“Rub-a-Dub” Beef Ribs with Caribbean Coleslaw

A couple of weekends ago Neil, Jonny and I ventured over to the posh side of Victoria Park for a Saturday hangover lunch at the Britannia pub, a “traditional” (tarted up) pub with a big garden backing onto the park, beloved of the Hackney yummy-mummy set.  It is a very friendly pub, and not as snooty as its  contemporaries in Primrose Hill, but you will be nursing your hangover amongst hordes of young’uns in the garden.  To its credit, the Britannia offers the most generous Bloody Mary I’ve ever experienced.  For seven quid, you get a whole pint of vodka-spiked elixir, with flecks of fresh horseradish and freshly cracked black pepper, and a crunchy celery stalk.  It does kind of feel like you are drinking a shrub and will get you some comical looks from the surrounding tables (unless they’ve got one of their own), but it will sort out the cobwebs very effectively.

The Britannia does an outdoor barbecue in the summer, and the substantial rack of ribs inspired me to pick up some of my own.  That very afternoon, we discovered that the excellent rare-breed butcher The Ginger Pig has a branch on Lauriston Road, so I went back later that week to pick up a couple of racks of beef ribs at a bargainous £3.50 each, and had one of their amazing fist-sized sausage rolls from the deli downstairs.

Most of the recipes I’ve found tend to be for short ribs, which are fattier and therefore less prone to drying out than back ribs, which is what I had.  The general consensus for beef ribs is “low and slow” – a long cook at a very low temp – so I figured the best plan of action would be a rub/braising combo.  The recipe I decided on was an amalgamation of the rub from the “Rub-A-Dub” venison recipe in Levi Roots’ Caribbean Food Made Easy book and using the method and braising liquid from Alton Brown’s baby back ribs recipe (as an aside, I tried the latter recipe on lamb ribs and it was divinity squared. Amazing).  You need to give the meat a minimum of 2 hours in the rub, but in this case I did it the day before left it to marinate overnight in the fridge.  I also shredded the cabbage for the coleslaw (also an adaptation of a Levi Roots recipe) the day before and stored it in plastic bags, ready to assemble for dinner the next day.

Rub Ingredients:

• 2 tsp ground allspice
• 2 tsp dried thyme
• 2 scant tsp garlic powder
• 2 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp vegetable or sunflower oil

Braising liquid ingredients:

• 2 cloves garlic, smashed
• 1 cup white wine
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1 tbsp worcestershire sauce
• 1 tbsp cider, white wine or white vinegar

Ribs:

• 2 x slabs of beef back ribs, about 6 ribs each

Combine all the dry ingredients for the rub in a jar and give it a good shake.  Take two tablespoons of the mix and combine with 2 tbs of vegetable oil.  Save the remaining dry rub for another recipe.

Lay the slabs of ribs each on their own sheet of aluminium foil, about 2.5 times the size of the ribs, with the dull side up – you are going to fold the foil up into a pocket containing the ribs, so leave enough room to cover them completely.

Slather the rub/oil mixture all over the ribs, paying special attention to the meatier side.  Fold up the foil around the ribs to make a pocket, making the sides very tight, but leaving the end of the pocket a bit loose – you’ll need to get back in there before putting the ribs in to cook.  Refrigerate for a minimum of two hours, overnight for best results.

On cooking day, preheat the oven to 120 C / 250 F.

Put all the braising liquid ingredients in a small pot and heat up on the stove to melt down the honey and release the flavor of the garlic.  You could also do this in the microwave, on high for one minute, but we don’t have a microwave, so stove it is.

Get the foil-wrapped ribs out of the fridge, put them on the baking pan or rack that you plan to cook them on. Open the end of each foil packet.  Distribute the braising liquid evenly between the two packets, reseal, and give the pan a tilt to make sure the liquid isn’t just pooled in the front of the packet.

At this point you may realize, as I did, that there is a difference between heavy-duty foil and the cheap value crap from Tesco.  One of my packets got a little hole in it and the braising liquid seeped out all over the bottom of the grill pan, so there was a lot of swearing as I rescued the liquid from the pan and made a new foil packet.

Then I put the ribs in the oven and forgot about them for 2.5 hours.

While the ribs are cooking, you can assemble the coleslaw (recipe below), or you can leave it all to the last minute, it doesn’t really matter.  I feel better making it ahead of time because I kid myself into believing that the flavors with “blend” if they sit around for a bit.

Coleslaw ingredients:

• 1/2 white cabbage, finely shredded
• 1/4 red cabbage, finely shredded
• 2 carrots, grated
• 2 spring onions (scallions), white and green parts, finely chopped
• 1 small can of sweet corn
• 2 tbsp mayonnaise
• salt and pepper to taste
• juice of one lime

Put all the vegetables into a mixing bowl, and toss them so they are evenly combined.  Salt and pepper them.  Add the mayonnaise and lime juice, and mix well.  You could also add a handful of chopped coriander (cilantro), but I forgot.  Put in fridge until ready to serve.

