BBQ Spare Ribs

Courtesy of Plated Perfection

This recipe evolved because my good friend Tim (aka T-Pain), bought me his favorite BBQ marinade from Buffalo :) It's called Chiavetta's Barbeque Marinade. I decided to marinade some spare ribs with this and some other things and then bake it off in the oven...since I lack the summer weather and grill outdoors. These only took about 1 hour to cook (I only had about 1.75 pounds). This was kind of a "throw random things together" type of thing, but they came out pretty good! I served these with some seasoned potatoes and a dipping sauce (leftover marinade). Please Note: This is based on a pretty small recipe. Make sure to increase if need be.

• 1.5-2 pounds of spare ribs
• 1 tb brown sugar
• 1 cup Chiavetta's BBQ Marinade
• few dashes of garlic salt, onion powder, salt, pepper, meat tenderizer (change at your discretion)

Line a baking dish with foil, big enough to create a tent over the ribs. About 2 hours prior to cooking, place the ribs on the foil and season with the garlic salt, onion powder, salt, pepper, and brown sugar. Pour the marinade over the ribs. When ready to cook, season with meat tenderizer and poke a few holes in the meat. Pour enough water in the baking dish to where it's about 1/4 inch. This will help create steam. Fold the foil over to create a tent over the meat, but do not vacuum seal as this will give it no room to breathe.  Cook for 45 minutes at 375 degrees. Take the ribs out, flip them, baste it with some more sauce, and cover. Continue cooking for 15 minutes. Take out of the oven and continue covering with the foil to keep warm. Serve with dipping sauce (recipe below).

Dipping Sauce

• 1 cup Chiavetti's BBQ marinade
• 1 tb honey
• few dashes of onion powder and garlic salt
• 1 tb brown sugar
• 1 tb cajun marinade

What? A Pork Butt?

Courtesy of a Family Recipe
I am aware that there are many kinds of BBQ, but my all time favorite for as long as I can remember is North Carolina style. This probably has something to do with the fact that my family, and my friends, would travel to the Outer Banks at least once a summer. This was our tradition! Even though I now live in DC, I still try to get back when I can :) Nothing beats it...in my opinion anyway :) One of my favorite things to do is pick up authentic BBQ on the way home so that I can bring some OBX with me. However, my Mom made these a while back and it tastes delicious, and the sauce reminds me of good ole' North Carolina. The perk -- this way, I can save myself about a 7 hour drive.
This does involve using a crock pot, so have one of those on hand.

Ingredients
2 onions, quartered
2 tb brown sugar
1 tb paprika
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1 (4-6 lb) pork butt/shoulder roast (Nick located a 5 pounder)
3/4 cup cider vinegar
4 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
hamburger buns

Place onions in crock pot. Combine brown sugar, paprika, salt and pepper. Rub over roast.

Combine vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, red pepper flakes, sugar, dry mustard, garlic salt, and cayenne pepper. Mix well.

Drizzle 1/3 of the vinegar mixture over the roast. Cover and refrigerate remaining vinegar sauce.

Cover crock pot and cook on low for 10-12 hours on LOW or 4-6 hours on HIGH. In my case, this took about 6 hours. Drizzle 1/3 of reserved vinegar over roast during last half hour of cooking. Remove meat and onions and drain. Chop or shred meat  and chop onions. Serve meat and onion mixture on a toasted bun. Feel free to add more sauce if desired, it does have a little bit of a kick! Top with cole slaw, if desired :)

Pizza Party

I had a few people over before going out for some homemade pizza (well, I used dough balls from Harris Teeter). I made a BBQ chicken pizza and a pizza split between pepperoni and sausage. I apologize for the half eaten pizza photos :)

BBQ Chicken Pizza:
Chop and saute a shallot, half a green pepper, and 2 cloves of garlic. Set aside. Season and bake two thin chicken breasts on 350 for about 10 minutes. I seasoned the chicken first with Smoky BBQ rub.  Set aside once done. Knead out the pizza dough with flour, poke a few holes with a fork, brush with olive oil and bake at 375 for about 5-10 minutes. Brush the pizza with your favorite BBQ sauce. Top with shredded smoked gouda, sauteed vegetables, and chicken. Bake for approximately 10 minutes to melt everything together.

Traditional Pizza with Pepperoni and Sausage:
Cook half a pound of mild Italian sausage and set aside. Knead out the pizza dough with flour, poke a few holes with a fork, brush with olive oil and bake at 375 for about 5-10 minutes. Brush the pizza with your favorite pizza sauce. Top with shredded mozzarella/Italian cheese blend, pepperoni and sausage. Bake for approximately 10 minutes to melt everything together.