Saucy Braised Pork Ribs and Celeriac Slaw

Friday 10 October

We had four country-style pork "ribs" (actually cut from the shoulder like a Boston "butt"!) to use, and were attracted by the basic American barbeque-style recipe here.  But boiling the flavor out of any meat in plain water didn't strike us as a good idea.  So here's what we did.

Saucy Braised Country-Style Pork

Salt "ribs" and brown in oil in Dutch oven; remove, lower heat, and brown a big chopped onion and four-five small whole cloves of garlic in the same oil.  Lower heat and add a half bottle of beer (you can drink the other half).  Add pork ribs in one layer, and start the braise either on stovetop or a 300º oven, so it bubbles slowly.

Mix in a cup:

3/4 cup ketchup (6 oz)

1/4 cup cider vinegar

1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce

3 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice (from 1 lemon)

3 Tbsp. honey

1 Tablespoon dry mustard

1 teaspoon bottled horseradish

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Save out a quarter of the sauce and pour the rest into the Dutch oven, mixing well with the pork and beer.  Braise covered for about an hour, then uncover and let reduce for 1/2 hour, while brushing the rest of the sauce over the pork as a glaze.  If the meat is fork tender at this stage, you can lay it out on a rack over the Dutch oven and glaze both sides with the sauce.

Now for the side dish.  Celeriac was $3.99/lb. at Jungle Jim's, but we like it so much it's worth it to pay over $6 for one good, fresh root.  Holt used the benriner to cut it up for this slaw or remoulade, though juliennning it by hand, as we did in England, might be less scary and more reliable.

The combination was both down-home and sophisticated.  There was plenty of extra sauce to ladle onto the ribs; and yes, you needed a fork and knife to eat them.