Rich Braised Spare Ribs

We’ve been fortunate enough to go to some of the best restaurants in the U.S. One of the weird things I have noticed is how they often they use unusual and cheap ingredients in a very good way. In some ways this is really annoying because you pay a fortune to eat cheap food. However, the cool thing is how they make such awesome meals out of such ordinary ingredients.

Spare ribs, ox tail and pig’s feet are the primary subjects. Our story today centers on spare ribs.

My wife’s family is Chinese. I don’t know if that is why I experiment with Asian ingredients or not, but I’ll blame it any way. The special ingredient in this dish is fish sauce. There are many kinds, I use Vietnamese fish sauce (Noc Mam). In American cooking, the most similar ingredient is Worcestershire sauce.  

Ingredients:
2 – 3 rib racks of beef spare ribs
2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp fish sauce (replace with Worcestershire sauce or reduce amount if sensitive)
1 cup red wine
1 sliced red chili
1 medium onion sliced thin
2 tbsp olive oil

Directions:
1. Heat olive oil in pressure cooker until smoking. Brown ribs well on both sides, approximately 2 minutes per side.
 

2. Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil.

3. Close pressure cooker and bring to pressure. Cook for 1 hour. Release pressure, remove lid.
  

4. Serve.

Braised Lamb Shanks

Hands down this is my favorite dish to make for an big meal. It can go for hours so there is no need to worry about exact timing. Sorry for the lack of a good picture, the last one just didn’t come out. I’ll have to update later.

A friend from work came over last night with her husband. I took the opportunity to do the lamb.

We picked the lamb up last weekend at the Green City Market in Lincoln Park in Chicago. There was a lamb farmer there from Michigan who had beautiful looking organic lamb (Mint Creek Farm).

We had a couple of bottles of great wine with the lamb. The first was called 2003 Worthy Sofia’s Cuvee. It was a gorgeous wine, that really stole the show in my opinion. The second was also a 2003. It was a Estancia Meritage. Perfect for the lamb as well.

The lamb was served over potato pancakes with the braised vegetables on the side. The starter was a mixed green salad using some exotic greens, beets, and carrots from the farm.

This is a luscious, rich dish. It is sweet, sour, spicy, and the meat just melts in your mouth. If you’re looking for a “wow” meal, this is one to add to your list.

Ingredients:
6 lamb shanks
2 tbsp olive oil
1 large red onion
1 large fennel bulb
8 cloves of garlic
2 tbsp minced fresh ginger
4 tomatoes or one can of whole tomatoes
1 tbsp olive oil
1 10 oz can garbanzo beans
1 cup balsamic vinegar
1 cup dry red wine
1 cup (or so) chicken broth/stock
4 sprigs rosemary
1 tbsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp cayenne powder
salt and pepper to taste

Yields 6 servings

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 425F. Set out the lamb shanks for about an hour. Cut the stems off of the tomatoes, place in an oven safe dish. Season with salt and pepper. Drizzle with olive oil. Roast in oven for at least 45 minutes.
 

2. While the tomatoes are roasting, start prepping. Slice the vegetables and measure eveything out. Slice the onion, fennel and garlic thin. Mince the ginger.
 

3. Generously salt and pepper the lamb shanks. Add olive oil to the bottom of a large Dutch oven and heat to smoking over high heat. Add the lamb shanks and brown well on one side (about 5 minutes), lower heat to medium, turn the lamb over and brown the other side for about 5 minutes. Remove lamb from the Dutch oven and set aside.
 

4. Add garlic and ginger to the remaining oil and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add onion and fennel. Cook for 5 minutes stirring occasionally.
 

5. Remove tomatoes from oven. Lower temperature to 250F. Add the tomatoes, beans and remaining ingredients except chicken stock. Heat to a simmer, stir to mix well. Place the lamb in the mixture. Add enough chicken stock to cover the lamb completely. Bring to a boil.
 

6. Cover and place in the oven. Cook for at least 2 hours. Reduce heat to 160 to keep warm until ready to serve. When ready, carefully remove the lamb using tongs. The meat will literally disintegrate. Using a slotted spoon, remove the vegetables. Plate however you like and enjoy.

Ribs in a Bag

 

Ribs are another food that I have tried a number of ways. I’ve done them on the grill, in the smoker, boiled and then roasted, braised, and any other way you can name. If you want falling off the bone ribs with a ton of flavor, you will not find a recipe that beats this one. It is not traditional, but it works great.

Ingredients:
Meat
2 racks of pork loin ribs (or baby back) cut in half

Rub
1 cup light brown sugar
½ cup kosher salt
1 tbsp chili powder
1 tsp jalapeño flakes
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp rubbed thyme
1 tsp mustard powder
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp cracked black pepper
¼ tsp cayenne powder

Braising Liquid

1 cup Bourbon

1 cup water

2 cloves minced garlic

3 tbsp honey

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

Directions:
1. Combine rub ingredients in a bowl. Rub all over ribs. Put ribs in a plastic bag and refrigerate overnight (at least 4 hours, but preferably 12 or more)
 

2. Cut a piece of heavy duty foil about 3 feet long with shiny side up.

3. Place a ½ rack on the foil

 

4. First fold the foil lengthwise, then close up the side by folding over. Be sure to seal tightly but be very careful not to puncture the foil. A hole will ruin the process. Be sure to leave the end open.
 

 

5. Repeat steps 2-4 for the remaining racks.

6. Preheat oven to 250F

7. Combine braising liquid ingredients. Microwave the ingredients for 1 minute.

8. Divide liquid between bags. Fold end over 2-3 times to seal the bags. Double check all the way around to make sure seams are tight.

 

9. Place bags on cookie sheets and place in the middle of the oven. Cook for 2.5 hours.

10. Remove ribs from oven and allow to cool to touch.

11. Pour liquid from each bag into a large sauce pot (be careful this can be hot).

 

 

12. Bring sauce to a boil and reduce by at least half.

13. Brush sauce all over ribs. Turn on broiler and broil until starting to crisp all over (about 1-2 minutes). Continue reducing sauce.

  

14. Remove ribs, cut into 2 rib portions. Toss in sauce and serve.

Chicken Cacciatore

This is a great hearty meal. It is based on a recipe my Dad makes. It is super simple to make with canned tomatoes. I, of course, had to over complicate things and start with whole totmatoes (trying to use up the batch we got this week from the farm).

Ingredients:
1/2 chicken, skinned and cut into 6 parts
3 lbs tomatoes
1 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
4 cloves garlic roughly chopped
1/2 cup mixed fresh herbs (parsley, basil, rosemary, thyme)
1 cup red wine
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Wash tomatoes. Heat water and add tomatoes.
 

2. Remove tomatoes after 30 seconds. Peel tomatoes and cut into quarters.
 

3. Slice onions and chop garlic.
 

4.  Add tomatoes, bring to a simmer. Let simmer for 15 minutes.

5. In the mean time, cut up the chicken.

6. Add chicken, and return to a simmer.
 

7. Keep a slight simmer for 3 hours.

8. Chop herbs. Add herbs and wine and gently stir. 
 

9. Continue to simmer on low for another hour.

10. Plate and serve with a fresh salad and biscuits (to sop up the sauce).