Korean Baby Back Ribs

Believe it or not, I think baby back ribs are one of the easiest and tastiest things to prepare for a weekend dinner. Note that I did not use the words "fastest" or "quickest"--the process is rather time-consuming. However, the actual work is pretty simple. Normally I'll put together a dry rub (or get Mr Minx to do it) and apply it to the ribs the night before. The next day, the ribs get a dose of moisture in the form of juice or even soda and spend several hours lounging in a slow oven. Once the meat is fork tender, it gets slathered in sauce for a trip under the broiler.

I find slightly charred barbecue sauce to be a delightful scent. Someone needs to make a candle. But not Yankee Candle.

Oven braised bbq ribs are a perfect lazy weekend dish. As long as I don't make a lot of sides, it affords me free time to catch up on my reading or knitting or whatever. (Napping, too.) And two giant racks of ribs for two people means a week's worth of leftovers. Or two dinners for us plus enough left over to bribe my brother into watching the dog while we head off to a media event in Frederick.

I was feeling in a Korean food mood (as often happens) so I designed the dry rub and sauce with that in mind. To my palate, Korean food is all about sweet, garlic, and heat. The dry rub includes all three elements in the form of brown sugar, garlic powder, and kochukaru, or Korean red pepper flakes. The sauce also incorporates those flavors, plus the tang of rice vinegar and the toasty mustiness of sesame oil.

I put some jarred kimchi into the sauce because we had it. (It's available in the refrigerated produce section of Giant and other supermarkets, believe it or not.) If you don't want to invest in a jar, then just add another garlic clove and some chopped scallions to the sauce.

I make ribs fairly often, and I think this is my favorite version to date.

Oven-Baked Baby Backs with Korean Flavors

For rub:
4 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons kosher salt
2 tablespoons kochukaru (Korean pepper flakes)
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder

For sauce:
1/2 onion, diced
1/4 cup kimchi, chopped (or 1 clove of garlic and 3 whole scallions)
1 clove garlic, minced
1 heaping teaspoon grated fresh ginger
6 heaping tablespoons brown sugar
2 heaping tablespoons gochujang
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon unseasoned rice wine vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil

For ribs:
2 racks baby back ribs, 6-7 lbs total weight
1/2 cup apple juice

To make the rub: Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Reserve three tablespoons for glaze.

Remove the thin membrane that covers the concave side of each rack of ribs. You can do this by grasping one end with a paper towel and pulling. If you're lucky, it'll come off in one sheet. (Like this.)

Place a sheet of aluminum foil on a large rimmed baking sheet and set close by.

Tear two large sheets of heavy-duty aluminum foil, each large enough to hold one of the racks, with several inches of overhang on all four sides. Place the foil sheets, one on top of the other, on the counter in front of you, horizontally. Place one rack of ribs on the top sheet; coat the top and bottom of the ribs with half of the rub, pressing it into the meat. Take the top and bottom edges of the foil and bring them together over the ribs like a tent. Fold the edges together and roll them down towards the meat to make a package. Roll the open sides of the package up toward the center to seal all sides. Your package should look like this. Repeat with other rack of ribs. Place both wrapped packages on the prepared baking sheet.

Refrigerate ribs for 6 hours or overnight.

To make the sauce: Cook the onion over medium heat in a bit of oil and pinch of salt for about 10 minutes, or until soft. Add the kimchi, garlic, and ginger. Stir to combine and let cook for an additional couple of minutes. Add the brown sugar, gochujang, soy, and rice vinegar. Turn up the heat and bring to a boil. Let sauce thicken a bit, then remove from the heat and stir in the sesame oil. Use an immersion blender to make a mostly smooth sauce. Place sauce into a covered container and refrigerate until ready to use.

To cook the ribs: Preheat oven to 250°F.

Remove ribs from the fridge. Gently unroll one short end on each foil package. Pour a quarter cup of apple juice into each, and re-roll the ends. Keeping the packets on the rimmed baking sheet, put the whole thing into the oven.

Cook 1 1/2 - 2 hours, until meat is fork tender.

