Howdy folks! Apologize for my long absence. We of course had that nasty “COVID” thing, and then I had a series of jobs, etc. I find myself at the end of summer with no gig, and a whole helluva lot of time on my hands. So, back to the grind, er BLOG I go. Miss me??

Today I thought I’d share with you my fool proof, go-to Ribs recipe courtesy of someone from a lifetime ago. I always thought there were only 2 ways to do ribs – boil first on the stove (a la my moms way) and then baked with a lot of Open Pit on them. Which always led to overly chewy ribs with burnt spots (sorry mom). Or, grill directly on a charcoal or gas grill for a while, slathering them in (your BBQ sauce here) sauce and winding up with, again, chewy either UNDER-done or OVER-done ribs. Yuck to both.

Fear not, dear reader, I have TWO, count ‘em, TWO recipes for picture perfect ribs. The first is the standard “3-2-1” method, cooked in a smoker or on indirect heat on either a gas or charcoal grill. The object here is to prep the ribs as described below, and then smoke/cook for 3 hours at 275. After the 3 hours, you’ll remove the ribs, wrap them in foil and add your liquid of choice (beer, apple cider vinegar, whatever) and seal tight. Put those back on the grill/in the smoker for 2 more hours. For the final hour, remove the ribs, slather in sauce and place back on the grill/in the smoker for about an hour more, or until they are done to your liking. This is a pretty much fool proof way to go, but if you’re like me and don’t have 6 hours to tend to the ribs, the second way is more hand’s off and yields just as good if not better of a product.

For the second, easier method, we are going to sort of braise our ribs first in the oven with liquid and aromatics to get that fall of the bone, tender meat. Once that’s been accomplished, we simply finish the ribs on a grill with your favorite sauce. And since I no longer think of O—- P— as a real BBQ sauce, I will also share my go-to Carolina sauce. 5 ingredients, 30 minutes. Delish!

So, without further ado let’s jump into this.

For the Ribs

• *1.5lbs of Spare Ribs, Baby back, or whatever you want
• 1 apple, quartered
• 2 stalks of celery
• 1-2 onions, quartered
• 1 cup apple cider vinegar OR beer plus 1 cup water
• 1 tsp Liquid Smoke
• Your favorite Rib Rub (I recommend a smokey sweet blend)

For the Carolina Gold Sauce

• 1/2 Onion, grated
• 4 TBSP Butter
• 1/2 Cup Yellow Mustard
• 1/2 Cup Apple Cider Vinegar
• 1/2 Cup Packed Brown Sugar
• 1-2 bayleaves
• OPTIONAL: 1 tsp Dry Mustard
• OPTIONAL: 1/8 tsp Cayenne, to taste
• Salt and Pepper

Prepping the Ribs:

Take your ribs out of the packaging and flip over to the bone side. Take a sharp paring knife and slit the back of the ribs, peeling back the silver skin. It will be a bit slippery and hard to remove, so have a few papertowels handy to help your grip.

Once the silver skin has been removed, Cut your ribs into manageable pieces. Remember, the ribs are going to have to fit into a baking dish in the oven. Coat both sides of the ribs with the rub and set aside

Place the apple, onions, celery, apple cider vinegar or beer and water into a large baking pan. Add a few dashes of the liquid smoke and place the ribs on top of everything, doing your best not to submerge the ribs in the liquid. Cover tightly with foll and place in a preheated 275 degree oven for approximatley 3 hours. Remember, you are braising and need to go low and slow.

After 3 hours, remove the baking pan out of the oven and let cool for at least 1/2 hour before you remove the foil. Be careful!! That steam is going to be hot!!

Meanwhile, while the ribs are doing their thing in the oven, we can make the sauce.

Carolina Gold Sauce:

Take your 1/2 onion and grate on a box grater. Try to reserve that onion juice!

In a pan, melt the butter and add the onions, stirring until the onions get soft, NOT brown. About 5-7 minutes. Add the sugar, the mustard, the apple cider vinegar and the bay leaf. Stir to combine and let simmer on the stove for approximately 30 minutes, stirring every once in a while and making sure the mixture is not boiling.

During the last 10 or so minutes, add the dried mustard, the cayenne (if using both), and stir. Taste to see if the mixture needs salt and pepper and add accordingly.

Continue. to simmer the sauce until it thickens and the flavors blend. You can go as long as 90 minutes, if you’re so inclined, or stop at 30 minutes.

Have a bottle or jar ready and strain the sauce through a fine mesh strainer to remove all of the onion and other ingredients. Let sit until it comes to room temperature. and either use immediately, or refrigerate. The sauce will keep about a week in the fridge. If you don’t eat it all first!

Once the sauce and the ribs are prepped, we go to the final, finishing step. Set your outdoor grill, gas or charcoal, as close to 375-400 as you can. Place the ribs bone side down and cook for about 15 minutes. Flip the ribs, and slather sauce on the bone side. Cook for another 15 minutes, turning the ribs over again and slathering the “meat” side with the sauce. Cook for 15 minutes more. I usually do the sauce, cook, flip, etc about 2-3 times, giving the ribs a nice carmelized sauce layer and giving the ribs a little a little extra char.

When you are satisfied with the color, temp and sauce level, remove the ribs to a serving platter. Give yourselves about 10 minutes to let the ribs cool below scalding before you dig in. I hope you enjoy this recipe! Give me a shout if you try it and like it!

*you can use as many pounds of ribs you’d like.

Buon Appetito!