I want my baby back baby back, baby back ribs

Our anniversary was last night. Six years. It’s been fun thus far, trust me. We decided to stay around the house this year, so with that in mind, of course my first question was, ‘What would you like me to make for dinner?’. The response was, how about some appetizers and some wine? That was a remarkable idea, however nothing was coming up to mind that would allow a variety of appetizers without spending a lot of time in the kitchen.

My solution started by baby back ribs, egg rolls (as we wrapped plenty), stuffed mushrooms, homemade french fries, and a cucumber and tomato salad with olive oil. My main focus in this post however is the ribs.

I started by using my rub to generously season both sides. Once the season is in place, get your hands the ribs and really rub the seasoning into the meat. I then place ribs in a ziplock bag and used about 3 tablespoons of sherry cooking wine added to the bag. I rubbed everything in together, sealed the bag, put it in the fridge, and forgot about it for a while. Actually, every time I opened the fridge I took a peak, and my mouth began to water.

I planned on putting these on the grill a bit later, however in the meantime, I preheated the oven to 325 degrees, and placed the ribs on a pan, foil on the bottom, and covered with foil. These cooked in the oven for 1 hour. I took them out, and let sit until I was ready for the grill, approximately a hour later. The ribs were still warm when the foil was uncovered.

The grill was set to around 350. I placed the ribs on the grill and seared them on both sides. I then lowered the heat and let the sugars from the rub and the ribs begin to caramelize. I love this process. You can almost begin to visualize the meat falling off the ribs. I continued to flip these every fifteen minutes or so for approximately 45 – 60 minutes.

Upon completion, I decided to add some Sweet Baby Ray’s barbecue sauce. This stuff was phenomenal. It was a perfect blend of sweet and spice. I like to add my sauce towards the end, still on low heat. I coated the ribs throughout the cooking process around 3 times, then removed them off the grill, served with egg roll, salad, and fresh fries.

In the words of my lovely wife of six years “these are the best ribs I have ever had”. We did not say a whole over dinner, there were lots of ‘ummmmms, ahhhhhs’ which to me always means that the food is really good.

Everyone has their recipe for good ribs, but my philosophy is this:

• Use a rub and let it set in for hours
• Slow cook ahead of time before searing and slow cooking on the grill
• Choose the right sauce