Jim Harrison’s Caribbean Stew Recipe (2024)

I would be reluctant to parboil the ribs as called for. You through a lot of flavor out with the water. I would try browning the ribs in the canola oil before the chicken and let them get tender in the braising.

On his website amazing ribs.com, which is all about barbecue, Meathead Goldwyn has the tag line: "If you boil ribs, the terrorists win." Just saying.

Hodge podge of ingredients that seem immiscible to me. (not having cooked it, of course) I know he spent a great deal of time in the MN woods, maybe, on a particular day, he didn't want to go into town and just used everything in his cupboard and called it a recipe. --Now I have cooked it and am trying to save the rest of the devoted readers of the food section some time. Not good.

Odd as it may seem, that smidgen of sugar'll likely be doing a very specific job lifting the tomato-paste's profile and pushing it forward in the overall flavour spectrum. (It's a common tweak in just about all cuisines around the Mediterranean basin with a noted yen for tomato, too...)

I've made recipes before that called for par-boiling the ribs and then discarding the water. I found that seasoning the water with some cloves and juniper berries and a couple bay leaves not only helps the ribs, but makes a great stock for split pea soup. Much better than throwing the water down the drain!

Hello, David, I have alway's parboiled ribs to remove a lot of unneeded fat and my ribs are one of our most ordered items on the menu of our bistro.
I urge you to try doing this before you refuse it... no flavor is lost as there is so much more flavor due to the ribs being able to accept the mojo or rub you might like best! I never add any oil when braising.

Extraordinary! The sauce was beautifully vinegary and well-balanced. The meat was falling off the bone. Divine! I used smoked paprika, New Mexico chile, and because we're not into super-spicy, Cholula hot sauce (because it's wonderful.) Also lime juice, as my limes are ripe right now. I'm already planning when I'll make it again!

For this dish, parboiling the ribs does not impact the flavor, but ensures the meat is tender and falling off the bones. The flavor of habanero hot sauce combines beautifully as the slow cooking allows it to meld with the juices from the meat and a rich depth builds from the tomato paste (use the whole can, no need to measure). Don't skip the sugar. I turned off the oven and left the dish in there while the rice cooked. Added salt to taste at the end. It was an absolutely a hit!

spent nearly 4 decades in the Caribbean and don't recognize this stew to have a Caribbean pedigree

The best of both worlds: To boil, or not to boil. How's about using Mark Bittman's technique in Spare Ribs Korean Style? No throwing out of water, just a little water, then boiling till the fat is out and ribs brown in their own fat! All the flavor, yet ribs are then meaty and not fatty!

This is delicious and a keeper. I added some kielbasa and used andouille, rather than Italian sausage. I sautéed the onions and garlic in double smoked bacon, and I let the finished stew rest for an hour so that the fat rose to the surface for skimming and then returned the pot to the oven for another 45 minutes. Just before serving, I sauteed some shrimp with garlic and scallions and stirred them in. I served the whole thing with rice and a green salad.

This was a delicious, hearty dish. I was hoping for more gravy so wonder if more than a cup of chicken broth might help.Also, the oil was so hot after "aggressively" browning the chicken, that by the time I got to the onions and garlic, they started to burn before they could slowly soften and brown. The next time, I will reduce the heat after the chicken and before browning the sausage.

This was one of the best stews I have ever made or eaten - cooked as written. Delicious!

Do you think I can cook this in instantpot after browning?

We made this on Sunday with a couple modifications based on what our market offered. Really loved it. Subbed out country ribs for the spareribs, so we didn't parboil them. Used a handful of allspice and 4 habaneros (bruised with the side of the knife) because we didn't have scotch bonnet pepper sauce. Also added in just a touch more Worcestershire sauce so that the umami would balance out the heat (I left the habaneros in there all day and it really heated up). We loved it!

I followed Jac’s recommendation and boiled the ribs with juniper berries, bay leaves, and cloves. But then I used that broth to make rice, which was a great taste complement to the stew.

I look forward to making this every year for an ice fishing trip. My special guys say it's the best thing they've ever eaten. I think Jim would approve.

I put the ribs in the sous vide at 145 for 1.5 hours in lieu of boiling. Worked beautifully.

We served this over mashed sweet potatoes and added a nice creamy cucumber salad to go with it…..a great meal, the four of us at the table concurred.

Have made this dish a few times over the years but never with the same success as recently. Stuck to the recipe but made double the amount. Doubled the recipe Parboiled the St Louis Ribs but kept flame on low and cooked just 15 minutes. Used half again as much tomato paste and sugar as recipe calls for. Used Horsetooth sauce made with Scotch bonnets and best pimenton I could find. Left in oven 90 min, added some Jimmy Nardello sweet peppers, cooked another 30 minutes.

Loved this recipe. I think the pork does need to be boiled to remove the fat. Even doing so, there was so much fat in my pot that after I skimmed it off (it showed after a night in the fridge) I felt there was almost no sauce and it was the sauce I really wanted. So I made the sauce again, poured it over the cooked stew and recooked both together. It came out fabulous. I served it with rice and kidney beans and more Scotch Bonnet sauce. The sauce was really essential. Will make it again.

How would you serve this? Over rice? plantains?

instead of boiling the ribs, let them spend some time in the crock pot with no added liquid. Ribs are flavorful and the liquid is a great rich pork broth once it is defatted

A quick parboil simply removes all that scummy stuff that you usually have to skim off. If you watch any Asian videos, long cooking meats are all par-boiled. The they rinse the meat and scrub the pot, before continuing the dish.

We love this. Most-recently service over spaghetti squash. The squash (with a bit of butter and shake of Borsari pepper) was a wonderful bed for serving this wonderful stew. We have made this three times since late summer quarantine and love it every time.

I followed the recipe to a "t", with one exception: I used half the amount of the Jamaican Scotch Bonnet Pepper Sauce. It was the perfect amount of spice for my family. Still hot, but not painful. This dish is one of our favorites.

Since I cook for two and couldn’t find a 1/4-slab of ribs to dissect I opted to use country-style. I browned them instead of boiling. Used half the meat but the full amount of sauce made with ancho chile powder. I decided not to add any hot sauce but to offer it at the table. Neither of us needed it; the sauce was plenty flavorful without it. I served it with jasmine rice. This recipe goes into the Repeat file. Winner!

Great stew, with parboiling. I cooked in my Instant pot. Flew off the table with rice.

Delish! I followed the posters' comments and rested the batter in the fridge over night. I also followed one poster's comment to whip the eggs and flour to break down the gluten well before adding the milk to help with the rise. They rose beautifully and tasted amazing.

The absence of Caribbean spice is sad. One would think if tying this to the islands that Worcestershire while interesting is the English not the Caribbean. With these ingredients one needs Tamarind and maybe a mango at the end. Good cooking methods yet boring spices take it up a notch. :-)