BBQ Ribs and Beans

We love BBQ Country Style Spare Ribs, but who doesn't?  But today I was looking for something a little different to do with the ribs other than just BBQ sauce then served with a potato and veggie.  As I was thinking I came up with this.  It felt very cowboy-like.  It was delicious.  I ended up just serving it with carrots and canned apple pie filling as sides.  It was a wonderful meal and everyone ate it up.

BBQ Ribs and Beans (printer friendly)

3 1/2 lbs country style spare ribs
1 can chili beans
1 can kidney beans, drained
1 can pinto beans*, drained
1 1/2 C BBQ sauce**
1 T A1 steak sauce

1. Add the ribs and beans to the crockpot

2. Pour in the BBQ sauce and A1, and stir

3. Cover and cook on high for 3-4 hours or low for 6-8.  Use a slotted spoon to get the beans out of the crockpot so you don't end up with a lot of sauce.

*I used the ones I had frozen earlier
**I used 3/4 of a bottle of Kraft Original

Pork Chops with Apples

I love Pork Chops with apples.  I realize some might find this strange, I have a brother-in-law that does not believe in fruit in savory dishes, but ever since I had it at some restaurant I have loved it.  Right now we have a plethora of apples from a neighbors trees that need to be sauced, dried, and maybe even made into apple pie filling, so when I found some pork chops in the freezer I decided I was going to make pork chops with apples.  Having never made them before (I just order them in restaurants) I went looking for a recipe, starting at allrecipes.com.  I searched for "pork apples" and the first item on the list was "Carmel Apple Pork Chops" with 4 1/2 stars.  Sounded good to me, with a little of my own tweaking (I used 2 pans and not the oven) it turned out divine!  My kids were a little leary of my creation, but after making them take a bite they were sold!  We had 2 left over and in one of my selfish mom moments I hid them and saved them for my husband and I.  They were too good to share with the kids.  But now I need to find more pork chops or buy some because we need to eat this again!  The one downside, I was in such a hurry to get it on the table before we had to take my daughter to gymnastics I forgot the pecans.  Something I will NOT do again, because it would make this even better.

Carmel Apple Pork Chops (printer friendly recipe)
4 (3/4 inch) thick pork chops
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
1/4 C brown sugar
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 C unsalted butter (1/2 stick)
2 tart apples - peeled, cored and sliced
3 tablespoons pecans (optional)

1. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the vegetable oil and place chops in the pan.  Salt and pepper the chops.  Cook, turning occasionally, until done.
2. In a separate pan, combine the sliced apples, butter, brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Cover and cook until apples are tender and sauce is thick.
3. Spoon sauce over apples and chops. Sprinkle with pecans.

* You can also cook it using just one pan like the original instructions say, keeping the pork chops warm in the oven with tin foil over them.  Up to you.  I used 2 pans because it was faster.

Country Ribs in BBQ Gravy

I love ribs done in a crockpot with BBQ sauce smothered over them. I also like them this way done in a Dutch Oven as we did last week while camping. That said, I was looking for another way to cook them today. I went searching at allrecipes.com for something and found this recipe. I thought I'd try it with a few teaks and it turned out delicious, it reminded me a little of swiss steak.

Country Ribs in Gravy (printer friendly)

3 lbs country style pork ribs (bone-in or boneless)
1 C water*
1/2 C ketchup
1 medium onion, chopped
2 Tbsp vinegar
1 Tbsp brown sugar
4 tsp worcestershire sauce
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground mustard
1 beef bouillon cube*
1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp pepper

1. In a hot skillet sear each rib until it is nicely browned. Use tongs to get the ends and any sides that won't sit on their own.
2. Place ribs in a slow cooker. Combine the rest of the ingredients and pour over the ribs. Cook on high for 1 hour and then reduce to low for 3-4 hours. Or just place on low for 8 hours.
3. Remove ribs and cover with tin foil to keep warm and thicken the liquid for gravy. Pour over ribs and potatoes or rice.

*Or 1 C beef broth