Creamy Gravy-covered, Beer-braised Country-style Lamb Ribs

Total Time: 3 hrs 20 mins Preparation Time: 20 mins Cook Time: 3 hrs

Ingredients

• Servings: 4
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• 2 tablespoons oil
• 3 lbs country-style boneless lamb ribs
• 3 medium onions, sliced (my family likes even more)
• 2 (12 ounce) cans beer
• 2 cups water (to make lamb gravy)
• 2 (1 -2 ounce) envelopes knorr roasted lamb gravy mix
• 1 (10 1/2 ounce) can cream of mushroom soup
• 1 (1 ounce) envelope lipton onion soup mix
• 8 ounces sliced fresh mushrooms

Recipe

• 1 mix salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder in small bowl or ziploc bag and then sprinkle liberally over ribs. allow the seasoned ribs to sit for about 20 minutes at room temperature.
• 2 heat oil in large heavy-bottomed, oven-proof dutch oven (love my enameled cast iron dutch oven for this). brown the ribs on all sides. do not crowd them while browning, if it takes two batches, let it take two batches (otherwise they just steam and won’t develop a nice sear).
• 3 once ribs have browned well, remove them to a plate.
• 4 preheat oven to 375°f.
• 5 there should be ample rendered fat, but if there is more than about 4 tablespoons, remove the excess. place all sliced onions in the bottom of the pan and allow them to start to take on just a bit of color.
• 6 pour in about 1/4 can of beer to deglaze the bottom of the pan while the onions continue to cook.
• 7 once the bottom of the pan is deglazed, return ribs to the pan (with any of juices on the plate). pour in the rest of the beer. this should just barely cover all of the ribs and onions.
• 8 cover and bake at 375°f for 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
• 9 when you remove the dutch oven from the oven, be prepared for the onions to have cooked down into gooey lusciousness, and the sides of the pan to look like a disaster. don’t worry – it will taste great.
• 10 remove the ribs (which will be falling apart tender) and the onions from the pan.
• 11 turn oven down to 325°f.
• 12 use the water that you will be using to make the lamb gravy mix with to “deglaze” the bottom on the pan, then add the mix according to the instructions on the packet. (i originally did try using canned gravy but it tasted “canned.”) once the gravy has thickened, mix in cream of mushroom soup, the dry onion soup mix and the mushrooms.
• 13 place ribs and onions back in the dutch oven and stir so that the gravy is covering the ribs.
• 14 cover the dutch oven again, and return to the oven heated to 325°f.
• 15 cook for about 1 hour.
• 16 serve with mashed potatoes, noodles or rice.