Oven Baked Barbeque Spare Ribs

So we're down in Florida visiting the Brother and Sister in law, and we wanted something easy to make, delicious, and barbequed.  We had some ribs at Busch Gardens and they were well. . . underwhelming.  So we thought some ribs were in order.  Now, they don't have a grill, so I had to make do with my oven baked recipe, which is about 90% as good (and if you've never had the grill/smoked version, well, that 90% is still awesome).  Here's what you'll need:

Baby Back Pork Ribs
or
Beef or Pork Spare Ribs (with or without the bones)

Seasoning:
I'd recommend using my Spice Rub but if you don't have that, you can mix together 2 tbsp each of:

Crushed or Chopped Rosemary
Thyme
Oregano
Garlic Powder
Black Pepper
Salt
Paprika
Chili Powder (if you want some heat on the ribs!)
and/or
Chipotle/Ancho Powder

Or just go to the store and buy some rub, I know McCormick's makes a couple different varieties as do many others.

So, to start out, if the ribs have bones still in them, make sure the membrane on the back side has been removed (butchers usually do this, but not always).  If you can see an opaque white membrane on the back side of the ribs, use a knife or a spatula to peel this off.  This will allow the meat to cook and absorb moisture from the back side more easily, which will result in much softer ribs.

First off, pre-heat the oven to 325°. While that's heating up, take out your baking sheet or broiler pan and cover it with foil.  This will help with the cleanup later.  Make sure the whole pan is covered by foil so that the drippings can't get below to the pan (this is where it's handy to buy the larger size foil roll at the store. . . ).  Lay the ribs out on the pan and gently rub on you seasoning mixture to both sides of all the ribs.

Once the oven reaches 325°, put the ribs in for about 90 minutes and then baste them with your favorite sauce (like Kraft or KC Masterpiece) and put them back in for another 20-30 minutes so the sauce can work its way in and thicken up.  Then, sprinkle any remaining rub/spice on top of the sauce and turn the oven to broil and let it broil for 5 or 6 minutes to help turn the spice and sauce into a nice crust.

You should end up with some delicious soft oven baked ribs with a little kick of flavor!  Serve with your favorite sides and a beer or two (and some wet naps!) and you're good to go, easy as pie.  If you really want to feed a ton of people, serve with my beer can chicken (though that may require 2 ovens. . .)

Mmmmmm Beer. . . Can Chicken

Want to be able to make your own delicous roasted chicken at home?  Well, this is the recipe for you!  Best of all, a whole chicken is much cheaper than chicken parts, and if you catch it on sale, sometimes you can get a whole chicken for $0.99/pound, that's way better than the $3.99/lb they want at the grocery store (around here anyway) for boneless skinless chicken breasts!  Ideally, you can use a beer can chicken rack, but if you don't have it, it's still possible to make, you just have to be good at balancing the chicken on the can on a cookie sheet (although you'll probably want to use a jelly roll pan or something with some sides so the drippings don't run off onto the oven.

So, first you'll need to pre-heat the oven to 350°.  Then grab a can of your favorite beer: I'd recommend something light, like a lager or a light beer even (I've been using Heineken Light, mainly because the can is taller and thinner than a normal beer can, which makes it easier to get the chicken on it), a heavier beer isn't going to infuse as well and might add too much of a bitter flavor.  So, if you've got the rack, crack open the can of beer and pour out (chug?) about a third of the beer and place the can in the can holder.  Then, take out your whole chicken and make sure you've taken the giblets out of the body cavity.  Lift the chicken and fit the can into the body cavity and arrange the legs to help support the chicken.  If you don't have the beer can rack, then this is a little more difficult and might require some supports or using a high-sided pan like a 9"x13" pan or something to balance the chicken. 

Once you get it so it will stand on its own, rub with a little olive oil or spray on a little cooking spray and then rub liberally with my Spice Rub or your own mix, (a nice mix of rosemary, thyme, garlic powder, salt and fresh cracked black pepper would also work).  Once you've got it rubbed down, put it in the oven and back for about 2 1/2 hours or until it has an internal temperature of 180°.

If you want to be real fancy, you can back some chopped potatoes on the bottom of the pan with the chicken for the last hour or so.  Chop some redskin potatoes into 1/2" to 3/4" pieces and toss in a bowl with some olive oil and some of the above spice rub (or Rosemary, Thyme, Garlic, and Salt and Pepper again) and bake with the chicken for the last 40-50 minutes that the chicken is in the oven.

This is a good recipe to have people over, you'll look like the best chef in the world and there's really very little work to do.  Also, if you have a nice grill, you can also take the chicken off the rack and grill it on medium on the grill for 5 minutes or so to crisp it up a little bit. . .