Things are constantly changing in our household! Andy has finally returned back to work after a long winter lay-off, and when he works- he works! A work day usually finds him returning home quite late in the evening- well after the dinner hour has been visited by the kids and I. It’s made menu-planning a little tricky on my part, because I want his dinner to be fresh and delicious, but I also want it to be something both kids will eat, because to be honest, dining alone (or making a second meal for the kids) is not my idea of a good time most days. Add to that, a good dose of activities four evenings a week, and, well, my inspiration has been lacking.
So I went to the library, and pored through the cookbooks, looking for inspiration, and decided on bringing this little gem home.
I brought it home, and then it sat on the shelf until two days before it was due. It was THEN that I decided to cook from it, and then I hopped onto the computer and renewed it. I was surprised. The first dish I tried out of it was Chicken Cacciatore- it was really easy to put together, and I was really happy with the results. It didn’t taste like standard crock-pot food (if you know what I mean). The only thing I found was that it needed some seasoning- salt and pepper namely. At this point, I was already contemplating adding this book to my collection, but needed a second run to see how that one fared.
Sweet And Sour Country Ribs was the recipe that caught my eye. We love ribs here, but we almost always eat them the same way. This was a recipe with some Asian flare, and it sounded tasty to me. I picked up all the ingredients except the ribs, I would pick those up fresh the day I made them. Then, when I went to get the ribs, they were all out of the bone-in country style, so I went with boneless.
I learned from the chicken recipe, and before marinating the pork, I sprinkled the pieces liberally with salt and pepper- and then I added a healthy grind of pepper to the marinade itself. The marinade was easy enough- though I did cut the recipe in half for our family and made one change. Low-sodium soy sauce, hoisin, honey, rice vinegar and chopped garlic went into the bowl. The recipe called for pineapple juice, but I had a can of crushed pineapple floating around, so I used that instead. When it came time to add the oil, I decided that a tablespoon of sesame oil would be way too much, so I used plain old vegetable oil, with a drizzle of the sesame.
This was a winner! It cooked on low in the crockpot all day and tantalized us with it’s aroma. About an hour before dinner, I put a batch of Oven Baked Rice in the oven, and then I tossed a salad. I should note that since I used boneless ribs, I cooked the pork on low for 6 hours instead of the 8 to 9. The pork was fall-apart tender, and full of flavor. It was delicious! When I drizzled a bit of the sauce over the rice, I thought that was really good too. I’m sure this would be really good with the bone-in ribs, but the boneless worked perfectly, and I’m definitely keeping this recipe.
Sweet And Sour Country Ribs
from Not Your Mother’s Slow Cooker Family Favorites
serves 8
1 cup low-sodium soy sauce 1 cup hoisin sauce 1/2 cup honey 1/2 cup pineapple juice or papaya nectar (I used 1/2 cup crushed pineapple) 1/3 cup rice wine vinegar 1/4 cup peanut or sesame oil 2 tablespoons chopped garlic 8 pounds country-style pork spareribs, cut into serving pieces of 3 to 4 ribs1. In a large bowl, combine the soy sauce, hoisin, honey, pineapple juice, vinegar, oil and garlic. Add the ribs and turn to completely coat them with the marinade. Cover and refrigerate 1 to 2 hours.
2. Arrange the ribs in the slow cooker and pour the marinade over them. If you are using a round cooker, lift the ribs so the sauce can get between them. Cover and cook on low for 8 to 9 hours, until the meat is tender and starts to separate from the bone. Serve immediately with lots of napkins.