Newport Foodies

Thanksgiving has ARRIVED!! As I told all of you last year, my family always INSISTS on having my Spicy Bar-B-Q Turkey (click for recipe). I, however, get kind of bored with the same old thing, so years ago I started adding additional entrées to the menu. This year I decided to make my FABULOUS Sticky Short Ribs. It’s my secret two step cooking process that ensures extra tender and juicy ribs!! If you prefer pork ribs or country ribs without the bone – it’s ALL good. Just use your choice of ribs in the recipe below.

My recipe starts with good quality meat. What better place in the Newport Beach area to go for meat than “The Butchery,” in Costa Mesa. The Butchery is a small specialty grocery store and butcher shop that specializes in quality meats, fine cheeses and many other great products. All of the employees are courteous, friendly and truly knowledgeable about meats and cheeses. I highly recommend you to stop in and check them out.

ENJOY and have a great turkey day from our family to yours!!

Always remember, you can pause the video at any point to get a better look at the photos and text.

Sticky Short Ribs

Ingredient List:
Meat & Low Salt Brine:
Beef Ribs (Perpendicular Cut)…………….5 lb
Water…………………………………………….13 cups
Bay Leaves (whole)……………………………3 leaves
Liquid Smoke……………………………………1 Tbsp
Black Peppercorns (whole)…………………1 tsp
Sea Salt (Course)………………………………1 tsp
Yellow Onion (medium size)………………1 onion

BBQ Sauce:
Ketchup…………………………………………..1 cup
Apple Cider Vinegar………………………….1 Tbsp
Soy Sauce………………………………………..1 tsp
Molasses…………………………………………1 Tbsp + 1 tsp
Maple Syrup (pure Grade A)………………2 tsp
Mustard Seed (ground)……………………..1 tsp
Onion Powder………………………………….1 Tbsp
Garlic Powder…………………………………..2 tsp
Black Pepper (ground)……………………….1 tsp
Sea Salt (course)……………………………….1 tsp

Additional Items:
Stockpot (6 quart or larger), Sauce Pot, Aluminum Baking Pan (Large), Spray Cooking Oil, Colander and Tin Foil

Beef Ribs & Low Salt Brine Instructions:
It’s best to prep your onion before starting. So, cut the ends off your onion and then make a shallow slice from end to end through the first couple of layers of the onion. Peel off the onion skin. Now that your onion is clean, it’s time to chop it. Slice the onion up into eighths, like a pie. Start by placing your onion down on one of the cut ends and then cut it in half. Next, quarter it. Now cut each quarter in half to make eighths. Separate the onion in half and lay the flat, cut sides down on the cutting board so you can slice each side of the onion in half (see the video). That’s it, your onion is chopped and ready to use in the brine.

It’s time to assemble your low salt brine! Place your stockpot on the stove and fill it with 13 cups of water. Now add in the whole bay leaves, liquid smoke, black peppercorns, sea salt and chopped onions (see the above ingredient list for the measurements). Next, slowly submerge each half of the short ribs, one at a time, so that the fat-side of the ribs are facing up. Make sure that all of the ribs are submerged under the water.

It’s time to boil the ribs, so turn the heat on to “High.” Once the brine comes to a good boil, turn the heat down to “Simmer” and let the meat cook in the brine for 1 hour. While the brine is simmering you should work on preparing the BBQ Sauce (see the below BBQ Sauce Instructions). You will know when to remove the ribs from the brine by testing the tenderness of the meat. Do this by lifting a section of the rib out of the water and sticking a fork into the meat. Now twist the fork! If the meat easily tears as you twist the fork, the ribs are finished. If not, re-submerge the ribs and keep simmering. Test again at 5 minute intervals until done.

BBQ Sauce Instructions:
Measure the ketchup, apple cider vinegar and soy sauce into a pot, and whisk together. Now let’s add the sweet ingredients. Pour in the molasses and maple syrup, and whisk again. Add in the ground mustard seed, onion powder and garlic powder – whisk again! Don’t stop whisking until all of the clumps are dissolved. At this time, add 1 tsp of black pepper and 1 tsp of sea salt. Guess what? Whisk again, until it is all blended. Move the pot to the stovetop and turn the heat to “Medium”. Bring the BBQ Sauce to a boil making sure to whisk it regularly, so it does not burn and stick to the pot. As the sauce boils it will thicken. You want the BBQ Sauce to be nice and thick, so it’s not finished until you perform the Spoon Test. Stir the sauce with a spoon and then lift the spoon out of the sauce. The sauce should stick to the spoon and fall of in clumps. If the sauce pours off the spoon like a liquid, it is not finished yet. The thickening process should take approximately 8 minutes. When it’s done, cover it and move it off the heat. We will get back to the BBQ Sauce later.

Cooking Instructions:
Well it’s been about an hour so go check the meat. Yes, the Fork Test shows that the meat is nice and tender. It’s time to take the ribs out of the brine and to preheat your oven to 350˚. Coat an aluminum baking pan with spray oil. Then place the ribs into the pan, meat side up. Now you will strain the brine through a colander to save the onion mixture. Transfer and spread out the onion mixture onto a paper towel. Then pick out the all of the bay leaves and as many of the peppercorns as you can. We only need the onion portion of the mixture for the following steps.

Get the BBQ Sauce and spread it over the top of the ribs. Follow this by spreading the onion mixture on top of the BBQ Sauce. To help keep the ribs juicy while cooking, add a 3/4 cup of water into the bottom of the pan, not on the ribs. Cover the pan and ribs with a foil tent (see the video).

Place the baking pan on the middle rack of your preheated oven (350˚) and bake for 45 – 60 minutes or until the meat is falling off of the bones. Remember to check the ribs to make sure the meat easily pulls away from the bone before moving on to the next step.

At this time the ribs are cooked to perfection; however, they are not fully finished – you need to blacken the edges! Remove the tin foil tent and switch the oven from bake to broil. It will take approximately 2 – 3 minutes to blacken the edges. When done, transfer the ribs to a serving plate and remember to hand out plenty of napkins for all of those sticky fingers.

– HAPPY THANKSGIVING FROM NEWPORT FOODIES

PS: Just a quick note for those of you who like cooking in crock pots. Instead of boiling and baking the ribs, just throw all of the brine ingredients into the crock pot and set the crock pot to “Low” for 5 hours or until the meat falls apart with a fork. Make sure to only use enough water to completely cover the ribs. While it’s simmering make your BBQ Sauce and have it ready for when you need it. When the ribs are finished cooking, transfer the ribs (meat side up) to a pan sprayed with cooking oil. Strain the brine, and pick out the bay leaves and peppercorns from the Onion Mixture. Then ladle on the BBQ Sauce and Onion Mixture on top of the ribs. Broil until lightly blackened. – Enjoy !!!