I’ve never roasted ribs in the oven before, but inspired by our recent meal at La Casa, I wanted to give it a go.
It’s usually hard to buy a full rack of American ribs (as they’re known here – I believe in the US they’re called “baby back ribs”). They’re normally sold cut in half, but this time the gorgeous Mateja at Gojak Butchers in Haberfield had two large pieces in the coolroom. I wanted a sweet, sticky sauce to cook these in and ended up concocting my own marinade:
- ½ cup tomato ketchup (we used our homemade roasted version)
- ¼ cup runny honey
- 1 tablespoon (4 teaspoons) light soy
- 1 tablespoon (4 teaspoons) Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon (4 teaspoons) white wine vinegar
Quantities above are for a kilogram of ribs – I had two kilos, so I doubled the amounts above.
Generous spoonfuls of the marinade were rubbed over the pork an hour or so before baking, and the remainder was used to baste the meat as it roasted. We served them with potato wedges baked in duck fat.
Ribs and chips – Pete described the meal as homemade fast food!
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
Celia: I like the sound of your marinade which I must try out once I have made your tomato sauce. It would be a good alternative to our favourite marinade, which comes from Nigella Lawson’s book ‘Feast’ for the recipe Finger Lickin’ ribs’. Her marinade includes pineapple juice, star anise, cinnamon stick, root ginger, chilli, soy sauce, lime juice and molasses – and it is amazing! As you say, the ultimate home-made fast food. I often put a sealed bagful of the ingredients together the night or morning before. Emptied out, they can go straight in the oven to cook quickly when we come in late. The recipe can be found by googling, but I fully intend to add it to my own site in due course, slightly tweaked as always! (BTW I never use ribs – too much bone for not enough meat – using spare rib pork chops instead.)
hopeeternal
‘Meanderings through my Cookbook’
http://www.hopeeternalcookbook.wordpress.com
Hope, thanks for pointing out Nigella’s recipe – I’ve never seen it before. We love the boney ribs – although we all end up covered in sauce..hahaha
Finally got round to making this yesterday – using some of my/your tomato ketchup (passata version). Family are demanding a repeat asap so a definite hit. I used lean belly pork slices – think this would be a great hot buffet dish if slices cut into chunks.
h/e
Hope, that’s great to know! Thanks…so glad you all enjoyed it! :)
this my kids would love!!!!
Sounds delicious, looks delicious. Now I’m hungry even though I’ve just had the new John Galliano macaron for Laduree – rose and ginger.
They look REALLY good!
Oh C!!!! My mouth is watering just reading this. I love, love, LOVE ribs and chips! And these look divine. I’m printing this recipe for P right now… and then I’m off to buy some baby backs.
I love pork ribs, haven’t made them in a long time…. I also make them in the oven, slow and long roasting, they are delicious….
thanks for the reminder, I will have to make them when I go home later this month
I do love your concocted marinate – yummy! I would probably have quadrupled the mixture and scraped up the remainder from the baking dish to use as dipping sauce for the potato wedges. Bad – I know!
:-) Mandy
Looks delish- I use a marinade close to yours- only I haven’t made the ketchup yet, and I add molasses to the mix. I love the flavor of molasses in a barbecue sauce!
Pete’s right- if the fast food comes from the best barbecue place in town!
Those are quite beautiful – but now you have to tell us how you avoided the BBQ bugaboo of a sweet marinade burning during baking! What was your oven’s temp, and how long did you cook your ribs?
Those really are nice ribs – I think I’m getting hungry.
Nothing better than homemade fast food!
Wicked and I will be making some soon, funny I looked at pork ribs the other day and thought I needed some but I put them back, so have to return. I like to serve them with steamed rice just so we can extend and enjoy the saucy coating a little more.
Celia, can you please arrange for a rack of these lovely ribs to be sent over to me? Or would you mind terribly if I turned up on your doorstep for this? :D
Aleida, Anna, Kavey, thank you! :)
Dan, you know where I am, get yourself back here and I will bake as many racks of ribs as you can eat.. :)
Sally, I’d love to know how you do yours!
Mandy, thank you! It’s amazing how much sauce gets used up in the cooking process!
Heidi, I never thought to add molasses! Thanks for the suggestion!
Brydie, Roz, thank you!
Lorraine, anytime girlfriend! :)
Doc, I knew someone would ask me! :) I held off saying because I really am a novice at this, so I’m still finding my way a bit.
