FLOWER POT KITCHEN: ST LOUIS BBQ BASTED RIBS

25 Oct 2020

ST LOUIS BBQ BASTED RIBS

No Smoker or Fire Pit...

Not a problem, I have the fire pit, smoker and wood fired oven but living in the UK what I don’t have is the weather ! It’s grey, gloomy, very wet and windy all weekend and my family wants ribs. Well the kitchen oven will just have to do.

Liquid Smoke!

To or not too is the question ? I was quite anti liquid smoke, the purest in me would rather go without than FAKE IT! However after realising that my assumption it was a chemical concoction was based on my own uneducated opinion I decided to learn about how liquid smoke becomes liquid smoke. Not all liquid smoke originally know as “Wood Vinegar” are created equally. In 1885 E H Wright inaugurated the distribution of wood vinegar under the new name WRIGHTS LIQUID SMOKE. Made from the ancient methods of collecting condensation vapour via the thermal decomposition of wood in a low oxygen manor while making charcoal means this is a true natural product that has further been proven so in a US Government court case the Wright’s won on the labelling of liquid smoke, it is just liquid smoke (wood vinegar). Whereas the commercial industry production of liquid smoke is often forced to speed up the mass production used by the commercial food industry with the addition of food additives.

These dry rub BBQ ribs are fall of the bone succulent tender and smokey, slathered with a Southern sweet BBQ sauce with just a touch of Carolina vinegar based BBQ sauce, these will render your family and friends silent...well apart from the glorious lip smacking these are so good sounds!

Prep time 10 minutes / Cooking time 4 hrs

Ingredients

(serves 4-6)

4 St Louis cut whole ribs

25 ml liquid smoke (optional)

100g BBQ dry rub spice mix

(homemade recipe below)

2 ltr coke a cola (or water)

(homemade recipe below)

1 bottle sweet BBQ sauce

1 bottle Carolina vinegar based BBQ sauce

(homemade recipe below)

Pre heat your oven 160 C / 320 F. Turn the ribs over and peel of the silver skin lining that covers the back of the ribs. This is not essential but makes the ribs more pleasurable to eat. Using a small pointed knife at the bottom left corner of the first rib bone, slip the knife under the skin on the bone, lift up so you have a lip and the using your hand peel the skin off the ribs, the skin should just peel away like a piece of paper.

Rub the bbq spice all over the ribs, lay the ribs meat side up in a large deep roasting tin, side by side, I use two roasting tins for 4 ribs. Pour in the liquid smoke and coke a cola fill only to half way up the ribs, ensuring that the top meat side of the ribs is not in the liquid, cover well with tin foil and cook in the oven for 3-4 hours, checking the ribs at 3 hours to see if the are tender.

Drain off the bbq coke a cola rib stock into a saucepan, this can be used to make a gorgeous bbq sauce, recipe below.

Warm the store bought sweet bbq sauce with a dash of the thin Carolina vinegar bbq sauce to your taste and generously baste the ribs all over cover and pop back in the oven at 120 C / 240 F to keep warm and infuse the flavours for 15 minutes. Serve whole or if individual ribs baste again with the warm bbq sauce all over.

If your going to make your own bbq sauce from the stock then keep the ribs warm while you make the bbq sauce.

Homemade BBQ Sauce

500ml coke a cola rib stock

1 1/2 cup tomato ketchup

1/4 cup soft brown sugar

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

1 tsp chipotle powder

1 tsp smoked paprika

1 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

Salt and pepper to taste

Place all the ingredients in a saucepan combine and bring to a simmer, adjust the seasoning and chilli powder to taste. If you feel the sauce is to thin, a little corn starch slurry will thicken the sauce further.

Homemade BBQ Dry Rub

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 tbsp paprika

1 tbsp smoked paprika

1 tbsp chipotle powder

1 tbsp garlic powder

1 tbsp onion powder

1 tbsp mustard powder

1 tbsp sea salt

1 tbsp black pepper

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1/4 tsp celery salt (optional)

Combine all ingredients together.

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LIFE MY PASSION

Welcome to my daily life of cooking, one winters day many years ago my family and I were all inspired by a back to back rainy day of River Cottage this got us to stop talking about and start actually doing, suddenly three weeks later eight vegetable beds were dug, greenhouse erected and our first vegetables were propagating, this was the start to raising and growing our own food, our fabulous son Oscar changed our path in life which lead us to sell our small thriving restaurant of 10 yrs and to start our new life (Terrifying!) a life of the self sufficient in touch with nature and seasons, taking a step back and looking forward to a slower change of pace and making the most of every moment.

My passion for cooking was stronger than ever and having time at home with Oscar I found I had a new direction and I was no longer striving for perfection, I was suddenly very passionate for the enjoyment of the other side of food, something I had not realised, being the Chef/Cook and every other duty of your own small restaurant made me see that I never actually took time to cook what I wanted!

So there I was muddy boots and hands digging deep in more than one sense and I found myself transported back in time to where everyone grew some of their own food, it is a wonderful world with a real sense of achievement and loss, Slugs Snails and Caterpillars! But thats another story! Childhood memories of summers when I lived with my grand parents reminded me of so much that I had learnt about the make do and mend generation that I had forgotten.

Now as a family we love our free wild food days where we gather what nature has provided, have gone from being mini mini garden urban small holders, who did raised pigs at home because we could not wait to find land and supporting ourselves from our garden to now owning a very small farm that allows us to grow more vegetables for the whole of our family and neighbours, raise our own gorgeous Gloucestershire Old Spot pigs, (Sausages!) and pets! Dorset Down sheep, chickens for eggs and pet goats! Suddenly having large quantities of produce started to wake up the Cook in me!

The Cook was awake that part of me that wants to cook for the masses and I found myself setting up Flowerpot Kitchen, a Farmers Market Stall, I wanted to use our honest raised meats and make old fashioned pork pies, rabbit pies and game pies from the local game keeper along with old fashioned techniques and the best hot water crust pastry. This in turn grew to a small cottage industry from home weekly supplying three farm shops and a deli along with also attending three farmers markets A few years later there came a time when my son Oscar's health changed and it was an easy decision to stop.

I still hold the occasional pop up 40 seater restaurant or gourmet lunch which we do for local charities for the love of sharing food and to remind that Cook in me why I love our go slower self sufficient life!

So here I am sitting amoung the vegetables watching the chickens loving that every season nature teaches me something new and that nature is in charge! She has taught me to just go with it and grow. Give it a try from a tray of salad on your windowsill to a few tomato plants it all counts.