Sep 06 2014
Several rain cells went through last night and left it cloudy and cool today. That was a welcome from yesterday’s 92 deg. and 60% humidity.
Thursday I did some St. Louis cut ribs, Memphis dry style, with Tim’s Top Secret seasoning. My butcher did not have any fresh ones so I bought some Tyson ribs at the grocery. My second mistake was cooking them, I did them on my Traeger at temps and times, and wrapping in foil that works for me. The last ones I did were fall off the bone a little too well done. These were underdone and tough; hardly pull off the bone. No matter how good the rub is I can’t say tough ribs are good. I decided not to even post. I did eat 3 and liked the seasoning.
Having more than half the ribs left I was thinking of how to use it. I have seen a lot of beef short rib Ragu recipes lately so thought I would do some pork Ragu and have it over some yellow stone ground grits.
I and my wife thought it came out good. The Top Secret rub on the ribs was enough to season the Ragu well. With the cool weather it tasted good tonight. It was good enough to me I took the time to write a recipe. If some in your family do not like grits tell them it is polenta and they will probably like it! It would be good over pasta too.
The ribs
Smokin Don
Recipe:
Pork spare rib ragu over yellow grits
1 to ½ lbs. leftover smoked spare ribs, or other leftover pork
3 or 4 ribs of celery from the heart, diced small
1 carrot diced small
1 small sweet onion diced
3 cloves garlic smashed and minced
½ of 6oz. can tomato paste
2 cups chicken stock or broth
1 to 1 ½ cups fresh tomatoes cooked down or a 14 oz. can diced tomatoes w/juice
Some chopped fresh parsley
1/4 to a half cup heavy cream
Salt and pepper to taste
2 to 3 TBS. olive oil
Grits:
1 cup yellow stone ground grits
¾ stick of butter
3 cups water
Salt
Heat the olive oil in a cast iron Dutch oven or deep skillet on med. high heat; add the celery, onions, carrots and garlic. Add the tomato paste and stir awhile until starting to stick. Then add the chicken stock or broth. Stir bringing back to a boil.
Add in the tomatoes and let simmer a while. Add in the leftover meat; when it comes back to a boil turn down to low and let it slow simmer and get happy. While that is cooking you can cook the grits which will take about 20 to 30 minutes.
In a sauce pan heat 2 cups of water and the butter to a boil. Add the 1 cup of grits to 1 cup of cold water and stir. When the water gets to a boil add some salt and pour in the grits slowly stirring. Keep stirring every minute or two and keep turning down the heat. Don’t let it boil too fast or you will have hot grits popping out of the pan. When you get it down to a slow boil keep stirring until you get the thickness you want then set off the burner.
Check the Ragu for seasoning and add if needed. My ribs were heavily seasoned so all I added was a good pinch of sea salt. Stir in some chopped fresh parsley, I forgot this in mine. Stir in some heavy cream to get the thickness you want. If too thin add some tomato paste. If you get it too thick add some chicken broth.
Spoon some of the grits in a bowl and top with the Ragu. I had some shredded parmesan, Romano and Asiago cheese for on top and had some Italian bread. A side salad would be good with it too.
Note: I think some pulled pork would be ideal with this. You could use fresh pork too and after the veggies are soft remove and brown up the meat; add the veggies back and go from there.
