There’s nothing like coating something in butter. I know it’s not the healthiest thing in the world, but man—is it good.

For this dish, meaty, country-style pork ribs get frosted with a pungent whiskey butter, then dappled with fresh cranberries, garlic, and earthy sage.

They get basted a few times as they roast with a broth of whiskey-butter that’s been infused with a little sumptuous pork fat and tart cranberry juice.

These ribs are meatier than regular spare ribs, making them ideal for casual and hearty holiday dinner.

Cranberry Sage Pork Ribs with Whiskey Butter

3 lbs. country-style pork spare ribs
5 Tbls. butter
2 Tbls. whiskey or scotch
kosher salt
freshly cracked black pepper
1 Tbls. garlic powder
1 cup fresh whole cranberries
1 Tbls. fresh sage, minced

About a half an hour or so before you want to cook, measure out your butter and leave it on the counter to soften up a little bit.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Cranberry Sage Pork Ribs with Whiskey Butter: Prep the meat

Grab your pork ribs.

Unwrap them and lay them out in a 13 x 9 baking pan.

Cranberry Sage Pork Ribs with Whiskey Butter: Make the whiskey butter

Put your softened butter in a bowl or measuring cup.

Mash it up with a fork.

Add the whiskey.

With your fork, stir the butter and whiskey together until you have a uniform paste. This will take a few minutes, but the butter will absorb all the whiskey.

When it comes together fully, it should look about like this:

It will be looser, but not at all drippy or unmanageable.

Cranberry Sage Pork Ribs with Whiskey Butter: Coat the ribs with whiskey butter

With your hands, rub each rib with the whiskey butter until it’s well coated.

Your goal is to cover each rib in butter.

Sprinkle with the garlic powder and kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste. Set the ribs aside for a minute or two while you deal with the cranberries.

Cranberry Sage Pork Ribs with Whiskey Butter: Cut up the cranberries

Measure out your cranberries. Slice each one in half. (I swear this won’t take as long as it sounds.)

Cranberry Sage Pork Ribs with Whiskey Butter: Sprinkle, bake, and baste

Sprinkle the cranberries over the pork ribs, distributing them as evenly as you can.

Lastly, sprinkle on the minced sage.

Stick your pan in the oven and bake for 1 hour – 1 1/2 hours. Your final cooking time will depend on how big and thick your ribs are. (Start checking them after about an hour.)

Every 20 minutes or so, baste the ribs with the butter-y broth in the bottom of the pan. (Hold the pan firmly with one hand, tip it a little, spoon up the juice that puddles in the pan’s corner, and drizzle it over the meat.)

They’re done when they’re nicely browned and the meat comes away easily when pulled at with a fork. They should look about like this:

Serve and enjoy!

***
Copyright 2008 The Hungry Mouse™/Jessica B. Konopa. All rights reserved.

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These ribs borrow heavily from Mexican mole—that dark, rich concoction of onion, garlic, several different kinds of chili peppers topped off with a good dose of chocolate. You usually see it served most with chicken, but the flavors are also really well suited to pork.

Chocolate and pork? Yep, chocolate and pork. Trust me. It’s good.

This spice rub uses generous amounts of kosher salt, chili powder, ground garlic, and ginger. Bitter, unsweetened cocoa powder deepens and enhances the heat from the chili and ginger.

The resulting flavors are earthy, complex, and oh-so-satisfying.

I like to serve these with white rice that’s been cooked with butter, salt, and a little chipotle chili powder.

Pork Spare Ribs with Cocoa Spice Rub

2 lbs. pork spare ribs
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 Tbls. ancho chili powder
1/4 tsp. ground clove
1 tsp. ground ginger
1 Tbls. ground garlic
1 Tbls. kosher salt
2 Tbls. olive oil
spray oil
chili flakes
dried parsley

Line a sheet pan with foil and/or parchment paper. Set it aside. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

In a small bowl, put the cocoa powder, chili, clove, ginger, garlic, and kosher salt.

Mix them together with a fork or small whisk until uniform. Set the bowl aside for a minute while you grab the meat.

Get your pork ribs out of the fridge.

Put them in a gallon-size zip-top bag. Drizzle in the olive oil, seal the bag well, and give it a few shakes to coat the meat.

Pour the spice rub into the bag and over the ribs.

Seal the bag well and smoosh it around between your hands to coat the ribs with the spice rub. When the oil and the spices combine, the inside of your bag will be instantly coated with chocolate-y goodness. It will be messy looking. That’s just fine.

When you open the bag, your ribs should be covered in cocoa rub, like this:

Take the ribs out of the bag, giving them a little shake to knock off any excess spice. Lay them out on your prepared pan.

Hit the surface lightly with a little spray oil. I do this to help ensure I’ll get a good crust, since the fat content in the ribs will vary.

Sprinkle the ribs with dried parsley and chili flakes (I used Aleppo chili from Penzey’s) to taste.

Slide the pan into the oven and bake for about 1 hour at 350 degrees.

They’re done when the meat has developed a deep brown crust and comes away from the bone easily when you pull at it with a fork.

Serve hot and enjoy!

***
Copyright 2008 The Hungry Mouse™/Jessica B. Konopa. All rights reserved.

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