BBQ Spareribs

BBQ ribs are one of those meals that takes a bit of advanced planning, but it is well worth the effort.  You can whip this together in the morning before work and it'll be ready to devour upon your return.  The method of prepping ribs in this recipe (removing the membrane, broiling and slow-cooking) was taught to me by some good friends while we lived in England. As these friends hailed from Oklahoma, land of BBQ, I can confidently say that they knew their BBQ ribs.  You'll find that broiling and slow-cooking as directed here will result in wonderfully tender, tasty, and utterly delicious barbeque ribs.  Enjoy!

BBQ Spareribs

Serves 4-6

Turn your oven on to broil.

Prepare your ribs:

1) You will want 1-2 racks of spareribs (the ones I usually get are called pork back ribs, you can use beef ribs as well).  You will want around 12 bones w/ meat. 

2) There is a thin membrane on the back side of the ribs, along the bone. Use a knife or something to get under the membrane.  Once you get a bit of the membrane separated, you should be able to pull it all off.  (Note about the membrane: It's okay to leave it on, but if you remove it, it lets more of the taste get into the ribs during cooking - here's a good link for removing the membrane).

Place the ribs on a cookie sheet lined lined with foil. 

Rub the ribs with the following:

4 - 6 Tbsp. brown sugar

1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Wrap the ribs tightly in foil, double-wrapping, if needed.  Broil for 5-7 minutes on each side.  Unwrap and cut the ribs into piece sizes with 2-3 bones each.  Place them in the crockpot with BBQ from below. 

While ribs are broiling, put the following into your crock pot one of the two BBQ sauce options:

Option 1: 
1 chopped onion

2 - 3 cups honey BBQ sauce (or your favorite BBQ sauce)

2 Tbsp maple syrup

OR

Option 2: 

1/2 onion, diced (optional)

1/2 cup honey

1 cup apple cider vinegar2 cups canned tomato sauce (plus 1-2 tsp salt if you're using low-salt tomatoes) OR 2 cup ketchup
2 Tbsp hot sauce (I use a locally made habanero sauce, which adds a nice kick - adjust depending on how spicy you want your sauce).  2 Tbsp worcestershire sauce2 Tbsp GF soy sauce (Bragg's works well)2 Tbsp dark molasses4 tsp dry mustard2/3 cup sucanat sugar OR brown sugarground pepper, to taste (optional)


Once you've put ribs in sauce, mix gently to coat with sauce mixture.  

Cook on low 8 hours OR cook on high 4-5 hours.  They’ll be deliciously tender and ready to eat!  They melt off the bones. 

Enjoy!!!

This is a great meal we all enjoy eating.  It's a delicious cold-weather meal, although we'll happily eat it anytime! My sister loves to serve her pulled pork Texas-style on tortillas with dill pickles. We love it!  Usually, unless I've made some tortillas, I just whip together some sort of roll or biscuit to serve with the pulled pork.  The cheddar biscuit-style recipe is *below* for the buns I whipped together here.  They're little biscuits - which the kids loved. The nice thing about this pulled pork recipe is that you make your own BBQ sauce, but you don't have to cook it in advance since it's cooked thoroughly in the crock pot at the same time as the pork.  A nice hearty meal that's also easy to whip together.  If you prefer, you can include the onion and add in a jar of your any BBQ sauce instead of mixing together your own sauce. That will work just as well. Enjoy!

Easy delicious pulled pork, served on homemade little cheddar biscuit-style rolls (recipe below)

Easy Pulled Pork w/ Homemade BBQ Sauce

Serves ~6-8

In a crock pot, mix together quickly (don't worry about mixing it well, it'll combine nicely as it cooks):
1/2 - 1 onion, diced
1 cup ketchup
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup honey
1/3 cup sucanat sugar (or brown sugar)
1 Tbsp worchestershire sauce
1 Tbsp dark molasses
1 Tbsp GF soy sauce
1 Tbsp hot sauce (the spiciness level depends on what kind you use - I used a local habanero sauce which gave it a nice kick)
2 tsp dry mustard
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 - 1 tsp ground pepper

Add in, mixing so the meat is coated:
2-3 lbs boneless pork loin roast, chopped into a few large pieces (best to remove any large pieces of fat)

If you feel like you need a little more liquid, you can always add a bit of apple cider/juice to the mixture. It'll cook right in nicely. 

Cook on 'high' in your crockpot for 5-6 hours. (You can also cook it on low 10-11 hours). Shred with two forks and let cook another 20-30 minutes on high in the crock pot.

