Cool Plates features dishes from across the country to help inspire chefs' creativity.
Executive chef Jim Botsacos was inspired by American pork spare ribs for this lamb dish, made with flavors that are all part of the Greek pantry.
He prepares a dry rub of pepper, fenugreek, anise, mustard, cumin, coriander, granulated garlic, clove, cinnamon and salt.
He rubs trimmed lamb ribs with olive oil and then coats them with the spices. He sets them on a wire rack over a sheet pan with some water in it, to add moisture during the cooking process, and slowly cooks the ribs for 2 to 3 hours.
About halfway through the cooking he begins basting the ribs with a glaze made by reducing ouzo, brown sugar, thyme honey, which is made by bees who collect their nectar from thyme flowers, and orange juice into a syrup.
When the ribs are cooked he cools them and wraps them individually in plastic.
At service he unwraps them and grills them to order to reheat and char them a bit. He brushes them with the ouzo glaze and arranges them on a plate, garnishing them with micro-cilantro.
He sells the dish as an appetizer of four ribs for $17.
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