This recipe is so easy, it’s kind of like cheating. I’m OK with that, though. (I’m all for fancy sauces and complicated meals. But there’s a definite time and a place for dishes like this.) It takes no time to slap together—then your oven does all the hard work. And while the ribs roast, you’ll have more time to hang by the pool, have a cocktail or three with your guests—or, in our case, finish unpacking while dinner takes care of itself.

Beef back ribs are the very same ribs you see on a standing rib roast (hands down, my favorite kind of holiday roast beast). And they have the same rich, beefy flavor—at a fraction of the cost. If you don’t see them in your grocery store, you should be able to find or order them from any good neighborhood butcher.

Some folks like to cook them at a higher temperature, for less time, tightly covered in foil. That works well. Me? I usually prefer to cook them at a lower temperature for a longer time. This helps the meat develop a really good crust—and get meltingly tender.

Wait, you’re using sauce from a jar? How very Sandra Lee of you!

I know, I know…but this recipe is all about short prep. I also really like Lee Kum Kee brand chili garlic sauce. The flavors are well balanced, with just the right amount of heat.

Now, you could make a similar mixture with fresh chili peppers, garlic, rice wine vinegar, salt, and sugar…but this recipe is about getting in and out of the kitchen fast. (Now that I think about it, that sounds really good. Homemade Chili Garlic Sauce! Coming soon from The Hungry Mouse Test Kitchen!)

All method, no recipe

This is really more method than actual recipe. It works just as well for one rack of ribs as it does for four. If you make more than one rack, just be sure to space them out on your pans so they’re not touching.

Chili Garlic Beef Ribs

Beef back ribs
Chili garlic sauce
Green onions, cut into rings, for garnish

Line a sheet pan with foil. Preheat your oven to 275 degrees.

Put a few large spoonfuls of chili garlic sauce on your ribs. (Actual amounts will vary depending on the size of your ribs.)

Slather the sauce all over the ribs with your hands, covering the top and bottom evenly.

Pop the pan into your preheated 275-degree oven. Bake uncovered for 3 to 3 1/2 hours, until the meat is nicely browned and falls off the bone.

Test the meat by tugging on an edge with a fork. If it’s still a little tough, pop your ribs back into the oven for 15 minutes or so, then test again. Your final cooking time will depend on how thick your ribs are.

Slice into individual ribs. Heap on a platter and sprinkle with chopped green onions.

It’s simple and easy. Enjoy!

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These ribs get a ton of deep, pepper-y flavor from freshly cracked black pepper—and a fair amount of heat from ground chipotle chili.

They also get a double dose of smoke from a generous amount of ground chipotle and smoked paprika.

Smokey Black Pepper Beef Ribs

4 lbs. beef back ribs (about 8 ribs)
2 Tbls. freshly cracked black pepper
1 Tbls. kosher salt
1 Tbls. dark brown sugar
1 tsp. smoked paprika
1 tsp. ground chipotle
spray canola oil

Serves 3-4 for dinner, or 6-8 for an appetizer

Smokey Black Pepper Beef Ribs: Prep the meat

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.

Line a sheet pan with foil and/or parchment paper. Grab your beef ribs and spread them out on the pan so they’re not touching.

Leave them on the counter to knock the chill off them while you mix up the spice rub.

Smokey Black Pepper Beef Ribs: Make the spice rub

Grind up the black pepper.

Put the black pepper, kosher salt, brown sugar, smoked paprika, and ground chipotle in a medium-sized bowl.

Mix to combine with a fork or whisk.

You want a fairly uniform mixture, like this:

Smokey Black Pepper Beef Ribs: Coat the ribs

Sprinkle the ribs with the spice rub.

Pick the ribs up to coat all sides. Press the spice rub down with your hands to help it stick to the meat.

Give the top of the ribs a very light spritz with spray canola oil.

Smokey Black Pepper Beef Ribs: Roast, serve & enjoy!

Pop your ribs into your preheated oven.

Roast for about 15 minutes at 425 degrees. After 15 minutes, drop the heat to 300 degrees and roast for an additional 1 hour 20 minutes. Your final roasting time will depend on the size and meatiness of your ribs.

