Boneless pork ribs

Country-style ribs are hugely meaty as compared with spare ribs. For some reason our Safeway sells the country-style without the bones. I wouldn't have bought them except for the fact that they were in the specials bin and cost only $3.

They are extremely lean and I was concerned about them coming out dry. So I brined them. I also made a sauce with which I basted them every 30 minutes after the first hour of cooking.

The picture to the left ("borrowed") from someone's web site is of ribs with bones. However, despite that, the similiarity to the look of mine is quite remarkable.

Boneless pork ribs

4 boneless country-style pork ribs (about 1 3/4 pounds)

2 cups water

2 tbsp kosher salt

2 tbsp sugar

10 peppercorns

2 tbsp cumin

2 tbsp paprika

1 tbsp cayenne pepper

3/4 cup catsup

1/8 cup pomegranate juice

1/8 cup pomegranate molasses (regular molasses)

black pepper

Stir the salt and sugar into the water until dissolved. Place the liquid, the peppercorns, and the ribs into a gallon-size freezer bag, squeeze out the air, seal, and refrigerate for an hour (2 hours if you can).

Remove the ribs from the fridge and dry them with paper towels. Don't rinse them.

Mix the cumin, paprika and cayenne together and liberally dust the ribs with the mix. Use all of it. Again refrigerate the ribs uncovered on a plate for at least an hour (or more) if you have the time. Remove from the fridge 1 hour before you begin cooking.

Preheat the oven to 275°.

Place the ribs on a rack on a shallow roasting pan. Add 1 cup chicken or beef stock to the pan, cover tightly with foil, and roast for 1 hour.

Meanwhile, mix together the catsup, pomegranate juice and molasses. Reduce the oven to 250° and start generously basting the ribs every 30 minutes. Turning them each time you do so. Keep them covered.

Total roasting time will be 2 1/2-3 hours. Let the ribs rest, still covered, for 10 minutes before serving.

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