Sunday, November 28, 2010

McRIB

Not until I Googled McDonald's McRib sandwich, did I realize it's been available nationwide only twice before. Count us in as fans although we're people that go to McDonald's only when we're traveling and then we use it as a rest stop, buying coffee to take out in order keep ourselves honest. We do, after all, have scruples. Allow me to digress. While on a road trip, we've found that the very best and by far the cleanest restrooms are to be found in Visitors' Information Bureaus. Just a hint......but it took us years to come to that realization.

Let's go back to the sandwich. Its detractors refer to it as being made out of "mystery meat". My guess is that it's simply ground pork. The fact that it is then shaped into a mold resembling a rack of ribs seems a little overly ambitious to me, especially when it's then covered with barbecue sauce and hidden away in a bun.



Last week we snuck out of the Manor and indulged in a McRib sandwich not just once but on 2 occasions.


We discovered that lunch can't be ordered before 10:30, which is the decreed minute that breakfast is over. None of this "Breakfast served all day" for McDonald's.


Our orders were placed at 10:31 for we skipped breakfast those days and considered our McRib sandwiches as a sort of brunch.
When I told Tim what we had done, I halfway expected him to look down his nose at such lowbrow food, but his comment was, "I always eat 2 at a sitting".

So, you have 1 more week to see if you like this rare treat (rare as in "few and far between" rather than "under cooked", for it is pork, after all). You might like it; you might not, but the Humphreys are smitten with McRib sandwiches.




12 comments:

  1. I've never had one. The only time I ever head to fast food is if I'm racing from one school to another and have a long haul on the road, and I'll stop at a McDonalds--I always get the same boring thing: a small cheeseburger, a small fries and an orange juice. I will have to branch out and try one (or maybe two) of these!

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  2. I haven't had one of these in a long time. I'll have to change that.

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  3. I'm not sure if they've crossed the pond yet but I quite fancy trying them now that they have the Humphrey endorsement.
    Some years ago when I was still a Mystery Shopper, I had a contract to visit every McDs in the area once per month.
    I would do 6 a day for 3 days and was obliged to eat something in every one.
    My grandchildren used to look forward to those days as I would always take home the fries and nuggets to be re-heated in the microwave for them.
    Personally, I've never been in a McDs ever since and I had to sell the car to get rid of the smell of stale fries.
    The Dorsettler

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  4. Intrigued by your blog I visited the McDonalds UK site to find out more.
    In response to a request about UK availability, Ronald answered:-
    Thank you for your question. As you know the McRib was a promotional item and as such was only supposed to be available for a limited period. One of the reasons for the McRib not returning to the McDonald’s UK menu is because the McRib patty is made from ground pork and McDonald’s consider it important to our UK consumers to separate pork and beef on the grill. Unfortunately many of our restaurants do not have enough grill capacity to do this; therefore we are unable to make the McRib available here. (August 2009)

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  5. We discovered these during a Thanksgiving visit with Mom and Dad years ago. Dad loved them! Now, cholesterol "issues" prevent me from indulging, but I do think of McRibs fondly and associate them with happy holiday memories with my folks. Karen

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  6. Are you mad? Make your own pulled pork sandwich. This is SO much better than McFactory food. Recipe follows:

    FOR PORK
    2 cups chicken stock
    1 cup port wine
    1 onion, coarsely chopped
    2 carrots, coarsely chopped
    2 ribs celery, coarsely chopped
    1 tablespoon salt
    1/4 cup liquid crab boil (at Von's in the fish/meat dept. on a rack)
    1 pork butt roast, bone in (5 to 6 pounds)
    1 tablespoon Hot-Stuff seasoning*

    In a large pot, bring chicken stock, wine, onion, carrots, celery, salt and crab boil to a boil.

    Liberally season pork roast with Hot-Stuff seasoning* and add to boiling liquid and vegetables. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer covered for 1 1/2 hours, or until fork-tender. Reserve cooking liquid and vegetables separately to use in sauce.

    Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place roast on a rack and bake for 1 hour, or until meat pulls away easily with a fork.

    Set aside to cool for 15 to 20 minutes, then pull meat away from the bone with a fork and pull into bite-size pieces. Mix with 2 cups of the sauce before assembling sandwiches.

    Toast bread-of-choice for sandwiches (I like big, buttered sourdough slices).

    Reserve cooking juices into which you dip the sandwiches.

    PORK-BUTT SAUCE
    2 cups reserved vegetables from pork
    6 ounces reserved cooking liquid
    2 teaspoons finely chopped garlic
    2 teaspoons finely chopped ginger
    2 cups ketchup
    2 teaspoons cumin
    1/2 cup brown sugar
    2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
    6 tablespoons cider vinegar
    1 tablespoon Crystal Hot Sauce (at Von's in hot sauce dept.)
    Salt and pepper to taste

    In a blender, combine reserved vegetables, cooking liquid, garlic and ginger and process until smooth and the consistency of ketchup. Add remaining ingredients and process until thoroughly mixed. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

    Toss pulled pork with 2 cups of the sauce before assembling sandwiches.

    * HOT-STUFF SEASONING
    2 1/2 tablespoons paprika
    2 tablespoons salt
    2 tablespoons garlic powder
    1 tablespoon black pepper
    1 tablespoon onion powder
    1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
    1 tablespoon dried oregano
    1 tablespoon dried thyme

    Combine all ingredients thoroughly. Yield: 2/3 cup

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  7. Love this conversation! As a very...very long time manager of McDonald's, I always looked on with fondness and fear when Mc Ribs rolled around. Keeping the sauce stirred and hot was a HUGE task and keeping enough "ribs" in the sauce was often a mystery to my staff as they were covered and they could not see them. I must say that by the time the END was near, I was thrilled to clean the pans, eat my last one and say good bye till next year. Even after all of this years hype, i have not eaten one. Thanks for the reminder to get it before it is too late!

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  8. Susan writesNNNNNOOOOOOOOO.................once you've had one it is an addiction, Jane and Bob waiting in the parking lot waiting for lunch to be served, it has already started. I think because they are addictive that is the reason they only sell them a couple of months out of the year. I have had more than two recently. For those who really can't give them up.... Costco sells a similar version in the frozen food section, I think they come 6 to a box!

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  9. Susan writes:I know, they snuck out of the Manor..............made the story even better. I appreciate the recipe Frank.

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  10. OMG !!!!!!!!!!!!!! STOP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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