Pork Ribs With Cranberry Barbecue Sauce

The warehouse that supports my local food banks has had a generous amount of jelly cranberry sauce to distribute as well as cranraisins. A can has been included in the food boxes every time I go.  It is not something that we like to eat each week, though It takes several days to use up a can. The family has grown tired of it and I must have 6 or more cans of it now.

I needed some ideas on how to cook with it. So I spent time looking for recipes in my cookbooks and on line.  When you have a very tight budget you need simple low cost recipes. I found several that I could adapt to what I had on hand. It turns out that cranberry sauce is very versatile.

Since I was mulling over so many cranberry sauce recipes. the ideas was fresh in my mind as I was shopping for Sunday’s dinner.  To my delight there was a sale on pork ribs and I could afford a rack of them at a $1.79 a pound.  All I needed to buy was a bottle of chili sauce, there was a nice inexpensive store brand bottle the right size. The recipe is a basic version and you can add what ever spices or rubs that you have on hand.

Just perfect for a hot summer day.  I made them in the oven and served them with potato wedges, that I made in the oven while the ribs were roasting. I added a salad, vegetable and plenty of ice tea. The ribs were delicious for such an unusual sauce. I never did tell the family that the dreaded cranberry sauce was in it. I plan to use this sauce again on chicken.

• Time: 2 hours
• Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients:

• 3 pounds pork loin back ribs
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon powered turmeric (optional)
• 1 can (14 ounce) jellied cranberry sauce
• 1 bottle (12 ounce) chili sauce
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup minced green onion or chopped yellow onion
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar
• 2 teaspoons mince garlic
• 2 teaspoons liquid smoke (optional)

Directions:

Place ribs on a foil lined pan and season with salt and pepper.  Let stand while mixing other ingredients.

In a medium size bowl mix together all the rest of the ingredients. Spoon half of the barbecue over ribs.  Place another sheet of foil over the ribs and seal edges.

Roast at 350 degrees for 1 1/2 to 2 hours.  Check after the first hour and spoon the rest of the sauce on. Continue baking until ribs are tender. Let rest for 5 minutes before cutting.