Despite being a foodie at heart, like most red-blooded American males I’ve never been a fan of eating crow or humble pie.
I’ve recently dined on some, however, and the side-dish of Grilled Balsamic Ribs was absodamnlutely delightful.
As it turns out She Who Must Be Obeyed accepted an invitation to dine with a couple we’d recently met; they’re very nice people though not the least bit fishy, hence my ‘child-like reluctance’ (her words of course) to attend.
When she later told me we were to dine on ‘ribs done in the oven’, I imagined some parboiled rib monstrosity worthy of a brisk flogging and said so (dammit). At that point I was told I was being ‘freaking petulant’ and informed I would be attending and would also behave (dammit).
Needless to say I went and the instant we walked in the door I knew that ‘humble pie’ was probably on the menu.
The aroma wafting from the kitchen bore the unmistakable tang of balsamic vinegar with the sweet undercurrent of roasted pork. Our host was just in the process of making the balsamic reduction glaze and the ribs smelled tantalizing on the grill.
The ribs tasted even better.
We’re obviously huge fans of the humble pork rib here at camp Chi Wulff, and we have roasted, grilled and smoked more ribs than I can count over the past few years. That said, I’d put these in the top three of our all time rib favorites list – they’re that good.
The next thing to try would be a really slow cook in the smoker over mild woods, say something like oak and peach. We’ll let you know…
Ribs
8 racks baby back ribs
12 large garlic cloves
1 and 1/2 tsp. fine grain sea salt
3 tbsp. packed dark brown sugar
3 tbsp. very finely chopped fresh rosemary
2 tsp. ancho chile powder
2-6 shakes of your favorite habanero based hot sauce (remember, most of these are damned hot!)
3 tbsp. balsamic vinegar (the good stuff here)
1 cup waterGlaze
2 cups hot water
1 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
Make a wet rub. Peel and smash the garlic cloves together with the salt. Stir in the brown sugar, rosemary, ancho chile powder and balsamic vinegar.
Rub the ribs. Prep (remove membranes, rinse off the bone dust, pat dry) the ribs and slather the meaty side with the wet rub. Place in a single layer in two roasting pans; refrigerate overnight.
Roast those ribs. Recognizing full well that my friends on the ‘low and slow BBQ circuit’ may disown me, these were so good I’m going to suggest you prepare them the first time just as our host did.
Preheat the oven to 250; pour 1/2 cup of water into each roasting pan and cover tightly with foil. Roast for two hours, rotate the pans and go for another two hours.
Remove at four hours, the meat should be fall off the bone tender. Set aside on a platter and fire your grill.
Glaze time. Pour a cup of hot water into each roasting pan and loosen all those brown, crusty bits of goodness; pour into a medium skillet and add the balsamic and brown sugar. Bring to a boil, back off on the heat a bit and simmer until reduced to roughly a cup.
Grill a nice crust on. Brush glaze on both sides of each rib rack and grill for 3 or 4 minutes per side until the glaze begins to caramelize nicely and the ribs are piping hot. Pull the ribs, lacquer with more glaze if desired (it’s really good) and serve.
Stand back, this is a two-hand, elbows on the table meal and folks will be reaching for more.
Enjoy.
