Plated + Served: Chipotle Rubbed and Glazed Spareribs

What a great weekend in sports!

What’s your pleasure? Play-off baseball…check! Smash-mouth college football, with heated rivalries like Texas vs. OU? Step right up! (Though, being from Texas, Mama’s still smarting a bit from that one). NFL football upsets that nobody saw coming? (Heck, even Tim Tebow completed a pass.) You got it! …

And here’s the best part…it’s only going to get better! 

So, with all this sports “spectating”, here’s a great barbecue recipe that’ll ensure you don’t miss any of the action. Prepare the ribs in the oven ahead of time and when you’re ready to eat, finish them on the grill for about 10 minutes to get that charred-crust tastiness. 

If you love sauce, double the recipe so you’ll have more than enough lip-smacking deliciousness to smear on the ribs. 

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to get ready for Game Two of the Cards-Giants series!

Chipotle Rubbed and Glazed BBQ Spareribs

prep: 20 minutes
cook: about 2 hours

for the ribs you’ll need…
2 racks spareribs (about 8 lbs.), with excess fat trimmed
3 tablespoons finely minced chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 teaspoons salt

for the sauce you’ll need…
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup diced onion
1 cup catsup
½ cup cider vinegar
½ cup orange juice
2 tablespoons chopped chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (or more to taste!)
1 teaspoon salt

let's get to it...
Preheat oven to 325°F.
Place ribs on baking sheet lined with foil.
Blend peppers, sugar and salt together in small bowl. Rub both sides of the ribs with the mixture. Cover baking sheet tightly with foil. Roast for 1 hour. If meat pulls away from the bone and the fat is melted, the ribs are ready. Otherwise cook for 15 to 20 minutes longer. Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly.
Prepare the sauce while the ribs are roasting. Heat the olive oil in a medium size saucepan over medium-high heat for 1 minute. Add the onion and sauté for 1 minute. Stir in the vinegar, catsup, orange juice, chipotle peppers and salt. Simmer sauce for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.

(Stop here if you want to grill the ribs later in the week. They’ll hold for up to 2-days. Let the ribs cool and then remove them from the baking sheet and wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate. Pour cooled sauce into a quart-size Ziploc® bag and refrigerate. When ready to heat the ribs, proceed as directed below.)

Heat grill to medium-high.
Brush ribs with sauce and place on grill. Cook for 5 to 7 minutes or until they. Turn and brush with more sauce. Cook for 5 minutes longer. Remove from grill and serve immediately or wrap in foil to keep warm.

cooking know how: To cut ribs, hold upright on a cutting board and slice between the bones.