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When I saw the pack of country-style pork ribs in the CSA cooler last month I was a bit nervous about what I’d do with them. The smoker is covered in snow, plus Jenny isn’t into ribs anyway. I figured some kind of braise would be best, but the thought of exactly how to cook them kicked around in the back of my mind for several weeks. A search of the inter-tubes turned up something on Epicurious.com that sounded good. With one major modification it definitely was.

Heat the oven to 325.

In your favorite braising pot, bring to a boil:

• 1 3/4 cups orange juice
• 2 T grated, fresh ginger
• 1 T grated, fresh garlic
• 1/4 cup soy sauce or tamari
• 2 T sugar

I only had about 1 lb of ribs, but you could do as much as 2 lbs probably. Once the sauce is boiling, sprinkle the ribs with some black pepper and lay them into the pot. Roll them once or twice to coat. Cover the pan and put it in the oven. Cook for 2 hours.Take the pan out of the oven and carefully remove the ribs to a serving platter. Put the pan over high heat and reduce the sauce down to 3/4 of a cup. Pour the sauce over the ribs.

Notes:

• The original recipe called for 1/2 cup soy sauce plus salting the ribs before putting them in the pan. Ouch. Nearly all of the recipe comments indicated it was too salty so I skipped the extra salt and used low-sodium tamari instead. It was still pretty salty. Reducing the sauce is really going to concentrate the flavors so I think 1/4 cup is totally enough.
• The soy + ginger + garlic + sugar is basically how you make Teriyaki sauce, so conceivably you could just use OJ + 1/3 cup Teriyaki if you had a brand you really liked.

Like most enchilada recipes, this one has more steps than I typically prefer for a weeknight meal. I was, however, perfect for a pre-holiday vacation day. The recipe is slightly tweaked from the original in Didi Emmon’s Vegetarian Planet.

For the filling:

• 4-5 medium russet potatoes
• 1 medium butternut squash
• 2 T olive oil
• 1 t dried oregano
• 1 t salt
• 1/2 t pepper

Peel and slice the potato and squash into 3/4 inch cubes. Toss with the oil, oregano and salt and pepper. Roast in a 400 degree oven for about 30-40 minutes, until browning and easily pierced with a sharp knife.

For the mole sauce:

• 1 T olive oil
• 1 cup diced onion
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 handful of almonds (about 16)
• 1 can diced tomatoes, drained
• 1/2 ripe plantain, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch rounds (I used a banana instead, but plantain would be better)
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• pinch ground cloves
• 1 jalapeno, roasted & peeled (I used a chipotle packed in adobo sauce–it rocked)
• dash of salt

Saute the onion, garlic and almonds until onion is softened and translucent. Add the tomatoes, plantain and spices and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes. Remove from heat, add jalapeno and salt, and puree in a food processor or with an immersion blender.
The rest:

• 8 flour tortillas
• 8 oz Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
• 1 bunch scallions, chopped thin
• sour cream

Spread some of the roasted potato & squash mixture on each tortilla. Top with some of the cheese. Roll them up and load them into an oiled rectangular baking pan. Spread the sauce over the top. Cover with foil. Bake at 400 for 25 minutes. Uncover, sprinkle with the chopped scallions, bake for another 10 minutes.

Serve with big blobs of sour cream on top.