Fat and Happy

We revisited ribs for Sunday dinner tonight. I followed this recipe from Smitten Kitchen: Sweet and Smokey Oven Spareribs with a few modifications. I had a good amount of dry rub leftover from the last time I made ribs so I used up the rest of that on this batch. The modifications I made to her recipe were to use 1/2 chili powder and 1/2 paprika (because I ran out of chili powder, but it was good so I plan to keep doing it that way) and to add 2 tsp ground mustard. I skipped the 2 tsp smoked Spanish paprika since I'd already added it in place of some of the chili powder, and I didn't use the cider vinegar the way she suggests. My slab of ribs was also only about 3.5-4lbs, the recipe calls for 5 lbs.

A few hours prior to grilling I cleaned and trimmed the ribs and soaked them in a mixture of cider vinegar, salt, white wine, and water. I just eyeballed it, but there was probably 1/3-1/2 cup of salt, at least 1 cup of vinegar, and half a bottle of wine. I put it all in my roasting pan (it's the only one I had that was long enough to submerge the whole slab of ribs) and then filled it with enough water to cover the ribs. Let that sit for a few hours until it was almost grilling time. I followed her directions for applying the dry rub and wrapping it in foil pretty closely, then instead of using the oven I placed it on my grill for about 45 minutes on the lowest heat I could get (gas grill, I'm a weenie when it comes to charcoal), and then removed the foil and cooked it for another 30 or so on a higher heat setting to crisp the outside a little bit, using some watered down bbq sauce and the juices from the foil packet to baste.

This time I tried a technique for smoking meat on a gas grill by wrapping soaked wood chips in foil and leaving vents so the smoke escapes and gets to the meat. I didn't notice a distinct smoky flavor even though I could smell it. I tried leaving the rib foil packet open more so the smoke got to it but I'm not sure it was really all that effective. Next time I may have to try skipping the foil and see how it turns out. Leaving the foil open also eliminated all the basting juices.

They still turned out delicious. I think it's just one of those things where I need to play around with the recipe until I find my favorite method. And I'm a rib noob so I've got a lot of tries to go yet

They'd been on the heat for awhile when I remembered to go out and take a picture. One of these days I might remember to photograph the whole process.

They were accompanied by asparagus with hollandaise, potato salad, and some amazing baked beans that my pal The Ranter gave me the recipe for. I remembered to take a picture a couple bites in.

Aside from my cooking adventures we've had a ridiculously busy couple of weeks, and the rest of the month doesn't appear to be slowing down. Genevieve spent most of today laying on the sofa not feeling well, so I really hope it stays contained to her. With everything going on I can't really afford to have a mini epidemic in my house right now. She's feeling better now, though, so that's a plus.

I'm planning to get another family oriented less foody post in later this week. Wish me luck.