I’ve had “The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook”since it came out, but I didn’t start trying the recipes until a few months ago. Mom gave it to me for Christmas with a stack of other cookbooks, courtesy of Half.com, God’s gift to me. I’m sure the other books specialized in baking, and this was the Wild Card.

I will never, ever, ever hear the end of this, but … Mom was right. I love this book. I’m seriously thinking about cooking through the entire thing next year, whether I blog about it or not, just because I take something away from every recipe: a memorable story in its introduction, the recipe’s history, a new term, some trivia, drink recommendations, variations.

This week, we tried the Texas Red-Braised Beef Short Ribs, “red” being Texan slang for chili con carne. Don’t be thrown by the inclusion of ancho and pasilla chiles in the braising liquid/sauce. Ancho chiles are dried poblanos. Pasilla chiles are dried chilacas. If your grocery doesn’t carry them, the important thing to know is that they are extremely mild chiles. According to the Scoville scale, which measures the hotness of a pepper, ancho and pasilla chiles have 1,000-1,500 Scoville heat units. Habaneros have 50,000-150,000. So, any mild chiles will work.

We love really spicy food, so I substituted the mild chiles for a few chipotles in adobo sauce. The result was a very delicious, verrrrry spicy sauce for the short ribs, which fell off their bones as soon as they came out of the oven. We cut the heat a little by spooning the ribs and sauce over some leftover mashed potatoes, but the Lee brothers suggest serving them with cornbread, rice or grits and red wine. You’ve got to love these guys.

Do you have a cookbook you “discovered” years after you got it? I’m sure Dorie Greenspan’s “Baking: From My Home to Yours” fits that bill for a few hundred people, including me. Any others?

Texas Red-Braised Beef Short Ribs
From Matt Lee and Ted Lee’s “The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook”

For 6 people

Time: 1/2 hour preparation, 2 to 2.5 hours cooking

• 3 1/2 pounds flanken-style beef short ribs
• 1 1/2 tablespoons kosher salt, plus more to taste
• 3 large yellow onions, trimmed, peeled, and quartered lengthwise
• 8 garlic cloves, husks removed
• 3 tablespoons plus teaspoons canola oil, peanut oil, or extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste
• 2 cups (or one 14.5-ounce can) beef broth
• 3 ancho chiles, torn in half, stemmed, and seeded (These are the dried form of poblano.)
• 3 pasilla chiles, torn in half, stemmed, and seeded (These are the dried form of chilaca.)
• One 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
• 1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1. Up to a day in advance, season the short ribs with 2 teaspoons salt. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate.

2. Place the onions and garlic in a 9-x-13-inch roasting pan. Drizzle 2 teaspoons oil over them and turn with spatula to coat. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper over them and broil about 3 inches from flame or heating element for 8 to 10 minutes, until the garlic skins have blackened and the onions have charred slightly.

3. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

4. In a small saucepan, bring the broth to a boil over high heat. Turn off the heat. Place the remaining 3 tablespoons oil in a large cast-iron skillet and heat over medium-high heat until it shimmers. Add the chiles and toast them on all sides, turning them with tongs until they are soft, fragrant and slightly lighter in color, about 30 seconds. With tongs, transfer the chiles to the hot broth. Cover and let stand until completely soft, about 6 minutes.

5. Turn the heat under the skillet to high and heat until the oil remaining in the skillet just begins to smoke. Add several short ribs, making certain not to crowd them in the pan. Sear them, turning once their surfaces are browned, about 3 minutes, until they are richly browned on both sides. Remove with tongs and reserve. Repeat with the remaining ribs, in batches, until all the ribs are browned. Turn off the heat.

6. When the garlic has cooled, remove and discard the skins. Transfer the garlic and the onions to a food processor or blender. Add the tomatoes and process to a smooth puree, about 2 minutes. Reserve in a bowl. You should have 4 cups.

7. Add the chiles and broth to the food processor or blender and puree until smooth, about 2 minutes. You should have about 2 1/2 cups. Add as much chile puree to the vegetable puree as you wish to achieve the degree of flavor and heat you prefer. Stir to incorporate thoroughly, and season to taste with the remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and 1 teaspoon pepper. Add the chocolate chips and stir to incorporate (don’t worry if they don’t melt immediately; they will melt in the oven).

8. Place the short ribs in the roasting pan and pour the “red” sauce over them. Cover the pan with aluminum foil and bake for 2 hours, or until the ribs are tender and falling from the bone. Skim any fat floating on the surface.

9. Serve the ribs on plates with a ladleful of sauce.