Experimenting again - Asian Country Ribs

[David M. Bueker]

The wife hit the store again. She brought home some country pork ribs, or so the package said. They were basically boneless pork short ribs.

So to the staples I went again. Salt & pepper the ribs. Mix 1/2 cup hoisin sauce, 1 tsp. of Asian chili sauce, 4 cloves of minced garlic, a TBSP or so of canola oil and a little chicken broth (1/4 cup or so) to thin it out a touch. I rubbed a few tsp of the sauce on each side of the pork, seared it over medium-high heat, added the remainder of the sauce plus a few dried cherries to the pot, covered & put in a 300 degree F oven for an hour. (Could have used 90 minutes for tenderness but did not have time.)

They came out with an interesting terriyaki-like flavor, but not so cloyingly sweet. I really liked this.

After the spinach, onion & goat cheese "buns" on Saturday, and the lime/ginger chicken last week I am feelin' pretty good in the kitchen again.

After the spinach, onion & goat cheese "buns" on Saturday, and the lime/ginger chicken last week .

These buns sound wonderful. Would you share the recipe?

[David M. Bueker]

I do not really have a recipe. It was another "feel" thing, but this is the basic idea:

Spinach Buns

I made a 1 cup of water batch of bread dough (flour, water, yeast, salt and a little oil), divided the dough into 8 pieces, rolled the dough pieces into balls and flattened out into about 3-4 inch discs. Into the center of each disc I added a large tablespoon of the spinach filling (see below), then pulled the dough together over the top of the spinach and pressed together to completely enclose the mixture in the interior of the dough. I then popped a tray of the buns into a pre-heated 425 degree oven until golden brown with the one caveat that I took a toothpick and poked a hole in each bun after about 7 minutes or so to let excess steam/liquid from the spinach mix escape. That poking step was just a gut feel thing, and may have had no value whatsoever, but I did not want soggy buns.

Spinach/onion & goat cheese filling:

Sautee 1/2 cup of roughly chopped onion in oil or butter (I used oil) until lightly caramelized
Add 4 oz. (or so...again I was not actually measuring) of fresh baby spinach (washed/cleaned/de-stemmed)
Salt and pepper to taste.

Cook spinach onion mix until spinach is totally wilted and most of the liquid from the spinach has cooked away. Remove from heat, put in a small bowl and allow to cool.

Once cooled, add 2-3 oz. of young goat cheese (chevre) to the spinach/onion, mix well, check seasoning, and use to fill the buns.

[Jenise]

The wife hit the store again. She brought home some country pork ribs, or so the package said. They were basically boneless pork short ribs.

David, those country style ribs (as you say, boneless short ribs or pork shoulder cut in strips) are really a wonderful cut and often ignored by good cooks. We love them, and I toggle between a hoisin-based sauce surprisingly similar to yours and a very different sweet-sour method based on apricot jam+onions+lemon juice+butter+salt+cayenne pepper. There's enough onion/salt/butter to keep them on the savory side, and enough sour to make them tangy and interesting. Also, they color beautifully just baking at high heat because of the sugar in the jame. Very good stuff--and perfect reisling food.