Baked Ribs

Spare Ribs! I just love slow cooking them when I invite my friends over for a bar b que.  Here in Malta we enjoy bar-b-ques mostly by the beach, or on rooftops.   Yes our rooftops are flat!  However that recipe calls for a bit of patience.  This one on the other hand is my 

non-summer version.

Ingredients

2 tbsp vegetable oil

1 onion cut into thin wedges

1 garlic clove, crushed

100 ml honey

1tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp tomato ketchup

1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1tsp ground paprika

1tsp mustard powder

1 tbsp red wine vinegar

1 tsp Tabasco sauce

1 kg pork spare ribs

Fresh parsley

Method

Preheat the oven to 200C. Heat oil in a saucepan, add the onion and garlic and cook for 5 mins

Add the remaining ingredients except the ribs.  Bring to the boil, lower the heat and simmer for 2 minutes

Place the ribs in a roasting tin, pour over the sauce and turn the ribs to coat them completely.  Cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes.  Remove the foil and bake for 15 more minutes, basting occasionally.  The ribs should be sticky and tender.  Serve garnished with fresh parsley. 

Sweet and Sour Pork

An exquisite recipe without the messy batter.  Preparation time is less than 5 minutes.  I love to add some baked potatoes with my pork dishes however you can opt for a bed of coucous instead.

 

Ingredients (for 2 persons)

 
650g pork tenderloin cubed
3 tbsp soy sauce
3 tbsp worchestire sauce
3 tbsp tomato ketchup
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 onion coarsly chopped and 1 garlic clove
1 tbsp sesame oil
1/2 cup water

Side Plate - Potato Wedges

2 large potatoes with skin on

salt and pepper

olive oil

mixed herbs

sesame seeds

chilli flakes

Method

for the pork

Mix all the above ingredients and pour over pork.
Make sure pork is coverend in marinade and let sit for 30 minutes (you can skip this if  you're in a real hurry).
Bake in oven for 1.5 hrs at 200C

for the potato wedges

Cut the potato in large sized wedges

Drizzle with some olive oil

Add salt and pepper, mixed herbs, chilli flakes and finally some sesame seeds

Bake for 45mins at 200C until golden brown

Pulled Pork

There are so many recipes you can try out using pork.  For that different recipe, I suggest you try the pulled pork.  Never heard of it?  This is a different way of cooking pork using a slow method.  For this recipe you need to buy a good piece of pork meat.  I suggest either the shoulder or neck.  A 1.5kg piece of pork is enough for 4 persons.

Prepare the Dry Rub by mixing the following ingreadients together

Dry Rub 

1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tbsp garlic powder
1 tbsp onion powder
1 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp cayenne pepper
1 tbsp salt
1 tbsp ground pepper
1 tbsp paprika
1/2 cup brown sugar
Place the meat in a big container and cover with the Brine solution

Brine Solution

1/2 cup salt
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 qts cold water
3 tbsp dry rub mix
2 bay leaves

Refrigerate for 8 hours or more. 

After 8 hours, take the meat out, pat dry and cover with remaining dry mix and rub as much as possible.

Place the meat in a slow cooker and cook on low for 8 hours

The beauty of this recipe is that with the left overs (hence the big piece of pork) you can make some delicious sandwiches or burgers.  'Pull the pork' using a fork, put on a bun, add some of your favourite sauce et voila.