Ribs on the menu tonight!

I've been a little laid back when it comes to updating my little cooking blog! What with Chelle & Mac down in town (Ok, so Mac's not really counted because I hardly saw the dude during his trip!), I was pretty busy with meet-ups, runs around the Gardens and a Camberwell market visit.

OK! So enough excuses already. :) Today is a pretty exciting day for me, my flaming hot sofa from Frogs Sofa arrives. Right, the delivery guy has another 8 mins to go before 2pm, and I'm really hoping he shows up soon because I do want to go for a quick run before I come home to enjoy my new couch! It's the FIRST very big purchase I've made for myself apart from holidays and plane tickets, so I'm quite proud to have done this all on my own. A great leap from the liz of yonder days who was intent on partying harder than anyone else I knew.

On the menu for my "break-in" sofa night is good o' American style BBQ Crock Pot ribs.

I googled several recipes, and put together one of my own:

American Style Barbecue Crock Pot Pork Ribs

1 kg of American style Pork Ribs (with bone)

2 Small brown onions, quartered

4 Cloves of Garlic, roughly chopped into large pieces

Salt & Pepper for seasoning

Prep: Something Mom taught me since young, scald the pork ribs with boiling hot water until the outer flesh turns slightly opaque and changes from pink to gray. This helps to get rid of the "porky" smell and at the same time, kills any surface bacteria. Saute and onions and garlic lightly in a tbl of oil until fragrant. Add the pork and fill with water; bring to a boil over medium heat. Let the pork boil with the onion and garlic water for about 45mins-1hour. Add some salt & pepper for flavouring.

BBQ Sauce:

1/3 Cup of Apple Cider Vinegar

1/4 Cup of brown sugar

3 Tbl Honey

3 Boiled, Skinned and Pitted cooking tomatoes

1 tsp Hot Chili Sauce

Recipes online all called for Tomato Sauce but seeing that I had three cooking tomatoes in the fridge, I decided to boil them, dip them in chilled water, and skin/pit them. I mashed them up with a fork and added them to a saucepan over heat, slowly stirring in hot water to dilute the thick pulp. When the tomato had turned to an almost paste-like consistency, I added the vinegar, brown sugar and honey.

**CAUTION** Do not stand too close and breathe in the fumes (I know because I did by accident!) as vinegar gives off a pungent tartness that shoots up the nostrils, burning them right inside so you feel almost as though you've been poked by an invisible sharp finger. Ok... So i exaggerate a little!

Stir mixture until all ingredients are dissolved and bring to a slight boil. I let my sauce thicken and look nearly like it was going to burn (for that smokey taste) before adding some hot water. I simmered it for about an hour, until the sharp acidity of the vinegar had evaporated away, and all that was left was a sweet, slightly tart, thickened brownish sauce (with slight goo from the tomato). Finger lickin' good!

(above) Pot of smokey deep rust coloured home-made BBQ sauce

(above) Sauce should be slightly sweet & just the tiniest bit tangy, add more chili if you prefer spicy

I then transferred the ribs into my crockpot, poured the sauce over, added some MORE onions (yum!) to sweeten, and have now put it on auto mode. My ex-director/ good friend El gave me a mini slow cooker and it only has two modes - auto and high. And now the waiting begins...

3pm - I started the crock pot and then went for a run around the Tan. Did some exercise and while I was still warm, decided to work on my veggies. This was about 4.45pm when I started...

I had some organic potatoes that I bought from the Farmer's Market a few weeks ago - they were very petite and delicate flavoured. No need for overwhelming herbs or flavouring. After cutting them into quarters and arranging on a bake pan, I drizzled some Villa Varapodi Olive Oil from Rose Creek Estate and sprinkled a light dusting of sea salt. This olive oil was the third harvest batch and is considered premium Sola Polpa - I was told that the oil is not pressed but extracted in small batches using an ancient method. Not too sure what this ancient method is though... ANYWAY, it tastes friking good. I had bought a First Harvest batch which is not for cooking, but dipping with bread and that is super amazing Olive Oil. Yum.... Back to my potatoes though...

I popped them into a pre-heated oven with a heat of 170C for 15mins and scattered several garlic slices over the potato quarters. After this was done, I then tossed in some broccoli florets and sprinkled some lo-fat fetta over. Another light dusting of sea salt, and a dash of oil and back into the oven at 170C for 10mins.

PINGGGGG!!! Oven went off, veggies are done. Switched the crock pot off, mmmmMMmMmM! Pork was literally falling off the bone, the sauce had thickened to a deep reddish rusty brown and the aroma! If only I could capture the aroma that wafted from my little pot. Sat down with a beer, some hearty American BBQ ribs, roast potatoes and veggies - so satisfying on a cold winter's night. Now, onto enjoy my brand new flaming red sofa! Woohoooooooo! I love Life!

(above) Ribs just about done - the onions were so soft and added a touch of sweetness to the BBQ sauce.

Until my next post! X