Roasted Chipotle and Pineapple braised bbq country ribs and black beans

Deciding that I wanted to finally used the two pounds of country ribs my mom gave me a while ago, I was uncertain as to the best way to prepare them. Michelle doesn't dig on ribs, so grilling them was out (even though country style have no bones), but I thought to myself, "Self, why not take the easy way out and braise those suckers in the crock pot all day?"

Being the lazy man that I tend to be, I rummaged through the pantry to check out what we had for braising. It was either going to be teriyaki or Frontera Roasted Chipotle and Pineapple Barbecue & Grill Sauce. Figuring that the teriyaki wasn't exactly what I had in mind, I took the leap and went with the unknown commodity.

Step 1: 7:00 am

Pull ribs out of fridge

Step 2: 7:01 am

Drizzle olive oil into bottom of crock pot and place ribs.

Step 3a: 7:02 am

Open bottle of Frontera Roasted Chipotle and Pineapple Barbecue & Grill Sauce.

Step3b: 7:02 am

Dump contents over ribs and stir with tongs to ensure full coating.

Step 4: 7:03 am

Set crock pot to low and go to work.

Step 5: 7:03 am - 5:30 pm

Drive to work. Have ridiculous traffic on 35W to 280. Traffic opens up on 280 and is clear sailing to downtown St. Paul.

Work all day.

Drive home from work. Have ridiculous traffic on 35E from downtown St. Paul to Larpenteur. Clear sailing to 36, open on 36 then crap from 35W home.

Step 6: 5:32 pm

Feed Henry. Take Henry outside to do his bidness. Check on dinner. Looks outstanding.

Step 7: 5:48 pm

Realize that I forgot to hit the bank for Michelle and we have nothing to drink other than water and beer, and I can't have the booze for another few weeks. Head to bank and Target.

Step 8: 6:11 pm

Open crock pot and begin pulling the ribs. The beef is so tender it's just falling apart. Things are looking good for tonight! Time to let the pulled beef simmer and absorb all the juices.

Step 9: 6:31 pm

Open can of black beans, add some garlic hot sauce and simmer. Give pulled beef a last stir and prepare the plates.

Step 10: 6:40 pm

Enjoy!

This was fantastic, and ridiculously simple. I hadn't used my crock pot in quite a while, and had forgotten how nice it is to be able to set something up in the morning and have virtually no work required when I get home. The flavor of the beef in the sauce was very nice. A little bit of kick in the Frontera Roasted Chipotle and Pineapple Barbecue & Grill Sauce, but the sweet of the pineapple seemed to be lacking.

I would definitely do this again, and would like to try a few different sauces and cuts of meat, but it worked really well on the country style ribs.