Smoked and roasted short ribs with leek

Method

ONE DAY IN ADVANCE

1. For the brine, bring all the ingredients to the boil in 1 litre of water. Turn off the heat and allow the brine to fully cool.
2. Remove the tough silver skin from the flipside (boned side) of the short rib. You can do this by inserting the sharp point of a knife between the silver skin and the meat, making small cuts to pry silver skin loose and then pull it off. Place the short rib in the cooled brine (make sure it is fully immersed) and leave it to cure for 12 hours in the fridge.
3. In the meantime, finely grind the ingredients for the rub in a coffee grinder. Sieve the rub and weigh out 50 grams. The rest of the rub is not used in this recipe, but you can keep it to use in another beef recipe.

Method

ON THE DAY

1. Remove the short ribs from the brine and blot them dry with kitchen towel. Massage the rub mixture into the short rib and leave it to infuse for two hours in the fridge.

Method

1. Ignite the charcoal in the Big Green Egg and bring it to a temperature of 100°C.
2. Sprinkle a handful of Cherry Wood Chips and a handful of Pecan Wood Chips onto the charcoal embers and place the convEGGtor, or if you have it the convEGGtor Basket with 2 Half convEGGtor Stones  into the EGG. Lay the grid  in the EGG and place the short rib on it. Insert the pin of the probe thermometer  into the core of the meat and close the lid of the EGG. Set the core temperature to 70°C and wait until this temperature is reached.
3. Remove the short rib from the EGG when a core temperature of 70°C has been reached. Wrap it in aluminium foil with the butter and whisky and place it back on the EGG. The meat will retain its core temperature for a long time; the meat is in the ‘zone’. Let it cook until a core temperature of 90-95°C has been reached.
4. Remove the short rib from the EGG when the core temperature has been reached, and leave it to rest in the foil for half an hour. In the meantime, for the glaze, peel and chop the garlic cloves and mix with the other ingredients. Cook on a low heat until it reduces to a third of its original volume.
5. Remove the grid and place the Cast Iron Grid in the EGG. Leave the convEGGtor in the EGG. Heat to 180°C.
6. Remove the foil and coat the short rib with the glaze. Place this bone-side down on the grill (in the Cast Iron Skillet if using) and close the lid of the EGG. Leave the meat to caramelise for about 30 minutes. Meanwhile clean and cut each leek into 2 equal pieces so that you have 4 pieces of leek. Place the pieces of leek beside the short rib and roast them for approx. 20 minutes. The outside will become dark and the core nice and soft.
7. Remove the short rib and the leek from the EGG. Slice the short ribs between the bones into four pieces. Push the core of the leek a little out of the outer layer and sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Serve with the short ribs from the Big Green Egg.