Serve on rolls, biscuits, baked potato, or GF tortillas of your choice and enjoy!!!
(I served these on quick cheese biscuit-style rolls I threw together, recipe below).

Serving ideas/options:
Hamburger buns
Buttermilk biscuits
Homemade corn flour tortillas
Sourdough Rolls

*Easy Biscuit-type Rolls: 
Makes ~30-36 small biscuit rolls

Preheat oven to 375F.

Mix together (by hand or in a mixer):
1 1/2 cup tapioca starch
1 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup potato starch
1/2 cup cornstarch
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp xanthan gum

1 Tbsp baking powder
1 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda

Add and mix in just until combined:
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup butter, melted
2 eggs
1 cup grated cheese

Scoop by large cookie scoops onto parchment lined cookie sheets.  Bake at 375F for ~20 minutes, until lightly browned on bottom and just starting to brown on top.  They should puff a bit from the cheese.

Let cool briefly on a cooling rack and enjoy! These are best warmed so the cheese is nice and soft.

Pulled Pork is particularly great on days that look like this:

PEI in winter - Trees coated in ice (thank you frozen fog), multiple feet of snow and a view of the frozen bay near our house. Brrrrrr... 

Easy Pulled Pork with Homemade BBQ Sauce and Gluten-Free Cheese Biscuits by Successfully Gluten Free! 

Quick BBQ (or oven) Naan Bread

This isn't proper Naan, but it's wonderfully thin and crispy with a lovely flavor.  And so quick and easy to whip up, which is important in my house.  I love that you can cook it up outside on the BBQ, too! Or you can pop it in the oven.  Brushed with butter before cooking, it has a lovely flavor that cooks right into it.  It's even egg-free! Enjoy!

Fresh off the BBQ, and still sizzling.  

Quick BBQ (or oven) Naan Bread
Makes 3 large pieces of Naan

Preheat grill to medium to medium-high heat (~450-475F) OR preheat oven to 475F, place 2 cookie sheets in the oven that you'll put your naan bread onto.

Mix in a large bowl with a spoon:
1 1/2 cup Kristin's Gluten-Free Flour Mix
1 tsp ground chia seed
1/4 tsp ground coriander
1/4 tsp dried cilantro, optional
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp xanthan gum
1 tsp quick/rapid-rise yeast

Add in slowly, mixing with a spoon just until mixture holds together nicely:
1 to 1 1/4 cup milk (lactose-free works great)

Melt 1/4 cup butter in a small bowl.  Have a brush handy to brush the dough after rolling it out.

Divide the dough into thirds.

Roll 1/3 of the dough between two pieces of plastic wrap until it's nice and thin, between 1/4" and 1/2" thick.  Brush one side with butter.  Flip onto a piece of parchment paper and butter the other side.  Repeat with the remainder of dough.
 If you want a slightly puffier naan, you can let it rest at this point ~15 minutes.  But I find it's wonderful thin and crispy, so I don't bother (not to mention, I want this to be fast!)

Roll between plastic wrap.  Butter one side, then flip onto parchment paper to butter the other side.

Flip quickly onto heated BBQ, using tongs to help straighten it out if it gets folded on itself.  Cook ~5-7 minutes, checking regularly.  Cook until they're a nice dark brown on the bottom.  You can flip these over if you want a bit of browning on both sides, but these are so thin they're nice as-is.

If you want to cook your Naan in the oven, carefully put them on your preheated sheets and cook ~5 minutes, checking regularly.  They may puff up during baking (this is okay!).  Cook until they've got some browned spots.  Remove from oven and serve!

Baby Back Ribs on the BBQ

These ribs are amazing and SO easy.  I've made them several times now and am constantly amazed by a couple things, 1. how fast they are to BBQ, and 2. how delicious they are.  I based them off a Weber recipe, but I don't bother with the wood chips.  And yet, they are still fantastic! Yay!  You can use whatever your favorite BBQ sauce is, or I've included a recipe for one you can whip together while the ribs are doing their 1 hour cooking time.

Cooking these wrapped in foil eliminates burning and gives a tender meat, but watch closely once you remove from the foil and add the BBQ sauce - the sugars in the sauce on top of the flame are what can burn quickly.

Baby Back Ribs on the BBQ
Based off this recipe by Weber.com  Takes ~1 hour 20 minutes start to finish.
Serves 4-6

You can use whatever BBQ sauce you like, or you can whip up your own while the ribs are doing their 1 hour cook on the BBQ.  I've put my version of an easy BBQ recipe below.*

Preheat your BBQ to medium heat. I aim to ~400F.

