Costillas de puerco fresco con setas - Fresh pork ribs with mushrooms (a Pinedo recipe)

I found some pork baby back ribs on sale, so I took advantage of the deal and tried a Pinedo recipe that had been on my radar for a while.  I love pork and especially ribs!

The recipe is on page 88, Costillas de puerco fresco con setas.  

My Translation

Fresh pork ribs with mushrooms.

            Prepare the ribs as to grill them; but these are fried in unsalted fat or olive oil. They are put to fry in a frying pan, turning them several times and seasoning them with salt and pepper on both sides.

            They are removed from the pan when they are well browned; immediately these are put to fry in the same juice that has remained in the pan: a few mushrooms cut into rounds, with onion, parsley and well-chopped basil, a glass of white wine and half of hot water.

            The ribs are placed in the same dish and covered with the sauce.

My Redaction

3 pounds pork baby back ribs, cut into pieces that fit the Dutch oven

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

less than 1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 of a large onion

8 small portabella mushrooms, cleaned

1/8 cup finely minced fresh parsley

1/8 cup finely minced fresh basil

8 ounces white wine

4 ounces hot water

Preheat over medium low a Dutch oven that is big enough to fit the ribs.  Lightly sprinkle the ribs with the salt and pepper.  You may use more or less seasoning according to the ribs and your preferences.

Drizzle the oil in the pan and let heat a little.  Add the ribs to the pan and cook them slowly, turning them "several times" as needed to cook them through.  Don't rush this.

In the meantime, chop the onion into small pieces, but not finely chopped.  Remove the stems of the mushrooms and discard.  Slice the mushrooms into rounds if possible.  

When the ribs are cooked and browned, remove them from the Dutch oven and place on the serving dish.  To the juices and fat in the pan, add the onion, mushrooms, and herbs, and the water and the wine.  

Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to simmer until the onions are transparent and the liquid is reduced.  Spoon the sauce over the ribs just before serving.

Ribs sprinkled with salt and pepper; beginning to cook.

Nearly done.

About this much of everything.  Or as you want!

What was leftover in the pan.

Beginning to sauté. 

Done!

My Notes

To "prepare the ribs as to grill them," Pinedo suggested on page 89 to remove the fat.  A person I knew whose father was butcher also recommended that you tear the membrane encasing the ribs (or sometimes on just one side) away from the meat.  The ribs I had did not need either technique.

I cut the ribs into three big chunks.  Afterwards I thought that I should have cut them into serving-sized portions, which I now recommend.

The Verdict

The ribs browned beautifully, and I checked their internal temperature before declaring them done.

I thought, while simmering the sauce, that I had added too much liquid.  I could have simmered it longer to reduce it, but I didn't, so there was more liquid than what I felt was "right."  When I spooned it over the ribs, most of the liquid rolled off the meat and onto the platter, but the important flavors stayed on top.

Ready to serve.  Note the liquid on the platter.

The dish made a lovely presentation: the steaming ribs and the sauce with its bits over the top.  I served it with steamed green beans dressed with a little butter, liquamen, balsamic vinegar, salt, and pepper; and a soft dinner roll.  And wine.  Don't forget the wine!

Served.  Yum.

My guest taster and I enjoyed the meal very much.  The ribs were tasty, and the sauce added flavors and texture that we don't normally associate with eating ribs.  Those flavors of onion, mushroom, and herbs complemented the meat quite well!

My only negative feedback is that I wanted the flavors to be stronger.  It could be that adding so much liquid diluted the flavors, and if I had reduced it more, they would have been better.  Or I could have added more herbs to really bump it up.  Perhaps use 6 ounces of wine and 3 ounces of water?

I also wanted more mushrooms.  I was tempted to put in a lot more at the beginning, but she indicated just a few.  I held back.

It wouldn't hurt to have a lot more sauce to put on the ribs.  I would have enjoyed some of the bits with each bite of meat.  

But still, I declare it a success.  We enjoyed the reheated leftovers later, without the extra liquid.  They were fine.  I still wanted more flavors, though!

How to Pickle Mushrooms

I was enjoying the book Dining with William Shakespeare by Madge Lorwin, which I wrote about in a previous post, "My Salmon is Soused..." when I came across (on page 18) a recipe called "How to Pickle Mushrooms."  

The original recipe was cited as from William Rabisha's The whole Body of Cookery Dissected.

Actually the full title of the book is The Whole Body of Cookery Dissected, Taught and Fully Manifested, Methodically, Artificially, and According to the Best Tradition of the English, French, Italian, Dutch, &c., Or, A Sympathy of All Varieties in Natural Compounds in that Mysterie, which amuses me to no end.  I think today we would use the word "artfully" instead of "artificially".  

