Graphic Designer / Creative Director
Dan Segal

RECIPES

finger-lickin' sticky ribs with crispy garlic potatoes

Some folks don't get involved with ribs thinking that they are way too much work, but with a little forethought and prep, they're actually a very quick and simple feast. the secret is pre-cooking your ribs, letting them rest and marinating them overnight.

This texas-style ribs recipe has been adapted slightly with a few more herbs and spices to pack a little more punch. I paired these ribs with super tasty potatoes and suggest a simple green salad to balance it all out. 

The recipe has a few different stages so I'll put all of your ingredients at the bottom of the post if you need to go shopping.

Good luck and send me  your pictures!

Preparation:

1. Prepare a stock to pre-cook your ribs with the ingredients below:
(Ingredients per 1 kilogram of ribs)

  • 2 litres of water

  • 3 tablespoons of salt

  • 1 medium chili (roughly chopped)

  • 3-4 garlic cloves crushed/roughly 

  • 3 bay leaves

  • 1 cinnamon stick or 1 teaspoon cinamon powder

  • 1 teaspoon coriander (seeds or powder)

  • 1 teaspoon cumin (seeds or powder)

  • 1 medium onion (roughly chopped)

  • 1 carrot (roughly chopped)

2. Place your ribs (any red meat of your choice) into a baking tray, cover them with stock and tightly cover with aluminium foil. 
They don't need to be 100% submerged but plenty of liquid will help them cook better - so add some more water into the tray if it looks a little low. 

3. Bake the ribs for 3-4 hours or until tender. 
Not falling off the bone but soft enough that their tenderness will impress!

4. Drain the ribs and baste each side with your favourite BBQ sauce or BBQ Marinate. My favourite store-bought one is Stubbs Original. Wrap up your ribs and place them in the refrigerator to soak up all that lovely sauce overnight. 

5. Pour a big glass of wine, sit down and drink it, you're done for night.

 

Cooking the ribs:

Now you have a tough decision to make. BBQ or Bake? Either way, you've have some beautiful ribs so it's up to you how you want to cook. I prefer to BBQ if the weather permits just for the joy of cooking outside. 


The BBQ Method:

  1. Take the ribs out of the refrigerator about an hour before cooking time, as cooking meat at room temperature makes it more tender. 

  2. Get your BBQ nice and hot, then gently place the marinated ribs straight on the grill. 

  3. Once the sauce starts to caramelise and you can smell the meat cooking, turn ribs and do the same. Then you're done!

 

The Baking Method:

    1. Take the ribs out of the refrigerator about an hour before cooking time, as cooking meat at room temperature makes it more tender. 

    2. Put the ribs out onto a baking tray and sprinkle them with a little brown sugar.

    3. Bake the ribs in a 180°C over for 20 minutes or until the sugar starts to bubble. 

 

Crispy Garlic Potatoes

Making these is far easier and more impressive than you could imagine!

  1. Mix 3-4 cloves of crushed garlic (and chili if desired) in half a litre of olive oil and let it sit for at least 30 minutes. This infusion is a great finishing oil for almost any dinner.

  2. Boil your whole baby potatoes or chopped regular potatoes in plenty of salted water. Cook them until you can push a fork through them with relative ease. If they are too soft they will fall apart later down the road. 

  3. Drain your potatoes for 15 minutes so most of the moisture steams away. The smell of hot steamy potatoes in the kitchen is a real heart-starter. 

  4. Heat a large pot of vegetable oil and gently dunk the potatoes in to fry them until their edges start to curl. You don't need to cook the potatoes, just crisp them to perfection, will probably take about 8 minutes. When they are done, drain them on a paper towel plate and give them a few minutes to get even crispier in room temperature. 

  5. Toss the potatoes in a bowl with the garlic infused oil and a good pinch of salt.  You can garnish with a little extra salt, pepper and some flat parsley leaves. 

 

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Shopping/Ingredients List for 1kg ribs:

  • 1 medium chili 

  • 1 head of garlic

  • 3 bay leaves

  • 1 cinnamon stick or 1 teaspoon cinnamon powder

  • 1 teaspoon coriander (seeds or powder)

  • 1 teaspoon cumin (seeds or powder)

  • 1 medium onion 

  • 1 carrot 

  • 1 bag of new potatoes/baby potatoes or any potato available

  • 2 litres of vegetable/canola/rapeseed oil

  • 1/2 litre oil

  • Aluminium foil

  • 1/2 cup brown sugar

  • 1 bottle of BBQ sauce / marinate 

DL SEGAL