alton brown's ribs - not BBQ, but lookin' good!

 

and here we go....

 

as per the recipe above, here are the goods (not pictured are the ribs themselves):

 

 

a couple of notes here: i did not have kosher salt and none was available at our local grocery, so i ended up using sea salt with no ill effects that i could detect. also, due to the strong aversion that the beautiful mrs. tas has to capsaicin, i simply doubled the old bay and chili powder in place of the cayenne and jalapeño powder. finally, since i had no brown sugar on hand, i used turbinado (raw) sugar.

 

first, i put together the rub, doubling the measurements. since i was using components that had such a diversity of size and textures, i decided to try mixing the rub in the food processor:

 

 

on the base of the sugar and salt, we see here most of the other ingredients for the rub:

 

 

even after several minutes in the food processor, i didn't get the uniformity that i was looking for; however, i did note with pleasure that the smaller, finer components of the rub worked into the larger portions (such as the cugar crystals) pretty well. perhaps a blender would have worked a little better, but this was going to be ok, i decided.

 

after transferring some of the rub to a shaker:

 

 

i liberally applied it to the ribs:

 

 

the ribs were purchased that morning on the spur of the moment when mrs. tas and i went shopping at our local grocery. they were trimmed very well and even though the label (and price) said "spare ribs," i had to do several double-takes as they looked quite a bit like baby backs to me:

 

 

since the cooking method for these ribs is to braise them for the entire time, i elected not to brush on a thin coat of mustard, which is my usual practice when doing dry ribs.

 

once both racks were well-coated with rub and wrapped up tightly in foil, i put them in the fridge for a couple of hours to soak up the goodness and begin their transformation into supper. the components for the braising liquid/sauce were very simple:

 

 

rear left-to-right: worcestershire sauce, white wine vinegar and honey with white wine and 2 cloves of chopped garlic in the foreground.

 

 

 

and then, since i had chunks of garlic floating, sinking and everywhere else, i decided to give the mixture a whirl with the wand blender to make sure that distribution was equal for both racks of ribs:

 

 

when i took the foil-wrapped ribs out of the fridge and prepared to open up an end to put in the braising liquid, i realized that i had neglected to get heavy-duty foil. it tore in several places and was punctured in others when i tried to unwrap and re-wrap, so on the spot i simply decided to lay the racks in the bottom of our large roasting pan:

 

 

and cover both racks together with a tight canopy of foil:

 

 

this seemed like it would probably do the trick, but for extra insurance, i also lowered a flat cookie sheet upside-down on top of the foil, then covered the roasting pan as well - then it was into the oven at 250 degrees.

 

because these were spare ribs and therefore had a little more fat and collagen etc. on them, i cooked for about three and a half hours rather than two and a half. during that time, the smells filling the house were incredible, and it seemed i could pick out nearly every ingredient in the rub and braising liquid.

 

when the time came to remove them from the oven, i finally got a peek at what i had created:

 

 

these of course were more brown and much more moist than what i am used to, but they sure looked and smelled great! i set them on a rack to rest:

 

 

while i begain the process of reducing all of the pan juices from this:

 

 

down to a thick, rich, saucy concoction:

 

 

which i then brushed onto the ribs:

 

 

this rich sauce, when brushed on, became a very effective glaze when placed under the broiler at 450 degrees for a few minutes. departing with the recipe a little, i brushed on a second layer:

 

 

and broiled at 500 for a few more minutes. the result was just about right:

 

 

i let them rest for just a few minutes more while we got plates, silverware etc., then cut into two-rib portions and served them out with home-made potato salad.

 

i was impressed with this first attempt at the recipe, and i think the execution went very well, all things considered. the ribs were done very well and were of course tender due to the braising, yet not mushy or fall-apart soft. there was some tug down near the bone, and i actually think i could have cooked them a while longer, but no worries.

 

as usual, there was a neighbour kid on hand to try these ribs as well, so i was able to get a sort of unbiased (pro or con) view of the results. everyone who tried them liked them, including mrs. tas who said that the flavours worked very well together. i have to agree, but....

 

i just KNOW that these same ingredients and these same ribs would have been even BETTER if cooked over the slow smoke provided by my SnP!

 

in conclusion, while i think the ingredients and flavours are spot on, and the method is very good for those who are looking for oven-braised ribs, i would really like to try these over  charcoal and hickory in order to see what would happen when using a dry-cooking method. the braising liquid, with a little olive oil added, would make a good mop/glaze that would be a crowning touch, i think.

 

i definitely encourage anyone to try this using either method, and would love to hear about some results.