Remove tray from oven and turn on the broiler. Gently unroll one end of each package and pour out the liquid. (Carefully - it will be very hot!) Place the ribs on a foil-lined baking sheet and brush the top side liberally with the glaze. Broil for 5-8 minutes, until sauce is bubbling and charred in spots. Remove meat from broiler, brush with more glaze, and repeat broiling.

Serves 6-8



Posted on Minxeats.com.

Sriracha Barbecue Sauce

A couple months back, Mr Minx and I had a scrumptious meal at PABU, in Harbor East. We basically ate the special Satori prix fixe menu, with an added sashimi course. One of the non-fish courses consisted of two crisp, red chili-glazed chicken wings, and one Berkshire pork baby back rib with a not-too-sweet chili garlic sauce. The rib was tender and juicy, and the sauce added just enough heat and messiness.

When an opportunity to make baby back ribs presented itself, I attempted my own version of the barbecue sauce from PABU. It would be great on chicken and brisket as well as pork.

Sriracha Barbecue Sauce

3 T brown sugar
2 T Sriracha (or more, to taste)
3 T white miso
1 T soy sauce
2 T rice wine vinegar
1 T tomato paste
1 large clove garlic, minced
3 cloves black garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 cup pork or chicken stock
1 T toasted sesame oil

Combine first nine ingredients in a sauce pot over medium heat and stir with until the sugar is melted and the miso and tomato paste have been amalgamated into the mix. Stir in the chicken stock and cook until the mixture thickens into a barbecue sauce consistency, about five minutes. Remove from heat, stir in sesame oil, and allow to cool.

When cool, transfer sauce to a squeeze bottle. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Makes about 1 cup.



Posted on Minxeats.com.

The Corner Stable

Ages ago, my family would make a semi-regular trip to Cockeysville to gorge ourselves on fall-off-the-bone tender ribs at the Corner Stable. With one thing and another, that tradition has largely fallen by the wayside, and a visit to the Stable has become a rare thing indeed.

On a recent trip, the restaurant was packed full of hungry patrons, most of whom seemed to have baskets of saucy ribs within reach. We wanted to eat ribs, too, but felt it was a good idea to also sample some of the restaurant's other offerings.

The fried chicken was billed as "tender and moist." And that was a lie. While the coating was light and crisp, the breast meat underneath was quite arid. Mr Minx was glad he ordered applesauce as a side, because he needed the extra moisture.

I wanted to try the crab cake, so I ordered the "Showstopper," which included an 8oz jumbo lump cake and a full rack of ribs for us to share. There are many crab cakes in this town, and few of them meet my criteria of deliciousness. While not perfect, the Corner Stable's cake was pretty good. Maybe a bit too much detectable filling (which were like pockets of mush among the firmer crab lumps), but the meat was sweet and crabby. And those lumps were indeed jumbo; some were bigger than the top joint of my thumb. The slaw was like bad supermarket cole slaw, and completely disappointing, but the Stable fries were a thing of beauty. Crispy on the outside and moistly pillowy on the inside, they were what every fry should strive to be.

Is it me, or are baby back ribs getting smaller? These were only about 3" long. I know when I buy them at the grocery store, the ribs are at least half again as big, and a "full rack" is nearly as long as my arm. In any case, the meat was falling off the bones and coated with a pleasant, not-too-sweet sauce. Tiny, but enjoyable.

Except for the disastrous chicken and cole slaw, the rest of the meal was pretty good. Maybe not quite worth driving to Cockeysville during a tornado warning, but certainly fine fair weather fare.

The Corner Stable
9942 York Rd
Cockeysville, MD 21030
(410) 666-8722
cornerstable.com



Posted on Minxeats.com

Razorback's

My family has been going to Razorback's since they opened in Canton in the 90s. Now in Towson, they're far more conveniently-located and Mr Minx and I usually end up there once a year or so; it's a good place to hide out during the mayhem that is Halloween. Especially since Ukazoo books and Fresh Market are in the same shopping center. :)

A popular bar, Razorback's also has a pair of pretty dining rooms at the back. Shiny table tops and cloth napkins give one the impression of being in a fine dining establishment, but the bulk of the menu consists of familiar comfort/bar foods like burgers, fried oysters, and ribs, with a few more elegant steak and fish dishes.

