Pig Candy

So most of you are probably thinking "What the heck is pig candy???" and some of you are probably imagining a variety of creative things... Well, I'm not sure how the name 'pig candy' was first applied to these delicious pork ribs, but it sort of stuck because eating them is a little like eating candy - they are so good, it makes you feel a little giddy. 

I adapted this recipe from one by Alton Brown that I found when I wanted to try a new method for preparing babyback ribs. I have also used this same recipe to prepare a bone-in pork butt roast with great success, but I think ribs are probably the favorite medium in my house. 

Start with your spice rub: combine the brown sugar and all the spices in a small bowl.

Once your spices are mixed, lay out your rack of ribs (this one is actually pork spareribs rather than back ribs, they both work very well) on double aluminum foil. Rub the spices all over the meat, front and back. 

Then lay another sheet of foil over the top of the ribs, and fold up the upper sheet from underneath the ribs to make a neat little packet. Be sure to leave one short edge loosely sealed, so you can easily open it. Then pop the packet back into the fridge for at least one hour to give the spices time to really flavor the ribs.

Here is why you want one short edge easy to open. Right before you are ready to start cooking, mix up your braising sauce and microwave for one minute. Then open that short edge of your foil packet, pour the sauce inside and reseal the foil packet. Tilt the pan to be sure the sauce distributes all the way down the rack.

Then fold up the extra sheet of foil underneath to contain any sauce that comes out of the packet. You might be tempted to skip the double layer of foil to begin with. Don't - really. I can tell you from experience that any holes the bones poke in the foil will cause all the sauce to drain out and burn onto your cookie sheet. It isn't pretty. And you also lose that flavor for the ribs. So do yourself a favor and use double foil underneath. And into the 225* oven for two and a half hours for a nice slow braise.

At the end of the cooking time, open the foil packet carefully at that easy open edge you left and pour the sauce into a medium saucepan. You can open the packet all the way and admire how the ribs are separating from the bone - they are essentially done now, we are just going to add more flavor in the last step. 

Simmer the sauce to reduce - this will take at least twenty minutes, to get from a watery state to a more syrupy state. Pour the syrupy sauce over the ribs. Marvel. But wait - we're not done!

Pop those beauties under the broiler for a couple minutes to caramelize that lovely sauce. Mmmmm.

Cut the ribs into sections containing one to three bones each. You choose based on your serving desires and your patience to cut between each bone. I usually do 2-bone sections.

Serve with your favorite accompaniments. We love these ribs with cornbread and collard greens. 

Pig Candy
1 rack pork back ribs or spare ribs (or other bone-in cut of your choice weighing about 2-3 lbs)

Spice Rub
2 Tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp thyme
1/4 tsp cayenne
1/8 tsp fresh ground black pepper
1/8 tsp crushed red pepper
1/8 tsp Old Bay seasoning
1/8 tsp onion powder

Braising Sauce
1/2 cup wine (use whatever you have open, either red or white work fine)
1 Tbsp red wine vinegar
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 Tbsp honey
2 cloves garlic, minced

Combine all ingredients for spice rub in a small bowl. Lay out ribs on double layer of aluminum foil, rub all over with spice rub. Cover with another sheet of foil and fold into a packet. Refrigerate for at least one hour.
Preheat oven to 225*.
Combine all ingredients for braising sauce in small measuring cup. Microwave one minute. Open one end of foil packet and pour sauce in, tipping to distribute sauce all along the ribs. Reseal foil packet, fold extra sheet of foil up around packet. Bake for 2 1/2 hours.
Carefully open one end of packet and pour sauce out into medium saucepan. Simmer sauce to reduce, at least twenty minutes, until it reaches a syrupy consistency. Remove foil from top of ribs, pour sauce over ribs. Broil for 2-4 minutes, until sauce is caramelized.
Cut ribs into sections of 1-3 bones each. Serve with your favorite accompaniments.

Enjoy!                                            

Sue