Final step for the ribs:

Take them out of the oven, and remove them from the foil, taking care not to spil any of the liquid left inside.  Rest the ribs on a plate while you prepare the sauce.  Pour all of the juices into a small saucepan.  You may want to skim any fat off the top – there was quite a lot from mine.  Reduce the liquid to a gravylike consistency and then serve on the side with the ribs.

The ribs were very tender, not quite falling off the bone, and tasted extremely beefy, almost like game.  Neil said, “You can make this again.”  I definitely will, but next time I might try dark rum instead of white wine in the braising mixture.

Piggies-in-a-Blanket (Halupki)

I only discovered when I moved to England that to most people, pigs-in-a-blanket refers to mini hot dogs or sausages wrapped in either pastry or bacon.  Piggies (as my mom calls them) to my family, and pretty much all of Old Forge, PA, are little parcels of cabbage stuffed with a mixture of ground pork, beef, rice, and herbs, baked in a light tomato sauce.  They’re not the prettiest things to look at, and although easy to make, it’s quite a time-consuming process.  However, they are incredibly comforting and delicious, and they freeze very well, so set aside a Sunday afternoon and you’ll be rewarded with a freezerful of tasty, healthy and budget-friendly dinners.

Savoy Cabbage and White Bean Soup

I’m forever trying to be good and cook ahead so I have nice stuff to bring to work for lunch.  While I’m dropping a shedload of pounds of the money sort a week on posh sandwiches in Pret A Manger, I’m simultaneously gaining back a few more pounds of the making-my-ass-bigger sort (have you seen how many calories are in the posh cheddar and pickle baguette?  Who invented this beast? Are they MENTAL?).  Meanwhile, I’m buying leafy vegetables for dinner and letting them wilt in the fridge.  This craziness Must. Stop.

I absolutely love savoy cabbage.  It’s crinkly, it’s crunchy, it doesn’t turn to mush when it’s cooked, and it doesn’t smell like a nursing home.  I usually have it steamed then lightly stir-fried with a bit of garlic.  Neil likes to make it with lots of butter, cream and bacon, which is divine, but I am painfully aware that the clock is ticking towards the day where I adopt that refrigerator-shaped physique so prevalent amongst Mediterranean women in their twilight years (at least in my family).  It’s still a way off for me yet, but I’m not tempting fate.

Thus, healthy, hearty, anti-oxidant packed Savoy Cabbage and White Bean Soup.  This is extremely quick and easy to do.  It will take you half an hour tops. The beans make it extremely filling, but you could make it even more so with a bit of fresh bread on the side.  I’d say you’ll get enough for 4 single servings out of this, 2 very hungry people, or dinner and 2 packed lunches.

Here is my artfully arranged cast of characters:

Smoked Bacon, Celery, Savoy Cabbage, Cannellini Beans, Pork Stock, Leeks, Garlic. Camera shy: Romano Cheese.

Savoy Cabbage and White Bean Soup

Ingredients:

• 1/2 a head of savoy cabbage, sliced / shredded / whatever
• 3 cloves of garlic, smashed
• 2 ribs of celery, chopped
• 2 leeks, sliced (a medium sliced onion or a cup of chopped shallots would likely be a fine substitute)
• 2 pints of pork, chicken or vegetable stock
• 3 rashers of bacon (I used smoked), sliced up into bits
• 1 can of cannellini beans, drained and rinsed (butter beans would be a great substitute)
• 1/4 cup Romano or Parmesan cheese, for serving
• a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, for serving
• salt and pepper

Fry the bacon in a tiny bit of vegetable oil until the fat renders and the bacon starts to brown a bit.  Throw in the rest of the veg apart from the cabbage.  Cook a bit until they soften – about 5-10 minutes (former if you have an awesome gas stove, latter if you have a rubbish electric one like me).

Pour in the stock, chuck in the drained beans, season with some pepper, and bring to a boil.  Turn it down to a simmer and let bubble for about 20-25 minutes.

Quick note about seasoning: If you’re using stock from a cube, I would say to hold off on adding any salt during cooking. I didn’t add any at all – and I like my salt.  The bacon and cheese provided more than enough saltiness.

After about 20 minutes, add the cabbage, and let it simmer for 5 minutes until cooked. You could also add some fresh herbs at this stage, such as thyme, finely minced rosemary, or parsley.  I would have done this, but I forgot.

Turn the heat off.  Very carefully crush about 2/3 of the beans with a potato ricer or if you’re very brave, give it a quick squizz with a stick blender (be VERY careful of splashbacks if you use a stick blender – hot soup and your face is not a good combo!).  I used a stick blender, but I may just stick to a potato ricer next time as I like my soups on the chunky side.

Stir in a few tablespoons of cheese.  Ladle into bowls, grate over some more cheese, drizzle over a little extra virgin, a bit more pepper, and serve.

Ta-da: