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New Year’s Rib-solution

by - edited

Hi there!

It’s hard to believe we are already 12 years into the new millennium! It seems like yesterday we were celebrating the coming of the year 2000. Remember the big Y2K scare, when computers were supposed to stop working causing infrastructure to come to a screeching halt? The doomsayers predicted that ATMs and public utilities would be impacted and suggested, among other things, that we take money out of the bank and fill our tubs with water.

I didn’t take my money out of the bank (well, not all of it, anyway), but before going out on December 31, 1999, I did fill the bathtub with water. Imagine my surprise when I got home at 3am to find that the tub had a slow leak and all the water had trickled out!

In my youth, I spent many a New Year’s Eve working. While in high school, I got a job bussing tables, and over the course of my ten years with this particular restaurant I did everything from washing dishes to managing. The hours were long and the work was hard, dirty, and, as anyone who has worked for tips can attest, often thankless. But you can do just about anything when you’re young, and have fun, too.

I have a lot of great memories of those years, like the time one of the waitresses slipped in the kitchen and fell into a five-gallon bucket of creamy Italian dressing. Or the time I bumped into one of the waitresses causing her to spill a martini down a customer’s back. I also learned a lot about cooking and got some of my best ideas for recipes from the restaurant business.

I’m going to share one of these recipes for BBQ spare ribs with you. The secret is long, slow cooking in a BBQ sauce bath. I use an 18-quart Nesco roaster oven that I got from QVC several years ago (check QVC.com for our full selection). Prior to that, I used a baking pan and cooked the ribs in the oven. Either way, you’ll have tender fall-off-the-bone results!

Best-ever BBQ Ribs

Ingredients

Rack of baby back ribs (pork or beef). The number of racks depends on how many people you’re feeding. I find that one rack feeds three people

One bottle BBQ sauce of your choice

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 250°F.

2. Add water (enough to cover the ribs) to the well of a roaster oven or a 13" x 9" baking pan. Mix in 3 tablespoons of BBQ sauce and add the ribs. If using a baking pan, cover the top with foil and poke some holes to let steam escape.

3. Cook for at least 7 hours. When done, carefully remove the foil from the baking pan (beware of steam) and let the ribs cool slightly. In the meantime, line a baking sheet with foil (non-stick is best) and set oven to broil.

4. Remove the ribs from the water and place on the baking sheet. The ribs will be very tender and keeping them in one piece can be tricky. I use two large spatulas and slide them under each end of the ribs so I am supporting as much of the rack as possible.

5. Brush the ribs with a good coating of BBQ sauce and place under the broiler. After they’ve caramelized (about 15 minutes) remove from the oven and add another coating of BBQ sauce. Place back under the broiler and let them caramelize again.

6. Remove from oven and serve with BBQ sauce on the side.

7. Yummo!

The nice part about these ribs is you don’t have to cook them on the grill, so you can prepare them any time of year. I like to serve them with yellow rice and lima beans (my son’s favorite).

Pre-glazed