When I think of ribs, I think PORK. Now, I have nothing against cattle, I’m just accustomed to ribs being pork.
However, I spotted some boneless beef ribs on sale and picked up a big package, thinking I could figure out something to do with them.
(I know — boneless ribs is an oxymoron, but hey, that’s what the label said)
And I DID figure out something to do with them. Boy, did I ever. I did a little research and got some differing opinions about how to cook them. Then I used my own experiences to guess what would work best.
I think I got it right on the money, too. The only thing that might have been better was using a smoker to cook them all day. I don’t have a smoker and don’t have plans to buy one, either. The following instructions are a little bit vague, but it’s how I often cook, so here goes…
First, I mixed up a spice blend consisting of salt, black pepper, brown sugar, cumin, paprika, red pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder. I rubbed this into both sides of each rib. Then I sealed the ribs in a large ziploc baggie.
Secondly, about 1:00, I heated some olive oil in a large skillet and browned each ‘rib’ on both sides. At the same time, I preheated my oven to 300 degrees.
To get them going, I put them in a roasting pan with a lid on and put them in the oven.
In my still-hot skillet, I dumped some ketchup (a cup), a little molasses (maybe 1/4 cup), a squirt or so of yellow mustard, a little worcestershire sauce, and a few drops of Tabasco. I stirred that up and looked for an onion.
Having found an onion, I grabbed my old-fashioned cheese grater and scraped some onion shavings into my bubbling sauce.
It was pretty thick, but I poured this over the ribs in the oven and put the lid back on. The juices from the meat would thin it out plenty.
After a couple of hours, I checked it. Now, the meat was done, but very tough. The sauce was really runny now, so I left the lid off and cooked another hour. I really kept my eye on it, because I didn’t want the sauce to thicken too much.
After the meat was cooking for about 4 hours, I knew it was going to be delicious. It was falling apart when I stuck a fork in it, and I liked the flavor of the sauce, too.
I think the important thing to know when cooking beef is what to do with the cut of beef you’ve got. Some meat should only be cooked to medium rare. Other cuts should go beyond done to falling apart. Beef ribs = low and slow / low temperature, slow cooking.
Enjoy!
May 26th, 2006