MMmmmm...mmmm Good!

Happy Thursday everyone!  If you follow me on Facebook...well I apologize ahahaha...for the crazy stories, shenanigans and other random posts I put y'all thru LOL.  I am nothing if not a SHARE-ER...I like to share pretty much everything (well not THAT everything but within reason...I'm not THAT kinda girl geez)!  I also like to take pics of food that I've cooked or have placed before me (my kids have learned to NOT touch their food until Mom has taken the pics).  I love to cook...not much of a baker though...I can bake, but I just don't as we never eat many baked goods in our home (yes shake your head but its true).  It ends up getting thrown away so I figure why waste the time, I got other things to do.  But Texas Brownies are one treat that I make that ALWAYS end up getting eaten...usually in one day LOL!  I think because we eat dinner later than most...around 7:30-8 pm every night...so my husband can join us is why we don't eat dessert much.  I feel that sit down dinners 4-5 nights a week are EXTREMELY important...especially with our kids being teens and always doing their own thing nowadays.  At dinner we get time to act nutty, TRY to use proper etiquette...ahem...and talk about our day and discuss sports, friends, school and any other number of topics...some topics that might make your eyes roll backwards too ;)  Because my hubby commutes to & from DC everyday he doesn't get home till later so the teens have a lil' snack when they get home to tide them over and then whine about dinner until we sit down to eat (you'd think we were starving them).  Or if its sports season for them we eat after practice which is usually late as well.  My kids will be off on their own soon so I'm trying to suck in every minute of availability I have with them...because we all know that time passes WAY too quickly and I don't want to feel like I missed a thing...well some things I don't mind missing...heehee!

So I took a picture of some BBQ ribs I fixed the other night and put them on Facebook and a ton of you asked for me to share the recipe.  I have been cooking them awhile now and finally perfected them in "my eyes" and my family's LOL!  They were soooo good...the meat literally just fell off the bone and were so juicy and tender.  And the BBQ sauce to die for..no I do NOT use bottled sauce but I will not judge you if you do ;)  So this recipe may not appeal to everyone but it is how I make them and love them.  Please remember that my measurements are APPROXIMATE because I am not a person that measures when she cooks...I add a dab of this and a dab of that till I get the flavor I'm looking for (yes, yes I am one of those cooks...sorry).  So you may have to play around with the ingredients till they suit YOUR tastes...and you may like them spicier than me...I like 'em to have a little kick but I can't handle anything too spicy!

So here we go!

This is the dutch oven pot I use (6 qt by Lodge)....it was around $70 and it has a great weight and has held up fabulously for many cookin's.   Yes I looked at Le Creuset and yes I like them, but at the time they weren't in my budget and you know what?  This one works great and doesn't need replacing yet so I will keep on using it until the day it doesn't work anymore LOL!  (it comes in other colors too, but red is my fave)

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Suzanne's BBQ Ribs Recipe

Ingredients:

-3-5 lbs of baby back ribs

-1.5 large yellow sweet onion (sliced)

-3-4 TBS of butter *yes real butter*

-Tabasco sauce (3-4 good shakes)

-1 can/bottle of beer (the darker the better)

-3-4 cups of ketchup

-2-3 TBS of Worcestershire Sauce (or a bunch of shakes of it as I like to say)

-approx 1/3 to 2/3 cup of Brown Sugar (if you like sweeter use more than 1/3 cup)

-Red Pepper Flakes (however many shakes you like, I do about 4 shakes)

-2-3 fresh garlic cloves crushed (depending on how much garlic you love)

-1.5 tsp dried mustard

Instructions:

-pre-heat your oven to 250 degrees

-Warm up your dutch oven on the stovetop and put in your butter (I use real butter, I don't like the fake stuff period, moderation people..its all about moderation), as its melting add all your sliced onions and cook them until they soften and get clear.

-I cut my rib racks (gasp, yes I really do) into 4-5 rib sections

-once onions are done add Ketchup, Tabasco sauce, Worcestershire Sauce, Brown Sugar, Dried Mustard, & Red Pepper flakes and stir to mix!

-Then add in the 1/2 cup of the Beer...why beer?  I dunno...LOL..but I add it to a lot of slow cooked foods (like my tasty chili) and it always keeps food moist while cooking and gives a good flavor which I like.  I use Samuel Adams most of the time...I don't drink beer (uck, go figure) but we always have some on hand for guests.  You can of course skip this step...and you do know the alcohol content cooks out...so no worries no one will get drunk off this dish (I know you were wishin' it was so, but sadly you will not)  ;)

-crush your garlic cloves...I use a Pampered Chef Garlic press but you can set the cloves on a cutting board and smash with the side of a knife as well.  Easy peasy...fresh garlic is always more potent than powder so make sure you don't overdo it. (unless you need to keep vampires at bay...at which point I say the more garlic the better)

-If you notice the mixture is too watery, you can add a few TBS of tomato paste to the mix.  I never do and its always ok at the end, but that's in case you find it too watery...cuz I'm full of good tips like that my friends ;)

-Mix all those ingredients and let it simmer for about 10-15 minutes...mmmm it really starts smelling good now...have a cookie so your tummy doesn't growl at this point!

-Then add in your ribs and stir; make sure the ribs are coated REAL GOOD with the BBQ sauce mixture before covering.

-Now cover it all up with the lid and put it in your pre-heated oven (you did that right? don't forget to pre-heat...sigh...if you forgot to preheat turn your oven on broil to heat it up real quick..another Suz tip)

and here's the kicker.....

put it in for 3.5-4 hours and DO NOT PEEK INSIDE!  I MEAN IT!  That dutch oven collects all the moisture and heat inside of itself and cooks those ribs till they are juicy and ready.  If you peek on them you will defeat the dutch oven's purpose in life...and they won't be as good.  So DON'T go opening that oven you hear me...just let 'em cook!  So that gives you plenty of time to do other things that need doin'!

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What do I serve them with?  Well usually a green...I did green beans with special Suzanne sauce (you want that recipe...its good...soooo good hee hee), hot bread/rolls and broccoli-cheese-rice.  Sometimes we do greens salad or in summer a cucumber-vinegar salad.  But the ribs are the star baby...mmmm mmmm good :)

Eat & Enjoy!