Yank them out of the oven when they have a handsome brown crust and the meat comes away easily from the bone when pulled at with a fork.

Serve and enjoy!

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Lamb rib chops—often called lollipop chops when the bone is frenched—are an oh-so-sweet appetizer that’s simple to make and impressive to present. They’re easy to eat, and much more elegant than a big, meaty rib.

The rib chops develop a handsome brown crust from being seared with rosemary and garlic—both classic flavors for lamb.

A sprinkle of fresh, minced mint at the very end gives them an extra burst of bright, fresh flavor.

So what is a lamb rib chop, anyway?

Lamb rib meat is super tender and very flavorful. Basically, a lamb rib chop is what you’d get if you cut a rack of lamb up into chops.

Because they’re so tender—and petite—they only need to cook for a few minutes on each side, making them an ideal fast-and-fabulous party food. They’re best broiled, grilled, or pan-seared.

The thing I love most about them? Lamb rib chops basically come with a built-in handle.

This is more technique than exact recipe. It’s easy to scale up or down, depending on the crowd you’re feeding. This time, I only had a few chops.

This article demonstrates how to french a lamb rib chop, then how to pan sear them. For thicker, extra-fancy chops, buy a rack of lamb and carve it into double chops (two bones per chop) yourself.

Lamb Lollipop Chops: To french or not to french

Frenching the bone like this is a *wee* bit wasteful, depending on how much meat you cut away. (There’s usually not too much meat near the end of the bone.)

Frenching is also totally optional, and depends largely on how you want to present and serve them.

Garlic & Rosemary Lamb Lollipop Chops

Lamb rib chops
Kosher salt
Olive oil
Fresh rosemary, minced
Fresh garlic, mashed
Freshly cracked black pepper
Fresh mint, minced, for garnish

Garlic & Rosemary Lamb Lollipops: How to french a lamb rib chop

Grab your lamb rib chops. Give them a quick rinse under cold water. Pat them dry.

For my lamb lollipops, I like to leave about 2 inches of rib bone totally bare. You sometimes see these cut down so that only the large round of meat is left on the bone. I prefer to leave a little more meat on my bone. It’s less wasteful and still makes for a lovely presentation.

With a very sharp knife, cut through the fat and meat down to the bone on all sides, like this:

Next, flip the chop over, so the underside of the rib is facing up. Slice the meat away on each side, getting as close to the bone as you can.

Next, flip the rib back over. Run your knife under the meat on top of the bone, slicing it off.

At this point the bone should be fairly bare. With the edge of your knife, scrape off the remaining meat and fat.

Finally, flip the chop over again, so the bottom of the rib is facing up. There’s a thin skin clinging to the back of the bone. Scrape that off, too.

Go over the bone and scrape off any larger bits that you’ve missed. When you’re finished, your bone should look about like this:

Any little bits (like this) left clinging to the bone will pretty much cook off.

You’ll wind up with a little pile of scraps. Toss it in a baggie in the fridge and save for when you’d like to add a little lamb-y flavor to dishes.

Or, if you have a very (very, very) well behaved dog, fry those scraps up for a treat that will likely make him lose his mind.

Repeat with the rest of your ribs.

I did have one rib in my package that was missing a large piece of bone. It went into the pan with the others. It may have been missing its handle, but it was just as tasty.

Garlic & Rosemary Lamb Lollipops: Marinate the lamb rib chops

Once you’ve frenched the lamb rib chops, it’s time to season them. Sprinkle them with kosher salt to taste.

Drizzle them with olive oil. Rub the oil on all sides.

Sprinkle with minced rosemary.

Smear each rib with garlic.

Add freshly cracked pepper to taste.

If you like, marinate the ribs like this overnight in the fridge. Otherwise, they’re ready to cook.

Garlic & Rosemary Lamb Lollipops: Pan sear the lamb rib chops

Drizzle a little olive oil in a large, heavy-bottomed frying pan. Set it on the stove over medium-high heat for a minute or two to heat up.

