Oven Baked BBQ Ribs

This is one of my favorite meals and a hit with the entire family, including my picky kids! 

Oven Baked Ribs

Ingredients:

2 racks of baby back ribs or St. Louis Style ribs

1 cup of your favorite BBQ sauce (I use Montgomery Inn)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 225.

Season ribs with your favorite rib rub (I use this fantastic Kansas City Rub), grill seasoning, or just salt and pepper.

Place ribs meat side down in baking dish (I buy a huge aluminum pans for this).

Cover dish with aluminum foil and place in oven.

If using small baby back ribs, take out of oven after 3.5 hours.  If using regular baby back or St. Louis style, take out after 4.

Drain off drippings. Flip meat over using two spatulas so the meat side is up. Put a layer of BBQ sauce on ribs, and return to oven for 20-30 minutes.

Great with baked beans and slaw!

Do you have a favorite rib recipe?

A barbecue competition is like going to a family reunion, only you get to pick your relatives." Judy Fry, The Frying Pan

If you're not from North Carolina, you may not appreciate NC barbecue.  I lived in the Tar Heel State for about 15 years and never liked it's version of BBQ as much as Ohio's, but it is tasty.

My husband, who grew up in NC, really loves it!  And my kids, who are picky eaters, actually like this version I cooked in my crock pot the other day. If you find it strange, douse in your favorite BBQ sauce and you'll love it!

This recipe is from my Slow Cooker Recipe Book that came with my GE crock pot. Hope you like it!

North Carolina Barbecue

3 lbs boneless pork butt, shoulder or blade roast
1 (14 ounce) can diced tomato
1/2 cup vinegar
2 T Worcestershire sauce
1 T sugar
1 heaping T red pepper flakes
1 T salt
2 t black pepper

Combine all ingredients in crock. Cover and cook on low 8-10 hours. Pull meat apart with fork when done.  Makes about 3 pounds of BBQ. Great Served with baked beans and cole slaw.

What's your favorite BBQ? Thanks for visiting and have a great weekend!

Reprinted from April 8, 2011

Super Simple Peachy Barbecue Chicken

Last week we said goodbye to the end of summer barbecues...sniff.  Well, even though picnicking season is over, I love barbecued chicken any time of year--especially when it can be easily prepared in my crock pot! Here's a super simple recipe from Better Homes and Gardens that I hope you'll enjoy!

Super Simple Peachy Barbecue Chicken

2 1/2 - 3 pounds chicken drumsticks, skinned (if desired)
1 cup barbecue sauce
1/3 cup apricot or peach preserves
2 teaspoons yellow mustard
Fresh peaches, cut into wedges (optional)

Place chicken in a 3 1/2- or 4-quart slow cooker. For sauce, in a small bowl, stir together barbecue sauce, preserves, and mustard. Pour over chicken.

Cover and cook on low-heat setting for 6 to 8 hours or on high-heat setting for 3 to 4 hours.

Transfer chicken to a serving dish; cover and keep warm. Transfer sauce to a medium saucepan. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered, about 10 minutes or until sauce is desired consistency. Serve chicken with sauce. If desired, garnish with fresh peaches. Makes 4-6 servings.

Do you have a favorite BBQ chicken recipe? 

Thanks for visiting and have a great week!

Crock Pot Ribs

Smoky Favored BBQ Ribs

It's picnic season, a great time for burgers and ribs! This is easy and yummy. Cook these ribs ahead of time and take them to your next picnic.  July Fourth is quickly approaching! But don't just wait for a picnic; this is a great dish any time of year!

This recipe is from Betty Crocker's Slow Cooker Cookbook.  Enjoy!

Smoky Flavored BBQ Ribs

3 1/2 lbs pork loin back ribs
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 t pepper
3 T liquid smoke
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 t salt
1 medium onion, sliced
1/2 cup cola
1 1/2 cups BBQ sauce

Spray inside of 5-6 qt. slow cooker with cooking spray.

