Tomatillo-Braised Pork Country Ribs with Mexican Greens

(Costillas de Puerco con Verdolagas)



picture of tomatillo braised country ribs

Here's a sensational main-dish recipe collected by Rick Bayless, and published on p. 382 of his essential cookbook Rick Bayless's Mexican Kitchen: Capturing the Vibrant Flavors of a World-Class Cuisine:



Yields:

Serves 4 to 6

Time Required:

Ingredients:

For 2 ¼ cups Essential Simmered Tomatillo-Serrano Sauce Base:

For the meat and potatoes:

Preparation:

Step 1: Making 2 ¼ cups Essential Simmered Tomatillo-Serrano Sauce base.

Lay the tomatillos and chiles on a baking sheet, and place about 4" below a very hot broiler. When they darken and soften, about 5 mins., turn them over and broil the other side.

Roughly chop the chiles, then transfer them and the tomatillos (along with any liquid) to a food processor or blender. Purée, then add the chopped cilantro, ¾ cup water, and salt.

Step 2: The meat and potatoes.

Over medium-high heat, heat the oil in a Dutch oven or Mexican cazuela large enough to hold the meat in a single layer. Sprinkle the meat with salt, then brown on all sides, 10 to 15 mins. Transfer to a plate.

Turn on the oven to 325°F. Pour off all but a thin coating of oil from the pan. Add the onions and cook until translucent, about 4 mins.; add the garlic and cook 2 mins. longer. Stir in the tomatillo sauce base, let come to a rolling boil, then return the meat to the pan. Cover, and bake in the oven until the meat is just tender, about 45 mins. Remove from the oven, and skim off any fat that has risen to the top of the sauce.

Add the potatoes to the hot pot, push them down into the sauce, cover, and continue baking until potatoes are tender, about 45 mins.1

Step 3: Finishing the dish.

Stir the greens into the meat and potatoes, set the cover in place again, and bake 10 more mins. Taste, and season with a little more salt, if necessary. Transfer the ribs to a warm, deep serving platter. Arrange the potatoes around them, then spoon the sauce and greens over and around the meat. Strew the onion rings over the top, garnish with cilantro, and carry the impressive platter to the table.


Advance Preparation: The dish may be prepared very successfully through step 2; cover and refrigerate. Bring to a simmer on top of the stove, before continuing with step 3.

Shortcuts: Two 10 oz. packages of frozen leaf spinach, thawed, squeezed dry, and roughly chopped, can replace the fresh greens; add them just before serving.

Variations and Improvisations: The classic combination of purslane, potatoes, and tomatillos can be made as a great vegetable dish or taco filling: Omit the meat; simply fry the onion and garlic, add the sauce base, then let reduce until thick; stir in 1 cup beef broth. Simmer until medium-thick, then add the potatoes, simmer 15 or 20 mins., add the greens, simmer 5 to 10 minutes more, season, and serve. (This is good with cubes of queso fresco as garnish.)

An equal weight of chicken thighs or beef short ribs can replace the pork, as can thick tuna or swordfish steaks. (Thin the sauce base to a spoonable consistency with broth. Once it has come to a boil, add the potatoes — but not the browned fish — and bake 45 mins.1, then nestle in the greens and fish, and bake until both are as done as you like.)



Cook's Notes:

Purslane (verdolagas, in Spanish) is best sought in Hispanic, primarily Mexican, grocery and produce stores (look for "verdolagas") — or, in season, at some farmers' markets. As a food ingredient, it's famous for having an amazingly high amount of health-promoting omega-3 fatty acids among other nutrients (and is considered something of a superfood), has a slightly tangy (tart) taste, and is crunchy and juicy. It can be added fresh to salads, adding a slightly sour, slightly salty taste, or used in cooking (cooking it for no more than 5-10 minutes), where it's particularly popular in Mexican pork-based dishes, as here.

As an abundantly growing succulent plant, this species, Portulaca oleracea, is considered an alarming, herbaceous weed by gardeners, and also invasive, producing a cloud of tiny seeds (likewise edible) that remain viable in soil for 40 years, and prolifically self-sowing. (It's possibly, maybe, allegedly toxic to cats, though reportedly they aren't attracted to it.)

Amazingly, the plant already had world-wide presence long before Columbus, and Pliny the Elder wrote highly of it. It will grow in any relatively warm climate, even in Germany. Here in California, its harvested greens are available year-round.

Thanks to El Mercadito Latino and Mi Rancho Supermarket, Redwood City, I've never had to resort to chard leaves instead of purslane, and infer that substitute's far less desirable, likewise the cited "shortcut" of "two 10 oz. packages of frozen leaf spinach, thawed, squeezed dry, and roughly chopped". Purslane's a major part of this recipe's attraction.

1 Bayless's original recipe says 20 mins., but there's no way that's enough to cook potatoes.



Collected and re-published at http://linuxmafia.com/~rick/recipes/tomatillo-braised-country-ribs.html by Rick Moen <rick@linuxmafia.com> on Oct. 30, 2024. Individual recipes are free from copyright. Share and enjoy!

(If I have any copyright title in my own very minor contributions to this page — not my intention — they were created in 2024 by Rick Moen <rick@linuxmafia.com> and licensed for use under CC0. The image file (photograph) was taken on Nov. 1, 2024, also by Rick Moen <rick@linuxmafia.com> and licensed for use under CC0. I have thereby waived all copyright, compilation copyright, and related or neighbouring rights to this work. This work is published from: United States of America.)

I owe grateful acknowledgement to Rick Bayless for collecting and publishing this and many other recipes, frequently featured in his PBS television series "Mexico: One Plate at a Time". If you have room on your bookshelf, his cookbook is worth acquiring.

My thanks also to blogger "Min" at The Bad Girl's Kitchen, who saved me a lot of typing by transcribing Rick Bayless's recipe from his cookbook.