When the pan is nice and hot, drop in your chops.

Sear them like this for a few minutes, until they’ve developed a nice brown crust on the bottom. (The time will vary from maybe 3-6 minutes per side, depending on how rare you like your lamb.) If the pan starts to smoke, lower the heat a bit.

When they have a nice crust, flip them over.

Sear them on this side for about the same amount of time as you cooked the other side, so the chops cook evenly.

When they have a nice brown crust on the bottom, yank them out of the pan. Let them rest for maybe 5 minutes to help them stay juicy.

Garlic & Rosemary Lamb Lollipops: How do you know when your lamb is cooked?

Good question. The truth is, lamb rib chops are little things, so they’re actually easy to overcook. If you’re a food thermometer kind of person, medium rare is 145 degrees, and medium is 160 degrees.

Otherwise, use your eyes and your sense of touch. Your chops should have a good brown crust on each side. The meat, when pressed should be firm, and shouldn’t feel at all squishy. When in doubt, cut a little nick into one and take a peek. The meat should be pink-ish and opaque, not translucent.

Garlic & Rosemary Lamb Lollipops: Serve and enjoy!

Garnish with a little freshly chopped mint.

Enjoy!

Enjoy!

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This is my take on classic boeuf Bourguignon, a traditional French dish of beef braised in Burgundy wine, then garnished with mushrooms and small white onions.

(Wine not your thing? Try my Guinness-Braised Short Ribs instead, which tastes amazingly just like French onion soup.)

For this dish, the meat is infused with a fragrant combination of jammy red wine, garlic, lavender, bay leaf, and rosemary. Three hours of slow cooking produce wonderfully mellow and complex flavors—and fall-off-the-bone, fork-tender meat.

Serve with a simple green salad and creamy, garlic mashed potatoes. And, of course, a few glasses of red wine.

Short Ribs Braised in Red Wine: What kind of wine should I use?

Use any kind of red wine for this recipe, but be sure that you use a wine that you really like. For mine, I really like to use any robust wine from southern France.

Cooking will only concentrate the flavor of the wine. This is important, because if you don’t like to drink it, chance are you won’t like to eat it, either.

Help! What if I don’t like the wine I picked, after all?

After you’ve gone through the time and trouble of braising your short ribs, what do you do if you find that you don’t like the wine you used?

Don’t freak out. There’s likely a way that you can temper the flavors. Here are a few ideas.

You can try softening the flavor of the broth by adding a tablespoon or two of butter. You can also try adding a teaspoon or two of raspberry jam or red currant jelly. This can sweeten it up and help balance out any astringency.

Worse comes to worse, you can try diluting the flavor with some beef stock.

Wait, where do I get lavender?

Lavender is used a lot in Provencal cooking. Small amounts of lavender in dishes like this blend in and contribute to the complexity of the flavor.

Make sure you buy lavender that’s meant to be used in cooking. Some lavender (i.e. from craft stores) might be treated chemically, etc.

You can also order a 4-oz. bag from Penzey’s for about $8.95.

Recipe: Short Ribs Braised in Red Wine

2 Tbls. olive oil
2 1/2 lbs. beef short ribs (about 4-6 ribs, depending on their size)
kosher salt
3 cups red wine
1 medium onion, diced
2 ribs celery, diced
1 Tbls. garlic powder
1 1/2 tsp. lavender
1 fresh bay leaf
1 sprig rosemary
freshly cracked black pepper

Serves 2 generously for dinner.

Short Ribs Braised in Red Wine: Sear the short ribs on all sides

Put the olive oil in a heavy-bottomed pot. Set the pot on the stove over medium-high heat.

Grab your short ribs.

Sprinkle the ribs with kosher salt to taste.

Carefully put the ribs in hot pot.

Your goal is to sear them and develop a nice brown crust on all sides of the short ribs.

When the ribs look about like this on the bottom, flip them over.

Be sure to get all sides, even the ends. Just stand them up and prop them against the side of the pot.

While the short ribs are searing, chop up the onion and celery. I didn’t include them in this recipe, but you certainly could toss in a handful of chopped carrots as well.

