My brother-in-law, J, is one of my favorite man cooks and grilling is his specialty. We’re not talking hot dogs and hamburgers here, we’re talking spicy skewered shrimp, basted asparagus, whole-green-onion kind of grilling. Top his great food with my most amazing nephew/godson, my little sister and my favorite doggie pal, Max…and a night at the Tubridys is a special night all around.

This week, J cooked ribs. I knew his ribs would be extra special and they were. They were braised in the oven for hours, wrapped in foil to make them falling-off-the-bone tender, then slathered with an amazing homemade rib sauce. They were gorgeous, they were delicious, they were heaped high on a plate that I didnt’ think we could ever finish….and we ate nearly all of them.

He even let me take his picture making the ribs although posing with the final product he would not do when I missed the moment, J isn’t much of a poser.

We had them with a salad, homemade biscuits and finished the meal with chocolate cupcakes.

Does life get any better than that??

J’s Ribs:

Tony Roma’s Ribs/Tubridy Style

4 lb baby back ribs or 4 lbs. pork spare ribs

1 batch barbecue sauce (see below)

Instructions

1. Often when you buy ribs at the butcher counter, you get a full rack of
ribs that wouldn’t fit on a plate. Usually you just have to cut these long
racks in half to get the perfect serving size (about 4 to 6 rib bones per
rack). You’ll likely have 4 of these smaller racks at about a pound each.

2. Preheat the oven to 300F.

3. Tear off 4 pieces of aluminum foil that are roughly 6 inches longer than
the ribs.

4. Coat the ribs, front and back, with your choice of barbecue sauce. Place
a rack of ribs, one at a time, onto a piece of foil lengthwise and wrap it
tightly.

5. Place the ribs into the oven with the seam of the foil wrap facing up.
Cook for 2 to 2-1/2 hours, or until you see the meat of the ribs shrinking
back from the cut ends of the bones by about 1/2 inch. This long cooking
time will ensure that the meat will be very tender and fall off the bone.

6. Toward the end of the cooking time, prepare the grill.

7. Remove the ribs from the foil and smother them with additional barbecue
sauce. Be sure to save some sauce for later.

8. Grill the ribs over hot coals for 2 to 4 minutes per side, or just until
you see several spots of charred blackened sauce. Watch for flames and do
not burn!

9. When the ribs are done, use a sharp knife to slice the meat between each
bone about halfway down. This will make it easier to tear the ribs apart
when they are served.

A Tip:

If you’ve got the time to marinate these ribs in advance, do it. I’ve found
these ribs are extraordinary when they’ve been soaking in barbecue sauce
for 24 hours before cooking. Just prepare the ribs in the foil described in
the recipe and keep them in your refrigerator. Toss them, foil and all,
into the oven the next day, 2 to 2-1/2 hours before you plan to scarf out.

Tony Roma’s Original Barbecue Sauce Recipe

1 cup ketchup
1 cup vinegar
1/2 cup dark corn syrup (I use a sugar syrup in place of this)
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon Tabasco pepper sauce

1. Combine all of the ingredients for the barbeque sauce in a saucepan over high heat. Use a whisk to blend the ingredients until smooth.

2. When the mixture comes to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer uncovered.

3. In 30-45 minutes, when the mixture thickens, remove it from the heat. If you want a thicker sauce, heat it longer. If you make the sauce too thick, thin it with vinegar.

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