BBQ Ribs

Everyone knows that real barbecue is cooked over hardwoods at low temperatures for long periods of time. I love this process and miss the days that I would constantly monitor my smoker to maintain temperature while it slowly churned out the most heavenly meats I've ever tasted. Currently, I live in a condo, and unfortunately, I am not allowed to have an open fire within 50 feet of my building. It sort of ruins my balcony smoking/grilling and really takes a toll on my ability to make authentic 'cue. If you have a little time, this is a great recipe that, while it may not recreate the smokiness of BBQ, it will provide you with a delicious substitute with very little work.

Ingredients

• 3 lbs of Pork Spare Ribs
• 1/2 cup of BBQ sauce
• Apple Cider Vinegar
• 1/2 cup of Smoked Paprika
• 1/4 cup of Chili Powder
• 1/4 cup of Dark Brown Sugar
• 2 tablespoons Onion Powder
• 2 tablespoons Garlic Powder
• 1/4 cup of Kosher Salt
• 1/4 cup of Ground Pepper

Preheat your oven to 300°. We want to slowly cook the ribs to help break down some of that connective tissue that makes it a tough cut of meat. Let's start it off by making our dry rub. This is a thing that after you make it once, you don't really have to measure ingredients anymore. I know when I make it, it's a little different everytime but always delicious. This will make more dry rub then you need, but it's great on chicken or pork as well. I've even done it on salmon before (to great success). Here's the breakdown of the ingredients.

Start with the 1/2 cup of smoked paprika in a large bowl.

Add the 1/4 cup of chili powder to that.

Then add the garlic powder.

Follow that with the onion powder.

And the ground pepper.

Toss in the salt.

And finally, the brown sugar.

Stir it all up and you have a wonderful BBQ dry rub.

Take your spare ribs and give them a once over. A lot of potential here.

If they have any membrane on the back, go ahead and score them or remove the membrane completely. This will help our dry rub sink in. As you can see, I was feeling lazy and just scored them instead of full removal.

Completely cover the ribs in rub and.....RUB it in!!! That's why they call it a rub, you have to get your hands dirty. There is no way around this. Make sure you get both the front and back and don't forget the sides and any nooks and crannys.

Place ribs on aluminum foil covered (for clean up) sheet pan and bake for 150 minutes. That's two and a half hours for those that are mathematically challenged.

Let's make our BBQ sauce. If you're a regular here at this blog (Hi Mom!), then you have seen me do this before. I will make the BBQ sauce tangier by adding vinegar to it. This will also thin it out a bit, but that is more than OK because it will thicken back up while in the oven. Start by combining the 1/2 cup of BBQ sauce and with 2 tablespoons of your apple cider vinegar.

Toss in a good size pinch of your leftover dry rub and then mix everything together.

Are your 150 minutes up yet? Due to the magic of Internet time, mine are and my ribs are looking like this.

Bump the oven up to 375° because it's time to give the ribs a good BBQ baste. Spoon (or brush) the BBQ sauce all over the rib. Throw back in the oven for 15 minutes. Baste again and then follow with another 15-20 minutes in the oven.

Serve with your favorite french fries and a whole heap of paper towels. Guaranteed to not last long.

BBQ Chicken Pizza

So, I just got back from a weekend getaway in North Carolina. While I was down there, I had some excellent food, however I did not have any Carolina style BBQ. The vinegar-style sauce on this pizza met my cravings for Carolina style 'Q and then some. The best thing is, I get to eat this again tomorrow. I made an extra pizza for my family so maybe this time they won't heckle me about not eating my blog's food! By the way, I kind of messed up this post a little. My camera's battery was dying during the process and while I thought I got pictures of me cooking the chicken and the bacon, apparently I had failed to do so. But I can assume that you guys know what chicken and bacon look like when the cook.

Ingredients (makes 2 pizzas):

• 8 strips of bacon
• 2 chicken breasts
• 2 pizza crusts
• 1 bottle (18oz) bbq sauce
• 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
• 3/4 of a pound of Smoked Gouda Cheese
  
• 1/3 of a red onion
• 1 jalapeno
• Crushed black pepper
  

Dice up your bacon and throw into a pan over medium heat. Add a dash of salt and pepper if so inclined.

When done cooking, take the bacon off the stove and drain on a paper towel.

Sprinkle BBQ seasoning on your chicken breasts. I used home made, but store bought is OK as well. Mine is a mix of smoked paprika, chili powder, salt, brown sugar, crushed pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, cayenne pepper and a teeny tiny bit of oregano.

Place a little oil (or that leftover bacon fat if you are as awesome as me) on a pan on medium-high and toss in the chicken breasts. Cook completely. Slice the chicken up into bite size pieces. It's OK if you eat a couple, I know I did.

Slice up the red onion.

Slice up a Jalapeno. This step is optional, but highly recommended. I love the heat. Alternatively, you can use a green/red/yellow pepper (or nothing at all if you hate peppers). I am omitting this from my family's pizza, which is why their is only one in this recipe.

Take your smoked gouda cheese and shred it.

Now for the barbecue sauce. I am using Sweet Baby Ray's, which is a thick and dark Kansas City style sauce.

For this dish, I need something a little thinner and tangy-er, so I will cut it with the apple cider vinegar.

Then I am adding a little freshly crushed black pepper for a little bite.

I bought a store-made pizza crust. I know some people will think that is cheating and I should have made my own dough, but I just got back from North Carolina today and didn't have the time. Anyways, once you are done judging me, add the BBQ sauce.

Follow with your freshly shredded gouda.

And then the chicken.

And the bacon.

And then the onions. This is really starting to look good now.

Finish with the jalapenos and take a minute to admire your work.

You did preheat your oven to 425, right? If so, go ahead and throw the pizza in and find something to do for the next 12-14 minutes while this cooks. Cooking time may vary according to your pizza crust, but when it is just about turning golden brown and the cheese has melted, it's time. It might come out looking something like this: