Braised Pork Ribs

After the success of the Tandoori Chicken recipe, I was eager to try another recipe in the magazine.

I've never been a fan of ribs. I know that's bizarre but, for a long time, I hated the taste of bone-in pork. Then we started getting BBQ cut pork chops from our butcher and it tasted fine. But, even then, I wasn't willing to try ribs.

Well, in this month's issue, they have an article on re-thinking braised short ribs. The idea? Go boneless. Well, heck, I'm down with that. Even better? Our grocery store had boneless country-style pork ribs on sale for $1.99 a lb. The recipe called for beef but pork works just as well, right?

The recipe in CI called for using a dutch oven, which I sadly don't have. So I decided to just let them stew them on the stove. The meat ended up being melt-in-your-mouth don't-need-a-knife good. And the leftovers we shredded for pulled pork sandwiches.

Braised Pork Ribs

2 1/4 lbs boneless country-style pork ribs
2 tbsp olive oil
2 onions, thinly sliced
2 tsp tomato paste
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/3 cup red wine
2/3 cup beef broth
3 carrots, peeled, halved and cut into 2" segments
1 tsp thyme
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper to taste

1 1/3 oz water
1/3 tsp gelatin

Heat olive oil in large sauce pan over medium heat until fragrant and lightly smoking. Add pork and cook until well browned, about 4-6 minutes. Turn pork over and cook another 4-6 minutes. Transfer pork to a bowl lightly lined with paper towel.

Reduce heat to medium and add onions. Cook until softened and lightly browned, about 8-10 minutes. Add tomato paste and cook, stirring constantly, for about 2 minutes. Add garlic and cook 30 seconds until garlic is lightly browned. Increase heat to medium-high and add wine. Bring to a simmer, scrapping up the browned bits, until reduced by half. Add broth, carrots, thyme, bay leaf, salt and pepper and stir. Replace pork in pan and bring to a simmer. Cover and reduce heat to low. Let simmer for 2 - 2 1/2 hours or until pork is tender.

Place water in a small dish, add gelatin. Let stand about 5 minutes. Remove meat, onions and carrots from pot, cover with foil. Strain liquid into fat separator and let rest about 5 minutes. Return liquid to pot and cook until reduced to about 1 cup. Remove from heat, stir in gelatin. Serve sauce with ribs and veggies.