One of my guilty TV pleasures is watching the chef competition shows every week – between Top Chef, Hell’s Kitchen, and the Next Food Network Star, I get my fill of watching other people cook. I watch partially to get ideas, and partially out of a sense of schadenfreude (better than them me!). But mostly for ideas.
One of the dishes featured on TNFNS was Rory’s Ribs, which were featured in this month’s copy of Bon Appetit. I didn’t go through the whole mess of making the sides and the BBQ sauce, but I used her method for cooking ribs and let me tell you, these are the most tender juicy fall off the bone ribs I’ve ever had. I think I’m going to make them this way from now on. I served them with potato salad and corn on the cob – barbecue flavor without having to fire up the grill at all!
To make the ribs, get 4 racks of baby back ribs (about 2 1/2 lbs each), and season each side with salt, pepper, and chili powder (I used Penzey’s Chili Con Carne seasoning, which worked spectacularly). Preheat the oven to 450, and make sure one shelf is on the top third of the oven, and one is one the bottom third. Put 2 racks of ribs on each cookie sheet, pour a mixture of 1/2 cup of chicken broth plus 2 tbsp. soy sauce in each cooie sheet, and cover tightly with foil. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes, and then switch the positions of the cookie sheets (the one that was at the bottom will go to the top shelf, and vice versa). After you switch, let it cook another 45 minutes or until tender (and believe me, they WILL be tender). Cut between each bone, and then brush them with your choice of BBQ sauce and serve.