Spareribs - Ribs 101 - Christmas '09 follow up

Is it the return of RIBS 101??? And what on earth does a plate of ribs have to do with that long series of posts from the Christmas Eve dinner???

All will be detailed...

Well, first, let's get the Christmas '09 thing out of the way. I did not make these for Christmas. But, it took almost a full week to eat all the leftovers we had from Christmas. I worked very hard on that meal, 12 menu items, made over 12 hours, all having to do with restaurant recreations. Drinks, appetizers, salads, main courses and much more, and everything worked VERY well! If you've forgotten already, click HERE and read over the dozen posts and recipes. But, even though it was not made within a week of Christmas, this does have a connection...

After our very romantic day long meal, and after a week of leftovers, I asked Jackie what she wanted me to make next time I cooked something new. Her answer, "RIBS"! What a woman! If that isn't the most romantic four letter word, I don't know what is.

Just last month, I did a very detailed look at how to make a great rack of spareribs IN THE OVEN, instead of in a smoker (as I would normally do it). You can check the extensive details of how to do that by clicking HERE. I am not going to redo that tutorial, just reinforce a few of the items covered...

When I buy spareribs, I get them 2 to a cryovac package. So, I always make 2 different combinations of a wet and dry rub. For these two, I made a Cajun Barbecue/mustard rub combination, and a Peanut sauce/Chinese 5 spice combination. All are commercially available items, except I had a bag of black/white/sea salt (equal parts) sesame seed rub that I added to the peanut sauce.

What to do with those rubs is very extensively covered in my original spareribs post... Ribs 101 - Class, we are making SPARERIBS !!!.

The only thing I really want to reinforce is the need to remove that tough nasty skin or membrane that is on ribs. When cooked, this membrane gets tough, chewy and just nasty. It takes a little effort, and is covered in the tutorial, but it really does need to get removed. There is a wonderful step by step photo post for removing the skin already on the net. Click HERE for that lesson.

Here's a picture inside my oven. If you double click the image, the magic of the Internet will make the photo bigger. You will see two racks of ribs, curled and held together with wooden skewers, as well as the two slabs of "flap meat" that I will be using in Ribs 101 leftover posts shortly. The whys and hows of this setup have already been covered in Ribs 101 - Class, we are making SPARERIBS !!!.

Low and Slow.... 225 degree oven for 6 hours. At the 5 hour point, I added a bit of BBQ sauce, and another layer of peanut sauce to the 2 racks.

And here's your first use of leftovers posting that RIBS 101 has become famous for. Take the drippings from all 4 dishes. Deglaze these pans with a little wine. Move all the drippings to a sauce pan. Add a cup of milk and stir over medium simmering heat. Keep stirring til you get a gravy thickness that you like. If you prefer, you can speed the process up by adding 1/4 teaspoon of corn starch.

I worked hard on getting that romantic dinner together for my wife... But really ladies, guys will be nodding their heads in agreement, Ribs, taters and gravy ...

When a woman asks you to make her RIBS...

Now, That's ROMANCE!