Photo by Steve Shanahan |
First published Canberra Times 15 January 2014
The heat is on, so fire up the barbeque, get the picnic rug out
and throw those ribs on the grill. We’ve had a fairly abstemious Christmas this
year, in terms of our chocolate indulgence, so in order to keep the levels up, I
turn to rubbing my meat in it.
This newfound fascination I have for pork and
chocolate really is very seductive and moreish, and the two make a heavenly match.
The preparation is a touchy feely process of rubbing the spice mixture in, so
be prepared to get down and dirty with your ribs.
I’m fascinated by the Mexican mole influence of bitter chocolate
used in savoury dishes. With the addition of some basic cupboard spices, the ribs
turn from mediocre, to tender, melt in the mouth perfection.
After trying a number of different chocolate and spice marinade
combinations, I settle on vanilla, spice and a hint of chilli.
If you are a real chocoholic and you want the big flavour, try
marinating your ribs in the chocolate rub for 48 hours in the refrigerator. I
used Rich Dark Pure Dutch Cocoa that can be bought from Essential Ingredient.
2 racks of pork ribs
1/3 cup unsweetened dark cocoa powder
½ cup brown sugar (lightly packed)
1 tsp chilli powder
2 tbsp sea salt
1 clove garlic chopped finely
1 tbsp mustard powder
2 tsp ginger powder
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground allspice
1 tsp vanilla paste
Mix all of the ingredients except the ribs together in a bowl.
With clean hands rub the ribs generously with the spice mixture. If you prefer
you can add a little olive oil to the mix to make it stick to the ribs. Wrap in
plastic wrap and refrigerate at least overnight.
Remove the ribs from the refrigerator about an hour prior to
cooking, this will allow them to cook quicker and reduce burning the outside.
Using a hooded barbeque, place ribs over a medium heat grill
plate, close hood and roast for about thirty minutes. Open lid and increase
temperature of barbeque and roast for about another ten minutes. Watch that
they don’t burn. Remove ribs from heat and leave to rest for ten minutes.
If cooking the ribs in an oven, preheat the oven to 180C and
place ribs in a shallow baking pan, cooking for about 25 minutes. Remove from
the oven. Increase the oven temperature to 200C and return ribs to a wire rack
over a baking tray. Bake for an additional ten minutes or until the ribs are
browned. To serve, cut ribs into individual bones and serve with a salad.
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