Ribs parts 1 and 2

Ribs part 1

So, day two and I’m already procrastinating. Why is Facebook so much more interesting when you know you need to type something? Anyway, the house is clean, I’ve been to the gym, and dinner is semi planned and bubbling gently on the stove. Semi planned because I know we’re having ribs, but haven’t got much further than that. Recently, I have been hankering after ribs. Sticky, porky, meat-falling-off-the-bone, BBQ ribs. I blame this on my wonderful friend Georgea who lives round the corner, but has roots in New Mexico. What this girl doesn’t know about BBQ and Chilli sauce isn’t worth knowing. Have you ever tried chipotle Tabasco sauce? Go out and get some, and on your way past the fruit and veg section, grab yourself some corn on the cob. BBQ corn on the cob, smothered in butter, Chipotle Tabasco, salt and fresh black pepper is so wonderful I wish I could run into your living room clutching a plateful right now. 

I blame Georgea because recently, since the purchase of their BBQ, we have eaten some delicious ribs. To achieve that meat-falling-off-the-bone effect I wanted to use a recipe that required some long slow cooking before the BBQ sauce covered roasting bit. I found a recipe I liked the look of on the BBC food website (thank you James Martin), altered it a bit, and got started. The ribs need to simmer gently on the stove with some onion, celery, bay leaves, peppercorns and water. I also added what was left of a bottle of sauvignon blanc from last night (Christ knows how I ended up with any left, very unlike me). After an hour and a half, they get taken out, smothered in homemade BBQ sauce, and put back in the oven for another 30 minutes (full recipe below). One thing I should point out is that a full set of ribs (plenty for two people, although I’m pretty certain Diesel would have eaten them all, plus another full rack) set me back the very modest sum of £2.40. If that isn’t a bargain I don’t know what is. Going off on a slight tangent – please bear with me -, as I write this I am listening to ‘Plastic beach’ by the Gorillaz, and it is amazing. If you haven’t listened to it already, go out and get yourself a copy. Your life is too short not to listen to this album. Especially track seven ‘Superfast Jellyfish’.

Recipe: BBQ Ribs

1 tsp of black peppercorns

3 bay leaves

2 sticks of celery (roughly chopped)

1 white onion (roughly chopped)

1 carrot (I didn’t use because I didn’t have one. I’m sure it would have been good though)

Water to cover

White wine (Not essential, but delicious)

1 rack of pork ribs

For the sauce: (I didn’t actually weigh anything. BBQ sauce is a bit of a guessing game anyway, just add and taste until you’re happy)

175g Ketchup

150g Chipotle chilli ketchup

100ml dark soy sauce

175g dark muscovado sugar

4tbsp Teriyaki sauce

(Other things you could add to BBQ sauce include: Orange juice and zest, honey, Lea and Perrins, Tabasco.......you get the picture)

In a saucepan put your roughly chopped veg, bay leaves and peppercorns, ribs, wine, and cover with water. Bring to the boil, turn down to a simmer and leave for 1 ½ hours. Heat all your BBQ sauce ingredients in a small saucepan and keep to one side. When the 1 ½ hours is up, remove the ribs onto a roasting tray and cover with BBQ sauce. Roast for about 20 – 30 minutes at about 180/gas mark 6. Serve with the leftover BBQ sauce, and plenty of kitchen paper. Don’t forget to strain and keep the cooking liquor as a base for soup, or as a stock base for risotto.

Ribs part 2

So, Ribs cooked and eaten. And even though I probably shouldn’t say this, they were AWESOME. By the time they had finished braising the meat was practically falling of the bone (so much so in fact it was a bit of an arse trying to get them out of one pan and onto the roasting tray in one piece). However, once smothered in sauce and roasted for 25 minutes they were perfect. I served them with some BBQ beans (tin of Heinz baked beans – I fucking love Heinz baked beans, don’t judge me -, some of the leftover BBQ sauce and some of the onions and celery taken from the pot I cooked the ribs in) and some leftover new potato and onions which I fried off in some butter until they were golden and crunchy.  The real revelation however was the flavour of the liquor that the ribs cooked in. In fact, it is so good; tomorrow I’m going to use it as a base for some spring minestrone. That’s two meals sorted from one rack of ribs. Cashback!