Caramel Pork Ribs

Cook the Book Fridays recipe pick for this week is Caramel Pork Ribs. CtBF is an online group of lovely bloggers who are currently cooking from David Lebovitz's cookbook, My Paris Kitchen.

To make this dish, the caramel must be prepared first. There's beer and bourbon in the caramel sauce, which already sounds so delicious! Granulated sugar is cooked in a large pot (one that can be used in the oven, with a cover) to a caramel, colour similar to dark maple syrup, and it will be smoking, but take care not to burnt it. My caramel turns out great. It was smoking, with the colour of dark maple syrup. I removed the pot from the heat, then add the brown sugar and beer. Mixture will sizzle, then harden. 

Let the mixture cool down a bit, then add the rest of the ingredients; bourbon, cider vinegar, ketchup, ginger, soy sauce, harissa, Dijon mustard, pepper and the ribs. Return the pot to the stove and let come to a boil, turning the ribs now and then to coat with the sauce. Cover and place in the oven to bake for about 1-1/2 to 2 hours. I baked the ribs for 1 hour 45 minutes, turning the ribs every half hour, then remove the cover and continue to bake for another 40 minutes, turning halfway.

The caramel sauce has thickened a bit, with the ribs coated gloriously with the sauce. The ribs are tender and soft, and have soaked up the flavours of the sauce. I thought that this dish is delicious, but it is a little too sweet for me. The next time I would probably either omit the brown sugar or go easy on it.

I served this Caramel Pork Ribs with rice and a green bean dish. The son loves it. There was some leftover, which reheated well the next day, and was finished off by the two men in my house.

The recipe can be found here, or from My Paris Kitchen, on page 187.