Pork Boneless Rib Roast

Since I now use real money(my own), instead of bank and credit card money, I hesitate to buy a 2 lb pork roast costing over $17.00. But when the grocery store manager makes it a special and cuts the price by half, I will always make room in my freezer.

I have much experience cooking pork tenderloin, but none cooking this new cut of meat. I figured that what worked for the loin might suffice for the rib, and I was right- Two nights in the refrigerator basking inside a plastic bag filled with a little salt and a bottle of commercial bitter orange marinade.

The roast came bound by red, white, and blue string that looked like a hairnet. Why the string had to be All American is a mystery- What did it signify? That this was a patriotic pig that came from a US farm? Multicolored string did not look like a good bet for the oven to me, and I replaced it with plain old brown string.

Cooks curse a roast when they put it in an oven for an hour and a half and forget it. I set my timer anew every fifteen minutes. When it went off the first time I re-basted the roast and at thirty minutes I turned it and basted the up side. And continued this for the next hour.


I basted the roast with a mixture of 2 ounces of melted "Cajun Finishing Butter" from the Publix supermarket, a tablespoon of honey, and a teaspoon of orange juice.

And at 90 minutes I had a tender pork roast that could have come straight from Little Havana.

Knowing that not everyone has a Publix to go to to buy this butter, I made a spiced butter of my own, using some of the ingredients listed on the grocery store carton. I left out preservatives,gum resin, and cilantro, and think my butter tasted as good as the original-

Miss Betsy's Basting Butter


1 stick unsalted butter,gently melted.

1 garlic clove,put through a garlic press

1/2 tsp white wine vinegar

Sprinkling of sea salt

1 chipotle pepper from a can of Chipotle in Adobo-

1 tablespoon of honey

1 teaspoon of tomato paste


Mash the chili pepper in adobo into a paste. Add it, and all the other ingredients into the melted butter and stir. Taste. Add more honey or salt, if desired. Then pour into a cup, cover with plastic wrap, and put it in the refrigerator.


When the butter has hardened( in an hour or so), take a fork and mix the butter thoroughly, as some of the pepper and garlic may have settled in the bottom. Then the butter is ready to use. One can skip this step if you are going to use it immediately for basting, as you want melted butter. Use this butter on grits sprinkled with a bit of Parmesan ,and you will have a tasty dish.


And here is what the butter looks like-

* The basting sauce can also be used as a sauce for the roasted pork when it is ready to serve. Just add in the drippings from the roasting pan and pour it over the pork and the sweet potatoes that you might be serving as a side-