Mix together the following to dry rub on the front and back of the ribs:
1 Tbsp salt
2 tsp paprika
2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp ground thyme
1 tsp ground pepper

Remove the membrane from the back of 2 racks of baby back ribs (~2 lbs).  These are great, clear picture of how to remove the membrane.

Rub the front and backs of the ribs generously with the dry rub.

Wrap each rack of ribs in their own foil packet.  Then, wrap them again in another foil packet, so they have a good double wrap on them.

Cook the packets on the BBQ directly over the medium heat (with the lid closed) for 1 hour total, turning the rib packets over every 15 minutes so they cook evenly.   Remove from heat.  Take the ribs out of the foil packets, brush with BBQ sauce and return to the grill for 10 minutes.   I like to turn them every 2-3 minutes, basting with extra BBQ sauce for each turn.

Remove from the grill, let rest 5 minutes and ENJOY!!!!

BBQ Sauce Recipe

In a small pot, combine the following over medium heat.  Simmer ~25 minutes.
1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1 cup ketchup
1 Tbsp hot sauce (I use a locally made habanero sauce, which adds a nice kick - adjust depending on how spicy you want your sauce).  
1 Tbsp worcestershire sauce
1 Tbsp GF soy sauce (Bragg's works well)
1 Tbsp dark molasses
2 tsp dry mustard
1/3 cup sucanat sugar OR brown sugar
ground pepper, to taste (optional)

Use for any BBQ sauce needs.  You can store the extra in a tupperware in the refrigerator for several weeks.

BBQ Beef Sandwiches (or tortillas)

BBQ beef sandwiches are one of those foods that are just so satisfying, particularly as weather gets warmer.  This recipe is great because you can eat the cooked beef as-is, which will taste nice, juicy and mild, or you can add your favorite bbq sauce to it for an extra kick.  Upon visiting my sister in Texas, I discovered that they like to eat dill pickles with their bbq sandwiches, and sometimes eat the beef and dill pickles all rolled up in tortillas - a fun and tasty option. Personally, I love the sandwiches on homemade hamburger buns! Yum! Whatever way you choose to enjoy your barbecued beef, these options for cooking will leave you with a delicious meal that everyone will enjoy!

Barbecued Beef Sandwiches

Serves 6-8

(3 lbs is great for 4-6 people, 5 lbs is great for 6-10 people)

There are two cooking options, Crock-pot and oven.  The oven method is below.  You can choose whichever works best for you!

1^st: Crock-pot Cooking

Place 3-5 lbs. beef chuck roast in a crock-pot

Combine, and then pour over beef:

½ cup ketchup

½ cup water

2 Tbsp sugar

1 Tbsp white vinegar

1 onion, chopped

Cook 5-6 hours on high. 

While cooking, you can whip up a batch or two of homemade hamburger buns or homemade corn tortillas.

homemade hamburger buns (you can make them w/out sesame seeds) AND homemade corn tortillas

 Scoop out meat and onions with a slotted spoon and place in a bowl.  Remove at least half of liquid (set aside in case you need to add some back).

Break up the meat with a fork, return to crock pot.   You can let it cook on low until ready to serve.  You can also add your BBQ sauce directly to the beef while it's resting on low.

The thing I love is that this BBQ beef is full of onions. Yum!

Serve on your homemade hamburger buns with BBQ sauce.  I like to add a bit of honey BBQ sauce to add more BBQ flavor. 
You can also serve on homemade corn tortillas!  It's great wrapped in a tortilla with a dill pickle & BBQ sauce. 
Enjoy!

2^nd:  Oven Cooking

Place 3 - 5 lbs. beef chuck roast in a deep dish that is OK in the oven. Many have lids, but if not, tightly cover with 2-layers foil before cooking.

Combine, and then pour over beef:

½ cup ketchup

½ cup water

2 Tbsp sugar

1 Tbsp white vinegar

1 onion, chopped

Cook 5-6 hours at 300F/130C. 

Scoop out meat and onions with a slotted spoon and place in a bowl. Remove at least half of liquid (set aside in case you need to add some back).

Break up the meat with a fork. You can return it to the deep dish and add BBQ sauce now, if desired.

Serve on homemade hamburger buns with BBQ sauce. I like to add a bit of honey BBQ sauce to add more BBQ flavor.
You can also serve on homemade corn tortillas! It's great wrapped in a tortilla with a dill pickle & BBQ sauce. 
Enjoy!