Baby Back Pork Ribs

Rubbed and Slow-Cooked in the Oven

The latest TV ad for McDonald's McRib sandwich has me longing for the taste of juicy pork ribs, not the disappointing fast food sandwich but meaty, saucy, fall-off-the-bone tender spareribs. How do you like your racks of pork ribs? BBQ'd? Oven baked? Stovetop braised? Cooked all day in a crock pot/slow cooker? Whatever the method, I am convinced that really good ribs require an abundance of time and patience. They just won't be rushed. Some cooks might argue for the 20-minute pressure cooker approach to save time, but I'm not going there with my spareribs. Okay, maybe I'll experiment with a fast batch of sweet and sour appetizer riblets... maybe... someday... but not soon.

This time I coated two racks of Baby Back Pork Ribs with a spicy, homemade dry rub, tucked the serving-sized chunks away in the fridge for hours to absorb some flavor, s-l-o-w I mean really s--l--o--w cooked them in a warm-not-hot oven wrapped in foil for hours, then lightly brushed the meaty side with a sprightly sauce to finish, uncovered, in a moderate oven. They would finish well on the grill, but no one (not mentioning any names here) wanted to man the barbecue for a few minutes just to finish the ribs. No problem, they were delicious  from the oven. Two baby back rib racks were more than enough for five healthy appetites, with a piece or two left for a next-day lunch.

The really big deal was finding a shortcut method to remove the tough silverskin membrane on the bony side of the rack. Why remove it? If you leave it on (1) the rub seasonings won't penetrate the meat and (2) it cooks into an unpleasant, inedible leathery skin on the ribs. Here's the secret. Insert a butter knife or other dull implement under the membrane along one edge and slip it gently toward the opposite edge. Twist and rotate the knife a bit as you move sideways along the length of the rib rack. Presto, that silverskin lifts up and peels away. The internet is packed with posts, even videos, that explain or demonstrate the process, so why didn't I discover this years ago? Sigh.

My dry rub mixes vary depending on whim and what's available in the pantry, but the blends typically include black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, smoky paprika, oregano, thyme, dry mustard and some heat from ground ancho or chipotle chile powder. Cut the rib rack(s) into smaller 2 to 3-rib portions and lightly coat both sides of each chunk with a tablespoon of the rub. Pack the rib pieces into ziploc bags and hold in the refrigerator for at least 4 or 5 hours or even overnight.

Line a rimmed baking sheet or baking pan with two layers of heavy aluminum foil. (You will thank me later for that suggestion.) Place the rib pieces on the foil meaty sides up and not overlapping. Slice a lemon or two into rings and scatter on top of the ribs. Add a little water to the bottom of the pan, maybe half a cup. Use another piece of foil to tent a cover over the top of the meat, sealing the edges to the foil on the bottom. Bake for about 4 hours at 225 degrees F. Uncover and check for tenderness. Lightly coat the meaty top side of each piece with your favorite homemade or bottled sauce and bake at 375 degrees F until the sauce develops a rich mahogany color. This week I used a bottled Hawaiian BBQ sauce and added some lime juice, molasses and a little brown sugar for an almost-tamarind flavor. Serve the extra sauce, warmed, in a pitcher along with the ribs.

How good was that? GOOD, really, really good.. better than good... so good that we enjoyed a second batch of ribs on Sunday with another set of friends. Served with potatoes and a pair of hearty salads, the ribs were still the rock stars of the menu. We barely had room for ice cream and strawberries for dessert. 

Lemon Parsley Sauce

Canadian Bacon and Asparagus Crepes with Lemon Parsley Sauce

Spring is asparagus season, a perfect excuse opportunity to consume pints of hollandaise sauce. Oh, wait. I'm supposed to be cooking healthier foods to lower my triglyceride count and keep RL's heart and arteries in tip top shape. Drat, there goes my favorite Blender Hollandaise with its requisite two sticks of butter and two or three egg yolks per batch. Sigh. "Good bye butter." 

Asparagus adds a sprightly Spring note to countless salads and pasta dishes, all without hollandaise. Roasted or grilled asparagus is delicious without sauce, fresh off the heat and sprinkled with lemon zest or parmesan shreds. But I am going to miss that decidedly decadent hollandaise on veggies, over crab cakes, and topping Eggs Benedict, etc. "Get over it, Dee!" 

I planned to serve asparagus in breakfast crepes with strips of lean Canadian Bacon and top it with a lemony sauce that did not rely on butter. The resulting lemon, parsley, mustard concoction worked, but it's really a work in progress. The recipe needs a little tweaking to improve consistency and appearance. Less cornstarch will be the first adjustment. The unusual color might be due to the green Tabasco sauce or the egg yolk from a friend's Polish hen. Warmed, the sauce had good flavor and spread well over and under the crepes. Chilled, the next day, the sauce was an immobile blob that refused to spread as a sauce. It just sat there, it didn't even jiggle. It redeemed itself later on as a dip for vegetables when thinned with some sour cream. 

While it was definitely not hollandaise, this lemon parsley sauce was flavorful enough that RL said he would cheerfully eat it again. That comment was a huge endorsement, since he was quietly dubious about the whole dish when he arrived at the table. Just in case the whole breakfast crepe thing with That Sauce was a disaster, he started his breakfast with a plate of pickled herring. LOL, that man plans ahead. 

Lemon Parsley Sauce

1 cup low-sodium chicken broth 

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (divided)

lemon zest (optional)

1 generous tablespoon cornstarch

½ tablespoon honey Dijon mustard

1 bunch flat leaf parsley (leaves only, not the long,bare stems)

1 very large egg yolk

1 teaspoon green Tabasco sauce (more to taste)

salt and white pepper, to taste (RL insists some salt is essential)

Place the chicken broth, 1 tablespoon lemon juice and some zest (if you are using zest) in a small saucepan. Add the cornstarch and whisk or stir to incorporate. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently if not constantly, until the sauce clears and thickens somewhat. Keep warm while you work on the other ingredients.

Add the parsley, honey mustard, egg yolk and 1 remaining tablespoon of lemon juice to the jar of a blender and pulse to begin pureeing. With the blender running on a slow speed, slowly add the broth mixture and continue to puree until no visible chunks remain. (Green bits and dots are okay, but not big, fat chunks.) Add green Tabasco, salt and pepper to  taste.

To hold, pour the sauce from the blender back into the small saucepan and use the lowest low burner setting. Stir the sauce occasionally to keep it from clumping on the bottom. Taste again and re-season as needed. Add a pinch of sugar or squirt of honey if the honey mustard needs a boost. (RL always adds more salt and lots more green Tabasco. Me? not so much.)

Note: for the filled crepes I make the crepes ahead of time, or hold a batch of freshly cooked crepes in a warm oven.  Steam or roast the asparagus, heat the strips of Canadian bacon briefly in the micro, and have the sauce warming below a simmer on the stove. For each crepe, fill, roll and transfer to a plate in a warm oven. Repeat until the crepes and filling are gone. Plate and top with a generous portion of the sauce. Serve extra sauce in a pitcher for those who like their crepes well sauced.