Paleo Pork Ribs

My whole family likes ribs, but the recipe I used to use contains a fair amount of brown sugar. Of course there are plenty of recipes that call for prepared barbecue sauce, but I have never liked sweet barbecue sauce. I like the ribs you can get in the South that have a dry rub on them, and if I put any sauce on them it will be the vinegar barbecue sauce. However the rest of the family aren’t as keen on vinegar as I am, so I had to come up with a compromise. Ribs should be falling off the bone tender, and they are meant to be eaten with your hands. I have this thing about sticky hands, but there’s no other practical way to eat ribs. In order to get tender ribs, they must be cooked very slowly. This is a recipe to reserve for a weekend or a day off when you can set aside about 4 hours for these to cook (mostly unattended). I was suspicious of a ribs recipe developed by a Canadian city girl, but I would not dispute Cosmopolitan Primal Girl’s claim that these are the Best Paleo Ribs Ever.

Ingredients (serves 4-6)
– 2 racks of ribs
– 2 tablespoons coarse salt
– 1 tablespoon cumin
– 1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
– 1 tablespoon dried oregano
– 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
– 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste
– 8 whole cloves garlic, smashed
– 4 chipotle peppers – we used canned
– 1 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes
– 2 cups of FRESH squeezed orange juice
– ~1-2 cups of beef broth

Preheat the oven to 200. Yes, two hundred. Mix spices in a small bowl.

Rub the spices over the ribs and place in roasting pans.

Squeeze enough juice oranges to yield 2 cups of juice. The number of oranges you will need will depend on the size and juiciness of your oranges. I was lucky enough to find Moro Oranges, which in my opinion make the best juice, very full-flavored and moderately sweet. Moro oranges are a type of blood orange. The legend is that Saint Frances of Assisi, who had the stigmata, was picking oranges, and the blood from the stigmata in his hands turned the oranges red.
Mix the juice with the garlic, chipotles and tomatoes.

Pour the sauce over the ribs.

Add enough beef broth to cover the ribs. Cover the pans with foil and bake for 3-4 hours until the ribs are tender. Preheat the grill.

Tell your spouse to grill the ribs at medium-high heat for ~5 min per side. Pour the sauce into a saucepan and cook down while the ribs are grilling.

We served the ribs with roasted asparagus, kale and marinated beet salad with feta and walnuts.