Chipotle-glazed Jacob’s Ladder
Beef short ribs in a chipotle glaze, with epazote back beans, black bean and cacao hummus, Salsa Macha and crema
Jabob’s Ladder is a staircase to heaven, which featured in this guy Jacob’s dream. This is Old Testament stuff. Jacob’s Ladder is also another name for beef short ribs. I don’t know why. But frankly, if I believed in the Almighty, the idea of climbing to heaven on a ladder of beef would bring a smile to my face. I’d be licking and chewing all the way up.
Beef short ribs rock! It’s a cheaper cut, or was, that’s come back into fashion and with that maybe isn’t so cheap any more. Obviously meatier than pork ribs, the meat is packed with fantastic beefy flavour because it has aged close to the bone. I like to slow cook short ribs for at least 3 hours, add a glaze, and ideally finish them over coals to get a bit of bark.
So this dish—chipotle-glazed Jacob’s Ladder—is my kinda food. A big cut of meat cooked slowly, deep flavours, and simple presentation. I fell in love with classical French cuisine at Le Cordon Bleu but Mexican food is still my favourite. I used to cook it a lot before I went to culinary school. Roberta reminded me that I wooed her with my chimichangas. That sounds so wrong. But it worked! Anyway, it’s a shame it’s still difficult to get authentic Mexican ingredients here; availability has improved, but there’s so much produce we cannot get our hands on.
Since graduating I haven’t actually done much with Mexican food so I got all excited thinking about it again. Particularly the idea of building layers of Mexican flavours into modern European-style dishes using classic French techniques. This is somewhere I want to play more.
The beef is a rich’n sticky umami bomb. The flavours are immense—soy, porcini mushrooms, star anise, smokey tar from the morita chillis, toffee from the demerara sugar, bittersweet chocolate from the porter beer. Oof! And the beef seared in beef fat—OMG. There’s no other words. My thinking is the beans and hummus are earthy and ground the dish. The Cojita adds a salty element. And the spicy Salsa Macha cuts the richness while the crema offers a cooling note.
Chipotle-glazed Jacob’s Ladder, black beans, black bean hummus, Salsa Macha and crema
Rib meat slathered in sticky chipotle glaze with coriander shoots
Tender and sticky chipotle-glazed beef falling off the bone
What a dish! Dark and decadent. Naughty…but nice. And so comforting—like sipping warm cocoa in winceyette jim-jams.
It does need a bit of work though.
I want to improve the hummus—it wasn’t singing for me. It was missing a little something. A pinch more seasoning? A smidge more sesame? Lime juice? More oil? Or cream? Hmm.
The black beans delivered a lovely earthy flavour. Seasoning right at the end and getting the seasoning bang on is critical. It’s the difference between bland and boring, and hearty and heartening. I want to amp up that flavour though. Next time I will blacken the onion, garlic and chilli before adding them to the beans. And rather than discard them at the end of cooking I’ll blend them into the cooking liquor before reducing it for the sauce. Finishing the sauce with butter was definitely a good call. At the end of the day the cooking liquor is just starchy water with flavour. Adding butter creates an emulsion that elevates the sauce with a silky richness and glossy sheen. Good ol’ monter au beurre. Ah! Here’s another thought: Rather than just soak the beans in water, use veal stock with bay leaf and epazote. The beans will take up some of that flavour and they get cooked in the soaking liquid anyway. I’ll try this. Note—refresh the bay leaf when starting to cook.
Beans are tricky and shouldn’t be rushed. Don’t trust the timings. Dried beans are cooked when they’re cooked. The buggers! The good thing is they can be cooked in advance and you can give them as long as they need. If you cook them too furiously and too fast they’ll burst their skins and look shit on the plate. Roberta had a Brazilian friend who made the most amazing Feijoada. She swore that cooking beans in a pressure cooker was the best way.
Roberta said the Salsa Macha wasn’t really needed. I’m not sure. I wanted an element with some kick to contrast the rich glaze and earthy beans but perhaps the texture of the nutty purée is too similar to the hummus. Maybe a pickled element would be better to bring acidity and sharpness. And perhaps some crunch. I’m thinking red onions rings pickled in citrus. If the Macha goes maybe there’s no need for the crema because that was just a cooling element to balance the heat of the Macha. If the crema stays I might try smoking it to tie in with the smokiness in the chipotle glaze. So many ideas!