What we did which worked quite well was we placed the ribs in a lined pan, curve side down, like this (_) and covered them in foil, then baked them in a 150C/300F fan forced oven for about 30 minutes. Then I turned them over – concave up – and basted them with more sauce, and finished them in a 200C/400F oven for another 10 – 15 minutes or until they were all sticky – I basted a couple more times during the end bit as well, to keep them moist. I think the initial lower heat under foil helps them to steam a bit and keeps them a bit more tender.
I’d love to know if there’s a better way to do this, from anyone who has more experience in roasting ribs! Thank you.. :)
I’m so glad Doc asked the question, because I always burn the ribs when I do them (still eat them though!) those look just dandy ! In fact double dandy plus :)
Am only just discovering the benefits of part steaming/pot roasting in the oven all sorts of meats and then uncovering the meat to get that nice roasted look while keeping the meat itself succulent. I read somewhere that recipes are just lists of ingredients and what counts are techniques. I tend to get very stuck in how I cook things and roasting in the classic english way was one of them.
I haven’t done your whole chicken in the pot to make soup yet, but it’s at the very top of my list, just waiting to find a really good chicken to do it with.
Jo, I made these again last night for an extended family dinner, this time with half racks of ribs (I couldn’t buy them full width – over here they’re usually cut in half). Did the same thing again – baked for half hour under foil at 150C with fan, then turned the over, uncovered and basted, and baked at 200C with fan until they were done, basting regularly. It worked well and they didn’t burn! Added bonus also that the oven didn’t get too dirty! :)
Never had ribs but I have heard nothing but good things about them.
Lee, they’re most fine. I have another rib recipe as well posted here, which you might like! :)
Celia – ribs and chips, what could be better!
I’ve made your chicken soup with a whole bird and it was lovely, although I found it needed more salt. Never the less, it made two wonderful meals.
Also your filled focaccia was a huge hit with everyone and will be made again!
A, thanks for trying the soup! I think the amount of salt it needs depends a bit on your pot and how much water you need to add to cover the bird. And hooray, glad the foc was a hit! :)
Thought that I won’t have withdrawal symptoms after eating some homemade ribs last weekend…BUT..yours look so good that I’m craving it all over again….Thank goodness there’s no picture of the chips on this page! ;)
Hi Celia,
Doyles at the Fish Market…so that’s what people do at the end of exams…we went to Japanese!!! Oh and the ribs look fantastic:)
I love the idea of the honey, what a nice addition to the mix. I love the sweet stickiness of pork done like this, pass the bibs!
i would love to have dinner at your place… your creations are always amaizing! thank you for sharing.
Mmm…if you keep this up you will wake up one day to find me begging at your back door step (think Labrador and you will be close.).
Soy, thank you! I don’t think we can ever get enough ribs in this house..hahaha
Rob, yes, how wonderful is it that it’s all over? ;-)
Chef, thank you – the honey is integral, I think, gives the ribs a luscious stickiness. I think Heidi’s suggestion of molasses would work too…
Blackbook, thank you! :)
JC, like a wandering minstrel? Reciting poetry for your supper? That would be fun.. ;-)
My goodness these look fantastic! I haven’t cooked ribs before because I’ve always been unsure about cutting them up after cooking (probably a silly thing but it’s been enough to make me slide on by even though they look great). So at the risk of sounding silly – how do you cut them up? Do they slice up like lamb racks?
Sarah, they’re very easy to cut up – you just slice between the ribs! They’re definitely finger food though – almost impossible to eat with a knife and fork! :)
I’ve never cooked ribs before, but have loved them when I’ve had them in the US (when they’re homecooked that is) ;)
Thanks for sharing this.., looks awesome.
Cheers, Anna, I reckon this is the sort of thing that might go down well at one of your big family do’s! :)
How good are ribs. I have never cooked them at home, cause the marinade usually has about 20 ingredients in it, but your marinade sounds great and easy. I think it’s time to get those ribs in the oven!
Susan, I made these again on the weekend, using standard American ribs (the half width racks), and they were even easier to cook. I keep trying to think what I could add to this marinade to make it better, but can’t think of anything. Plus the Worcestershire sauce is a fairly complex blend to begin with!
Looks like same recipe I always use, hate that beef ribs are not as available as pork ribs, always have to hunt or order from butcher in Qld but can find at Swift abbotoir shop in Tasmania. Mouth is watering again, I will be giving my butcher a dressing down but I know he will say he does not have enough call for them!
Doing these again for State of Origin tonight. Our big boy has decided they are much more civilised than pies. Go the Maroons!
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