Naughty Sunday Dinner: Sweet Chili Root Beer Ribs with Grilled Corn with Spiced Butter

I love ribs. They're cheap and yummy to eat. My children love them some pork, so I was sure this would be a hit! It's not so healthy, but hey Sunday is a cheat on healthy food week. Though healthy cooking/eating is just as wonderful as the naughty stuff!

I got the recipe from one of my favorite cookery magazines, FineCooking. The original recipe called for the ribs to be baby back ribs and grilled. Living in Germany, finding baby back ribs is a task!! We could have bought the frozen stuff, but this was last minute, so we went with spare ribs. Also the original recipe called for a sauce called kecap manis. The commissary does not stock that (not surprisingly) and as it was Sunday, all German shops are closed so I had to come up with my own replacement. Kecap  Manis is a sweet thick Indonesian soy sauce made with palm sugar, galangal, anise, garlic, and among other ingredients (FineCooking, pg 88, June/July 2010 issue). I am sure you stateside dwellers will have no problem finding this. I, living in Germany may have to tour the Asian Shops in my city! Lastly we roasted the ribs as our grill in on its last leg and slow cooking ribs for 2 hours would not be the greatest idea! We felt our grill could only handle grilling the corn.

 Also the butter for the corn was supposed to be flavored using tasso- a smoked cajun pork, bit I just omitted the tasso ham altogether. Again, it's something else I am sure is difficult to find here. If you want to use meat to flavor the butter, and can not find tasso, look for any smoked ham.

So here is my version of the recipe. I hope you all enjoy!

Sweet Chili Garlic Root Beer Spare Ribs
Adapted from FineCooking
1 rack of Spare ribs, silverskin removed***
Kosher salt
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup plus 2 Tbs. brown sugar
1/4 cup root beer
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup chili garlic sauce
2 Tbs. hot chili sauce also known as sriaicha


Let the ribs sit at room temperature for about 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 300F/150C

Sprinkle the meat side of the ribs with 2 tsp. salt. Arrange the ribs bone side down on a shallow roasting tray. Roast ribs about 2 hours. To test if they’re done, insert a knife into the rib meat—if it slides out without pulling at the meat, they’re ready. The meat should be tender but not falling off the bone.

Increase the temperature of the indirect grill fire to 350°F. In a medium bowl, mix the brown sugar, root beer, honey and both chili sauces. Set aside 1/2 cup of the sauce for serving. Brush the ribs on all sides with the remaining sauce. Cover rack with foil, then return the ribs to the oven. Cook another 30 minutes tuning once.

Let the ribs rest, tented with foil, for about 10 minutes before cutting and serving with the reserved sauce for dipping or for drizzling over the ribs.




Grilled Corn with Spiced Butter
2 oz. (4 Tbs.) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. onion powder
1/2 tsp. sweet pimentón (smoked paprika)
1/2 tsp. honey
1/4 tsp. ground mace
1/4 tsp. dried sage
1/8 tsp. cayenne
1/8 tsp. dried thyme
2 medium ears corn, shucked
Kosher salt


In a small bowl, mix the butter, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, honey, mace, sage, cayenne, and thyme until well combined. (The tasso butter can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks or frozen for up to 2 months.) 

Prepare a gas or charcoal grill fire for direct cooking over medium (450°F) heat. Grill the corn, turning occasionally, until tender and browned in spots, about 10 minutes. (The corn can be grilled 1 day ahead.)

Cut the corn kernels from the cobs. In a 12-inch skillet over medium heat, melt 2 Tbs. of the tasso butter. Add the corn and toss until heated through, 2 to 3 minutes. Season to taste with salt. Transfer to a warm serving bowl, garnish with a dollop of the remaining butter, and serve immediately.


****SILVERSKIN REMOVAL
On the boneside, there's a thin white membrane on the ribs. it keep flavors from penetrating and the ribs from getting to their optimum moistyness yes, I said moistyness! So with a paper towel, pull that baby off. It's easy. If you need help, here's a link showing you how: http://www.finecooking.com/item/16067/how-to-remove-silverskin-from-ribs