We took a day trip up to Boston last weekend to spend some long overdue quality time with several of our friends from college. Gwen, our hostess with the mostess, set out a great spread for us to nosh on throughout the afternoon, including a pitcher of her refreshing (and dangerously potent) red sangria and a platter of delectable pork spareribs that had all of us licking our fingers and coming back for more. Spareribs are totally delish and a great way to feed a crowd but they’re not something I think of preparing at home too often, probably because you need to plan way in advance to allow for several hours of cooking on low heat to create tender ribs. I’m usually not put together enough to think ahead like that. But as I was wandering through the supermarket meat department a couple days after returning from Boston, I had Gwen’s ribs in mind so I picked up a big package of pork ribs and a bottle of barbecue sauce. I spent ten minutes standing in the condiment aisle, mesmerized by the many varieties of barbecue sauce before I finally picked one. Smoky, Hickory, Whisky Flavored, Hot ‘n Spicy, Gluten Free! So many choices, only one rack of ribs. Sweet Baby Ray’s original flavor made the cut because I’d tasted it before and knew it was a great basic barbecue sauce with a good balance between sweet and spice that would play well with the goodies I planned to mix in to add even more flavor.
When it came time to start cooking, I resorted to Google for assistance because I wasn’t about to ruin five pounds of gorgeous pork ribs by not knowing what I was doing. A few searches later, I decided to go with the oven instead of the grill because of the rainy weather. Okay, fine. I went with the oven because the last time I tried to grill ribs they turned into jerky. Tasty but kind of tough and chewy. I was guilty of rushing the ribs on an overly hot grill and it showed. So this time, I let them go low and slow for a loooooong time in the oven and discovered that good things really do come to those who wait.
This recipe makes enough barbecue sauce to generously slather all over five pounds of spare ribs with enough left over to cover four or five pounds of bone-in chicken pieces, in case some people don’t want to eat pork. Any leftover sauce can be stored in the fridge in an airtight container for a month.
GINGER RED PLUM SPARE RIBS
5 pounds pork spare ribs, cut into individual riblets
3/4 cup red plum jelly
1 cup plain barbecue sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons ginger (the kind in the spice aisle, not fresh ginger)
1 1/2 teaspoons orange zest
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
1 teaspoon onion powder
optional: 1/2 teaspoon cayenne or 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Microwave jelly in a large bowl on high for 30 seconds. Then whisk the jelly to loosen it up. Microwave on high for another 30 seconds. Whisk again. The jelly should be melted a bit and loosened up enough to be somewhat liquid, like a thick gel with little lumps in it. If it’s not, microwave again at 15 second intervals until you get the right consistency.
Whisk the barbecue sauce, ginger and orange zest into the jelly until completely blended together. Set aside in the fridge until ready to use. You can make the sauce way in advance if you want.
Preheat oven to 250 degrees.
Take out a baking sheet pan. Measure out a length of heavy duty tin foil to be twice the length of the baking sheet.
Lay the foil on the pan and arrange the ribs in one layer across the foil. It’s okay if they touch.
Season the ribs on both sides with the salt, pepper, onion powder and cayenne or red pepper, if using.
Wrap up the ribs loosely in the foil to create a packet, taking care to seal the folds in the foil well.
Roast the ribs in the oven for 5 hours. Do not open the door to peek into the oven. Do not open the foil packet. Just wait. For 5 hours.
After 5 hours, remove the ribs from the oven. Take the foil packet off the pan and place on a heatproof surface.
Turn up the heat in the oven to 400 degrees.
Pour any liquid out of the baking sheet. Place a new sheet of foil on the pan. This piece of foil should be the same size as the pan.
Open the foil packet and remove the ribs with tongs. Gently shake off any liquid and place back onto the foil covered pan in one layer.
Brush the ribs very generously with the barbecue sauce on all sides.
Place back into the oven for 10 minutes. Check the ribs to make sure that the sauce is caramelizing a bit but not burning. You can turn over the ribs right now if you want. Put the ribs back into oven for another 10 or so minutes, until the sauce darkens and turns shiny and a bit sticky.
Let the ribs rest for a couple of minutes before serving.
Serve 6-8.
Revel & Feast 