I can't believe I made BBQ Ribs

This is the first time I have cooked such a giant slab of meat - pork spare ribs in all their glory splayed across my grill, wonderfully tended to by my bbq-loving husband

step 1 - buy huge rack of pork spare ribs, have butcher remove the membrane

step 2 - stir together a dry rub - combine tbs of this, tbs of that, maybe 2 tbs of some stuff - i used a version of mark bittman's but added ground cumin and mexican oregano (otherwise, salt, pepper, 2tbs paprika, 2tbs sugar, garlic powder, cayenne pepper)

step 3 - pat dry rub all over ribs, roll up and wrap with plastic - refrigerate overnight

step 4 - bring ribs to room temperature, throw on the grill, low fire - use the top rack with tin foil underneath to act as drip pan

step 5 - cook covered for an hour+ until it gets brown like in the picture

step 6 - sauce both sides and let sit on grill a little bit more to get a sweet crust

my ribs weren't meltingly tender enough just on the grill and it got too cold outside to keep checking on them, so we put them in a low oven for 2 more hours, 250 degrees

I have to say, they were pretty darn good, especially on my first time out - I think next time I will start them in the oven and finish them on the grill

yum.

Spring BBQ trials

Spring was in the air, at least temporarily

I found a great butcher and got tons of meat for my BBQ trials - rack of spare ribs, a small portion of bone-in pork shoulder and a whole chicken, butterflied - all for under $30!  I'm never going to buy meat at Whole Foods again...

I only have pictures of the ribs but made a whole bunch of stuff all weekend, the kitchen was a mess:

- avocado tomatillo "salsa" which was super tasty and beautifully green and smooth

- salsa, the regular kind

- pickled red onions, so simple and so good, with a tart, tangy, crunchy bite

- slow roasted pork shoulder, dry rubbed and cooked at 250 degrees for something like 7 hours, pulled apart and doused with homemade bbq sauce - still need to work on the sauce