Braised Finger Ribs

Oh my goodness, y'all! I just had to take a few minutes to share this recipe with y'all! I'm sorry for the lack of good photos, but I had no intentions of turning this into a post. After tasting the dish, though, I knew I had to blog it so I would remember how I did it! This dish is not hard, but it does take a long time. I suggest starting between two and three in the afternoon! Let's get started!

Ingredients
2 pkgs finger ribs
3-4 carrots, diced small
1 large onion, diced small
12 oz pkg bacon, diced (I use uncured.)
2 cups All Purpose flour
2_3 T cooking oil
1 cup red wine
3-4 cups beef broth
Two large sprigs of rosemary
Five or six small sprigs of thyme
Salt
Ground black pepper
Chili powder
Garlic powder

Directions
Sprinkle both sides of the ribs with all the spices. I'm sorry! I don't measure. For the biggest/meatiest ribs, I seasoned all sides. Then dredge the ribs in the flour. Set them aside.
Dice the onions, carrots, and bacon. I like to share with my friends on Facebook, so I do have a photo of those steps completed!

Now, toss the bacon into a heated cast iron Dutch oven and fry until crispy. Remove the bacon, but leave the grease in the pan. Set the bacon aside. Adjust the heat as necessary throughout the full recipe.

While the grease is still hot, brown the ribs. This should be really quick if your pan is still hot. It should take 45 seconds to a minute on both sides. I browned all sides of the  big ribs. I also did mine in two batches so the pan wouldn't be crowded. If the pan gets dry, add cooking oil to the bottom. As the ribs are done browning, move them to a plate and set them aside.

Turn the heat to medium and add the onions and carrots to the pan. Add a little broth to deglaze the pan. Add the wine. Scrape the bottom a bit as you move the carrots and onions around to be sure to get all the bits of goodness off the bottom of the pan! 

When the veggies just start to soften, turn the heat down and add two cups of broth.

Add the ribs back to the pan, standing the ribs on their side when possible. The ribs should only be sticking out of the broth just a little. Add more beef broth if needed. Add the bacon back to the pan with the ribs, tucking it between the ribby beauties! Ribby...I can make that a word, right?

Add the springs of rosemary and thyme. If you are picture crazy like I am, make sure to tuck the sprigs into the broth after taking the photo!

Doesn't that look so good already!? Turn the eye off. 

Place the lid on the pan, and place the pan in the preheated 350 degree oven for two hours. After two hours, turn the heat down to 325 and continue baking for another 30 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven, but leave the lid on for twenty minutes.

Just look at the glorious goodness awaiting your taste buds!! Be careful removing the ribs from the pan! The meat falls off the bone!

I am so sorry I don't have a better photo for you! I guess I will have to make it again just to get better pictures...and to feed it to my husband! He says he definitely wants to have it again! Okay, it's not even 8:30 in the morning, and I can hardly wait for lunch to have leftovers!!

Y'all go make this! I promise it's not hard, but your family and friends will think you are a master chef! I served it with roasted potatoes, and broccoli and cauliflower covered with a cheese sauce I made while I waited on the ribs to cook. Yum, yum!!

Until we meet again, may you be blessed!