I want my baby back baby back baby back

Chili's, eat your heart out.

I started cooking ribs almost a full year ago at the request of CK, Kretzalicious, Roommate Patrick, and A. Balthrop as preparation for this year's Memphis in May. You see, the aforementioned had just attended last year's Memphis in May and came away with the only logical conclusion.

T, you should enter.

I'm not one to turn down a good competition. Plus, this seemed so far out there that maybe I could actually have some success with it. After a few months and countless batches of almost-right barbeque sauces, I settled on a homemade recipe that I could fall in love with. And I was about 1/3 of the way into mastering ribs on the grill.

Unfortunately, the motivaiton and interest level waned, as these things are prone to do. Ribs once a week became too much for even my roommates, and experimenting with ribs certainly can be tough on the pocketbook. And none of us were rich. So the end result--a phenomenal barbeque sauce and the ability to make above average ribs on the grill.

I digress. Fast forward to Arlington, VA, where the property manager has made it very clear that there is to be no grill on my balcony, or else risk a multi-hundred dollar fine. Grrrrrrrreat. So today I do ribs in the oven.

Fortunately, I already know my way around an oven and how to cook things to perfection in there, even if it won't give me the smokey flavor of charcoal and hickory on a grill. I covered the bottom of a baking dish in 12 ounces of beer (I used Yuengling) and liquid smoke and placed the ribs meat side down in the baking dish. 275 degrees for three hours while covered in aluminum foil let the beer and liquid smoke steam the meat tender. This technique is tough to do on a grill, but makes the meat so fall-off-the-bone tender it's hard to get them from the dish to a plate. I must say. But after you're done baking them, remove the aluminum foil, flip them over, baste them lightly with barbeque sauce(The sweeter your barbeque sauce, the less you should lose right here. Sugar burns quickly.), and broil them for 10 minutes until they start to get crispy on top. Take them out, rebaste with your BBQ sauce, et voila! These ribs were A++ on a scale with a peak of A++++. I'll get the last two pluses if I can find a way to get that charcoal and hickory flavor in there. I'm already brainstorming. But don't let the lack of perfection fool you. They. Were. Good.



Up in the corner, you are seeing some garlic mashed potatoes. Always use yukon gold potatoes for your mashing. They've got the perfect amount of starch for creamy, smooth mashed potatoes. I like mine cooked with the skins off in water with cayenne and garlic cloves and mashed with heavy cream, butter, salt, pepper, and a bit more cayenne. Not hard to tell I got my major food on.