crispy baked pork ribs

Posted on February 11, 2021 by Shawn

Don’t ask. I wasn’t even planning to make ribs today, but one thing led to another and here we are. Then, since I suddenly had both ribs and a huge chunk of presa Ibérica, and the original plan had been to do a whole presa in hoisin marinade (more on that later) I didn’t want to make my tried and tested hoisin pork ribs. So I got to wondering if my friend Lizzie’s method for baking chicken wings would work on ribs (it works great on drumsticks!) but without the help of nice fatty chicken skin I wasn’t sure if the ribs would get crispy. Then I found a recipe that slathered whole racks of ribs with mayo before dredging them in flour and baking them so I thought I’d try doing this with spare ribs and my salsa az. And they turned out great, nicely crisp and still tender. I would just make sure to shake off more of the excess flour before baking next time.

Ingredients and instructions below…
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hoisin pork ribs

Posted on January 30, 2021 by Shawn

I love hoisin sauce and don’t use it often enough, so when I thought of making ribs the other day I remembered the two jars of hoisin in the pantry I’d recently stocked up on. This sauce was delicious but I think I’ll try adding some ginger and maybe a few chilli flakes next time. Also most of the recipes I came across online included 5 spice powder, which I have yet to come across here. I think with a base of hoisin, soy and rice wine vinegar – I added the white wine just to thin it out a bit – you can easily play around and adapt it with whatever else you like (or happen to have in the kitchen). Very sticky, super tasty.

Ingredients and instructions below…
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presa ibérica al palo cortado

Posted on January 6, 2021 by Shawn

This was inspired by a delicious tapa of presa al palo cortado that I had at the fabulous Bodeguita Romero a few days before NYE. I decided then and there that I wanted to try and make it myself, even though I’d only ever cooked presa “a la plancha” before. Presa is an upper shoulder cut (see diagram below, pluma is a lower cut and a bit fattier, both are delicious) and the piece I found for this meal was 600 grams.

What I didn’t expect was that it would shrink so much but, to be honest, I think I overcooked it a bit (full disclosure: fell asleep watching netflix while it was on low heat). Later I discovered that some of the “shrinkage” was due to a fair bit of meat shredding off and ending up in the sauce, which was QUITE reduced by the time I woke up again. But hey, no problem. I removed the presa and slowly added more broth and sherry, whisking madly until I got a nicely textured sauce again. In fact, this might be what I do in future, because then you end up with MEAT SAUCE, which frankly was totally yum. But I digress.

Many thanks to my friends, the family at @bodeguitaromero and chef @jose_pizarro who helped out with cooking tips while I was making this. With sides, serves four.

Ingredients and instructions below…
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honey-garlic-mustard Ibérico pork ribs

Posted on November 1, 2020 by Shawn

Not super accurate measurements for this one. With the marinade you can obviously play around a bit. Just make sure there’s enough acid (wine, vinegar), seasoning (s&p) and whatever other flavours you like. Fresh herbs like rosemary, thyme or sage also work well. I usually like to marinate these babies overnight in the fridge, but just a couple of hours at room temperature is also fine.

I also like to use a glass roasting dish I have with a handy plastic lid because then I can use the same marinating dish for cooking (the lid is also good if you’re keeping it in the fridge overnight, plus it’s extra easy to occasionally shake it up and slosh the marinade around, getting it all over the ribs). Otherwise, just marinate the ribs in a large bowl, turning often to keep them coated on all sides. Then transfer them to a baking dish to cook, draining off most of the marinade (but keep it to one side in case you want it for basting). Anyhow, really tasty comfort food, made even better if you take advantage of the oven being on to roast some veg on the side.

Ingredients and instructions below…
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meatloaf

Posted on January 18, 2019 by Shawn

meatloaf (2)

So I was lying in bed a couple of mornings ago, scrolling through my Twitter timeline, and up popped a recipe video for meatloaf. And I thought… meatloaf! Wow, I hadn’t had meatloaf in YEARS. So that day I went out and got the basic ingredients, then did a bit of improvising. Result – delish. Total comfort food. Leftovers make great sandwiches.

This recipe ended up making two loaves that could easily feed six people or more, depending on the side dishes. The meat ratio is 2/3 beef and 1/3 pork, so you can play around with quantities.

Ingredients and instructions below…
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carne con tomate

Posted on May 23, 2010 by Shawn

[click to enlarge]
Stewed pork in tomato sauce

This super-simple recipe I swiped from Janet Mendel’s Tapas: A Bite of Spain – just changed the spices a bit and used chopped tinned tomatoes instead of fresh. The result was yummy…

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solomillo al whisky

Posted on February 28, 2010 by Shawn

The first place I ever had solomillo al whisky (pork tenderloin in whisky sauce) was at the Cervecería Giralda, which turned out to be one of the best in the city. I didn’t realise until today how easy it is to make! I also didn’t realise that, despite the name, it is almost always made with brandy or cognac. Go figure. Served here with some left-over boiled potatoes that I fried until crispy, and a bit of steamed broccoli.

Ingredients and instructions below…

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mister anchovy’s meatloaf

Posted on November 27, 2009 by Shawn

Actually it’s his mom’s meatloaf. I saw this fabulous sounding comfort food recipe over at mister anchovy’s the other day and knew I would have to try it, especially now that the days are getting chilly. It’s been many many years since I made a meatloaf. There are a couple of differences here from the original recipe, the main one being that I couldn’t find any Heinz chili sauce (the “secret” ingredient!) and substituted Heinz barbeque sauce with added chili flakes. I also added a dollop of dijon and a splash of worchestershire to the meat. Oh, and also a whack of garlic. Natch.

Recipe and instructions below the links.

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carrillada (aka pig’s cheeks)

Posted on October 17, 2009 by Shawn

I wasn’t planning on making carrilladas today, and had never made them before. Though I’ve had them several times at tapas bars and especially love the ones they serve at Bodeguita Romero. Anyhow, there I was in the supermarket and I saw these rather plump pig’s cheeks and thought – what the heck. After I got home I scoured the internet looking for a recipe and I started to despair when I saw most of them called for a pressure cooker. So what I ended up doing was taking ideas from about four different recipes and incorporating them into one. And I must say they turned out amazing! Served here with mixed veg and a bit of potato purée.

Recipe and instructions below the links…