This is a family recipe, much modified. It originally called for finishing
the ribs on the grill while brushing them with sauce. That doesn’t work
since the ribs are falling-off-the-bone-tender when done and can’t be
moved from pan to grill without making a wretched mess of it all. Forget
the grill. These are braised ribs! Serve a sauce of choice in a heated
gravy boat. (Don’t be surprised if quite a few diners won’t want sauce
on their braised ribs.)
Ribs: (allow five ribs per person, that is: 2 racks = 26 ribs= dinner
for 5)
Two racks of baby back pork ribs
Dry Rub:
1T salt
2T brown sugar
2t dry mustard
2t thyme
1t ginger, fresh grated
½ t cinnamon, fresh grated
1t cayenne
Pan Braising Mixture:
1 large onion, sliced
1 cinnamon stick, broken
1T ginger, freshly grated
2C apple cider or apple juice (enough to cover the pan bottom about
¼ inch deep)
Optional Barbecue Sauce: (If you don’t have your own favorite)
½ C brown sugar
1 oz butter, melted
¼ C bourbon
¼ C rice wine or white wine vinegar
2T Dijon mustard
1. Remove silver skin from back of ribs, trim off excess fat and set
aside
2. Prepare dry rub by mixing all ingredients together in a small bowl
3. Hand rub the meat side with the dry rub, salt and pepper the skin
side of the ribs. Cover and chill for an hour or more
4. Spray or rub sheet pan or roasting pan surface with EVOO
5. Place braising pan mixture (less apple cider) in pan
6. Lay ribs in pan meat side up and then add apple cider (see photo)
7. Cover pan with foil and place in preheated 325F oven
8. Braise ribs for about 2 hours covered and another half hour uncovered,
until meat is pulling away from the bones (Allow 2½ hours for
this)
9. When ready, cut racks with a sharp knife into two or three bone servings
10. Serve the ribs right out of the braising pan along with a little
spooned-on braising liquid and braised onions
11. Serve with a sauce of choice, heated
