Meat - Braised Short Ribs in Chocolate Sauce

Yes, you read that correctly. Incidentally, this is the dish that made me take braising seriously again after 5 years of weekly pot roasts. This doesn't taste "chocolatey" - it's just very, very, scarily good.

Credit to foodwishes for the recipe, though I anticipate adjusting this further. (My other meal for today will be pan-grilled short ribs and asparagus; I'll probably cook the "fat" side of the ribs for an extra minute or so but they should be identical otherwise).

Ingredients:
3lbs beef short ribs, trimmed
3oz bacon (I use uncured; not sure if it makes much difference)
1 cup dry Sherry (~$10 bottle)
1 quart beef broth (I haven't tried this with homemade yet; will report)
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
5 sprigs thyme
2 tbsp white rice flour (regular flour ok if you're glutenous)
2 bay leaves
2 oz bittersweet chocolate (I use expensive dark chocolate from the local pretentious grocer)
1 stick cinnamon
Salt and Pepper to taste
(5QT DUTCH OVEN)

Prep:
Dry ribs, cut into ~4-in pieces, salt generously (min. 1hr in advance). We add pepper later.
Cut ribs into ~4-in pieces; salt and pepper generously
Dry and dice bacon
Finely dice onion
Finely dice/paste garlic
Mix the rice flour with 2tbsp water until it forms an even slurry (skip for regular flour)*
Tie the thyme sprigs into a bundle
Cut chocolate into small pieces

*I'm considering some roux-related experiments here. Stay tuned.

Cooking:
1) Lightly fry bacon for ~5 minutes on medium-low heat to render out the fat
2) Remove bacon with a spoon and reserve off to the side
3) Brown short ribs in bacon fat, all four sides (six if they're very thick). I've found it's best to do this 4 pieces at a time; any more than that and water can't evaporate, so you get an ugly thick mess at the bottom of the pan. This is also why it's important to trim the fat down.
4) Remove ribs and reserve off to the side.
5) Add onions, add a pinch of salt, and cook on medium or low heat for ~5 minutes until soft. We're sweating them here, not browning - no color change.
6) Add garlic and sautee for ~30 seconds (err on the side of shorter)
7) Add rice flour slurry and cook for 2 minutes
8) Add sherry and deglaze the bottom of the oven. Bring to a simmer.
9) Return bacon and short ribs to the pan (bone side up if applicable); add broth, bay leaves, and thyme
10) Bring back to simmer and cook covered for 90 minutes
11) Add chocolate and cinnamon. wash around to make sure chocolate dissolves
12) Cook for 30 minutes

At this point it's edible, but for optimal results:
13) Let cool and put in fridge overnight (VERY IMPORTANT)
14) Remove fat from the top if applicable
15) Return to heat and reduce sauce as desired

This works very, very well.

Link to foodwishes post:
http://foodwishes.blogspot.com/2007/02/braised-beef-short-ribs-with-chocolate.html