Ribs!

Delicious, delicious ribs! (Source)

On Memorial day weekend, Justin found himself in high demand. As it turns out, everyone in my family wanted ribs – Justin's ribs – BUT Justin and I were going to be out of town! What would they do?!?!

Well, mostly it involved long rib-conversations on the phone. "You do X, Y, and Z, and then pray you got it right" I'm pretty sure is what he told them.

Did they get it right? Who knows?

Anyway, today I have a treat for you! I'm going to share exactly how Justin makes ribs, so that none of those long phone calls will ever need to happen again. And best of all, you'll be able to have them for breakfast, lunch, dinner, on weekends, week nights, and holidays! (I can see your excitement!)

So let's get started!

Ingredients:
• 3 Racks of St. Louis style ribs
• 2 tsp. Whole Black Peppercorns
• 2 tsp. Whole Allspice Berries
• 1 tsp. Whole Cumin Seeds
• 1 tsp. Paprika
• 1/2 tsp. Garlic Powder
• 1/2 tsp. Onion Powder
• 1/2 tsp. Cayenne Pepper
• 3/4 cup Brown Sugar
• 3/4 cup Salt
• 3 Bottles of Hickory Liquid Smoke 

Special Tools:
• 2 Half Sheet Pans
• Heavy, Wide Foil (like Food Service Grade or Kirkland)
• Spice Grinder
• Wire Cooling Racks
* Cast Iron Pan (optional) 

Recipe:
The day before – 
1. Grind all of the whole spices (peppercorn, allspice, cumin) in the spice grinder. For extra credit, you can roast the spices first in a cast iron pan; just heat them until you begin to smell the goodness.
2. Mix the ground spices with the rest of the rub ingredients (paprika, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, brown sugar, salt, and onion powder).
3. Line the half sheet pan with paper towels; then place a cooling rack on top of the paper towels.
4. Place ribs on top of the cooling racks and coat the entirety of the ribs (top and bottom) with the rub.
5. Store the ribs in the fridge at least overnight, but no more than 24 hours. (The ribs will drip, but don't worry! The paper towels will soak up the drips, and your fridge will smell delicious by morning!) 

Five hours before you intend on eating –
1. Move a shelf rack to the top of the oven. Set your oven to broil.
2. Pull the ribs and cooling racks off of the half-sheet pan, so that you can remove the paper towels and clean all of the liquid off of the half sheet pan.
3. Re-place the ribs and cooling racks on the now bare half-sheet pan.
4. Place the ribs on the top rack of the oven and allow to broil for 10-15 minutes. You are looking for a dark brown sear.
5. Remove the ribs from the oven, flip, and sear the other side as in step 4.
6. Take the ribs out of the oven and set aside. Set your oven to bake at 300ª F.
7. Lay out 2 large sheets of large, equally sized aluminum foil; it should be big to fully contain the ribs.
8. Place one rack of ribs on top and in the center of the aluminum foil. Fold the longest edges of the aluminum foil up and together. Crimp and roll the two edges together until you have encircled the ribs lengthwise with aluminum foil.
9. Crimp and roll one end of your newly formed aluminum foil tube.
10. Bend the remaining end of the tube upward. Use it to introduce an entire bottle of liquid smoke to the rack.
11. Crimp and fold the end. Repeat steps 7-10 for the remaining 2 racks.
12. Clean your half sheet pans and re-place your aluminum foil wrapped ribs on them.
13. Move all 3 racks of ribs to the oven and allow to bake for 4 hours.
14. Remove the ribs and allow to rest for at least 15 minutes.
15. Serve and enjoy! 

Don't these sound amazing? While they do take quite a while to make, it is so worth it in the end!

Do you see a rib dinner or two in your future? ;)

* Recipe based loosely on Alton Brown's.