Jerk rub, jerk sauce and pineapple-mango salsa bring plenty of flavor and a little heat to these oven-baked pork ribs. Recipe below.
FEBRUARY IS BLACK HISTORY MONTH, a month-long celebration of the achievements of African Americans and a recognition of their contributions to our national culture and history. So it seemed like a perfect time to delve into Toni Tipton-Martin’s wonderful cookbook, Jubilee: Recipes from Two Centuries of African American Cooking, again.
We first wrote about this book last July, when we cooked West African Groundnut Stew. As we said then, the recipes in this book are taken from Tipton-Martin’s collection of nearly 400 Black cookbooks. They range historically from from enslaved chefs to contemporary middle- and upper-class writers and entrepreneurs. We’ll tell you how to get your own copy in the Kitchen Notes.
The ribs here are based on a recipe by Kelis, New York-born R&B-hip hop-soul singer turned chef-cookbook author-restaurateur. This isn’t just a star slapping her name on a restaurant—after selling six million records and being nominated for a Grammy, Kelis stepped away from the music business and plunged into cooking, ultimately graduating from the Cordon Bleu. From there, she went on to open a London pop-up restaurant and a UK Festival food truck, buy a farm, start a line of sauces and write cookbooks. Oh, and she’s doing music again too.
The first thing we liked about these ribs, it being winter and all, is that they’re baked. There are numerous ingredients—in the jerk spice rub, the the jerk sauce and the pineapple-mango salsa—but the cooking process is fairly straightforward. And we had enough spice rub and sauce left over to use it on chicken another night, just as delicious as the ribs. This dish does pack a little heat, but even more, it delivers a lively, complex flavor.
We tried to stick as close to the recipe as possible, making only a couple of changes. We used three pounds of ribs instead of six, because there are two of us. The pineapple-mango salsa was delicious with the ribs, but when we did the chicken later, we were good without it. If you’re looking to simplify this recipe, consider skipping it. And we swapped a jalapeño pepper for the called-for Scotch Bonnet. Let your own love of heat be your guide.
Oven-baked Jamaican Jerk Ribs
Ingredients
- 3 pounds pork baby back ribs or St. Louis-style spareribs
For the Jerk Rub:
- 1 tablespoon ground allspice
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated or ground nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon ground sage
- 2 tablespoons garlic powder (not garlic salt—see Kitchen Notes)
- 4 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika (or 1/2 teaspoon sweet, 1/2 teaspoon smoked—see Kitchen Notes)
For the Jerk Sauce:
- 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/2 cup cider vinegar
- 1/2 cup fresh orange juice
- 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 – 2 minced Scotch Bonnet peppers (we used 1 jalapeño—see Kitchen Notes)
- 1 cup finely chopped onion
- 1/2 cup finely chopped green bell pepper
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/4 cup molasses
- 1/4 cup soy sauce (we used reduced-sodium)
For the Pineapple-Mango Salsa:
- 1 cups diced pineapple (we used canned in its own juice)
- 1/2 cup chopped fresh mango
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped red bell pepper (we used green)
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped red onion
- 1/2 hot chile pepper, minced (we used jalapeño)
- 1 small clove garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon fresh cilantro
- 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
- 2 tablespoons grapeseed or vegetable oil
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Pat ribs dry with paper towels and place on a board. Season generously with jerk rub, using your fingertips to work it into the ribs. Place ribs bone side down into a sealable container and refrigerate overnight, preferably, or at least 4 hours. (Note: you’re going to bake the ribs in two pans or glass baking dishes, so I cut the rack of ribs into two pieces.)
- Preheat oven to 400ºF. Place oven racks in the top and bottom thirds of the oven.
- Place ribs bone side down into foil-lined roasting pans and cover the pans with foil, sealing the edges tightly. Place one pan on the top rack and one on the bottom, then bake for 1-1/2 hours, swapping the pans’ positions halfway through.
- Meanwhile, make the jerk sauce. Combine all the ingredients in a blender or food processor and process until smooth. Transfer the mixture to a saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium and cook until the sauce has slightly thickened and darkened in color, 10 – 15 minutes.
- Also meanwhile, make the pineapple-mango salsa. Combine all the ingredients in a bowl. Make at least an hour ahead to let flavors combine. You can make it even sooner and refrigerate, but let it come to room temperature before serving.
- Finish the ribs. Remove the foil and baste ribs with the jerk sauce. Cook uncovered, basting every 5 minutes, until ribs are glazed, about 15 minutes.
- Serve ribs with pineapple-mango salsa and remaining jerk sauce.
I almost never make a jerk-style dish. Silly of me, because they’re good. And I can never resist ribs! I usually cook mine in the oven, too — easier that way. And for right now, as you suggest, winter. It’s cold here! Must be miserable in Chicago. Anyway, really nice recipe — thanks.
Oh, this sounds so good!
And not nearly as difficult as I expected jerk to be.
Thanks, Terry. I’ll have to give it a try.
I hope you have power and heat!
Thanks, guys. We are doing well. Lots and lots and lots of snow shoveling—by us, by our neighbors, them for us on occasion and us for them. Piles of shoveled snow between the sidewalk and the curb higher than our car roof. But we have heat and power and plenty of food to eat. Dani, I hope you do try this. Many ingredients, but cooking is really easy.
Reading this in early autumnal Australia I have to admit to ignorance, or perchance lack of experience. Oh we know about jerk ribs and chicken , can even buy the seasoning at my supermarkets or spice merchant . . . but for most of us it is a dish to be ordered at an American or Caribbean restaurant. Nice to have such an explicit recipe to try – which I most certainly shall if I can get the ribs our butchering also being different 🙂 ! Oh the snow: had quite a few Chicago friends send photos yesterday – am SO hoping the electricity stays on – best !!
What a nice change from our parade of winter grande-mère-ish stews and roasts. We have a goodly store of ribs in the freezer from our last run to one of our favorite farm coops, plenty of hot paprika, lots of unnamed hot peppers I grew last summer and dried, and all the salsa ingredients are readily available. So it’s a go!
No snow here – well, we had about 10 flakes last week – but major, major flooding of both the Dordogne and Vézère, so most of the alluvial fields are lakes at the moment and full of the most beautiful white herons. That, plus we’ve got the siroccos from North Africa, which mean 75kph winds that scream over us, turning the skies an eerie bright yellow and leaving Moroccan sand on our terrace. Never a dull moment here in St-Cirq. Bisous to you both!
Just want to confirm that you cook ribs for 90 minutes at 400 degrees. That sounds like you will have done and done ribs but I am not a rib-master so I don’t know.