Yummy Lummy

A blog about food and me

Tag: Beef short rib

  • Pressure Cooker Beef Short Rib Stew

    Pressure Cooker Beef Short Rib Stew


    Beef Short Rib Stew

    A bowl that hugs you from the inside

    Today marks 19 years in the Australian Public Service. I wonder if I’ll get a set of steak knives next year! Given how much steak I eat, steak knives would be welcome.

    Sometimes you want a meal that looks like you’ve spent all day in the kitchen, when you’ve spent most of the day thinking about cooking while doing other important things, such as drinking coffee and working. This pressure cooker beef short rib stew is that sort of meal. Beef, some random vegetable matter, and a broth come together in a bowl that looks undesirable but tastes great.

    Ingredients

    For the stew

    • 1 kg beef short rib meat, cut into chunky pieces
    • 2 medium brown onions, roughly chopped
    • 2 celery stalks, sliced
    • 1 fennel bulb, roughly chopped
    • 2 medium potatoes, peeled and diced into large chunks
    • 700 g passata
    • 500 mL beef broth
    • 2 teaspoons salt
    • 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

    Equipment

    • Pressure cooker or multicooker with pressure-cook function
    • Frying pan
    • Stick blender
    • Chopping board
    • Sharp knife
    • Measuring jug
    • Wooden spoon
    • Ladle
    • Large bowl for serving
    • Appetite large enough to deal with the aroma filling your house

    Instructions

    Step 1: Prepare the ingredients

    Chop the onion, celery, fennel, and potatoes.

    Cut the short rib meat into generous chunks. Precision knife work isn’t required. Beef short rib is substantial. Let it be mouth-filling.

    Step 2: Build the flavour base

    Sauté the onion, celery, and fennel. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until everything softens and starts smelling like Mum’s kitchen.

    Step 3: Add the beef

    Add the short rib meat and stir through the vegetables.

    Brown the meat.

    Step 4: Add the liquids

    Put the meat and roughly cut vegetables into the pressure cooker.

    Pour in the passata and beef broth.

    Add the salt and pepper.

    Stir everything together until the ingredients are evenly distributed.

    Step 5: Pressure cook

    Add the potato chunks.

    Lock the lid and cook on high pressure for 40 minutes.

    When the cooking time is complete, allow the pressure to equilibrate naturally.

    Step 6: Check and adjust

    Open the lid.

    The beef should be fork-tender and the potatoes soft. Give everything a stir. Some of the potato will naturally break down and help thicken the stew.

    Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.

    Sequester the potatoes and beef to a bowl.

    Process the remaining cooked vegetables and cooking liquor with a stick blender.

    Step 7: Serve

    Ladle the vegetable broth purée generously into a bowl and then add some meat and potato.

    Be generous.

    A bowl of pressure-cooked beef short rib sits in a rich, velvety broth puréed from the cooking liquor, fennel, brown onion, celery, and potato. Several chunks of beef and potato are visible above the surface, scattered with freshly chopped chives and cracked black pepper. Resting against the rim of the bowl are two thick slices of double-butted sourdough toast, generously spread with melting butter. The black bowl is photographed against a red background, highlighting the warm golden tones of the broth.

    Final Thoughts

    This stew is what happens when tough cuts of beef meet modern technology and decide to cooperate. The pressure cooker transforms short rib meat into tender, rich morsels that practically surrender when touched with a spoon.

    The fennel quietly contributes sweetness and depth without shouting about it. The passata provides body and acidity. The potatoes become soft and comforting. The puréed broth ties everything together into something that feels both rustic and luxurious.

    Most importantly, this is the sort of meal that improves your mood after a long day. It’s warm, hearty, forgiving, and entirely unconcerned with food trends. It knows exactly what it is: a proper bowl of comfort.

    And sometimes that’s all a dinner needs to be, especially after 19 years with the same employer.

    Leftover meals

    Saturday lunch

    Leftover beef short rib on a toasted, double-buttered fresh rye sourdough roll.

    Leftover beef short rib on a toasted, double-buttered fresh rye sourdough roll.

    Saturday dinner

    This dish features beef short ribs and potatoes, pressure-cooked and chilled overnight to develop their rich flavours. The beef is gently hashed in a skillet until perfectly tender, served alongside buttery, fork-mashed potatoes folded with creamy blue brie. Topped with an extra chunk of brie, chives, and cracked peppercorns for the perfect finish.

    This dish features beef short ribs and potatoes, pressure-cooked and chilled overnight to develop their rich flavours. The beef is gently hashed in a skillet until perfectly tender, served alongside buttery, fork-mashed potatoes folded with creamy blue brie. Topped with an extra chunk of brie, chives, and cracked peppercorns for the perfect finish.
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  • Beefy soup

    Beefy soup


    This beefy soup began with a pressure cooker full of short ribs, vegetables, potatoes, passata, and mixed mammal cooking liquor. It ended, after an overnight pause and a little stick-blender persuasion, as a thick, rich soup with tender beef, soft potato, and extravagantly buttered rye sourdough. It is not a quick dinner, but most of the waiting happens while you are doing something more interesting, like sleeping.

    A dark bowl filled with beef short rib soup sits on a pink background. The smooth orange broth contains one piece of slow-cooked beef short rib and pieces of soft potato. A metal spoon is tucked behind a slice of double-buttered rye sourdough toast resting across the rim of the bowl. The sourdough is heavily spread with cultured butter, and a second buttered slice sits on a matching black plate beside the bowl. The contrast between the dark crockery, creamy butter, and warm-coloured soup creates a hearty and inviting presentation.

