Slow-Cooked Short Ribs

Before I begin, let me first say that I almost always braise my short ribs.  Why?  Because they're so big, and so meaty, and they hold up really well to a good braise.  But avid blog follower and now friend Holly put the seed in my mind to make some ribs.  So - off to Whole Foods.  And wouldn't you know it, no slabs of ribs - of any kind!  No pork, no beef...nothing.  Thus the decision to grab some HUGE short ribs.

Every single time I slow cook ribs in the oven, I always layer the bottom of the baking dish with sliced onions.  It adds a really great flavor to the entirety of the dish.  And if you like onions, like I do, they get caramelized and they soak up a lot of the bbq sauce - in other words they are delicious.  :)

I also always start with a rub - for these huge short ribs, I estimated they would cook for about 2 hours at around 300 degrees.  So I cover them in the rub, place them on top of the sliced onions, and then cook them for 1/2 hour.  Then I pull them out, slather them with sauce, and cook for another 1/2 hour.  Then I pull them out (see a pattern here?), turn them over, slather them with sauce and cook for 1/2 hour.  Then I pull them out, slather them with sauce (making sure to really cover any parts that are beginning to darken) and cook for another 1/2 hour.  If they aren't done to your liking at this point, you can put them back in for up to another 1/2 hour.

Alas, I have no recipe for you aside from that.  Both my rub and my sauce are highly guarded secrets that you can only experience by being a guest in my home.  However I WILL give you the list of ingredients for each - just not my special combination of quantities.  Ain't I a stinker?

My Rub

Rub (some ground, some not - I used a flavor shaker to combine)

coriander

salt

pepper

cumin

garlic salt

grains of paradise

paprika

cinnamon

celery seed

cayenne

Sauce

ketchup

molasses

sugar

honey

cumin

paprika

garlic salt

pepper

salt

apple cider vinegar