Ribs

Meat

  • 5 lbs. ribs (pork or beef)

Note: Ribs are sold in “heavy” packages because they are composed of about 75-80% bones, 5-10% fat and the rest is the actual meat.  5 lbs. of ribs is only enough meat for about 4 people.  Ribs are a perfect example of Soul Food because they contain so little meat, they could have been considered a “throw-away” part of the hog.  Luckily for us, poor families learned to turn these throw-away scraps into delicacies.

Sauce

  • 2 cups chopped onion (cut into bite sized pieces)
  • 6 cloves garlic, halved
  • 1 cup strong black coffee
  • 1 cup Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 cup ketchup
  • 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar (regular vinegar will do in a pinch)
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup jalapenos, seeded sliced into quarters
  • 3 Tablespoons chili powder
  • 2 teaspoons salt

Prepare your sauce up to a week ahead of time to save time on the day of cooking.   Combine all sauce ingredients in a sauce pan and bring to a boil over high heat.  Reduce heat to low (3 on a scale of 0-10) and simmer for 20 minutes.  Remove from hot surface and allow sauce to cool in pot.  Pour cooled sauce into a blender or food processor and puree until the sauce is thick and smooth, with only small bits of the vegetables noticeable on the tongue when you taste it.

Pierce the meat between the ribs with a meat fork multiple times on both sides to allow the sauce to soak into the meat.   Place the meat in a 2-gallon Ziploc bag or in a deep leftovers container with a tight lid.  If you don’t have either of these items, you can use a 9×13 pan.  Pour sauce over the meat and seal, or and cover the 9×13 pan tightly with plastic wrap.

Marinate the meat in the sauce in a refrigerator at least 8 hours, turning once.  Place the ribs in a deep cooking dish like a 9×13 pan and pour the remaining marinade over the ribs.  Cover with foil and cook at 350°F for 1 and 1/2 hours, turning once.

Original recipe from Kathryn J. Roberts, Archer City, Texas in the 1989 Second Typically Texas Cookbook, produced by  the Association of Texas Electric Cooperatives, Inc. (In rural areas, neighbors combine as members of a co-op to purchase bulk electric power as a group, then they buy their home and small business power from the co-op to generate a cycle of supply and demand.)