Father's Day Ribs

I hope you all had a wonderful time yesterday, celebrating the fathers in your life. My own dad passed away seven years ago, and while still miss him like crazy, we had some great moments recounting happy memories of him.

Yesterday was all about my wonderful husband, and so we made a favorite meal for Steve. Orange Chipotle Ribs with corn on the cob and baked potatoes, ice cream for dessert. Really, it's the ideal dinner for Father's Day as I'm fairly certain that my hubby's blood is made of equal parts bbq sauce and ice cream. Technically, I can't call these chipotle ribs, because I don't use chipotle chili powder. I can't find the stuff!

Due to circumstances beyond my control, pie week had to be postponed for a bit. Scandalous, really. We first made the decision to put it off due to some medical restrictions on my part. But then I looked at the upcoming weather for the week and reflected on God's goodness in leading us to that choice. Who wants to bake pies when it's in the 90's? I don't want to do anything when it's that hot, much less cook. (Which reminds me that they are going to want to eat tonight...ugh.)

This is a great recipe that also happens to be gluten free. If you're looking for more great gluten free crock pot meals, check out A Year of Slow Cooking, where this recipe is adapted from.

Leni's Notes:

 ~I used my 18 qt Nesco roaster for this dish--2 full slabs of ribs fit perfectly on the bottom, although I have cooked more and let them overlap.
~I put a rack on top of the ribs, to hold the foil-wrapped baked potatoes.
~Great side dishes include baked potatoes or salt potatoes, corn on the cob, macaroni salad...let your imagination run wild!

The original Orange Chipotle Rib recipe can be found here. Here's the Leni-ized version of this recipe:

Ingredients:

6 pounds ribs (we like pork)
1 cup tomato puree
1/2 cup orange marmalade (preferably without corn syrup)
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup Bragg's Liquid Aminos
1/4 cup raw sugar
1 tsp Indian hot chili powder (if you use regular chili powder, you'll want 4 tsp.)
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp ground ginger
4 tsp crushed garlic in olive oil or water

Directions:

Place thawed meat in greased cooker. (Frozen can be used, but you will need to adjust cook time.)

Combine all sauce ingredients, and pour evenly over the ribs. I like to flip the ribs around in there a bit to make sure they are covered well.

Cover and cook 250 for 7-8 hours, to have them falling-off-the-bone done. Sometimes we cook them for 5-6 hours, and then throw them on the grill to caramelize the sugar a bit.