Of Hard Chairs and Barbecues – Ancho Chilli and Honey Pork Ribs.

I’m a considerate sort of person. If I’m having a vegetarian over for dinner, I will restrict the number of animals that we slaughter and serve. If there are a group of ‘lads’ I will throw lots of chilli heat into everything and serve gallons of beer, by the neck, so we can behave like teenagers and pretend that our middle-aged stomachs are not in turmoil. If my beloved Mum is coming to our regular Sunday dinner, I tend to respect her desire for moderate heat in everything. Like I say, I’m a considerate kind of guy. I employed such deference last weekend when preparing Ancho Chilli and Honey Pork Ribs. But, it seems, I can’t get everything right.

On Sunday afternoon, my sister rang, from Norway, for a chat. During the call, she mentioned to me that Mum has, of late, found our hard-wood kitchen chairs a deal (pun intended) uncomfortable. She suggested that we might improve Mum’s experience by providing a cushion. I decided that we could go one better and replace Mum’s chair with one of our rarely used dining-room chairs (with padded back and seat). But, why had she not said anything to me?

Now, getting back to the ribs….

Ingredients

• Eight to ten big, free range, pork ribs.
• 4 dried ancho chilis
• 2 medium hot dried New Mexico chilis
• About 150 grammes of honey
• 1 to 2 teaspoons of fennel seeds

The chilis are not all that hot, if you remove the seeds. You’re on your own if you don’t .

First, remove the seeds from the chilis (considerate or what?). Then place the chilis in a bowl and add about a quarter litre of hot water. Leave them there for about 20 minutes.

The Ancho chilis have a lovely smokey flavour. Not a lot of heat.

Place the fennel seeds in a hot dry pan and fry them until they are a nice dark brown.

When you have nice copper pans, take lots of photos!

Give them a good going over in the mortar, reducing them to dust. Bring a pot of water to the boil and add the pork ribs. Give them about 15 minutes.

This ensures the ribs cook before burning on the barbecue. It’s a good idea.

Then drain them. Place them in a dish or bowl. Add the chilis with their water, honey and fennel into a blender. Blend to a paste.

The chilis fennel and honey make a delicious sweet, smokey mixture.

Pour the paste over the pork ribs. Leave them there for a couple of hours.

Plenty of flavour in that sauce. None of it goes to waste.

Warm the barbecue. Turn it down to low and add the ribs. Grill until cooked. In the meantime, pour the sauce into a pot and bring it to a boil. Let it thicken. Season to taste and serve it with the ribs.

Look at the colour of that sauce! It smelled even nicer and tasted wonderful.

It has a delicious, mild, smokey flavour that really works well.

Tasty, smokey, mild and delicious. Top ribs and delicious dipping sauce.

With Mum happy in her new chair, and while we ate the ribs, I couldn’t help myself. I had to know about the discomfort she had been feeling. I wanted to know why Mum had not said anything directly to me. So, I probed… “Anna rang today. She mentioned you were feeling a bit uncomfortable with the chair. How long had it been bothering you?” She looked up, smiled distantly and replied “Oh, yes, the chair…. For years actually.” Wonderful woman our Mum.