southern style sides

Smoking ribs is pointless - they should be braised in the oven with some kind of acidic solution. No amount of dry heat (ie smoking) will break down the massive amounts of connective tissue that are in ribs. As far as sides - coleslaw (and not that silly creamy stuff).. sweet potato salad.

dry rub over night
braised low and slow in tinfoil with a solution of orange juice/margarita mix
use the leftover juices to make your bbq sauce
broil in your oven with the bbq sauce to get that perfect mahogany glaze

I use Alton Brown's recipe. Oh, and he's southern.

No-Backyard Baby Back Ribs - by Alton Brown

Software:
1 full rack/slab baby back ribs
kosher salt
shake number 9 (listed below)
1/2 cup orange juice (not fresh squeezed)
1/2 cup prepared Margarita mix
1/3 cup honey
1/3 cup ketchup
1 tbsp worcestershire sauce
1 tsp espresso powder or instant coffee (freeze dried)
1/8 tsp ground cayenne
Hardware:
paper towels
extra wide, heavy-duty aluminum foil
shallow roasting pan
saucier
kitchen shears (eh.. not really needed in my opinion)
broiler pan

ok.. the dish on the shake:
for 1 rack of ribs - a total of 1/2 to 3/4 cup will suffice - I think
we used 1/4 cup for each 'part'.
5 parts brown sugar
3 parts chile powder
1 part garlic powder
1/2 part ground thyme
1/4 part cayenne
1/4 part allspice

rince the ribs and pat dry with paper towels. Place on a sheet of
extra-wide, heavy duty sluminum foil. Season liberally on both sides
with salt and shake no. 9. Turn the ribs mead-side-down and tightly
seal. Place hte packet in the roastintg pan and refrigerate for 6-12
hours (overnight) turning the packet over once. Preheat oven to 350
degrees. Remove the packet from the fridge and unroll one end, pour
the orange juice and Margarita mix into the packet. see-saw it back
n' forth to evenly distribute liquid.
return the packet to the pan and place in the middle of the oven.
After 1 hour, reduce to 250 degrees and cook for another 2 hours.
[ed. oh god, the smells that come will make you want to pull your hair
out until you get your teeth into them.]

remove the pan from the oven, unroll one end and pour out all the
juices into a saucepan. add the honey, ketchup, worcestershire sauce,
espresso powder, and cayenne.. [ed. there's a LOT of liquid.. so crank
up the heat and keep stirring] Bring mixture to a boil, whisking
until reduced toa glaze that coats a spoon. Remove the pan from heat.
Move oven rack to the next-to-the-top position and turn on the broiler.
Remove the slab from the foil packet and put them on the broiling
pan, meat side up, brush with the glaze... broil about 2-3 minutes...
until the glaze dries up, essentially.. repeat a couple more times
until the ribs are a dark mahogany... one last time on the other side,
and you're set to go. Let the ribs rest a couple minutes at room
temp...

[imported_anacardo]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
OOT is teh great help

[ QUOTE ]

Green beans cooked with fatback and onions


[/ QUOTE ]

also sounds really good. Can I use a hamhock? Instructions?

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes a hamhock would work well.

Has anyone mentioned mac 'n' cheese yet?

[/ QUOTE ]

I demand that macaroni and cheese enter this conversation.

(Flour-and-butter roux. Don't forget the dry mustard.)

[Jeebus]

I like your idea, but I like to fniish them on a fire. Use a small pan and make a layer of ribs over a grill full of coals. Let the ribs sit and biol in the fat that collects.

[ QUOTE ]
I like your idea, but I like to fniish them on a fire. Use a small pan and make a layer of ribs over a grill full of coals. Let the ribs sit and biol in the fat that collects.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'd imagine you could finish 'em off on a hot grill - douse 'em in the bbq sauce over coals. That would be alright.

but.. I'm not sure what the point would be to cook them in their own fat - in a pan. I mean, charcoal adds flavor - so I think the pan defeats the purpose.

[jakethebake]

[ QUOTE ]
Smoking ribs is pointless

[/ QUOTE ]

Clearly you're beyond help.

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Smoking ribs is pointless

[/ QUOTE ]

Clearly you're beyond help.

[/ QUOTE ]

haha.. smoking adds a tiny amount of flavor - but does not deal with the connective tissue issue.

[jakethebake]

[ QUOTE ]
haha.. smoking adds a tiny amount of flavor - but does not deal with the connective tissue issue.

[/ QUOTE ]

You have no idea what you're talking about. I grew up in the BBQ bidness. If you can't get ribs tender by smoking them, you're completely clueless. Also, smoking adds more than "a tiny bit of flavor". If that's what it adds when you do it, then again, you're cluless.

[Dominic]

fried okra is awesome!

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
haha.. smoking adds a tiny amount of flavor - but does not deal with the connective tissue issue.

[/ QUOTE ]

You have no idea what you're talking about. I grew up in the BBQ bidness. If you can't get ribs tender by smoking them, you're completely clueless. Also, smoking adds more than "a tiny bit of flavor". If that's what it adds when you do it, then again, you're cluless.

[/ QUOTE ]

sure, you can get ribs 'tender' by smoking them.. but you can't get them to fall off the bone... and I prefer my connective tissue to not be solid when I'm eating it.

Unless you're doing some other prep to the ribs - like using a brine or smoking them in some kind of sauce - then there's no way you can break down that connective tissue. Literally, when I'm done cooking ribs - they fall apart - I have a serious problem taking them from the oven to a plate - because it just falls apart.

[jakethebake]

[ QUOTE ]
sure, you can get ribs 'tender' by smoking them.. but you can't get them to fall off the bone... and I prefer my connective tissue to not be solid when I'm eating it.

Unless you're doing some other prep to the ribs - like using a brine or smoking them in some kind of sauce - then there's no way you can break down that connective tissue. Literally, when I'm done cooking ribs - they fall apart - I have a serious problem taking them from the oven to a plate - because it just falls apart.

[/ QUOTE ]

You're wrong, sir.