Ina Garten's Go-To Sides For Her Delectable Short Ribs

Dessert-making tips from Ina Garten are like winning the culinary lottery, but so are her surprisingly easy braised short ribs. Per a Food Network video, the Barefoot Contessa shared her trick for crafting this comfort food, which foregoes a greasy mess on the stovetop and instead lets them brown in the oven on a sheet pan before she cooks them in an entire bottle of red wine and a bottle of Guinness. But what will truly have you drooling are the sides she makes to accompany them. The celebrity chef serves these melt-in-your-mouth short ribs with one of her go-to sides, and they are just as creamy and indulgent as the main. During her demonstration, Garten revealed she likes to make either "blue cheese grits or a big puddle of mashed potatoes."

Short ribs are rich, fatty pieces of meat that turn tender and juicy as they cook, and they require an equally rich side to stand up to their flavor. Enter Garten's creamy and delectable blue cheese grits. Garten wrote in her "Cook Like A Pro" cookbook, "In the winter when it's really cold, a hearty stew of beef short ribs simmered with a whole bottle of red wine, a bottle of Guinness, and lots of vegetables, then served over Creamy Blue Cheese Grits or Celery Root & Chickpea Puree, is about the most comforting dinner you can possibly imagine." And how she cooks this grainy dish makes all the difference.

Ina Garten uses rich ingredients and a slow cook to make her grits. Garten explains in her cookbook, "Grits, or hominy grits, are made from dried corn from which the hull and germ have been removed. The box may say the grits cook in five minutes, but for this recipe, I cook them for a full 50 minutes until they're smooth and creamy. Of course, adding half-and-half, butter, and Roquefort cheese will make anything taste better!" 

Roquefort is an ingredient that will make your grits even tastier. It is sometimes called the king of blue cheeses and has a distinctively pungent and sharp taste that hits sweet and sour notes your taste buds will love. The tanginess of the blue cheese and the velvety taste of the grits provide the perfect bed for the short ribs and a pool of their braising sauce. Both are bold yet complementary.

But remember, grits require patience and a lot of whisking, so they are smooth and free of lumps. They will thicken the longer they cook and take on a creamy consistency, so slow and low is the way to go. Just remember to use a 6:1 ratio of liquid to grits when you cook them. This doesn't include the cream or butter. Make a little extra of Garten's blue cheese grits and save any leftover braising sauce for a second meal.

If you prefer classic mashed potatoes, Ina Garten's version of this side dish uses unsalted butter, sour cream, and whole milk to create a creamy foundation for her braised short ribs. They are perfect for holding a ladle full of the braising sauce and nestling a short rib right on top. If you want to get fancy and put your own spin on the mashed potatoes for your braised short ribs, you can add some cheddar cheese to them for a lovely sharpness or even some goat cheese if you want the same tangy taste as Roquefort. Or try making Garten's garlic mashed potatoes for a pungent flavor.

But regardless of your preference for added flavor, you want to use Yukon gold potatoes to make your mashed potatoes. These are Garten's go-to potatoes for this dish. They have a buttery flavor and tend to soak up less water than other potatoes as they boil, so their consistency remains creamy rather than gloopy.