Pork Short Ribs with Mustard Sauce

It's Secret Recipe Reveal Day for Group B. I was assigned to Meagan from A Zesty Bite in Houston, TX. Meagan has an official taste-tester and a professional dishwasher! You'll have to go to her blog to see who it is. 

Pork Ribs in the Pressure Cooker

I bought a pressure cooker several years ago and I think I've only used it once or twice.  It lives downstairs on the shelf along with the crockpot, canning supplies, Christmas platters and meat slicer, so I don't often think about using it. 

I bought a couple pounds of pork ribs the other day and then hated the thought of having the oven on for 4 hours because the temperature was 81 degrees that day.  (Today it's 29 and snowing.)  So, the pressure cooker came to mind.  I dusted it off (actually, I washed it) and read the owner's manual again.

A pressure cooker cuts the cooking time to a third of what it would take in an oven!  

These are the finished ribs.  They were not falling off the bone but they were very, very tender and tasty!

I started with 2 pounds of pork ribs.
I marinated them in some white wine and bay leaves for about 5 hours.

I dried them off and browned them in a couple tablespoons of olive oil.    The browning was done right in the pressure cooker (with the lid off!).

I browned the ribs in a two batches then removed them from the pan and drained the oil.

I don't much like BBQ sauce... that tomato-y, ketchup-y, sometimes too sweet bottled stuff.  So, I mixed up...  

1/2 cup bourbon

2 T brown sugar

1 T honey

1 T Worcestershire

5 cloves garlic, sliced
I put the ribs back in the pressure cooker and poured the mixture on top of them.

Then I locked the lid on, turned the burner on and let it cook for 23 minutes.  At the end of the cooking time, the pressure must be released before you can open the lid.  This can be done by putting the cooker in the sink and running cold water over it, or by letting it sit until the pressure is gone (15-20 minutes).  I turned off the heat and just let the cooker sit on the stove another 20 minutes.  

I was so hungry and the ribs smelled so good!  My gardener is out of town, so I didn't even bother to make a vegetable or anything to go with these.  I just dug in and boy howdy were they good! 

I'm going to try to remember to use the pressure cooker more often.  It will be good for game that sometimes tends to be tough.  Do you have a pressure cooker?  Do you like using it?  What do you make in it?  

Chile Verde

Chile Verde is my second all-time favorite in Mexican food. (I haven't blogged yet about my #1 favorite yet!)

I've had this recipe for years and have only made it a few times. Why? Because when I lived in SoCal, I could go to a restaurant and order it instead of going to the work of making it!

Now that I'm living in Havre, Montana and the only Mexican restaurants in town are Taco John's, Taco Time, and Taco Treat, I'll probably be using this recipe more often than I have in the past.

If you want the taste of authentic Chile Verde, you'll have to try this recipe. It tastes so good you'll think you've died and gone to heaven the Imperial Valley where you can find the best Mexican food in the world! Yes, I said it. The best.

Here are the ingredients: chicken bouillon, onion, pork shoulder, jalapenos, tomatillos, and canned whole green chiles. You'll need two corn tortillas and five cloves of garlic, too. I'm going to make this in my big ol' cast iron pan.First, "unwrap" the tomatillos and give them a bath. (Save the bubbles for you... all these need are a rinse in the sink!) Coarsley chop the tomatillos, chicken bouillon, garlic, half the onion, jalapenos and green chiles and put them into the bowl of a food processor. Mix until well combined. I thought I might have to do this in batchees, but as it turned out, everything fit and just about filled my 7-cup processor.
Remove as much fat as you can from the pork and cut into 1" pieces.
You'll end up with a big plate of meat like this!
Put a couple tablespoons of olive oil into a pan and add the meat. Cook over medium heat until the meat loses its color.

Add the sauce, cover and let simmer for 4 hours. The meat will be so tender! During the last half-hour of cooking time, cut two corn tortillas into 1/2" dice, add it to the pan and stir frequently. The tortillas will break down and thicken the sauce.

You can get the recipe by clicking right here.

Brining 101

Frying a whole turkey has become a popular way to serve up your Thanksgiving bird. If you've ever fried a turkey, you probably brined it beforehand. Brining other kinds of meat will lend a flavorful difference to grilling, too!

The basic ingredients for a brining solution for one pound of meat is:

1 Quart Water
1/2 Cup Kosher Salt
1/2 Cup Sugar

You can add many other ingredients, such as: beer or wine (in place of some of the water); brown sugar, honey, white sugar (a combination, or all of one kind); liquid crab boil; black pepper; peppercorns; rosemary; thyme; bay leaf.

Prepare 1 quart of brine solution for each pound of meat. Soak the meat in the brine one hour per pound of meat, but not less than 30 minutes, and not more than 8 hours.

So here we go... I started with 1 quart water, 1/2 c Kosher salt, and 1/2 c granulated sugar. To that, I added Worcestershire, 2 cloves garlic, pressed; parsley, rosemary, powdered crab boil; bay leaf, and peppercorns.
I decided to brine some pork chops for dinner tonight. I have three thick pork loin boneless center cut chops that weighed a total of 1.6#.

After the brining solution cooled, I poured it into a Ziploc bag and added the chops. That went into the refrigerator for two hours.

I always rinse the meat when it comes out of the brining solution to get the peppercorns and other spices off the meat, but it's your choice to do that or not.

B put these on the grill for 30-35 minutes. Look at how the sugar in the brine carmelizes to a nice brown crust on the chops. Mmm, they were tender, juicy, and yummy! I served them with some steamed broccoli and a simple salad of sliced tomatoes and onions on lettuce with an Italian vinaigrette and a some parm shavings.

If you're interested in trying your hand at brining, there are many sites on the web with more information. Enjoy!