heat and add the cups of water to deglaze. Use a wooden spoon to get all the goodies off of the bottom of the pan and mix until it just comes to a boil. Add the sauce to your dutch oven or slow cooker. If you're cooking in a dutch oven cook at 350 degrees for 2 to 2 1/2 hours or until meat is fork tender. In a slow cooker, cook on high for about 4 hours or on low for 7-9 hours. Once the ribs are done, serve with rice, couscous or potatoes. When you refrigerate the leftovers make sure to keep the broth because I will show you a couple recipes that you can make with this yummy sauce!This is what you'll have when it's all done!

I served mine with some red beans and rice (you can find this recipe in my archives) and fresh green onions (very typical in Kurdish cuisine). Once I put the ribs on the rice, I used a ladel to scoop up some of the sauce in the slow cooker and poured it over the ribs and rice.
It was delicious!
See how tender and perfect these ribs look.