Hawaiian-Style Short Ribs

It seems like overnight the temperatures have dropped and fall has officially arrived. The cold weather has me leaning towards hearty warm dishes and of course, my slow cooker, for easy weekday meals. I recently flagged this easy recipe from Everyday Food magazine for Hawaiian-Style Short Ribs, and I couldn’t wait to give it a try.

The ingredients were simple:

• 2 red onions, cut into 1-inch wedges, root ends left intact
• 4 garlic cloves, smashed
• 2-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
• 4 pounds bone-in beef short ribs (about 6) in 3 ½ inch pieces
• 1 ½ cups dark-brown sugar
• 1 cup soy sauce
• 6 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 1 tablespoon Sriracha chili sauce
• 3 cups 1-inch cubed pineapple (1 pound)
• Cooked white rice, chopped scallion greens and sesame seeds, for serving

On Monday night, Bret prepared the onions, garlic and ginger and put them in a plastic bag in the fridge for the next day.

Meanwhile, I whisked together the brown sugar, soy sauce, rice vinegar and Sriracha sauce in a plastic container and placed the sauce in the fridge overnight.

On Tuesday morning, I placed the onions, garlic and ginger in the slow cooker. I topped the vegetables with the short ribs in a tight layer. I poured the sauce on top of the beef and vegetables.

The recipe tells you to cook the short-ribs on high for four hours. Instead, I cooked the short-ribs on low for ten hours to cook while I was at work.. When I returned home on Tuesday night, I quickly made some rice in my rice cooker. While the rice was cooking, I added the pineapple to the slow cooker and let it cook until the pineapple was tender. I also steamed some broccoli and chopped up some scallion greens while everything was cooking.

With a slotted spoon, I transferred the ribs, pineapple, onions and ginger to a platter and tented it with foil to keep it warm. Using a ladle, I skimmed the fat from the cooking liquid and then the meal was ready to go.

I served the ribs and pineapple mixture on top of the white rice. I also added the steamed broccoli for some crunch.  I drizzled some of the cooking liquid as a sauce. Finally, I sprinkled some chopped scallion greens and sesame seeds for both presentation and texture.

I loved the sweetness of the pineapple contrasting with the spicy cooking liquid. The garlic had liquefied, but the onions and ginger caramelized during the cooking process.  And the slow cooker approach helped make the beef so tender that it fell off the bone.

The slow cooker is definitely one of my favorite toys in the kitchen because it helps me make really easy meals, especially for busy weekdays.

Tell me, do you enjoy using the slow cooker? If not, how do you make quick and easy meals during the week?