I am a HUGE ribs fan. We eat them at least once a month in the summer following my dad’s technique for slow braising and then char-grilling. There really isn’t a more flavorful, tender piece of meat in my book.

Luke woke up early on Saturday and picked up two gorgeous racks of pork ribs at the farmer’s market. This is a good 5 lbs of ribs, which embarrassingly enough, we finished between three of us!

I like my ribs spicy, so I made a great rub that added some zing then spread it all over the uncooked ribs.

Here’s the rub recipe adapted from a paleo blog I read:

– 3 Tbsp paprika
– 1 Tbsp onion powder
– 1 Tbsp garlic powder
– 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
– 1/2 tsp cinnamon
– lots of fresh ground pepper
– 2 tblsp olive oil

I put the rubbed ribs in the fridge to let the flavors sit while I made some homemade BBQ sauce. I can’t stand how sweet store-bought BBQ sauce is, so I decided to make a sugar-free sauce myself from a recipe I found on Son of Grok, another paleo blog I follow.

This sauce is super simple and tastes amazing. There’s so much depth and spiciness to it and it has a thick texture to really coat whatever meat you use it with.

To make it, just combine all the ingredients below and simmer for 25 minutes until thick.

Ingredients:
– 1 6oz can tomato paste (preferable organic)
– 1 to 1.5 cups of beef stock (look for low or no salt added)
– 3 Cloves Garlic minced
– .5 of an onion minced
– 2 tablespoons dijon mustard
– 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
– 1 tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)
– 1 teaspoon sea salt
– 2 tablespoons chili powder

Yum! This sauce has quickly become a staple in our fridge. I highly recommend you try it out.

So now that my ribs are rubbed and sauced, I placed them on a 1 inch deep cookie sheet and wrapped them in foil.

Then I baked them in a 325 degree oven for 2 1/2 to 3 hours, until the bones are clearly showing. I love this method of cooking ribs because the meat gets so incredibly tender and the house smells amazing.

To finish them off, Luke fired up the grill to medium/high heat and charred the ribs for 5-7 minutes.

I served the ribs with spicy green beans (cayenne pepper) and sweet potato fries.

This was an AWESOME meal to end the weekend. My mouth it watering just thinking about it!