Usually I'm not big on BBQ's but the weather has been so nice and I've been having MAD cravings for baby back ribs. YUM! I did some research and found out that you may need to dedicate good amount of time in order for great tasting baby back ribs. Today was my day off from work, so I had a considerable amount of time to spend cooking. So the trick to having the meat fall clean off the bone is to slowly cook the ribs. Some people suggest bowling the ribs and others suggest baking them. I don't own a large pot so I stuck to baking them. Since I had a lot of time to cook today, instead of marinating the ribs with store bought barbecue sauce, I made everything from scratch. I found the recipe on www.allrecipes.com (I love this site. I highly recommend you visit it the next time you want to look for a recipe). Ok. So enough babbling... Here's the recipe:
Ribs
2 lb baby back ribs
salt
ground black pepper
1 tbsp ground chili pepper (optional)
vegetable oil
1. Preheat oven to 300 degree F.
2. Cut the racks to total 4 half racks. Rub in salt and pepper, and if desired chili pepper, onto the meat. Wrap each half rack in aluminum foil (shiny down) coated lightly with vegetable oil. Bake for 2 hours.
Barbecue Sauce
Vegetable oil
1yellow onion, minced
1 1/2 cups water
6 oz tomato paste
1/2 cup white vinegar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 1/2 tablespoons honey
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
1 1/4 teaspoons liquid smoke flavoring
2 teaspoons whiskey
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (may substitute paprika instead)
1/2 tablespoon ground red chile pepper
1. While the ribs are baking in the oven, heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Sauté the onions in the oil for 5 minutes. Stir in water, tomato paste, vinegar, brown sugar, honey, and Worcestershire sauce. Season with salt, black pepper, liquid smoke, whiskey, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, and red chili pepper. Bring the mixture to boil, then reduce heat to simmer. Simmer for 1 hour, uncovered, or until sauce thickens. Remove heat and set aside.
Grilling
1. Preheat the outdoor grill for high heat.
2. Remove the ribs from the oven. Remove the racks from the foil and place on grill. Grill the ribs for 3-4 minutes on each side. Brush sauce on the ribs while grilling. Tip: Brush the sauce on a minute or two before you remove them off the grill. If you add the sauce too early, it may burn.
ENJOY!!!
