High on the Labor Day BBQ spirit, we decided to try our hand at making some yummy ribs. Our original plan was to only attempt Steamy Kitchen's recipe for "Fall off the Bone Baby Back Ribs with Sweet Chili Sauce." But Labor Day without barbeque sauce-coated ribs just didn't sound right. We settled on a second sauce recipe from Top Chef Master Tim Love. And together, the Steamy-Love ribs were born.
Fall off the Bone Baby Back Ribs with Sweet Chili Sauce
adapted from Steamy Kitchen
We started with 5 lbs of baby back ribs.
We removed the white membrane on the bottom of the ribs, thus allowing for the meat to "fall off the bone".
We rubbed the ribs with salt and pepper and threw them in the oven at 275 degrees for 4 hours.
While the ribs were cooking, we moved on to Tim Love's recipe. One thing great about both recipes is that you can simply salt and pepper the ribs and throw them in the oven at a low temperature to cook slowly. The sauces are then brushed onto the cooked ribs and either broiled for 5-10 minutes or finished on the grill. No need to marinade ahead of time.
Tim Love's Sticky Barbecue Sauce
adapted from Food and Wine
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 large celery rib, finely chopped
1 carrot, finely chopped
1 small onion, finely chopped
3 ancho chiles—stemmed, seeded and cut into small pieces
2 cups chicken stock or low-sodium broth
1 cup ketchup
1/4 cup distilled white vinegar
1/4 cup molasses
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon dry mustard
Directions:
In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil until shimmering. Add the celery, carrot and onion and cook over moderate heat, stirring, until lightly browned, about 10 minutes.
Add the anchos and cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add the stock, ketchup, vinegar, molasses, sugar and dry mustard and simmer over moderate heat until the barbecue sauce is reduced to about 3 cups, about 30 minutes.
Transfer the mixture to a blender and puree until smooth.
Return the sauce to the saucepan and simmer until thickened and reduced to 2 3/4 cups, about 5 minutes longer.
We basted the cooked ribs with the two sauces. Steamy Kitchen's recipe calls for bottled Thai sweet chili sauce that is poured onto the rib and broiled for 5 minutes.
We then threw the ribs in the broiler for 5-10 minutes.
Ta-da! Delicious and easy ribs! We were pleasantly surprised how good everything tasted. This was definitely a "set it and forget it" type of recipe that lends well to backyard BBQs and all the upcoming housewarming parties we will be having. Of course, Steamy Kitchen's 2-ingredient recipe is the easiest to make and follow. Tim Love's sauce, although time consuming to make, was well worth all the effort as the flavors were very rich and complex. It was delicious and the best BBQ sauce we've made to date! Since we opted to finish the ribs in the oven rather than on the grill, we added some liquid smoke to the sauce to mimic the smoky charcoal goodness.
One thing we would change next time would be to pre-cut the ribs into individual servings before cooking. We had 4 slabs of ribs, with one tray baking on the top rack and one on the second rack of the oven. We noticed a big difference between the tenderness of the meat. The top rack meat was so tender, it literally fell off the bone - which in our opinion was TOO tender. The bottom rack meat was perfect and the ribs held together nicely when cut with the knife. So next time, we will either cut back on the cooking time to about 3 hours or rotate the trays midway through cooking to allow for an even tenderness.
Overall, both recipes were fantastic and easy - definite keepers!