    At a glance

    • Serves: 2 generously or one Gary
    • Pressure cooking: 45 minutes at high pressure, followed by natural pressure release
    • Chilling: overnight
    • Reheating: 30 minutes in a 60 °C water bath, plus time to reduce and blend the soup

    Ingredients

    • Beef short ribs, cut across the bone into pieces about 5 cm long
    • 1 fennel bulb, sliced
    • 2 celery stalks, sliced
    • 1 brown onion, sliced
    • Potatoes, cut into bite-sized pieces
    • Passata
    • Mixed mammal cooking liquor, sufficient to provide the pressure cooker’s minimum required liquid and partly cover the ingredients
    • Rye sourdough, thickly sliced
    • Cultured butter, softened
    • Salt, to taste
    • Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

    Yummy Lummy’s note: The exact quantities can vary based on the size of your pressure cooker and your appetite, but do not exceed the manufacturer’s maximum-fill line. Keep enough thin liquid in the pot for the cooker to reach and maintain pressure; passata alone may be too thick.

    Equipment

    • Electric pressure cooker
    • Sharp knife and cutting board
    • Cooking twine
    • Tongs and slotted spoon
    • Fine-mesh strainer or colander
    • Three heatproof bowls or containers
    • Saucepan
    • Stick blender
    • Water-bath circulator and heatproof container
    • Toaster or grill
    • Butter knife

    Day 1: pressure-cook the ribs and vegetables.

    1. Slice the fennel, celery, and brown onion. Cut the potatoes into bite-sized pieces.
    2. Cut the beef short ribs into pieces about 5 cm long. Tie cooking twine firmly around each piece, securing the meat to the bone. This is culinary seatbelting: it keeps the rib and meat together after its energetic trip through the pressure cooker.
    3. Place the fennel, celery, onion, potatoes, passata, and mixed mammal cooking liquor into the pressure cooker. Add the tied rib pieces.
    4. Check that the contents sit below the maximum-fill line and that the cooker contains the minimum volume of thin liquid required by its manufacturer.
    5. Seal the cooker. Cook at high pressure for 45 minutes.
    6. When cooking finishes, leave the cooker untouched and allow the pressure to release naturally. Open it only when the pressure indicator confirms that it is safe.
    7. Using tongs and a slotted spoon, transfer the cooked ribs and potatoes to one container.
    8. Drain the fennel, celery, and onion, reserving them in a second container.
    9. Strain the cooking liquor into a third container. Cool everything promptly, cover, and refrigerate overnight.

    Day 2: turn the vegetables into soup

    1. Set the water bath to 60 °C. Place one chilled rib portion and one potato portion in a suitable sealed bag, and warm them for 30 minutes.
    2. Meanwhile, place the drained fennel, celery, and onion in a saucepan. Add a small amount of the chilled cooking liquor—enough to loosen the vegetables without drowning them.
    3. Bring the mixture to a gentle simmer. Cook uncovered until it begins to reduce, and the flavours concentrate.
    4. Remove the saucepan from direct heat briefly, then blend with a stick blender until thick and smooth. Add a little more cooking liquor if it becomes closer to mashed potato than soup. Return it to a gentle simmer.
    5. Taste, then season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. The cooking liquor may already be salty, so approach the salt cellar with manners.

    Twice-Buttered Rye Sourdough Toast

    1. Toast the rye sourdough until crisp and well browned.
    2. While the toast is still hot, spread it with a thin layer of cultured butter. This first layer melts into the crumb.
    3. Allow the toast to cool slightly.
    4. Spread on a second thin layer of cultured butter. The cooler surface lets this layer remain in golden patches rather than disappearing completely.
    5. Finish the twice-buttered toast with a light sprinkle of flaky salt.

    This is sometimes called two-stage or double buttering. Published descriptions of Nigella Lawson’s method follow the same sequence: butter immediately so the first layer soaks in, wait for the toast to cool, then add a second layer that stays on the surface (Funderburk 2026; Reynolds 2026). I call the result supersaturated toast. It may not be a formal scientific phase, but it is a very satisfactory one.

    To serve

    Ladle the simmering soup into a warm bowl. Remove the reheated rib and potato from the bag, discard the twine, and settle both into the soup. Serve the twice-buttered rye sourdough beside it for dipping, scooping, or quiet contemplation of butter’s excellent career choices.

    A dark bowl filled with beef short rib soup sits on a pink background. The smooth orange broth contains one piece of slow-cooked beef short rib and pieces of soft potato. A metal spoon is tucked behind a slice of double-buttered rye sourdough toast resting across the rim of the bowl. The sourdough is heavily spread with cultured butter, and a second buttered slice sits on a matching black plate beside the bowl. The contrast between the dark crockery, creamy butter, and warm-coloured soup creates a hearty and inviting presentation.

    Food-safety notes

    • Divide the cooked food into shallow containers so it cools quickly. Refrigerate it promptly.
    • Keep the refrigerator at 5 °C or colder.
    • The 60 °C water bath is a gentle warming step. Start with properly chilled food, use a sealed bag suitable for the purpose, and serve immediately after warming.
    • Bring the vegetable soup to a proper simmer before serving. If you are feeding someone who is pregnant, older, immunocompromised, or otherwise vulnerable, reheat the beef and potato until piping hot rather than relying on gentle warming alone.

    References

    Funderburk, C. 2026, ‘Nigella Lawson just taught me her delicious butter rule for the best toast’, The Kitchn, 3 February, accessed 27 September 2026. Notes: Describes Lawson’s two-stage method—one layer on hot toast, followed by a second after cooling.

    Reynolds, L. 2026, ‘Why you should butter toast twice’, Tasting Table, 18 July, accessed 27 September 2026. Notes: Explains how the first layer soaks into the crumb while the second remains on the surface.

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