Braised Pork Ribs, in Wine

(serves 3-4)

White wine is a nice way to infuse flavour into your ribs and braising is a nice way to get your ribs tender and juicy. Put the two nice ways together and you get a doubly delicious serving of ribs. And as a bonus, you also end up with a tasty gravy to soak your side staples in.   nb. No reason why you can’t use beef ribs instead of pork ribs if you so desire.

Ingredients

1. Pork Ribs (1000g)
2. Chardonnay (1 cup)
3. Onion (1)
4. Carrot (1 large)
5. Celery (1 cup chopped)
6. Garlic (8 cloves)
7. Chicken cube (1)
8. Flour
9. Butter
10. Basil
11. Bay leaves

Preparation

1. Start by cutting your carrots into discs, your onion into 8 pieces and your celery into fingernail-sized pieces. Peel the garlic and put it through a garlic press.
2. Lightly sprinkle salt and pepper over your ribs. After a few mintues, dredge them through some flour. The flour makes its easier to seal the meat when you are browning it and it also adds some body to your final sauce.
3. Using a frying pan with a few T of oil, sear your ribs until they are brown on all sides. Set aside the seared ribs in a tall pyrex or casserole dish (see picture).
4.  In the same pan, without washing it, fry your mashed garlic and assorted vegetables with a knob of butter. When the garlic starts to brown, turn up the heat and degalze with a cup of wine. Make some chicken stock using half a cup of hot water and a chicken cube and add that to the pan as well.
5. Continue to simmer until the volume of your braising sauce is reduced by a third. Turn off the heat and finish off the sauce by mixing in 1t of sugar, 1T of chopped basil and 6 bay leaves (see picture).
6. Pour your sauce over the ribs making sure the ribs are fully covered. It’s ok if some of the vegetables stick out. Seal the top of your baking vessel with aluminium foil, securing it around the handles.
7. At 160oC (320oF), bake for 2 hours. When it is done, taste the reduced sauce and add pepper and salt as required. If you are into or expecting a herby taste, you can sprinkle on some Fines Herbes at this stage.
8. The ribs should be served with a healthy dose of soft staple food. Rice, rosti (pictured) or mashed potatoes and polenta are the ones I usually serve with these ribs.

Notes

• Using foil instead of a Dutch oven lets the liquid thicken slowly and there should be no need to reduce your braising sauce after baking. You can check out my braised beef rib recipe for my opinon on Dutch ovens.
• Can you use any other wine other than Chardonnay? Yep, but avoid dry (i.e. sour) ones like savigon blanc.
• Why not use a Pork cube? Because Pork cubes are very ‘porky’ and I only use them for heavy dishes like curries.

 

[Via http://kobikitchen.wordpress.com]

• The United States Chess Federation - Front Page News: University ...