Slow-Cooker Beef Short Ribs

Slow-Cooker Beef Short Ribs with Bow Tie Pasta (Farfalle)

I've got this big old chest freezer that my sweet mother-in-law gave me when she moved from Pennsylvania to Georgia years ago, and things do tend to get buried. I found 3 pounds of beef short ribs....dated 2009! I clean that freezer out once a year, and every year I would put those short ribs back in, thinking that I needed to save them for a special occasion. Of course I would forget they were in there when those special occasions would roll around. So I decided that Bob being home for dinner was special occasion enough, and I went searching for a recipe that would be so full of flavor that, just in case there was a bit of "freezer" flavor, that would be well hidden.

Here's what I found, and oh my goodness, it's a winner and I'll make it again for sure. Beef is crazy expensive right now (but the farmers sure are happy when they take their cattle to sell) so I won't be buying 3 pounds of short ribs anytime soon, but this will work great with any kind of stewing beef....even the generic "stew beef" you find in all the grocery stores in the South.

Slow-Cooker Beef Short Ribs
(Submitted by MizzNezz on Food.com)

1/3 c. flour
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
2 1/2 lbs. boneless beef short ribs (or 3 lbs., or what ever you have)
1/4 c. butter
1 c. chopped onion
1 c. beef broth (I used 1 c. water + 1 tsp. or cube beef bouillon)
3/4 c. red wine vinegar (yes, VINEGAR)
3/4 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. chili sauce
2 T. ketchup
2 T. Worcestershire Sauce
2 T. minced garlic
1 tsp. chili powder

1. Put flour, salt, and pepper into a bag. 
2. Add ribs and shake to coat.
3. Brown ribs in butter in a large skillet. (Really brown them! Do this in batches; don't crowd!)
4. Put in slow cooker.
5. In the same skillet, combine the remaining ingredients.
6. Bring to a boil, stirring and scraping all the browned bits off the bottom of the pan.
7. Pour sauce over the ribs.
8. Cover and cook on low for 9 hours. (I cooked on high for 1 hour and low for 7 hours, but if you are a crock pot gal, you'll know what to do to fit your schedule.)

I boiled a 12 oz. box of bow tie pasta in a big pot, drained it, and returned it to its pot. Then I spooned all that luscious beef and sauce over the pasta and stirred it all together with a big spoon. I think it would look really pretty sprinkled with chopped fresh parsley, but I was fresh out for this picture. This recipe will easily feed 6 people, but it makes really yummy leftovers for two, too. Don't be tempted to double the sauce, because this recipe makes plenty!