Barbecue Country Style Pork Ribs and Rice

Is anyone else enjoying warmer weather? I love it! I’m already dreaming of relaxing in the pool or going to the beach and feeling the sand between my toes! Then, when school gets out, I can stay home with the kids every day and feel like I’m a stay-at-home-mom for a little while! I can’t wait!

This recipe is great for a lazy day when you want a good meal, but don’t feel like slaving in the kitchen. It’s a crock pot recipe, but requires some boiling first, so it’s not really something you can prepare on a workday.

Boiling these country style ribs first makes them so tender! Plus, you are left with a wonderfully seasoned broth for rice. Add some veggies, and you’re done!

Barbecue Country Style Ribs

6-8 Country Style Ribs

8 cups water (approximately – I usually just make sure the ribs are covered)

1 bottle of barbecue sauce

½ cup brown sugar

2 teaspoons Creole seasoning

1. In large pot, bring water to boil. Add ribs, reduce heat to medium, and boil for about one hour.

2. Remove ribs from water. Place ribs in crock pot.

3. Add barbecue sauce, brown sugar, and Creole seasoning.

4. Cook for 3 hours on high setting or 6 hours on low setting.

Pork Seasoned Rice

4 cups broth left over from above recipe

2 cups white rice

1 chicken bouillon cube

2 teaspoons Creole seasoning

1. Bring broth to a boil. Add bouillon cube.

2. Once bouillon cube is dissolved, add rice and reduce heat to medium-low.

3. Boil for 20-30 minutes or until rice is done and all juice is absorbed.

Crock Pot Roast

This is my favorite way to cook a roast, and it’s in the crock pot, so that’s even better! You can prepare it in about 5 minutes and then leave it to cook all day. It’s so tender and perfect served over rice or mashed potatoes! Sometimes I throw in some potatoes (chopped) a couple of hours before serving. Good stuff!

I apologize for not getting any plated photos of this dish...everyone was so eager to eat, and we didn't have any leftovers!

Crock Pot Roast

2-3 pound roast (I used round roast this time but my favorite roast to use is chuck)
1 onion
1 package onion mushroom soup mix (I used Lipton brand)
1 (10.5 ounce) can cream of mushroom soup
1 ½ cup water

1. Place roast in crock pot.
2. Chop onion and place in crop pot on top of and around roast.
3. In a separate bowl, mix onion mushroom soup mix and water. Then add cream of mushroom soup and mix well. Pour over roast.
4. Cook on low for 8 hours.

Sour Cream Pork Chops

I love sour cream!  I mean I REALLY LOVE sour cream!!  It's what makes some of my cakes moist, my cornbread soft, my tacos tasty, and now my pork chops delicious!  I found this recipe and just had to try it!  Along with some biscuits that I'll post about later (a disappointing experience).  But, anyway, here's the recipe and it was especially great because it involved the crock pot!  There is nothing better than coming home from a tiring day of work to the smell of dinner cooking.  Whoever invented the crock pot was a genius! 

Sour Cream Pork Chops

6-8 boneless pork chops (best if they are at least one inch thick)

2 chicken bouillon cubes

2 cups water

1 tablespoon Creole seasoning
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons pepper
1/2 cup sour cream
1/8 cup all-purpose flour, sifted

1. Place pork chops in crock pot on lowest setting (mine was set on Low – 10 hours).
2. Bring 2 cups water to boil. Add chicken bouillon cubes and stir until melted. Remove from heat and pour over pork chops.
3. Add Creole seasoning, salt, and pepper and stir until pork chops are mostly covered by liquid.
4. After about 7-8 hours, turn oven on to about 150 degrees. Remove pork chops from crock pot, put in a baking dish, and place in oven. (This is just to keep pork chops warm. They should be pretty tender at this point. Most of mine fell apart when attempting to move them to the baking dish, so be careful).
5. Turn crock pot onto highest setting (I set mine on High – 4 hours). Add sour cream and flour to the liquid remaining in the crock pot. Stir well (I used whisk) and let simmer for about 30 minutes. (This is when I prepared my side dishes – rice and corn).
6. When serving, just spoon sour cream “gravy” onto pork chops. If your pork is falling apart too much, you can just put pork back into the crock pot with the gravy. It’s not as pretty, but it’s perfect over rice or potatoes.

Tips:

1. You may need to add more salt and pepper if you omit the Creole seasoning. You may have noticed that I use this seasoning in a LOT of dishes, and the Creole seasoning I use also contains salt and pepper.  (It also contains red pepper, garlic, and probably a few other spices).
2. After I made the gravy, I was afraid I didn’t have enough, so I added 2 cups of chicken broth, ½ cup sour cream, and ¼ cup flour and mixed well. Perfect!