Honey & Soy Lacquered Ribs

I love Southern Living magazine.  During the move I missed receiving a few copies and looked with urgency daily for one to appear in my mail box.  I finally received the February issue closely followed by the March issue.  As fired up as I was to get a copy when the February issue came I found myself too busy to even peek inside. The cover features a gorgeous photo of a Lemon Lime Pound Cake yet I’ve not cracked open the magazine.  It is on my “to do” list for this week.

Looking for inspiration for last nights dinner I did scan the recipe index of the March issue.  It is a fact that the recipe index is always on the next to last page of the magazine,  making it easy to flip right to it.  I hit the jackpot in this issue.  An entire section devoted to “honey” recipes.

My adoring hubby adores baby back ribs as much as he does me so when I saw Honey & Soy Lacquered Ribs in the list I jumped on it.  I had all the ingredients except for the meat and Asian chili sauce.  My mouth watering, thinking about juicy, succulent ribs for dinner, I went straight to the store to pick up the necessities.

This recipe is easy.  I left the ribs cooking in the oven while I went for a Sunday walk.  I made the sauce earlier in the day and left it as directed, in a bowl on the counter.  Honey and refrigerators are not friends.  I followed Southern Livings recipe to a T except that I finished off my ribs on the grill.  I like that charred, smoky flavor and the meat came out perfectly.  The ribs were tender, falling off the bone as I placed them on our plates.  The sauce is slightly sweet with a nice bite from the Asian chili sauce.  Bold and sticky ribs call for extra napkins so before you prepare these be sure you’ve got plenty on hand.

Coming Wednesday is a recipe for sweetly satisfying and warming Curried Butternut Squash & Carrot Soup.

Enjoy!

HONEY & SOY LACQUERED RIBS

Ingredients:2 (2- to 2 1/2-lb.) slabs St. Louis-style pork ribs1 tablespoon kosher salt2 teaspoons freshly ground pepper1/2 cup honey2 tablespoons soy sauce2 tablespoons Asian chili-garlic sauce1 tablespoon fresh lime juice1 tablespoon butter $1 teaspoon dry mustard1 teaspoon ground ginger

Preparation Preheat oven to 325°. Rinse slabs, and pat dry. Remove thin membrane from back of slabs by slicing into it and pulling it off. (This will make the ribs more tender.) Sprinkle salt and pepper over slabs; wrap each slab tightly in aluminum foil. Place slabs on a jelly-roll pan, and bake 2 to 2 1/2 hours or until tender and meat pulls away from bone.

 Bring honey and next 6 ingredients to a boil in a saucepan over high heat, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to medium-low; simmer 5 minutes or until reduced by half. Transfer to a bowl.

Remove slabs from oven.  At this point you can either broil or grill to finish the ribs.

Broiling instructions:  Increase oven temperature to broil on high. Carefully remove slabs from foil; place on a foil-?lined baking sheet. Brush each slab with 3 Tbsp. honey mixture. Broil 5 to 7 minutes or until browned and sticky. Brush with remaining honey mixture.

Grilling instructions:  Remove ribs from foil and place on medium hot grill.  Allow the ribs to char slightly on each side and baste with honey mixture as they finish on the grill.

Southern LivingMARCH 2014Photo – Hector Sanchez