You’re looking at someone who likes their ribs. All kinds of ribs. I love my proper southern BBQ ribs (which I can get from various places in town) but lacking a yard and the right tools, I must eat that out. I’ve always been a fan of boiled ribs –best if boiled in tomato juice, marinaded over night, and then onto the grill for the finish with some sort of sweet glaze. My grandma’s borscht used to contain pork ribs while it was cooking which would be removed when the borscht was done, deboned, shredded, and added into the final product. I also love braised ribs, of all kinds.

I keep catching pork rib sales and who am I to say no when the good lord / gravity monster / spaghetti monster decides to thrust cut-rate priced pork in my direction? Rum ribs, ribs baked in red wine and glazed under the broiler with a mixture of soy sauce, brown sugar, and Worcestershire sauce (B’s favourite, from The New Spanish Table), or any other way you do em .  Though I rather unenthused about the Vietnamese ones braised in caramel sauce.  You would think they would be amazing but they were merely ho-hum, and kind of awful the next day.  The smell of fish sauce hitting hot caramel is special too –if you try,  I suggestt you do this stage out doors.  However, you can almost never go wrong with pork ribs.  Porky goodness, goey, messy, and all the fun of finding bits of meat you missed tucked away on the bone somewhere.  So what if it’s not proper “bbq”.

I was feeling like something a little mexican, or tex-mex (what the hell do I know, all the way up in frozen Canada) and inspired by Homesick Texan’s West Texas Asado, I gave them a good south of the border treatment.  I think these have displaced my favorite baked ribs.  Spicy, delicious, sweet, perfect ribs.  Good with some cumin and hotsauce spiked rice with a few green beans tossed around to make me feel less guilty for mowing down on some serious pork loving.

M’s “I’m an igloo salesman cooking mexican” ribs:

ing:

• 2 pounds pork ribs
• 1 large onion, diced
• 5-6 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 cup of OJ (+ more if the braising liquid really disappears)
• 5-6 dried ancho chiles (soak in hot water for an hour before using)
• 2-3 teaspoons dried chili flakes (or chili garlic sauce, or cayenne, whatever you want to use for heat, to taste)
• 1 heaping teaspoon smoked hot paprika
• 1 tablespoon freshly ground cumin
• 1/2 tablespoon freshly ground coriander
• 1/2 tablespoon oregano
• 1/2 tablespoon sweet paprika
• 2 tablespoons drained soffrito (optional, but imparts a great earthiness)
• salt + pepper, to taste

dir:

1. Soak the chiles in hot water (boil it first) for an hour or so.  Remove stems, deseed, and rough chop.  Mix garlic and chiles in a food processor and blend with a bit of the OJ to form a smooth paste
2. In a dutch oven, brown the onions in a bit of oil.  Once browned, add the chili/garlic paste and stir for a few minutes.  Add in the spices and stir for a minute.  Add the pork and give a quick searing.  Dump in the OJ.  You may want to dump in a 1/3 – 1/2 cup water at this point if the vessel is large.
3. In an oven at 325 F, bake the ribs for 2 – 2 1/2 hours.  Check the liquid levels after 90 minutes, they may be low in which case top up with a bit of OJ / water as you see fit.
4. Salt and pepper to taste

-m out