Remove inner skin from ribs.  Mix brown sugar, pepper, liquid smoke, garlic and salt.  Cut ribs into about 4 inch pieces.  Layer ribs and onion in slow cooker.  Pour cola over ribs.

Cover and cook on low heat setting for 8-9 hours, or until ribs are tender.  Remove ribs from cooker.  drain liquid from cooker and discard.

Pour BBQ sauce into shallow bowl.  Dip ribs into sauce.  Place ribs back in cooker.  Pour any remaining sauce over ribs.  Cover and cook on low heat setting for one hour.

Do you have a picnic favorite?  Thanks for visiting and have a great week!

Barbecued Ribs: Easy and Delicious

Oven Baked Ribs: Unbelievable Easy!

I love barbecue, but I can't imagine enjoying it while being laced up in a corset and wearing a frilly dress!  It's too messy and too filling.  Remember that scene in Gone With the Wind where Mammy helps Scarlett dress for the Twelve Oaks barbecue?   

Mammy:  “I done told you and told you, you can always tell a lady by the way she eats in front of people - like a bird. And I ain't aimin' to have you go over to Mista John Wilkes' house and eat like a field hand and gobble like a hog,”

Scarlett:  Fiddle dee-dee! Ashley Wilkes says he likes to see a girl with a healthy appetite.

"Every girl has the right to eat and enjoy barbecue!"

Click here to watch the entire scene.  Thank goodness times have changed.  Nowadays it’s healthy for a girl to have a healthy appetite.  We’ve learned to depend on exercise and eating right to maintain our shapes rather than imprisoning ourselves in corsets, and we can wear shorts and a t-shirt to a picnic instead of our Sunday best!

Barbecued ribs are one of my favorite dishes, and I’ve only learned recently—at my thirteen year old's insistence—how to prepare them!  This is cookout season and Labor Day picnics are right around the corner.  It’s the perfect time for ribs—and it doesn’t matter if they’re grilled or baked! 

I found this awesome recipe at Food.com! These ribs are amazing and super easy, so I hope you’ll give them a try.  Yeah, I know, ribs aren’t healthy or low fat, but it’s okay to splurge once in a while, so enjoy!

Low & Slow Oven Baked Ribs

Ingredients:

2 racks of baby back ribs or St. Louis Style ribs

1 cup of your favorite BBQ sauce (I use Montgomery Inn)

Directions

Preheat oven to 225

Season ribs with Dale’s marinade your favorite rib rub (I use this fantastic Kansas City Rub), grill seasoning or just salt and pepper

Place ribs meat side down in baking dish (I buy a huge aluminum pan for this)

Cover dish with aluminum foil and place in oven

If using small baby back ribs, take out of oven after 3.5 hours.  If using regular baby back or St. Louis style, take out after 4

Drain off drippings. Flip meat over using two spatulas so the meat side is up. Put a layer of BBQ sauce on ribs, and return to oven for 20-30 minutes.

Great with baked beans and slaw!

If you’ve read The Governor’s Sons (here's the Kirkus Review), you’ve probably determined that I love writing about food.  And anyone who likes writing about food loves eating, too!  My second book, Escape: Book One of the Unchained Trilogy, is due out next month. Like The Governor’s Sons, it takes place in the South, but the time period is 1856.  Since I’d elaborated so much about food in Escape, a friend of mine, who’d critiqued it in its very early stages, suggested I include recipes.

Coming in August!

I did consider that idea, but in the end, I didn’t, and I cut out a lot of the food talk. However, I might share a few recipes of  the southern dishes mentioned in the story here on my blog. But I’ll only share versions that are quick and easy—so you’ll have more time to read and more time to write!

What’s your favorite barbecue—ribs (that's mine), shredded pork shoulder, beef brisket, chicken, something else?  And do you have a favorite BBQ recipe (rub, sauce, etc.)? 

If you don’t like BBQ, what’s your favorite grilled meat or veggie? Thanks for visiting—and happy eating!