While brisket & ribs were on sale I decide to try to stock some meals in the freezer. I have never eaten ribs! It is probably because of the way I have seen them cooked. I do not like the appearance of meat, so I have a difficult time with eating it if it is fatty or does not look appealing. My oldest daughter feel in love with Chili's ribs back in November and has been begging for them since. We have gone back, but the cheapskate in me can't seem to get why "bones" are so expensive! Let me remind you once again that I had never eaten them.
So, being cheap I decided that I should try to cook them at home. It has taken me this long to actually risk it. Why? Because I had this vision of me doing all this work and no one liking it. I thought I would try a similar recipe for Chili's Ribs, but I soon realized I was missing a couple ingredients. Rather than make a store run I pulled out some bottled BBQ sauce. I coated the ribs (pork ribs) with sauce in a pan and covered it with foil. I baked this for approximately 3 hours on 300 degrees until TENDER!! Then, I fired up the gas grill and let it heat to about 300 degrees. While still in the pan, I basted the ribs with their juice. After that I placed them on the grill and slathered them down with BBQ sauce. Then, I TURNED OFF THE GRILL. and let them continue coooking in the heat of the grill without risk if burning. After 10-15 minutes I flipped them, then slathered sauce on that side. I fired up the grill and let the temperature rise, again. I let them sit in the heat for another 10-15 minutes and placed them on a platter.
Let me just say that now I know why people eat them!! They were yummy and I was able to get 3 huge meals out of two racks of ribs. I could hve probably made it four meals, but I am not sure how much my crew will eat, yet. Now I just have to get that brisket trimmed and in the oven tonight (Cook unseasoned 7-8 hours @ 250 degrees). That will make 4 meals. So, the grand total is 7 meals and all for under $30. That is almost $5 a meal, but the point is to avoid eating out. I can cook cheaper meals, but these meals are considered savings over the cost of eating out and are for those days when we need a quick meal.
This is just about exactly how we make ribs! My husband does the grilling around here and he coats the ribs in Alton Brown's rub first and lets it sit for an hour or two before baking them. We're experimenting with baking them in the crockpot instead of the oven this summer to keep the house temp. down (and electric bill). I was planning on posting our results if we ever were successful. (He tried once and didn't cook them long enough. They were good, but not as fall off the bone as in the oven.) My dad says this is cheating, but who cares if it makes delicious ribs!
ReplyDeleteWe're all anticipating our last rib meal of the season this year... with homegrown ribs ;D