The Kitchen Chronicles: Spareribs

As is usually the case when I sit down with a menu and have to pick ONE thing, it was really hard to choose the inaugural Kitchen Chronicles dish for E.A.T. Do I go with my ethnic roots? Something from my travels? Or maybe something local and exotic (kangaroo kebabs, anyone)? But as food is as much about the emotional connection as it is about the actual meal itself, I decided to go with something classically American, in a nod to how much I miss 'Murica and her food, as well as to my husband's southern roots growing up in Memphis: RIBS. Dry-rub spareribs, to be precise. I'd never attempted ribs before, but four months of craving the pig in all its glory (bacon and barbecue) made me sufficiently desperate to give the latter a try (alas, nothing to be done on the bacon front, as Australian bacon is akin to ham). While I won't be trash-talking any of the real experts in Memphis any time soon, the results hit the spot, and brought me a little closer to home despite being 9,000+ miles away.

Scroll to the bottom of the page for pics :)

***UPDATE:  Shortly after posting this, my father-in-law shared that Corky's, the restaurant whose dry rub seasoning I used in this rib recipe, just added to their long-running list of awards a nod from U.S. News & World Report for having some of the best ribs in the barbecue capital of the world.  Check out the story here: http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2012/feb/29/us-news-online-travel-report-ranks-memphis-top-bar/ ***

OVEN BARBECUED SPARERIBS

(Adapted from America's Test Kitchen)

Because we don't have a charcoal grill, I used America's Test Kitchen's recipe for Oven-Barbequed Spareribs as a base recipe, playing around with the ingredients and amounts to suit my taste.  I used Corky's (our family's preferred bbq restaurant in Memphis) dry rub seasoning in place of a dry rub made from sweet paprika, chili powder, cayenne pepper, and salt.  In addition to the 4 tablespoons of dry rub noted below, I gave the marinated ribs a healthy dusting of Corky's seasoning right before they went into the oven.  I omitted the pizza stone and tea since we didn't have any on hand, but otherwise followed the cooking times, temperatures, and methods.  Members of America's Test Kitchen's website can find the recipe here: http://www.americastestkitchen.com/

INGREDIENTS

RUB

• 4  tablespoons mustard
• 6  tablespoons ketchup
• 4  medium cloves garlic, minced 
• 2 teaspoons ground black pepper
• 4  tablespoons *Corky's dry rub seasoning (for those non-Memphians who don't have easy access to Corky's, use a mix of sweet paprika, chili powder, cayenne pepper, and salt; the proportions are up to your taste, but 2 tbsp each of paprika and chili powder, 1 tbsp salt, and 1/2 tsp cayenne is a good place to start)
• 4 tablespoons brown sugar
• *Corky's dry rub seasoning (and I suspect many other commercially-packaged rubs) contains MSG, so if that's not suitable for your diet, make your own rub with the ingredients noted above.

RIBS

• 2 racks St. Louis-style spareribs, 2 1/2 to 3 pounds each, fat trimmed and silverskin membrane removed 
• 1/2 cup apple juice

INSTRUCTIONS:

• 1.  Pre-heat oven to 500 degrees.
  
  
  2.  Mix together mustard, ketchup, and garlic in a small bowl, and combine Corky's seasoning (or the paprika, chili powder, cayenne, and salt mix) and sugar in a another small bowl. 
  
  
  3. Spread the mustard mixture evenly over both sides of ribs, then coat both sides with the dry rub mixture.
  
  
  4.  Wrap ribs in plastic and refrigerate for at least 8 hours and up to 24 hours.
• 5. Transfer ribs from refrigerator to freezer for 45 minutes.  Position one oven rack to the lowest position and the second rack to the upper-middle position (make sure you're at least 5 inches below broiler).  
  
  
  6.  Place ribs meat side up on the lowest rack and cover with foil.  Crimp the edges tightly to seal and roast ribs for 30 minutes.   
  
  
  7.  After 30 minutes, reduce the oven temperature to 250 degrees, leaving the oven door open for 1 minute to cool. While oven is open, carefully open one corner of foil and pour apple juice into the bottom of the baking sheet; reseal foil. 
  
  
  8.  Continue roasting  until meat is very tender and begins to pull away from bones, about 1 - 1.5 hours.  (Check ribs after 1 hour and leave the foil loosely covered for the remainder of the cooking time.)
• 9.  Remove the foil and turn the ribs bone side up; place on the upper-middle oven rack and broil until browned and crispy, about 5-10 minutes.  
  
  
  10.  Turn the ribs meat side up and broil until browned and crispy, about 5-7 minutes. 
  
  
  11.  Cool for 10 minutes before serving. 
  
  
  

  

  
  

  

  
  

  

  
  
  
  

Welcome to E.A.T. - (The) Epicurean Adventures of Thy

Welcome to E.A.T., where I, a random and utterly ordinary home cook, share my love for all things food.  I'm often called a 'foodie', but by now I think we all know that's just a fancy word for someone who is obsessed with food: growing it (or at least trying to), making it, and best of all, EATING it.  I know I'm not alone in my obsession, so with E.A.T. I offer up hearty servings of my own food (mis?)adventures for my fellow addicts at the communal table that is the blogosphere.

E.A.T. is organized into four categories:

- The Kitchen Chronicles--see my successes and failures in the kitchen.

- Wanderlust--E.A.T. on the road!

- Word on the Street--hear about restaurants, products, ingredients and other lovely things.

- The Vault--my very favorite E.A.T. treasures.

Now that we've been properly introduced, let's E.A.T.!  :)