Because I’m just one of those people who can’t follow tradition most of the time, I refuse to use barbecue sauce on my pork ribs. Actually, I love tradition in most areas of my life, but I also just don’t love barbecue sauce. There, I said it. The stuff just isn’t me. I’ll eat it, but I generally refuse to cook with it. (And well, I prefer to make my own.) Anyway. One of these days I’ll probably make a fantastic recipe with barbecue and then I’ll prove myself wrong. But I digress.
Plus, it’s spring and therefore I felt like using some fresh spring greens. Of course, chives aren’t only a spring green, but mine are growing SO FAST so they need to be used. I mean, the original plant looks like Cthulhu and there’s some baby tentacles popping up elsewhere. It’s getting out of hand. So I figured I would grab a handful from Cthulhu and mix up a marinade for the country style pork ribs I had pulled out of the freezer. What I did end up with was magical.
Dijon and Chive Marinade (for about 2 pounds of meat)
Ingredients
-1/2 cup olive oil
-juice of a whole lemon
-1 generous tablespoon Dijon mustard
-1/4 cup chopped chives
Whisk dijon mustard into olive oil until smooth. Add fresh lemon juice and whisk well. Stir in chives. Place meat into a plastic bag and pour marinade over it. Seal bag, letting out all the air. Shake bag to fully cover all pieces of meat. Let sit in refrigerator for at least 45 minutes, but up to 4 hours is ideal.
You can cook the meat any number of ways; it’s really up to you. I chose to brown the pork ribs in a dutch oven and then bake for 40 minutes at 375. (Your timing will definitely vary; I am pretty sure my oven doesn’t heat accurately, but
haven’t tested it yet. Be sure to use a meat thermometer to test for doneness!) This recipe would be great on the grill or pan fried as well.
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Along with the ribs, I made a mix of sauteed dandelion greens, spinach, onions, and garlic. It was delicious, and I had intended to share that recipe as well, but it needs a fair bit of tweaking, so I will wait! We also had brown rice.
With a Side of Rice 