Boneless Spareribs and Sweet Potato Fries

I froze some boneless pork ribs the other day and should have put them in separate bags because now I'm cooking WAY too much meat. Shucky darn, we're just going to have to eat pork sandwiches.

I cooked these bad boys at a low temp of 250. I started them off with a dry rub made of equal parts (I did 1 tsp each):

• garlic powder
• chili powder
• black pepper
• oregano
• paprika
• cumin

and 1/4 tsp of salt and 1/4 cup brown sugar. Mix well and rub into both sides of the meat.

Jesus, how many people did I think I was feeding?

Baked for two hours like this. At this point I committed what can be considered rib-sin; I added bbq sauce to a dry rub. I'm a frakkin' rebel, I am. I don't like super duper saucy meat so I just used a brush to lightly coat the meat, then I roasted for another hour. Then I flipped them, sauced the other side, and baked another hour. With about half an hour left I turned the oven to 350 because I was adding the SWP fries. This way the meat is super tender and delicious. Let sit a couple minutes before serving. 

As mentioned the side dish I went with sweet potato fries. Well, yam fries. SWP fries don't get crispy like their white potato counterparts but there are a few tricks to help with that. First, coat the fries in a dusting of corn starch - this helps absorb extra liquid so they don't get soggy. I've never tried them using corn starch before and figured tonight was as good as any for a little experimentation. Also make sure there's plenty of space between the fries when baking, that way they don't steam. Do them in multiple pans if necessary. Turn the pieces once or twice so that all sides have a chance to crisp. 

So take a couple peeled yams and slice 'em up. Try to keep the pieces fairly uniform for even cooking. In a large bowl put the fries and about 1 tsp corn starch; toss until all pieces are lightly coated. Drizzle very lightly with olive oil (don't go overboard, we're trying to get crispiness) and toss again. Season with salt and pepper. Now line them up in your pan(s) single file and with space in between. Roast at 350 for 15 minutes, flip them, roast another 15 minutes. They should be tender and easily pierced with a fork but not mush.

Verdict: Meh, the cornstarch didn't make a significant difference. It did allow them to blacken up a little more than they would normally but I could definitely feel that corn starch texture on them. I'd probably skip it next time, personally.

My favorite dipping sauce for these is just a combo of mustards. How I make it is totally determined by what's in the fridge. 1 tsp yellow mustard, 1 tsp Chinese mustard 'cause why not, 1 tbs dijon mustard, squeeze in some fresh lemon juice, and then I added 1 tbs honey mustard dressing. Another way to make this is leave out the dressing and instead use 1 tbs honey and 1 tbs mayonnaise.Whisk it all together and blammo! Honey mustard dip. (I mix all these mustards instead of using straight honey mustard dressing because I like the tanginess against the sweetness of the yam)

When I was at the co-op the other day they had sunchokes! I had read about these in some cooking magazines last year, they're very "in trend" right now. I've been wanting to try it but it was fairly expensive so I just got one. I figured if it's amazing I can go back for more later.

Pretty much looks like ginger and tastes like jicama.

I wanted to keep it simple so that we could really taste the vegetable for its own merit so I decided to just slice it thin and eat it raw. The skin is edible and nutrient packed. I would compare the flavor to that of jicama and definitely plan on playing with it more later!