ottawa foodies

I have been lurking here for a few weeks, planning a move to Ottawa. I invented these for dinner tonight and though you all might like the recipe...

It took about five minutes to assemble, a few minutes of attention to glaze at the end, uses one pan, and the FELL off the bone!

Baby Back Ribs with Cider and Brown Sugar

1. Clean excess fat from ribs. 1 rack per adult. Cut them in halves or thirds.
2. Cut 1 large peeled onion in quarters and place in large brownie pan or Pirex dish. The onion works kind of like a rack for the ribs. Place them over the onion in one layer.
3. Rub ribs with minced garlic, mustard, thyme,and S&P. Spoon a layer of brown sugar over the ribs so they are nicely coated. I used about 1/3 a cup for 2 racks. (It will melt down into the sauce.)
4. Pour enough Cider to cover the onion (I used about 3/4 of a can of Blackthorn but non-alcoholic will do)with out getting the sugar all wet. Cover with tinfoil.
5. Bake at 350 for 1.5 hours. Uncover ribs. Start basting the ribs with the pan sauce. (If it isn't thickening enough, or quickly enough, you might like to simmer the sauce in a pot on the stove for 2-3 mins and then re-coat the ribs.

This was so good we even ate the pan onions!

I served it with twice baked potatoes and green beans. When I figure out where my camera cord is I will post a picture.

Olivers Rock - Sounds good, think I'll give them a try. A good excuse to use some of that County Cider I discovred on my trip to PE County.

Sounds good, but I have to add that it is absolutely a must to remove the membrane on the bottom of the ribs. It takes about 30 seconds, but makes your ribs 10 times better.

Here is the picture.

Mmm they were so good I think I am headed back to the grocery store for more. The Farm Boy here in Peterborough had the cleanest racks on sale for $1.99! I agree you need to clean them if it hasn't been done.

Hey Oliver, just to let you know, the Farm Boy in Ptbo is not associated with the Farm Boy stores here in the Ottawa region, seems they are grandfathered to use the name in Ptbo still. I wasent a fan of the Ptbo store, too crowded, and had to watch code dates too often, so I was loathe to enter a store here in Ottawa. Whole different world, on a recent trip back to Ptbo, I questioned the buyer as to the affiliation, and they said there was none at all.

Hope this will add to your shopping adventure when you move here, and that Rib recipe sounds fab, Ill try it tomorrow, my hunny insists on boiling them, despite hearing they are better slow cooked, so Ill use your dish to show him differently.

Your recipe does sound great. I will also be giving it a try. Thanks for sharing.

Sushifan - The boil the ribs before you cook em thing is a leftover from days gone by (bet he learned this from his Mom). Part of the idea was that it would (a) remove some of the fattiness (it comes out in the water) and, (b) partially cook them, of course this was when pork was significantly different from "the other white meat" that it is now. My mother told me the same thing, so I did it that way for many a year. Do try to convince him that slow cooking is the way to go, because now that the meat is leaner, you can cook them slow and neither have the meat too greasy or too dried out. Just fall off the bone delicious.

FYI: The big market on Sommerset (123 Market? 321 Market? What is it again?) has the best prices on ribs that I've ever seen in my life.

I've heard that the best way to get the tenderest ribs is to cook them in a pressure cooker (which can be done well ahead of time). Then when you need them, sauce them up and toss them on the BBQ to warm them up, and brown the outside. Anyone else tried this? I know 'the place' from my hometown that made the best ribs made them this way. They had a pretty big autoclave in a storage building that they precooked the ribs in.. quite the production!

Pete-In-Ottawa - Yes I've heard that some people use a pressure cooker, but I truly believe that low heat is the best way to go when it comes to Ribs. My BBQ Bible (for everything and anything BBQ) comes from the Dinosaur BBQ in Syracuse and they say "LOW & SLOW".

BTW the sign says "If you leave here hungry it's your fault!"

My two cents on ribs: if you want all your flavour to come from the sauce then go ahead and boil or pressure cook them. But if you want to taste the meat itself low and slow is the way to go. If they aren't tender then they got too hot!

The photo shows a batch I cooked for almost 5 hours. It made for a great afternoon. :-)

There is a lot of good advice concerning ribs, here, and I definitely agree that boiling ribs before finishing on the BBQ or whatever would be a culinary felony. You're just watering down the flavour. For the same reason, I would never recommend pre-boiling sausage, either. However, I do have a couple of suggestions:
First thing I do when buying ribs is I tear off the tough membrane that adheres against he bone-side of the ribs -- start with a corner using a sharp paring knife or even a slot-nose screwdriver, for example, then pull and it easily comes off. Most people don't do it because it requires some bother, but to me the difference is significant (I prefer not to serve tough anything). Second, I like to dry-rub ribs the night before, then use the Big Green Egg to gently smoke my pork ribs at 220 degrees F for maybe 4 hours, then I take them off, paint them with my BBQ sauce, double-wrap and seal it well in really thick aluminum foil, and "hold" them in the kitchen oven at 200 to 220 degrees F until dinner. You can hold them 4 hours if you want, and they will be really juicy and tender to serve when you want to, with a side of slaw and/or baked beans.
My goodness, life is sweet.
Cheers,
Ron