Saucy Molasses Pork Ribs

Remember that list I made with my fall culinary goals? Well, I decided to waste no time with it and set out to accomplish goal number one: cook ribs.

Let me share with you a little known fact about me ... cooking with meat terrifies me. It took me years, and I mean YEARS, before I touched ground beef and it was only recently that I made my way into beef strips territory. There's just something about the texture of raw meat and its creepy looking shade of red that grosses me right out. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy eating it, I just hate having to cook with it. So cooking ribs? Not exactly my idea of a good time.

There were two main reasons why ribs made it onto my culinary goals list. 1) I was craving them when I was jotting down my plans for autumn and 2) Ribs taste darn good, but they're pricey to buy in restaurants so we don't eat them often. I figured if I could master the art of ribs at home, we could eat them whenever we wanted without each having to pay $15+ to order them in a restaurant.

Cooking ribs, it turns out, was a bit of an ordeal. First I had to actually find the ribs ... believe it or not, it took me three stores! I finally made it home with these ... yuck, raw meat, I shiver just looking at this photo ...

The Betty Crocker recipe I had decided to use said it served six people. My husband and I can eat a lot, but we definitely cannot eat six servings of ribs, so I decided to invite my best friend over to join us for dinner. Once she accepted the invitation, I got to work. 

First I made the molasses sauce. Molasses. Ha. Let's talk about that, shall we? Apparently, much like ribs, molasses is impossible to find in this city!! I scoured the grocery shops looking for that little brown and yellow carton of molasses I vaguely remember seeing my mom use to make gingerbread cookies. I couldn't find it anywhere. When I asked the cashier to point me in the right direction, he led me to this: 

Have you ever seen molasses that looks like this?? I certainly haven't. No wonder I walked by it fifteen times. Sheesh.

Making the molasses sauce was easy - you just mix 1/2 cup of molasses, 1/3 cup of dijon mustard and 1/3 cup of white vinegar in a bowl. Once the sauce is done, you just set it aside and separate the ribs into serving pieces (I did 3 ribs each but you can divvy them up however you see fit). Place the ribs in a shallow roasting pan. Bake the ribs uncovered for one hour at 350 degrees, then brush generously with the molasses sauce. Bake for another 45 minutes, brushing frequently (I did every 10 minutes). 

So how did my ribs turn out? Not bad. They were edible, which has to count for something. And they smelled good, so that was a bonus. They were a little on the dry/crispy side ... next time, I'll probably cook them for an hour and twenty-five minutes or so, instead of an hour and forty-five minutes. Also, the molasses sauce was REALLY pungent. I'll probably cut back on the amount of molasses I use next time I whip these up. And yes, there will be a next time. Ribs aren't so scary once you get to know them.

All in all, I'd give this meal 3 stars out of 5 ... not bad for my first attempt. Not bad at all. :) 

Pork Chops with Apple Tart Dressing

Confession: I didn't cook this. Buuuutttt my husband did and goodness gracious was it delicious.

I hadn't eaten pork chops in YEARS. Alan's a big fan of chops and he'd been trying to get me to eat them ever since we started dating, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. Growing up, my family didn't eat pork chops very often and the recipe my mom made wasn't my favorite (no offense, Mom! Love ya!). When Alan and I made a commitment to try and eat at home more I knew I was going to have to move beyond chicken, beef and salmon so I added pork chops to our grocery list. Tonight, Alan put those chops to good use.

He used a recipe in his Keeping it Simple cookbook by Gary Rhodes. Check out this deliciousness ...

I'm so blessed to have a hubby that enjoys cooking! Love him to bits. But onto the food ... 

He served the pork chops with sauteed mushrooms and asparagus, and fresh red tomatoes sprinkled with pepper. Here's the recipe:

Pork Chops with Apple Tart Dressing

Ingredients
- Apples (the recipe calls for 7 to 8, but he only used 2)
- 1oz of brown sugar
- Lemon juice from half of a lemon
- Pork chops (recipe calls for 4, he used 2)
- 1oz of butter, melted
- Salt and pepper
- Apple sauce (this actually isn't in the recipe, but he added about 2 tablespoons of it)

Directions
- Peel and roughly chop the apples and put them into a saucepan.
- Add half the brown sugar, the lemon juice and 3 tablespoons of water. Cover with a lid and cook over medium-low heat for 10-15 minutes until tender, stirring from time to time.
- Brush the pork chops with a little bit of butter and season with salt and pepper. Put the chops on a grill pan and cook for 4-5 minutes on each side.
- Spread the apple sauce over the chops and arrange the apple slices on top slightly overlapping as you would for an apple tart. Brush or drizzle the chops with melted butter, sprinkle over the remaining sugar and return to the grill.
- Cook for a few more minutes until the apples are nicely toasted with a slightly burnt tinge around the edges.