I bought some bone-in pork country ribs the other day, totally forgetting that Mr. Middon had takeout barbecued ribs earlier in the week and still has leftovers. Also, we had takeout Chinese food with friends last night.
So how can I prepare the ribs that’s neither barbecue nor Asian in style? Hubs won’t eat sauerkraut so that German ribs-and-kraut recipe is out.
I’m open to anything, but since it’s hot out a recipe that doesn’t need me to turn on the oven is preferred.
Ah, country style ribs, love them.
Okay, so first, my favorite option is out, which is to smoke them, as while I consider it completely different from BBQ, there’s enough overlap and I don’t know if you have a smoker.
What I would recommend is a New Mexican-style green chile pork, which only requires a slow cooker and ingredients, so really nice for hotter months, and does a good job with cuts that have a lot of diseparate bits of meat and connective tissue like Country style ribs.
Easy-peasy, you just brown the meat in a hot skillet, then toss the ribs in the slow cooker with about 1-2 cups of a mild beer (tecate or corona by choice). Add the juice of 2-3 limes (with zest if you like), about half a bunch of stemmed, coarsely chopped cilantro (or leave out if you or the other half have the ‘soapy’ taste issue), and say 12 oz of your favorize chopped roasted green chiles (505 brand is regularly available and tasty, while very mild). A diced, sauted half onion or so would add more flavor, as would some garlic, but tastes very.
Cook on high for about 2 hours, and finish on low for 4 or so, or until falling off the bone tender. Please do be careful to extract the bones before serving, as biting into a bit of bone can be a poor experience of course. I generally take out the bones, then shred the meat and toss back in the pot prior to the last hour of cooking to make sure the flavor penetrates all bits of meat.
Serve with chips, or tortillas, shredded cheese, and diced jalapenos for those who want to add some extra heat.
My second favorite option is similar (in that it’s slow cooked), but instead of beer and chile, it’s cider and onions. So again, brown meat in skillet. Thinly slice 2 medium sized sweet onions (yes sweet) and briefly saute in the pan until translucent, then deglaze with a good hard apple cider (one bottle or can should do). A dozen or so good grinds of black pepper should be added, and depending upon my mood a little crushed sage.
Put ribs in slow cooker, pour over cider/onion/pepper mix, and cook as above. 2 hours high, 4 low. In this case, I normally serve whole with home-made spaetzle, but works great with mashed potatoes, roasted parsnips, or wild rice.
NOTE - I left out specific amounts of salt in both dishes, because I tend to over-salt my dishes, please do add salt to taste in both.
mmm, yeah. That gets my vote, and doesn’t fall into either of the styles that are off the menu. Do it!
Definitely green chile for me, but with tomatillos as well — I like the tang. (Pork Chile verde.) I use this recipe:
I make this at least once every other week. The next day I make enchiladas out of the leftovers. Country style ribs works fine in it. The only amendment is that I use a bit less broth than the recipe calls for, as I find almost all stew recipes to call for too much liquid for my tastes, but that may be a personal preference; I use half the broth called for.
Now my problem is not what to make with the ribs, but which of 3 very yummy-sounding recipes to make.
I’ve saved all three, so the ones I don’t make this time can be made later.
Thanks!
Happy eating!
That’s a good one, too, that I had forgotten about. I always think of that as the pork version of carbonnade, trading cider for the beer, as well. I’ll have to make it when it cools down. I also add a bit of stone ground mustard and bread to mine (a la carbonnade).
BTW - w/ @pulykamell joining the thread, it reminded me of another option from this thread -
Which is my go-to jerked chicken option, but as I mentioned in the thread, it worked well on pork chops and would work well for country style ribs as well. pulykamell and the rest of the thread have smoked/grilled and other variants on jerk options as well for yet another way to make pork delicious outside of BBQ and Pan-Asian styles.
Trying this one today (cider/onions). I will report back tomorrow. It smells fantastic. I did add the sage, but probably under-salted it. We’ll see.
ETA: We’re eating with roast red potatoes (cubed, tossed in oil and seasoning, roasted in the oven) and a salad.
wait too many/much BBQ ribs? sorry does not compute in my world … but those recipes do sound delish …
Now waiting for @Zakalwe 's results. Should be good with roasted red potatoes. And now I’m hungry again.
Sorry, got distracted watching a movie. They were a definite success. Especially with picky-eater daughter. Salt was okay, but I could have gotten away with more.
One thing I might change next time is to add some cumin for a little more earthy to balance the brightness of the apple and maybe just a little diced white onion for zing.
But seriously, overall a great easy recipe A solid keeper for when country rib is on sale or I just get the hankering. Unfortunately, with my household, the chile version is probably a non-starter, but it sounds like something I would love!
Excellent! And yes, it’s always fun to customize a dish to your individual tastes, that’s what puts the ‘home’ in home cooking! As Penzy’s puts it “Love People, Cook them tasty food.”
Or “Love People, Cook them. Tasty food.”
What a difference a comma or a period makes! 