Over the last few years our family has totally fallen in love with the melt in the mouth slow cooked goodness that is American Barbecue. I have been promising to share this recipe for a long time, I was going to save it for Kitchen Bootcamp but, at the last minute, I decided to share it here.
Pork Ribs and Pulled Pork are our favourites, and plenty of eyes light up when I get the process going in the kitchen. One of the best things about making a batch of ribs are the homemade baked beans that come with it. There is no slop in a tin that even comes close to the goodness of homemade.
I get my ribs from the butcher in one of the Asian supermarkets in The Adelaide Central Market. The ribs are meatier and cheaper than I have found anywhere else.
Beerenberg Worcestershire sauce is the bomb in these ribs, it blows all the other brands away. Likewise Bundaberg ginger beer makes for the best flavour but feel free to substitute a full flavoured bottle of beer in its place.
Slow Cooked Pork Ribs & Baked Beans - Serves 6
Pork Ribs
Ingredients
3 Racks American Style Pork Ribs
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 tin tomatoes
1 375 mL bottle Bundaberg Ginger Beer
2 (or more), long red chillies, split along their length
400g chopped tomatoes
1 small head of garlic, washed and top cut off
Method
Put the ribs into a large, heavy saucepan and add the rest of the ingredients.
Put on the lid and bring to a simmer.
Cook until the meat is quite tender and starting to easily pull back from the bone.
Lay the ribs in a large baking tray and pour on enough of the liquid to give about an inch of coverage in the base.
Cover with al foil and put in a slow oven for about an hour.
I rarely cook my ribs for specific amounts of time either on the stove or in the oven. If you are making baked beans too they will take longer to cook than the ribs will take in the oven but as long as you don't dry out the ribs you can put them in straight away and finish just before serving or leave them sit a while and put them in the oven later.
To finish the ribs remove the al foil and turn the oven up hot, cook for about 15-20 minutes to get some caramelisation on the ribs. Alternatively you can pop them on a hot barbecue to finish. You will need long tongs and will need to be careful that they don't stick because the meat will be soft and falling off the bone at this stage.
To serve cut the racks in to individual ribs and pile on to a large plate.
Baked Beans
Ingredients
3 cups dried beans (I vary what I use but Navy or Haricot are my usual suspects) washed and soaked overnight in lots of water.
4-6 rashers of bacon, chopped
1 large onion, diced
1 tin chopped tomatoes
Reserved liquid from cooking the pork ribs
Method
Tip the liquid from the saucepan into a jug, or something large enough to hold it.
Throw the bacon and onion into the saucepan and cook until it is softened and starting to caramelise.
Tip in the drained, soaked beans together with the reserved cooking liquid and extra tin of tomatoes. Sometimes I add a second tin depending on how much cooking liquid was left.
Top up with enough water to cover the beans.
Leave to simmer, stirring occasionally until the beans are tender.
Cooking time will vary dependant on how long they have been soaked for.
Serve with the ribs together with large dill pickles and coleslaw.
The left over baked beans are perfect for serving in a shallow dish with a runny egg baked on top or alongside a traditional cooked breakfast.
I must apologise for the lack of photos. I make ribs about once a month but it's not something I ever stop and photograph before we eat because otherwise I might miss out!
Have a fantastic week.
Tatum xx
PS Don't forget, Kitchen Bootcamp is only a week away, if you haven't signed up already all you need to do is use the paypal button over there on the right. I will be opening the private facebook group later in the week so you can start chatting!
