Monday, February 28, 2011

Louisianna Ribs

Frankie has a reputation for his pork ribs. Having lived in Memphis, Tennessee for the greater part of his life he had more than enough time to pick up the technique.

Here in Mendoza we have the privilege to get only the fines ingredients for the quarter (or less) of the price you may get them in other places- including Argentina (i.e. Buenos Aires)

So on Monday morning we got up early and got this from the corner butcher.




Yes! What you see here is 3.9 kilos of pork ribs and only paid about 100 pesos for it- about $25 US at the current exchange rate

In this post I'll detail all the steps that we took to prepare, marinate and finally cook this excellent piece of meat

step 1: Wash it.


For no real other reason that to make sure there is no dirt or particles of dust that might get in the way of our eating. Pork has to be cooked thoroughly so the chance of anything surviving after cooking (or 24 hours of marinating in vinegar and then 3-4 hours of baking in this case) is very slim.  

step 3: Go crazy making holes in the meat.

That's right. But do it with respect.


step 4: Put the ribs in a big container.

We used a pot for lack of a better one. It is very important for the container to be big enough that you can fit the entire piece in without any of it sticking out. If you have Tupperware with lids that ill fit this purpose, better, this way avoiding spillage.


step 5: Add vinegar

Add the contents of one entire container of white vinegar. Use white or alcohol vinegar because the other types leave a little flavor and all we want is the acidity to tenderize the meat not change the flavor. Lemon juice will do the same trick, but then you have a lemony flavor to the meat. It's up to you.


step 6: Marinate

Put the container in the refrigerator and let it sit overnight. You can rebel and let it sit for more than that, the longer the meat stays in the vinegar the faster the meat will just fall off the bone when you cook it. This is a very good thing so don't be afraid to leave it in there for a couple of days.

If a little bit of the meat sticks out make sure that you turn it over at least one. I would say at about hour #12.


The next day....

After about 24 hours of the meat sitting in the vinegar you will notice that the meat has changed a bit in color. It almost looks like it's been de-colored, but don;y worry. This happens when you put  meat in an acid medium. Just like fish in lemon juice (ceviche)

step 7: Oven time. 

Place the meat in an oven proof container and roast in the oven for 2 - 3 hours. If the piece of meat is huge you may want to lave it in there for 30  more minutes. The vinegar has already softened the meat up so it only takes that long to have the meat-falling-off-bone effect. 

tip: cover the meat with foil so it doesn't dry out. Whenever you are going to roast meat in the onen for more than 1.5 hours its a good idea to do this because the juices will dry up and your meat and vegetables may stick to the pyrex. 

Finished!

 after 2-3 hours remove from oven

close up

if the meats falling off the bone it's ready!

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