Oh So Good Pork Spare Ribs

In my family, ribs are pretty much a special occasion only meal.  They take a while to cook and they are pretty messy, so they usually only get made on holidays (You know, 4th of July, Memorial Day...).  Anyway, my husband happens to think Super Bowl Sunday is a special holiday and rib-worthy so he brought home a package of ribs from the grocery store the other day.  I decided to make them last night since we have

plans for the big game day and I wanted to make sure I got this recipe written so you could give it a 

try in case you too consider Super Bowl Sunday a rib worth holiday!

First things first, I start by patting the ribs dry with paper towels and placing them in a greased baking dish.

Then I apply the dry rub. (Ingredients below.)

Make sure you really press it into the meat so it sticks.

After the rub is applied, I cover the baking dish with foil and place in the oven to cook low and slow.

At this point you can either BBQ or broil to finish. (See below for BBQ directions.)  After about 2 hours, I remove the ribs and transfer them to a foil lined cookie sheet.  Then I brush the ribs with my favorite BBQ sauce.  Turn the oven up to broil and slide the ribs back in. (I got distracted and completely forgot to take pictures of this step!  Sorry!!!)  Be sure to keep a close eye on them at this point because they can easily burn.  It takes about 5-10 minutes for the BBQ sauce to caramelize.  

Remove from heat and let rest for 10 minutes before cutting and serving.

Ingredients for Dry Rub:

2 tbs brown sugar

1 tbs coarse sea salt

1 tbs paprika

1/2 tsp black pepper

1 tbs garlic powder

1 tbs onion powder

This makes enough rub for one rack of ribs.  In my family one rack can feed 3-4 people.

Directions for Preparing Ribs: (You need one rack of ribs for this and 1 cup of BBQ sauce.)

Remove your rack of ribs from the package and if necessary pat dry with paper towels.  Place in a greased baking dish.  Coat the ribs with the dry rub.  Press it into the meat so that it really adheres.  At this point you can refrigerate the ribs or go ahead and cook them. (They can marinade with the dry rub overnight which will really give them a ton of flavor, but I promise they're good either way!)  When you are ready to cook them, pre-heat your oven to 250 degrees and place them in there.  Let cook low and slow for about 2 hours. After two hours, remove the baking dish from the oven and transfer the ribs using tongs to a foil lined cookie sheet. (This really helps with clean up!) Then brush them with your favorite BBQ sauce.  I think the Trader Joe's brand is pretty good, but anything you like will work!  Turn your oven up to broil and place the ribs back in there.  Let them cook for 5-10 more minutes until the sauce begins to caramelize and the look fantastic (like the ones above!)

**If the weather is warm, and you like the smoky flavor of BBQ, when you take the ribs out of the oven and slather on that sauce, transfer them to a hot grill.  Again, watch them closely, as the sugar in the BBQ sauce can cause them to burn quickly.  You really just want to get the char marks and a bit of that smoky flavor infused.  Cook them on each side for about 3 minutes, remove from the grill and you're all set!

I served mine with mashed potatoes, but they would be great with my Potato Salad recipe from the other day!

I hope you have a fantastic Game Day!!!