After cooking this dish and posting photos on Instagram a few followers asked for the recipe. So here it is peeps. Enjoy. If you do make it please come back and comment. I want to develop this dish further so please let me know how you get on and share how you think it could be improved. Ta.
Ingredients
Serves 4.
BEEF SHORT RIBS:
1.25 to 2kg beef short rib
1 onion, finely diced
1 leek, finely diced
7 garlic cloves, finely diced
70ml soy sauce
70ml tomato ketchup
130g demerara sugar
1tbsp cayenne pepper
3 star anise
5 dried chipotle morita chillis
5 dried porcini mushrooms
440ml porter beer. I used Harviestoun Old Engine Oil
1.5tbsp salt
2tbsp beef fat or lard
Burnt jalapeño powder:
5 jalapeño chillis, deseeded and cut into quarters lengthways
Black beanS:
250g dried black beans
0.5 white onion, peeled and quartered
2 garlic cloves, peeled
1 bay leaf
0.5 small dried chilli de árbol (optional)
1 small epazote branch or 1tsp dried epazote
10g unsalted butter, cut into small cubes and reserved in the fridge
Black bean hummus:
Half of the cooked black beans from above
30ml extra virgin olive oil
0.5 jalapeño chilli, stemmed, deseeded and chopped
30g tahini
3 black garlic cloves
2tbsp burnt jalapeño powder
60g Cotija cheese, crumbled—use Parmesan if you can’t find Cotija.
30ml lime juice, freshly squeezed
10g 85% cocoa dark chocolate
SALSA MACHA:
6 dried chilli de árbol
60ml olive oil
60g raw unsalted peanuts
1tbsp sesame seeds
2 garlic cloves
2 dried chipotle morita chillis, stemmed and deseeded
120ml apple cider vinegar
0.5tbsp sea salt flakes. I use Maldon sea salt.
0.5tbsp honey
CREMA:
125ml double cream
1tbsp full fat natural yogurt
1tsp lime juice, freshly squeezed and passed through a fine sieve to remove any pulp
Method
There are a few things that are best done the day before. See the instructions below for further details.
1. Soak the beans.
2. Get the crema going.
3. Prepare the burnt jalapeño powder.
4. Trim the beef.
CREMA:
1. Gently heat the cream in a pan until it’s just warm to the touch.
2. Remove from the heat and, using a whisk, stir in the yogurt and lime juice until completely mixed.
3. Transfer to a container and cover with cling film. Poke a few holes in the surface.
4. Keep somewhere warm (around 30C) until thickened for 24 hours.
5. Stir, cover again and refrigerate until chilled and firm.
burnt jalapeño powder:
1. Preheat the oven to 150C.
2. Arrange the chilli quarters on a baking tray and cook for 3 hours, or until they are uniformly black and burnt. When ready the chilli quarters will feel light and hollow.
3. Remove from the oven and let cool to room temperature.
4. Using a spice grinder or a mortar and pestle, grind the burnt chillis to a fine powder.
BEEF SHORT RIBS:
1. Trim any skin or excess fat from the top of the short ribs. Leave some fat. I left the membrane at the back of the ribs in place and untouched so the meat would stay on the bone during cooking.
Jacob’s Ladder or beef short ribs
Remove the skin and excess fat from the top of the short ribs
2. Take the meat out of the fridge an hour before cooking. Season with plenty of salt and set aside.
Season the short ribs on every side with plenty of salt
3. Preheat the oven to 180C.
4. Over a medium heat, melt the beef fat in a large ovenproof pan or cocotte. When smoking, sear the ribs on all sides to get a deeply caramelised surface. Remove the ribs and place to one side.
5. Turn the heat down and add the diced onion and leek. Lid on. Sweat gently for 5 minutes or until the sucs have lifted from the pan.
6. Turn the heat up to medium and add the garlic. Cook out for 3 minutes.
7. Add the soy sauce, ketchup, sugar, cayenne, star anise, chipotle morita chillis, porcini mushrooms and the porter ale. Blip over a low heat for 30 minutes.