We started off with an appetizer called "Baltimore Sushi," which is not sushi at all but a combination of shrimp and crab meat with melted Monterey jack and cheddar cheese, wrapped in an Old Bay-flavored tortilla and sliced into four pieces. Really an oddly-shaped quesadilla, the dish arrived piping hot, the tortilla crisp and the cheese oozy. It tasted pretty good, but I would have liked it much better if it were half the price. For $9.25, I expect quite a bit more seafood.

I almost always get ribs at Razorback's, and this visit was no different. I'm a sucker for fall-off-the-bone-tender meat slathered in a tangy sweet sauce with a hint of spice, especially when it comes with crisp Boardwalk-style fries and very good, fresh, cole slaw.

(Is it me, or are "full racks" of ribs getting smaller? When I buy baby backs to cook at home, I get the cryovac packs of 3 racks, one of which is sufficient to feed three people. Restaurant racks these days can't possibly provide more than 6-8 oz of meat. Are they using guinea pigs?)

Mr Minx went for the BOLT sandwich--basically bacon, lettuce, and tomato, with the addition of fried oysters, on a kaiser roll. I've always enjoyed the fried oysters at Razorback's, but the combination of bacon and shellfish doesn't always work for me; it didn't this time, but Mr Minx quickly scarfed it down. The oysters and bacon were both crispy, which was nice.

I hear the burgers are good, so maybe I'll try that next time. Or I might just stick to the ribs.

Razorback's Raw Bar and Grill
826 Dulaney Valley Rd
Towson, MD 21204
razorbacksgrill.com
(410) 821-9550



Posted by theminx on Minxeats.com.

RhubarbBQ

On a recent weekend, when the humidity was so suffocatingly high that going outside felt like having a hot, wet, blanket thrown over one's head, I had the brilliant idea to make baby back ribs. In the oven.

We always use Alton Brown's method, in which the racks of ribs are marinated overnight in a dry rub, then braised in a slow oven for a few hours. The result is always succulent, fall-off-the-bone, finger-lickin', lip-smackin' deliciousness, so why try anything new? But I did. Oh, not in the cooking method, but rather in the flavoring.

My brother, who is currently low-carbing it, was coming over to partake of the porcine delight, so I wanted to use as little sweetener as possible on these ribs. As luck would have it, Mary Sue Milliken won the penultimate challenge of the season in that week's episode of Top Chef Masters and she did it by making baby back ribs with a modicum of sweetener. Following her example, I constructed my dry rub sans the usual brown sugar. Her sauce, in which she used only a scant three tablespoons of maple syrup, became the inspiration for my sauce, made with fresh rhubarb. I figured rhubarb was at least as tangy as her tomatillos; however I did not take into account that while tomatillos contain a high percentage of water, rhubarb instead is very fibrous. So my sauce was a bit thick and dense - not to mention quite a bit less-sweet than we're used to - but it was still rather good - bright and tangy in a mustard sauce kinda way.

RhubarbBQ-glazed baby backs served over hominy stewed with onions and garlic.

RhubarbBQ Sauce

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
pinch salt
5 cloves garlic, crushed
6 stalks rhubarb, stringy bits removed with a vegetable peeler, roughly chopped
1 jalapeno, minced or 1 tablespoon jalapeno powder
1 teaspoon finely minced fresh ginger
1/2 cup water
3 tablespoons maple syrup
1 tablespoon paprika
salt and pepper to taste

In a saute pan, heat the olive oil and add the onions and pinch of salt. Sweat the onions until they are soft, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, rhubarb, jalapeno, ginger, and water. Bring to a boil, then turn heat to medium. Cover pan and cook until rhubarb is completely cooked down, about 10-15 minutes.

Remove pan from the heat and, using a blender or immersion blender, purée the rhubarb mixture. Add maple syrup and paprika. Cook on medium low heat for another 20 minutes until mixture has been reduced to a thick sauce. Add salt and pepper to taste.
-----------------------------------------------

When I tried to cut the racks of ribs into smaller portions, I wished I hadn't followed the technique to the letter. With a bit less cooking, the ribs would have been easier to cut, and thus neater to photograph. But who cares - the flavor is what matters, right?

Posted by theminx on Minxeats.com.