No Recipe RIBS
EASY, dare I say WEEKNIGHT Ribs
Sure, the way I make ribs is not going to win any barbecue contests. But I can show you how to make a DELICIOUS, fall-off-the-bone, rack of ribs with no recipe, no measuring and it all can be prepped ahead. I swear, you can serve ribs for dinner on a Tuesday. The coleslaw you’re seeing in the photos is the cilantro lime slaw from the fish taco recipe last week. All you need to decide now is which flavor direction you’re going to go with. The base of the dry rub is salt, brown sugar, spices. And then later the ribs are brushed with a store-bought BBQ sauce. Here are two flavor combinations that I love:
Asian Style Ribs:
Kosher Salt
Brown Sugar
Garlic Powder & Onion Powder
Five Spice Powder
Tradition BBQ Spice:
Kosher Salt
Brown Sugar
Garlic Powder & Onion Powder
Smoked Paprika
Pinch of cayenne pepper
Bottled Traditional BBQ Sauce
Now that you see the formula, you could experiment with the spices. For instance, when I went to make my 5 spice ribs and realized I was out of it. So here’s what I substituted: Kosher Salt, Brown Sugar, Ground (in mortar and pestle) Sichuan peppercorns, Ground (in mortar and pestle) Fennel Seeds, and a pinch of Cinnamon.
The Method:
You can buy ANY kind of pork ribs for this: baby back, St. Louis style, they all work. The ribs get rubbed with the dry rub, baked until tender, brushed with sauce and thrown on a hot grill until they are charred and crispy. Do everything except the grilling THE DAY BEFORE if you want to. That way when it’s dinner time, all you need to do is grill the ribs for 10-15 minutes.
Prep: Line a big baking sheet or roasting pan with foil (easier clean up). Lay out two sheets of foil big enough to wrap the ribs in. I like heavy duty foil here. Lay the ribs on the foil.
Dry Rub: Season the ribs with kosher salt, brown sugar and your spice blend. You don’t need to measure here. The salt & sugar should be generous. Imagine that each bite of rib should be well seasoned. Use your intuition and trust the process.
Bake: Wrap the ribs up tight and transfer to a 350° oven. You’ll bake these for about 1.5 hours. Start checking after an hour, especially if your ribs are small. Use a fork to test the meat. You’re looking for the meat to easily shred, without too much effort, but not so much that it’s completely falling apart. If it’s too tender you won't be able to transfer them to the grill without the whole thing falling apart. At this point you can let them cool and refrigerate them (still in foil!) for up to 2 days.
Grill: Heat your grill to medium high. Unwrap the ribs and drizzle or brush them with bbq sauce. Place them on the grill. Grill them, carefully flipping once or twice, until they are charred and crispy in spots. You can brush more sauce on them while they are on the grill and once they come off.
Cut them up and serve!
And there you have it - No Recipe Ribs! Please please please leave comments with questions if you have them. I want to hear from you if something is unclear or if you have comments. I posted a Reel & a Story Highlight to my instagram showing how to do this- check it out!
What I’m Loving This Week:
Random Acts of Apology: I made that phrase up just now as I’m writing this :) But seriously, last Sunday something washed over me (pretty sure it was someone upstairs) and I was completely compelled to email someone I haven't spoken to in 4 years. The last time we worked together the interaction wasn't great. They did something that made me very angry. And instead of telling them in the moment how I felt and why, I iced them out and I never hired them again. Great behavior on my part (sarcasm)!! It’s been nagging at me for YEARS. There I am minding my own business on Mother’s Day (getting a pedi alone) , and someone or something that I can not see or touch, literally MADE me write an email to this individual saying I was sorry for my bad behavior and that I was so happy for the success I’ve witnessed them having in their own career. It was both terrifying and exciting at the same time to hit “Send”. It took them 24 hours to respond, but I wasn't even scared of the response - after I hit “Send” I just let it go. Their response was short and sweet in a great way. They said they really appreciated the apology, they didn't hold it against me, and that they looked forward to running into each other. I feel just little lighter today.
Jones Road Makeup: If you follow along on Instagram, you may have seen me getting a mini-Mom-makeover by the LEGEND herself Bobbi Brown. She was kind enough to take a little time out of her busy schedule (Fun Fact: she’s a mom of 3) to meet me at her office to show me her beautiful line of clean makeup. We’re both Jersey Girls and live 2 towns away from each other. The line is everything I want: clean/non toxic, simple, cool packaging, and gives you that “no makeup” look. My favorite products so far are the Miracle Balm, The Eyebrow Pencil, and The Face Pencil.
