Crockpot Country Style Pork Ribs – with a bit of baked macaroni.
We found a deal on these and could not pass them up. It was 4 pounds of country style pork ribs for $3.50! Who can say no?
Definitely not us. Unfortunately the weather has been terrible so outdoor cooking was not an option, enter the unsung hero of the kitchen- the crockpot.
This is so insanely simple that it hurt. All I did was chop some garlic, slice and onion and season the ribs with salt, pepper garlic powder, some bbq rub and some slap ya mama. I made sure to rub the seasoning in the ribs well and then folded in the cut garlic and onion. Then I covered all of it in a bottle of bbq sauce. Set the crockpot to low for 8 hours and done!
It literally took longer to write that out than it did to prep dinner.
By the time the ribs were about an hour out from finished, I had realized I had what I needed to make some good old fashioned baked macaroni. I guess I was feeling guilty for getting off easy for dinner, so I decided to make that.
For the baked Mac, I needed 4 tablespoons of butter, 3 tablespoons of flour, a cup to a cup and a half of milk and 12 oz of shredded cheese(I used Colby, Monty Jack and White Cheddar)- for this never use that pre-shredded stuff that comes in the bag. Take the 5 minutes out of your day and shred it yourself. The shredded cheese in the bag has a wax material on it to prevent sticking. That material also makes it terrible to use in a sauce application.
To make the Mac n cheese is rather simple. Start with a warm pan, not hot. You want to melt the butter slowly. Once the butter is melted add in the flour and make your blonde roux. Once the roux comes together, add in the milk and gradually take the temperature up. If you bring it up to fast the milk will separate. Once you get to a thick consistency and almost boiling, turn off the heat and add in 1/2-3/4 of the cheese. From here you can season as you like. I add in some black pepper, garlic powder, crushed red pepper and a touch of cayenne. Not enough to make it spicy, just enough to give it a bit of a bite. All that milk fat will help deaden spice. Add the cheese sauce to a pasta of your choice and fold it together. Once folded together put it in a casserole dish and top with the remaining shredded cheese. Bake it at 450 for 10-12 minutes, then serve.
This whole meal was ridiculously simple to make, affordable, flavorful and fun.
-on a side note, I added a bit of the pork to the max n cheese, and had a slight religious experience.
The recipe for a dish, similar to this but more refined should be in the near future.
