Sunday Supper: Cabernet Short Ribs with Parmesan Polenta

When I received this month's issue of Cooking Light magazine I was super excited about the section on cooking in a Dutch oven. I recently acquired a very nice seasoned cast iron one and have been waiting for the opportunity to break it in! The first recipe that caught my eye was the one for Cabernet Short Ribs with Parmesan Polenta. I love short ribs, but frankly have never cooked them so this was going to prove to be an adventure...luckily my Harris Teeter had these already on hand:

NOTE: I halved the recipe since it was just for me and hubby!

The recipe has several parts so I actually prepared my mise en place:

I could have eaten the short ribs after they were just browned in the pan:

Here is another case for smell-o-vision...I think I tweeted the night I was cooking this about how heavenly the house smelled. Just the ingredients through the rosemary smelled delicious, but the addition of the wine made everyone's mouth water:

Once the short ribs went into the oven, it was time to start the polenta. This is also something I have never attempted. The recipe called for "quick cooking polenta" and I bought this:

Once I read the package I realized I may have erred, but it turned out to be a simple fix. While the recipe called for 3 cups of milk and 1 cup of water, since the package said the contents could be reconstituted with 1-2 cups of liquid, I just used 1 cup of milk and 1 cup of water.

When the short ribs came out of the oven, I had to refrain myself from tearing into them right there:

After I strained the cooking liquid and used my fat separator, I returned the liquid to the pan as the recipe indicated...here is where I made another error: I let it reduce too much. the flavor was still fantastic but I didn't get the sauciness I expected or the recipe promised. But the dish was in fact beautiful and every step was worth it:

Turns out hubby is not quite the short rib lover (he has this thing about "fatty" meat) but I am using the leftover ribs (two per person was more than filling) to make a shredded beef BBQ I will be serving over the reused polenta, fried into cakes. If I ever have someone over for dinner I want to impress, these will make an appearance again.