Finally, I Made Ribs!

With a night off and alone (the BF was at class all evening) I thought I'd play around with some ribs, a glass or two of red wine, and some Flamenco music, obviously blaring through the house. I bought some beautiful looking pork ribs at the grocery the other day. The plan was a late dinner around 930 when the boy returned from class. I googled (of course) simple ways to prepare ribs. My favorite idea was cooking them on low heat in the oven. Wrapped in tin foil (to make a tent of sorts) and just a quarter inch of water covering the baking sheet, so as to keep them moist and tender. We had recently purchased some Thai chili garlic paste from the Asian foods section at the store so that was going to be the ribs main season. Previously, I applied the paste to some tofu and I figured I'd use it on these ribs as well. It proved only moderately successful. As it made both seasoned items hot but not very flavorful. I was searching for additional sauces with the tofu and then with these ribs. So as to combat the flavorless spicy ribs, I concocted a honey-mustard/Sriracha dipping sauce of sorts to spice up those bad boys. I am glad to have finally prepared ribs. It was a fun, relatively simple dinner that did require a longer cooking time so practice foresight when considering this meal.

Spicy Pork Ribs

A pack of Pork Ribs (4.5 lbs-5 lbs)

Seasons to top:

In this case

Thai chili garlic paste (2-3 tbs)

Salt

For the additional, spur of the moment, whatever was in my fridge sauce:

Mustard

Honey

Sriracha

Olive oil

Salt and Pepper to taste

Preheat your oven to 325. And bake ribs for an hour. Place ribs on a baking sheet lined with foil. Wrap the ribs in a loose tent-like structure of foil. Pour enough water to fill the baking sheet 1/4 of the way up the side. This keeps them tender. Before I closed the foil, I slathered some Thai chili paste on them and sprinkled some salt. Close it up after seasoning and return an hour later. I checked it at 45 minutes, just to be sure it was working well. Open the foil tent and allow the ribs to cook uncovered and bump the temp up to 375 and for another 15-20 minutes, essentially browning them. 

For the sauce, it was very last minute because I was basically flavorless with the chili paste. I drew upon my schooling and now what I've seen at work, with the sauce making. I whisked mustard, honey, Sriracha and some olive oil in a bowl. It paired nicely with the hot ribs. Overall, a fun exploration and a simple way to cook ribs;)