Pork Ribs with Gorgonzola Polenta

This dish can sound complicated, but it's actually very easy to make. If you are cooking the ribs in the oven, it gives you enough time to prepare a starter and a dessert! The trick to making a successful three course meal is to make things that appear elaborate, but actually don't require that much effort on your part. This is why this recipe is perfect for a dinner party.

Ingredients:

1 full rack of pork ribs
1 cup of thick-cut yellow cornmeal
2 cups of chicken stock
2 cups of water
½ cup of Gorgonzola cheese, crumbled
½ teaspoon of ground mustard
1 teaspoon of coriander
1 teaspoon of oregano
1/3 cup of tomato sauce
1/3 cup of brown sugar
1 teaspoon of white vinegar
2 teaspoons of extra virgin olive oil
½ of a medium onion, cubed
3 garlic cloves, chopped
Salt and pepper

Preparation:

For this recipe, I cooked the ribs in my trusty pressure cooker. If you don't have a pressure cooker, you can cook the ribs in the oven. (Both options are presented here.)

1. To a small bowl, add the sugar, oregano, mustard, coriander, white vinegar, tomato sauce, olive oil, onion, garlic, salt and pepper. Mix all of those ingredients into a paste, and rub it on the ribs.

2. Cook the ribs in either the oven or pressure cooker. For pressure cooker, cook ribs for 45 minutes. For oven preparation, place the ribs in a roasting pan covered with foil at 300 degrees for 2 hours. After 2 hours, uncover ribs, and continue cooking for 1 hour, until they at least 145 degrees.

3. While the ribs are cooking, add 2 cups of stock to a 3 quart sauce pan and bring it to a simmer.

4. Add the cornmeal to the water, and cook over medium-low heat, stirring continuously. As the polenta cooks it will start to thicken, so add the 2 cups of water 1/2 cup at a time while stirring. If it's really thick, you can add a little more water. After adding the last of the water, season the polenta with salt and pepper.

5. Finally, add the Gorgonzola cheese and stir until the cheese has completely melted. The entire cooking time for the polenta should be around 25 minutes.

6. Serve family-style by cutting the pork ribs into portions and placing the polenta in a medium serving bowl, or arrange in single portions on a plate.

The polenta can be cooked ahead of time and reheated with some more water or stock. If you're feeding baby, pick apart the meat of one of the ribs and mix it with the polenta for your infant.