Fall off the Bone Spare Ribs

Before Blogging Throwback Thursdays is still going strong.  Click here to go to the party.

Every year we camp at Darien Lake for Memorial Day weekend.  Even though the kids still have a month of school left, it's our unofficial kickoff to summer.  I made these Fall of the Bone Spare Ribs ahead of time and froze them to put in our cooler to be warmed up over the fire.  I figure Ribs are perfect for a Memorial Day Barbecue and wanted to share it in time for anyone looking for barbecue ideas for Monday.(I wrote this post ahead, and scheduled it to launch while we're camping.)

Here's how they're made.  I scored the back side of the ribs, sprinkled on salt, pepper, and paprika on both sides, and fit them in a large roasting pan on a rack over 1 can of coke + 1/2 cup wine.  Usually I just use coke, but I failed to finish a bottle the night before, so just added it to the bottom of the pan.

I bake these at 215 for 4ish hours.  With the temp that low, there's a ton of wiggle room on timing.  If you're digging in the garden and forget, it's not a big deal.  When I pull them out of the oven, I drain the pan into a medium saucepan.  You could skim the fat, but I don't.

I added 1 cup apple butter, 1/2 cup brown sugar, several turns of the pepper grinder, 1 tbsp of garlic powder, 3 tbsps apple cider vinegar, 1 tbsp worcestershire sauce, and 1/4 cup hot pepper jelly.

Bring the mixture to a boil, and simmer it until it thickens up a bit and coats the back of a spoon.

Meanwhile slice apart the ribs.

Place them in a ziplock baggie with 2/3 of the sauce.  Let it marinate for several hours or overnight.

If it's not raining cats & dogs, throw the marinated ribs on the grill over indirect heat, but if it is monsooning outside, arrange the ribs on a rack in a roasting pan and bake at 375 for 45 minutes.

Reduce the reserved sauce to a thick & gooey consistency for brushing on the finished ribs.  After pulling them out of the oven, or off the grill, brush the reduced sauce all over the ribs.

Thanks for popping in and cooking with me.  I'm linking this up to Gluten-Free Homemaker's Gluten-Free Wednesdays.