You can download a PDF of this book consisting of scanned images at
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/service/rbc/rbc0001/2013/2013pennell28918/2013pennell28918.pdf.

Image taken from the Library of Congress Rare Books Collection

This is the 1673 edition.  The first edition arrived in 1661 and four more editions were published over the next 20 years.  You can purchase facsimile print copies, mostly of the 1682 edition.  Once I had downloaded the Library of Congress file of the 1673 version, I found the recipe on page 2 of Book I, right after "How to Pickle Cowcumbers."

Mr. Rabisha presents himself as a person who was raised right and was trained in the art of cooking. He was a master cook in England and in foreign places to ambassadors and nobles alike.  He wished to share his "small endeavors" with the public in hopes of assisting the young "Practitioners" of the art.

What I really love is the poem "In Commendation of the Author" (first stanza):

Cooks burn your Books, and vail your empty brains; 
Put off your feigned Aprons, view the strains
Of this new piece, whose Author doth display
The bravest dish, and shew the nearest way
T' inform the lowest Cook how he may dress,
And make the meanest meat the highest mess;
To please the Fancy of the daintiest Dame,
And sute her palate that she may praise the same.
Give him return of worth, (besides due wages)
And recommend his book to future ages.
Let it be know Rabisha here hath hit,
The fairest passage that hath dared it.
     But read his Book, and judge his Pains,
     His is the labour, yours the gains.

This poem goes on for two pages, describing the contents of the different parts (books) and the high quality of the recipes.

So let us take advantage of William Rabisha's labours and see what gains we get.

How to Pickle Mushrooms

Original version:

Take a bushell of Mushrooms, blanch them over the crown, barm them beneath; if they are new, they look red as a Cherry; if old, black; this being done, through them into a pan of boyling water, then take them forth and let them drain; when they are cold, put them up into your Pot or Glass, puth thereto Cloves, Mace, Ginger, Nutmeggs, whole Pepper; Then take white wine, a little Vinegar, with a little quantity of salt, so pour the Liquour into your Mushrooms, and stope them close for your use all the year.

Ms. Lorwin's "working version":

1/2 pound fresh young mushrooms, about 1 inch in diameter
2 cups water
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon peppercorns
2 cloves
1 large piece of whole mace
1 thin slice fresh ginger
1/2 nutmeg, broken up
3/4 cup white wine
1 tablespoon vinegar

Wash the mushrooms under cool running water.  Slice off the stems to within 1/2 inch of the caps.  Put the water, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and the mushrooms into a saucepan and bring to a rapid boil.  Drain the mushrooms immediately and put them into a half-pint, screw-top jar with the spices and the rest of the salt.  Pour the wine and the vinegar over them--if there is not enough liquid to cover the mushrooms, add more wine vinegar.

Cover the jar with a piece of plastic before screwing on the top--otherwise the vinegar will corrode the metal.  Turn the jar upside down several times to distribute the seasonings.  Store in a cool place (but do not refrigerate) for three or four days before using.

My Notes

I couldn't get all small mushrooms but instead halved or quartered the ones I could get.

I used cubebs instead of peppercorns because I could.  I don't have whole mace so I used 1/4 teaspoon of ground mace.  Instead of fresh ginger I used one large slice (halved) of candied ginger.  I used a dry Chardonnay and apple cider vinegar.

The spices

I called it a "rapid boil" when the water was foaming around the mushrooms.

It truly seemed like the mushrooms wouldn't fit in a half pint jar, so I cleaned and microwave-sterilized a pint jar.  This was too big and I hoped the extra air in the jar wouldn't make difference in the flavor.

It didn't seem like the amount of liquid called for was enough so I added some more cider vinegar.  It might have been too much because the mushrooms started floating above the bottom of the jar.

It filled more than half of the jar

Overall the preparation was very easy and I would be willing to do it again and in greater quantities. Assuming it tastes good!

The finished jar was labeled and placed in a storage cupboard for a few days.

The Verdict

We waited four days to taste the mushrooms.  All three of us enjoyed it.  I didn't put in too much cider vinegar after all, although I think it would still taste fine without as much.  If I do this again, I think I will just barely blanch the mushrooms -- they were cooked more than I thought they would be.

Overall, the taste was slightly sour from the vinegar, a little sweet (from the wine?  from the candied ginger?), and the spices were present and interesting but not particularly dominant.  Just right, I would say.

Success!

Ms. Lorwin notes that

Pickled mushrooms were used as "salad" appetizers both when mushrooms were in season and during the cold months to add some zest to usually heavy meals.

Sounds good to me!

I would like to close with the final few lines of the "In Commendation of the Author" poem:

Therefore brave Book, into the world be gone,
Thou vindicates thy Author; fearing none
That ever was, or is, or e're shall be,
Able to find the parallel to thee.