The cooking liquor will become the chipotle glaze
8. Return the ribs to the pan with any juices. Add water if required to just cover the ribs.
9. Place a cartouche over the top, put the lid on, and place in the oven for 3-4 hours. Check periodically and top up with boiling water if necessary. The meat is ready when it comes away from the bone with a spoon.
10. Remove from the oven and let cool.
11. Carefully transfer the ribs onto a rack over a tray to catch the juices. Meanwhile, pass the cooking juices through a fine sieve and in a clean pan reduce to a glaze—think molasses! Sieve any remaining juices from the meat and add to the glaze.
Braised beef short ribs resting while the cooking liquor is passed and reduced to a glaze
12. Cut between the ribs to create even individual portions. Cut away the membrane around the rib and under the meat to make eating easier. Take care, you want to keep the meat intact. The ribs were placed onto an oven tray. Each slab of beef was brushed liberally on all sides with the glaze and placed on top of a rib. The exposed part of the rib bones were then wiped with a damp cloth.
Apply the chipotle glaze to every side of the beef
Short rib soldiers on parade
13. Turn the oven down to 140C. For service, warm the ribs in the oven for 20-30 minutes, basting with more glaze every 10 minutes until there’s good colour and stickiness. Give the bones a final clean with a damp cloth before plating.
Black beanS:
1. Soak the beans overnight in 1.5l cold water.
2. Transfer the beans and the soaking liquor to a deep pan. Add the onion, garlic, bay leaf, chilli and epazote. DO NOT add salt.
3. Over a medium-high heat activate the cooking. And watch the pan. As soon as it approaches boiling reduce the heat until it’s barely simmering. The beans will burst their skins if they’re cooked too hard and fast so best not to rush. Cook for 2 to 3 hours but allow for longer. To cook through, these beans need all the help they can get so add a cartouche and pop the lid on. Top up with boiling water occasionally to keep the beans submerged.
4. Remove the pan from the heat and let the beans cool to room temperature in their cooking liquor.
5. Pass the beans and reserve the cooking liquor. Discard the onion, garlic, chilli and bay leaf.
6. Divide the beans in half. Keep any broken or burst beans together in one of the halves—these will be used for the hummus.
7. When ready to serve, reduce the cooking liquor to a coating consistency over a high heat. Add the half containing all the whole beans and warm through. Season to taste. Take the pan off the heat. Holding the handle gently agitate the pan in a circular motion while adding cold butter cubes, a few at a time. The butter shouldn’t melt so much that it separates, rather it should soften to emulsify and thicken the sauce slightly and create a glossy sheen. Keep warm and don’t let the sauce boil.
Black bean hummuS:
1. Heat the olive oil in a large sauté pan over a medium heat. When the oil is shimmering add the jalapeño and sweat for 2 minutes or so.
2. Add the broken beans, garlic, burnt jalapeño powder and tahini paste. Cook for about 3 minutes or until the mixture is steaming. Keep stirring so the mixture doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan and scorch.
3. Transfer to the blender. Add the cheese and chocolate and blitz until smooth. Add the lime juice and blitz again. Slacken with water if the mix is too thick then season to taste.
4. Pass through a fine drum sieve then load into a piping bag with a nozzle. Keep warm in a Bain Marie—bring some water to the boil in a pan then turn the heat down to maintain a serving temperature. Place kitchen roll in the hot water to prevent the piping bag touching the bottom of the pan.
SALSA MACHA:
1. Cut off the stems from the árbol chillis then roll them between your thumb and index to remove the seeds. And why not plant the seeds?
2. Heat the oil in a pan over medium heat. Add the garlic cloves and let them colour for 2 minutes.
3. Add the peanuts and sesame seeds. Fry for about 5 minutes, continuously stirring, until the nuts and seeds are golden and the garlic cloves are dark brown.
4. Remove the pan from the heat and add the árbol and chipotle morita chillis. Stir through then set aside to steep for 10 minutes.
5. Pour the contents of the pan into a blender. Add the vinegar, salt and honey and blitz until completely smooth. Pass the purée through a fine drum sieve and leave to cool.
Black bean and cacao hummus, bright and spicy Salsa Macha and a cooling crema