Serves 6
100g (4oz) butter
6 short ribs of beef
4 large onions, sliced
1 bulb garlic, cloves unpeeled
4 sprigs thyme
100g (4oz) smoked bacon, diced
1kg (21⁄5lb) field mushrooms, sliced
2 pints real bitter (doesn’t come in
metric measures)
Salt and pepper
Find a large casserole dish and get it hot. Melt the butter and fry the ribs until they are brown. Remove them and put in the sliced onions. Fry them until they are brown, too. Add the cloves of unpeeled garlic, the thyme, the diced bacon and the sliced mushrooms. Cook for five minutes then add the beer. Put the ribs back in and braise them in a 150°C/300°F/Gas Mark 2 oven for four hours, covered.
Remove the ribs, then check the liquor for thickness and season if necessary. Reduce again if you like. Serve the ribs on garlic mash and spinach with pints of frothing ale.