COFFEE-RUBBED PORK RIBS
with house-made barbecue jus

These ribs were rubbed with a coffee-spice rub consisting of ground coffee, garlic powder, onion powder, pepper, salt, brown sugar, cayenne, smoked paprika. You wanna cake this stuff on. I baked them at 185 F overnight on a sheet pan with pot of water placed on the rack underneath to bring a touch of moisture to the cooking environment. It should take anywhere from 6 to 8 hours. It won’t appear tender because the meat doesn’t fall right off the bone like a lot of Food Network enthusiasts insist should happen, but it is tender. The spices caked on from earlier create a very dry crust, or bark, keeping the immediate meat inside super moist and tender.

When I make barbecue food, I always have a pot of ham hock stock working. It goes with everything from the ribs to the collard greens. I use it here in the barbecue sauce which is essentially a spiced and reduced ham hock stock. First I toast the spices (same as the rub) with butter, add ketchup, mustard, worcestershire, brown sugar, apple cider vinegar, and jalapenoes. Then I cook that for about 10 minutes before adding the stock and reducing. The resulting sauce is pretty loose, but extremely porky. Oh yeah, I also add a bit of fish sauce like I do to everything.