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BABY BACK RIBS - TIPS?
So, I decided I was finally going to try and make homemade baby back ribs - not a typical food to have here in Portugal - I have only had it in a couple of restaurants before but always wondered how they made the meat so tender and succulent.
I looked at a few recipes then came up with my own version. All I can say is it came out AMAZING, and was actually pretty easy. I didn't know what I was missing out on.
I'd love it if anyone has any recipes of their own for this they'd like to share? Any ideas for further improvement are welcome!
So here is mine:
STICKY BARBECUE BABY BACK RIBS
1 rack of pork baby back ribs cut in half (enough for 2 people – about 6/7 cutlets perperson)
Braising Liquid:
1,5 litres water (or half/half water and dry white wine)
Spice Rub:
1 tbsp Dry/Fresh Rosemary
2 tsp Oregano
2 tsp Dry/Fresh Garlic (2 cloves)
1 tsp Bay leaf (2 leaves)
1 tsp Cajun Seasoning Mix
1 tsp Mexican Chilli powder
salt and pepper to taste
2 tsp Cumin
2 tsp Paprika
1 tsp Sweet Red Pepper powder
1 tbsp Brown Sugar
Barbecue Sauce:
1 cup tomato ketchup/ sauce
¼ cup brown sugar
¼ cup mustard (smooth)
1 tbsp vinegar
1 medium onion finely minced
1 garlic clove, finely minced
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp honey
salt and pepper to taste
The day before you plan to serve this, or on the morning of that day (if this is for dinner), prepare the Spice Rub. Place all the ingredients in a blender to turn it into a fine powder.
Place the baby back ribs in a tray or large Tupperware and rub the spice rub all over in every nook and cranny, massaging it in well. Place in the fridge overnight or until the evening.
2 hours before you want to serve dinner, take the ribs out of the fridge. In a large frying pan of medium depth, that has a lid, put one tablespoon of vegetable oil on high heat. When it’s hot, put the ribs in to brown, on all sides. When the meat is sufficiently browned, put the braising liquid in and cover the frying pan with the lid. The liquid should almost cover the meat. Lower the heat to medium so the water simmers. Leave to cook for 1 hour, turning twice.
Just after covering the pan with the meat, start making the barbecue sauce. Put all the ingredients in a pan and put on a low/medium heat. Leave to simmer and blend for 1 hour (give it a stir here and there).
When the meat has cooked for an hour, turn the heat off and put the meat in an oven tray. Leave to rest while the sauce finishes cooking.
When the sauce is ready, baste the meat with the sauce all over, and place in the oven at 180ºC. This will take another hour. Every 10 mins, take the meat out and baste again. Also turn the meat twice during this process to brown equally on all sides.
When an hour has passed, take the meat out of the oven. Baste the meat one last time and serve.
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Whether we write or speak or do but look
We are ever unapparent. What we are
Cannot be transfused into word or book.
Our soul from us is infinitely far.
However much we give our thoughts the will
To be our soul and gesture it abroad,
Our hearts are incommunicable still.
In what we show ourselves we are ignored.
The abyss from soul to soul cannot be bridged
By any skill of thought or trick of seeming.
Unto our very selves we are abridged
When we would utter to our thought our being.
We are our dreams of ourselves, souls by gleams,
And each to each other dreams of others' dreams.
Fernando Pessoa, 1918
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