Nothing like a good ribbing.

Three recipes for tasty tasty pork ribs.

The greatest thing in my life is pork my family. The second greatest thing is definitely pork. If, next Friday when the apocolypse is upon us, Allah appears in front of me and declares the Muslim faith was the true religion and offers me redemption if I recant my love of pork. I shall have to politely decline his/her offer and step onto the escalator going down. I LOVE PORK! And a great thing about my life right now is I seem to have a constant supply of pork ribs. Every time I look in our freezer there they are. Why? You ask. Well we do the odd catering job for friends etc and they always, I repeat, always want pork belly. So I always get said pork belly with rib bones attached and rest is history.

So over to the star of my life right now, the pork ribs, and three different ways I have served them recently…

1.This day I didn’t feel like doing much besides cooking pork ribs and drinking cups of tea. The ribs I braised in a pork rib ragout with lentils, orange and herbage. The tea was orange pekoe. Black with a little honey. Oh, and I might painted a picture on our bedroom wall. Don’t tell Jen though, yeah?

The pork was inspired by a dish I used to do with pork belly and a roasted orange sauce and the tea, well I think I have to credit my tea drinking fetish to my mate Micky. He’s a jolly ol’ English cockle who drinks like, 20 cups a day (cups of tea that is. Not just cups. That would be kinda strange and I probably wouldn’t be able to be friends with him if that was the case). Needless to say, he’s always got the kettle on and the teapot cosy at the ready.

This is a simple, one pot meal that I have just invented and shall taste delicious. This is 9-5 weekday can’t really be assed cooking for lazy bastards at its finest. Simple meals can often be your finest if you make them well. Some fresh herbs or spices are always good for flavour, and a “star” ingredient and don’t go overboard with the rest. You want simple? Well make it simple. Just make simple good.

SIMPLE, GOOD PORK RIB RAGOUT

1kg pork ribs. And by pork ribs I mean whatever cut of pork you feel like eating

2 tins tomatoes (I know there’s only one in the pic but I added another)

2 tins du puy lentils

3 strips orange peel

3 cloves garlic

A few sprigs of herbs. Rosemary, thyme, sage

I used 3 tablespoons of onion jam just because I had it there, but 1 diced onion should do the trick

• Brown the ribs in a large pot/pan
• Add everything else except the lentils. Simmer on a low heat, lid on for about 45 minutes
• Add the lentils and simmer for another 5-10 minutes
• Done! Serve as is or with some soft polenta or pumpkin mash

2. SLOWLY CHAR-GRILLED MARINATED RIBS

These were marinated with my pork rib marinade here https://foodisthebestshitever.wordpress.com/2012/09/03/i-have-a-bone-to-pick-with-you/ and slowly grilled over the coals. Slowly is the key word here people. Minimal coals – low heat. Ribs are great with a bit of caramelisation but they are shit when they’re charred to a cinder. Unless of course you are one of those people on the weird fetish shows who loves eating coal, in which case, go for gold. They were eaten with plenty of beer and wine and total disregard for the neighbours and their sweet dreams.

3. Smoked ribs for boys night

Yep another boys night. I am a huge fan! Tonight we’re having smoked pork ribs and thick beef sausages from the kickass butcher down the road. What’s that? You don’t have a kickass butcher down the road? Aaawwww. This was some of the best ribs of my time in ribville. Awesome sticky, beery, smoky goodness.

AWESOME BEERY SMOKEY STICKY RIBS

2 racks pork ribs

2 tallies (what we in Australia call a large bottle of beer. 700-750ml) of your favourite beer. One for the pot, one for you

3 tablespoons bbq sauce

• First I bring the ribs to the simmer in a pot with half beer and half water – enough liquid to just cover the ribs
• Once the “stock” hits the simmer turn it off and let the ribs cool in the pot
• Remove ribs, add bbq sauce to the stock and reduce to a glaze
• Slowly smoke the ribs in your make shift smokehouse, basting regularly
• Drink your beer. Wouldn’t want it to get warm would you?
• The vegetables for the salad are cooked in foil (or the hobo pack as Huey Hewitson aka sausage fingers would call it). Sweet potato, carrot, garlic and herbs. Try it, it’s good.

So thank you pork ribs, for the joy you have bought to my family and I. thank you very much…