Sweet and Spicy Short Ribs with Egg Noodles

My Man has sworn off smoking beef ribs (he doesn't like the way they turn out) - so when I ran across this recipe I thought I'd give it a shot with the ribs we had in the freezer.  I don't currently have a subscription to Southern Livings magazine but I'm seriously considering it.  I test ran three of their recipes this week and all of them were hits.

You can find the original recipe here:


2 tablespoons chili powder
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt, divided
1 teaspoon black pepper, divided
4 (9-oz.) beef short ribs, trimmed
2 tablespoons canola oil, divided
3 cups frozen pearl onions, thawed
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 (12-oz.) bottle lager beer
3 cups chopped plum tomatoes (about 6 medium tomatoes)
2 cups beef broth
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
2 bay leaves
8 ounces uncooked wide egg noodles
3 tablespoons salted butter
3 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme


Preheat oven to 325°F. Stir together chili powder, paprika, cayenne pepper, and 1/2 teaspoon each of the salt and black pepper; sprinkle over ribs. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high. Add ribs, and cook until browned on all sides, about 5 minutes. Remove ribs from Dutch oven; wipe Dutch oven clean.

Add remaining 1 tablespoon oil to Dutch oven. Add pearl onions; cook until lightly browned, about 4 minutes. Stir in flour, and cook, stirring constantly, 1 minute. Add beer, and bring to a boil, stirring and scraping to loosen browned bits from bottom of Dutch oven. Boil until liquid is reduced to about 1/2 cup, 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in tomatoes, broth, brown sugar, bay leaves, and 3/4 teaspoon of the salt. Add ribs, bone side up; bring to a boil. Cover and transfer to preheated oven. Bake until ribs are very tender, about 2 1/2 hours.

Prepare noodles according to package directions, and place in a medium bowl. Add butter, parsley, and remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, stirring until butter is melted.
Remove and discard bay leaves from Dutch oven. Serve ribs and onion mixture over noodles. Sprinkle with thyme.