Slow-cooked Short Rib Stew for the Season of Letting Go

When the mornings turn sharp and the evenings draw in, holistic chef Georgie Soskin reaches for a casserole dish. This short rib stew is one of five recipes she comes back to every year as the weather turns. It takes some prep time, but then you can pop it in the oven and get on with your day. For Georgie, a slow cook recipe like this is about more than what ends up on the plate. She sees cooking as one of the most powerful forms of self-care we have - we agree.

Meet Georgie

Georgie has taught cookery for more than twenty years. She trained at the prestigious British cooking school Leiths, then taught there as a senior teacher for over twelve years. She is also a mum of three.

Her interest runs well past technique. She is fascinated by psychology, the mind-body connection and how our nervous systems carry everything we live through. For Georgie, the kitchen is the room where you come back to yourself. No rules. No perfection. "Joy is wildly underrated" she says, "So is connection." 

The season of letting go

In autumn, the light changes. The trees are doing what they do every year without any fuss. They are letting go.

Georgie cooks through a Traditional Chinese Medicine lens at this time of year. In TCM, autumn belongs to the Metal element. Metal is the lungs and the large intestine, the organs of taking in and releasing. Breathe in, breathe out. What nourishes us, and what we are ready to let go of. It is also the season our immune systems get tested. We all pile back indoors. The coughs start doing the rounds.

Georgie's answer starts at the hob. A pot of something nourishing and a table with people round it. Food you have made with your own hands. Connection to the season, to your body, to the people you feed. In her words, connection and joy are the things nobody puts on a label.

What's in the pot

This is a warming family meal first. It also brings together a useful set of nutrients for the colder months.

• Beef short rib brings iron and zinc. Iron contributes to the normal formation of red blood cells and haemoglobin. It also contributes to the reduction of tiredness and fatigue. Zinc contributes to the normal function of the immune system.
• Tomatoes bring vitamin C, which contributes to the normal function of the immune system. Vitamin C also increases iron absorption. Tomatoes and beef in the same pot is a good pairing.
• Carrots bring beta-carotene, which the body converts into vitamin A. Vitamin A contributes to the normal function of the immune system.
• Butter beans add fibre and plant protein. They also stretch two short ribs to feed eight.
• Garlic, shallots and star anise bring intense flavour.

Georgie's slow-cooked short rib stew

Serves 8. Prep about 30 minutes. Cook 2 to 2½ hours at 150°C.

Ingredients

• 2 beef short ribs
• 2 carrots, chopped
• 2 celery sticks, chopped
• 450g shallots or baby onions (or the same weight of normal onions, sliced)
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 tbsp tomato purée
• 1 x 390g carton chopped tomatoes
• 250g cherry tomatoes (or a second carton of chopped tomatoes)
• 210g butter beans, drained
• 400ml water
• 1 star anise
• Rapeseed oil
• Salt
• A few sprigs of thyme (optional)

Method

1. Heat the oven to 150°C.
2. Peel the onions. Tip baby onions into a bowl of just-boiled water for a few minutes and the skins slide off. Halve any larger ones. If using regular onions, slice them.
3. Heat a slug of rapeseed oil in a large casserole over a medium-high heat. Add the onions. Cook, stirring now and then, until they take on some colour and start to soften. Lift out into a bowl.
4. Brown the carrot and celery the same way. Add a little more oil if the pan looks dry. Lift out and add to the onions.
5. Season the short ribs with salt. Brown them all over until they turn a deep brown. You want to hear a proper sizzle. This stage builds the flavour. The oven does the cooking, so be brave and take your time. Lift out.
6. Cook the garlic for a minute, then stir in the tomato purée. Add a splash of water to lift any bits stuck to the pan.
7. Return the vegetables to the pan with the chopped tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, butter beans and 400ml water. Using two cartons of chopped tomatoes? Cut the water to 200ml.
8. Nestle the short ribs into the vegetables. Add the star anise and the thyme, if using.
9. Bring to the boil, then turn straight down to a gentle simmer. Put the lid on and transfer to the oven for 2 to 2½ hours. It should bubble gently. A hard boil will toughen the meat.
10. Check the meat. It should have shrunk back from the bone and fall off it. If not, give it a little longer.
11. Lift out the ribs. Remove the bones and cut the meat into bite-sized pieces.
12. If the sauce looks thin, reduce it on the hob over a high heat. That could take 5 minutes or 30, depending on how rich you like it.
13. Return the meat to the pot. Stir it through and season to taste.

Georgie's tips

• Ask your butcher for short rib. It is less popular than other cuts, so it is good value. The larger pieces also brown faster than diced stewing beef.
• Serve with a baked potato.
• Freeze any leftovers for another cold evening.

Food first, then fill the gaps

Georgie says supplements have their place, but nothing replaces a pot on the hob. We would say the same. Food comes first.

Supplements are there for the gaps. The busy weeks when nobody cooks, to stop the run of colds through the office or school.

Leapfrog DAILY is the everyday option. It combines lactoferrin with vitamin C, D3, K2, vitamin E and zinc. Leapfrog IMMUNE is the one to reach for at the first sign of feeling run-down, with 250mg of lactoferrin alongside zinc and vitamin C. Zinc and vitamin C both contribute to the normal function of the immune system. Lactoferrin is a protein found naturally in milk, best known for its role in immune defence.

This autumn, cook something that takes its time. Then set an extra place at the table. Enjoy!