The revenge of the marinade

After my school girl error on Sunday of not reading the recipe properly and discovering I needed to marinate the ribs before cooking (face still in palms!), Monday night rib night came.  It was actually very fitting as Monday was Chinese New Year and what better thing to eat on such an occasion but ribs.  Ribs cooked with soy sauce and star anise.

It is funny, but this blog is teaching me a lot.  I am a 'doer' someone who likes to be busy, keeping my mind and body occupied.  I rush around doing too many things at once, much to the annoyance of my loved ones.  However, since embarking on my career break (nearly a whole 2 weeks in), I have been thinking about slowing down.  About savouring life, enjoying moments with my son, rather than planning the next thing in my head.  As you will discover from this blog, I am not a very accomplished writer. This is not a new thing and an excellent primary school teacher correctly identified that my mind moves too fast for my hand to keep up and write (now type).  I am always on to the next thing before finishing what I am doing.

I was so annoyed at myself for not reading the rib recipe, such a school girl error and it reminded me that I need to slow down.  I am clearly grasping that philosophy as I should have written this blog earlier in the week, but better late than never...

Here are my ribs (ok not actually mine, no one needs to see that!), just before they go on the oven.  I probably should have popped them in a smaller dish but I did keep turning them (as personally recommended by Nigel on twitter *squeals*!).

Nigel advises serving this with a cauliflower puree (recipe on page 44 of the book).  I am delighted about this.  I have been trying to eat better and increase the amount of veg I eat and this is music to my ears.  It is a very simple recipe and I bought a good quality organic cauliflower to maximise flavour.  I added slightly too much butter (I was adjusting the recipe to reduce quantity) so it was rather rich.

So, the ribs were lovingly turned and apologies for the lighting in this picture as they look a little burnt but they were not at all.  Caramelised yes (ok so arguably a chef's word for 'burnt') but ribs need that crispy fat.

I let them rest for a couple of moments and you finish off the cauliflower puree with a wonderful bright green chive oil.  The colours in Nigel's food are really up lifting.

So, supper is served and what an absolute joy and treat it is:

The ribs are sticky and sweet and I love the meatiness of the beef rib rather than the pork.  A richer deeper flavour that works so well with the ingredients of the marinade.  Had I not over buttered the cauliflower it would be a wonderful light accompaniment.  It was still delicious just rather rich, although the onion flavour of the oil really lifted it.  You know what, this dish was totally worth the wait.

JanieCooksNigel

11/2/16