A friend came over for dinner this weekend and we decided to make ribs. We went back and forth for almost an hour trying to decide what to make for dinner - we started with Thai and Indian cuisine and somehow ended up with ribs. We couldn't think of anything that would be relatively easy to make and wouldn't require too much attention or effort. Then Alex remembered that I had sent him a recipe from Steamy Kitchen for some baby back ribs about a month ago. It seemed like a good option because we could just throw it in the oven and go hang out. Good call hon. As sides for the ribs we threw together some spicy coleslaw and buttermilk cornbread. Rather than using one of the recipes that we have made in the past for cornbread (and there have been a few), I decided to try something new. I wanted a plain, but moist cornbread to go with the ribs and coleslaw. While puttering around on the internet for some inspiration for the cornbread, I found a buttermilk cornbread recipe on Allrecipes with some of the strangest directions I have ever seen. So I decided to go ahead and make it because that's just the way I roll. We also made dessert, but I will post about that later.
According to Jaden Hair of Steamy Kitchen, there are two camps when it comes to ribs - those who want the meat to be fall off the bone tender, and those who want a little "bite" and "chew" to their ribs. Alex is decidedly in the second camp. These ribs are as well. I tend to like my ribs a little on the more tender side - I don't need the meat to fall right off the bone, but I don't really want any resistance in the meat when I go to bite it off the bone. Does that make sense? Anyway, I liked the ribs, thought they were interesting (if a little sweet), but I would probably cook them low and slow next time for a much longer period of time so that they get a little more tender. I would probably also cut down on the amount of brown sugar slightly since the maple glaze gives the ribs plenty of sweetness. Considering this was our first attempt at making baby back ribs, I think it went really well. As far as the spicy coleslaw went, it was vinegary and spicy. I tend to not like coleslaws that are mayonnaise-based, so I decided to make an apple cider vinegar-based dressing and add just a tiny bit of mayo for creaminess. If I had thought about it I might have cut back on the vinegar a little bit and maybe added some lime juice. I also would have adjusted the seasonings. I saw some recipes for sweet and spicy coleslaw that I might try out next time. And as for the cornbread, I really enjoyed it. It was on the sweet side, but I thought that it was really nice. I might cut back on the amount of sugar just a little bit and throw in some frozen (or fresh) corn for texture and go with it. The cornbread turned out nice and moist and is a nice basic recipe that you could add a variety of ingredients and flavors to. I have been considering making a white cheddar, poblano pepper cornbread for awhile and this might be the perfect base recipe to use for that experiment. I thought it was a really nice summery meal - sweet and spicy ribs, spicy coleslaw and sweet buttermilk cornbread. It's like a backyard barbeque, in the safety of our NYC apartment.
Recipes after the jump!
