Win Grilling Season With Stephanie Izard’s Korean Short Ribs

Somewhere in Chicago, someone has mentioned Stephanie Izard by name since your correspondent began typing this sentence.

Usually it concerns a dish. Or another culinary award. Or just a recommendation to go and enjoy one of her beloved restaurants.

But today they’re probably talking about Gather & Graze: 120 Recipes for a Tasty Good Time, the Chicago chef’s new cookbook, filled with more than 100 recipes for eating and entertaining.

Not only is it a lovely book with beautiful photography, it’s also intuitively categorized such that readers can peruse Izard-designed menus that address specific needs or situations (i.e., “Sunday Funday” brunching).

It should be noted that all recipes found in the book are inspired by Izard’s Chicago establishments, which for the record now include Girl & The Goat, Little Goat Diner and Duck Duck Goat.

The recipe below is for Izard’s simple but effective Kalbi beef ribs. The meal, straight out of the pages of Gather & Graze, requires only an hour or so to complete, and is best served with spiced and buttered sweet corn cobs.

“Korean ribs are cooked quick and hot on the grill so they’re tender and chewy, meant to be picked up and eaten with your hands,” Izard explains. “The corn on the cob wheels rolled in melted butter that has been mixed with a little of the kalbi marinade then seal the deal.”

Kalbi Beef Ribs

Kalbi Marinade
1 cup fish sauce
½ cup malt vinegar
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons sambal oelek
2 small garlic cloves, minced

Ribs and Corn
2 pounds kalbi-style beef short ribs
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
5 ears of sweet corn, cut into 3-inch “coblettes”
Canola oil
Kosher salt

Make the marinade:

Combine the fish sauce, vinegar, olive oil, sambal oelek, and garlic in a blender and blend until smooth.

Preheat a grill or grill pan to medium-high heat.

Prepare the ribs and corn:

Arrange the kalbi ribs in a single layer in a baking dish. Pour all but 2 tablespoons of the marinade over the ribs and let them sit for 5 to 10 minutes.

Whip the remaining 2 tablespoons marinade with the melted butter to combine.

Toss the corn coblettes with just enough canola oil to coat and season with salt. Grill, turning once, until tender and just cooked, about 10 minutes. Dunk the corn in the flavored butter and transfer to a rimmed platter (to catch all the juices).

Grill the ribs for 2 to 3 minutes per side, until you get a nice char. Let the meat cool slightly, then cut between each bone segment so you have 2-inch individual ribs. Plate the ribs on top of the corn coblettes and serve with the remaining flavored butter and the okra relish.

Nota bene: The recipe for okra relish mentioned above is also available in Gather & Graze, but you’ll have to purchase the book for that.