ITEMS
Tomatillos
Napa Cabbage
Carrots
Spring Mix
Lemon Drop Pears
Pork Spare Ribs
PRODUCERS
Harlequin Produce - Arlee (WMGC)
Gallatin Valley Botanical - Bozeman
Chance Farm - Four Corners
Root to Rise Gardens - Wilsall
Moss Farm - Rollins (WMGC)
Amaltheia Organic Dairy - Belgrade
(WMGC = Western Montana Growers Cooperative)
Featured Recipes
Napa cabbage is a tender, leafy Asian cabbage variety. It's great in slaws and salads, or
tossed in your favorite noodle or rice dish (think stir-fry, lo mein, ramen, curries, etc). It's also the base ingredient for kimchi. If you're curious but don't feel like experimenting with
fermentation, there are "quick kimchi" recipes out there, too!
Napa Cabbage Slaw Base:
1 head napa cabbage: Remove any tough or damaged outer leaves. Cut the cabbage head in half lengthwise and remove the core. Slice crosswise into thin shreds.
2-3 carrots: shred carrots on a box grater, in your food processor, or use a vegetable peeler to peel them into thin strips.
1/2 an onion: Any color or flavor will do. 3-4 green onions work, too. Slice as thin as possible.
Dressings:
Option 1: Stir together 2 Tbs rice wine vinegar, pinch of salt, couple grinds of black pepper. Whisk in 3 Tbs olive oil. Taste and adjust to your liking. Pour over the slaw base, toss together, taste again and adjust seasoning. (Alice Waters, The Art of Simple Food II)
Option 2: In a jar or small bowl add: 3 Tbs peanut butter, 3 Tbs rice wine vinegar, 1 Tbs soy
sauce or tamari, 1 Tbs sesame oil, 1 Tbs olive oil, 2 Tbs fresh lime or lemon juice. Shake well or whisk thoroughly to combine. Pour over slaw base, toss, and taste for seasoning. (The Kitchn)
Other Additions:
Chopped cilantro or parsley, sliced jalapeno or other hot pepper, chopped peanuts, sesame seeds, radishes, cucumbers, or apple, sliced thin.
Spare Ribs
I find smoking, grilling, or baking ribs daunting because if it goes wrong, the meat ends up tough and it feels like I wasted my time and my ribs! If you are bolder than I, or have a tried-and-true method, by all means make some BBQ ribs! Braising, on the other hand, is a pretty safe and delicious method for tender ribs. If these Chinese-style salty, sweet, sticky ribs don't appeal to you, try a salsa verde style braise with the tomatillos, or a red wine braise, or, or, or...
Chinese Braised Spare Ribs
What you'll need:
1 package spare ribs (~2 lbs)
1 tablespoon dry sherry - sub any dry wine or cooking wine
3 tablespoons brown sugar
3 tablespoons cider vinegar
4 tablespoons soy sauce or tamari
5 tablespoons water
Notes:
Most versions of this recipe suggest chopping the ribs into smaller chunks. But unless you have a meat cleaver and are comfortable hacking these up, it's not very practical. Just cut the ribs lengthwise to separate them and don't worry about chopping them into smaller pieces. They'll be harder to stir in the pan, but that's about the only difference.
If you have more than 2 lbs of ribs or just want more sauce, double the sauce ingredients. You can also play around with the sugar and soy sauce amounts. As long as there's between 2-4 Tbs of each for 1.5-2 lbs of meat, you'll be in the right ballpark flavorwise.
Use a large skillet or saucepan with a lid, or a braising pan. Put the ribs in the pan and heat over high heat. Add all ingredients straight to the pan and stir to mix. Once the liquid starts boiling, turn heat down to a simmer and cover with the lid. Simmer for 40 minutes, turning the ribs and stirring occasionally. After 40 minutes, remove the lid and turn the heat up to bring liquid to a strong boil. Stir the sauce continually until it reduces to your liking. The more it reduces, the more it will coat the ribs with sticky goodness, but the less sauce there will be leftover. Serve with rice, stir-fried veggies, coleslaw, cucumber salad, etc.