Short Ribs Braised in Red Wine: Add the wine and veggies

When the ribs are browned on all sides, scoot them over to one side of the pot. If you like, pour off some of the rendered fat at this point. Keep the heat on medium high, unless your pot is smoking (then turn the heat down a bit).

Toss the veggies into the spot you cleared. Stir them around and let them soften up for a minute or two and begin to brown.

Scrape at the bottom of the pan to loosen any browned bits (the veggies should give off enough liquid to deglaze the pot.)

Arrange the ribs in the pot and distribute the veggies around them.

Pour in the wine.

When the wine is in the pot, raise the heat to high to bring the it up to a boil.

Toss in the garlic powder, bay leaf, rosemary, lavender, and black pepper.

Give the pot a stir to combine them with the wine.

Short Ribs Braised in Red Wine: Simmer the short ribs

When the wine is boiling, drop the heat to low. Cover your pot with a tightly fitting lid.

Check it after 20 minutes or so. Your goal is to keep the wine just bubbling—not boiling hard. Adjust the heat up or down as necessary.

Simmer the short ribs like this, covered, for about 3 to 3 1/2 hours, until the meat is fork tender and falling off the bone.

After about 3 hours, my pot looked like this:

Short Ribs Braised in Red Wine: Serve and enjoy!

To serve, transfer the short ribs to deep plates or shallow bowls. Skim any fat off the broth if necessary and discard. Ladle broth over the ribs.

Serve with a simple green salad and creamy, garlic mashed potatoes.

Enjoy!

Here are some of the best discounts and sales I’ve found this week.

***
Copyright 2008-2009 The Hungry Mouse™/Jessica B. Konopa. All rights reserved.

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We’re in serious winter hibernation mode at The Mouse House. Baking bread. Roasting meat. Flouncing about in all manners of fleecy attire. The whole happy and delicious nine yards.

Since the last storm, Boston is basically frozen over. The snow’s long been shoveled, but it’s still too cold for it to melt. It’s just hardened into miniature glaciers all over our street.

When the temperature drops into the teens and single digits like this, we tend to spend a lot of time tucked up on the couch with a good movie and a bottle of wine, waiting for dinner to be done.

These ribs get a quick bath in a fragrant marinade, then get dusted with spices and roasted for just about an hour at a few different temperatures. The combination of spices makes the house smell amazing.

The heat from the cayenne combined with spiciness of the cinnamon, anise, and clove is warming through and through. The honey adds just a wee bit of sweetness to balance the pepper, and a drizzle of mushroom soy imparts a rich, earthy saltiness.

It may seem like an unusual combination, but the spices all work together and the whole thing is amazingly delicious. I did this with beef spare ribs, but the marinade and rub would work just as well on pork.

Serve them with cooling and creamy sides, like buttery mashed potatoes and a crisp garden salad.

A note on ingredients for Tasty Honey Cinnamon Beef Ribs

For rice vinegar, I like Marukan brand a lot. Lots of major American grocery stores carry it (check their store locator to find it near you.)

If you can’t find powdered Chinese star anise, Penzey’s sells a half-cup jar for $4.99. For mushroom soy sauce, Pearl River brand is my favorite.

These ribs are fairly hot. For less heat, cut down on the amount of cayenne.

Tasty Honey Cinnamon Ribs

8 meaty beef back ribs
spray oil

For the marinade
2 Tbls. seasoned rice vinegar
2 Tbls. honey
2 Tbls. mushroom soy sauce
1/2 tsp. fresh garlic, minced
1 Tbls. olive oil

For the spice rub
1 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
3/4 tsp. kosher salt
3/4 tsp. onion powder
1 1/2 tsp. white pepper
1 1/2 tsp. dried parsley
3/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
3/4 tsp. ground Chinese star anise
1 1/2 tsp. Saigon cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground clove

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees. Line a sheet pan with foil and set aside.

Prep the beef ribs

Grab your ribs from the fridge.

Toss them in a gallon-size zip-top bag.

Set the ribs aside on the counter to knock the chill off them while you make your marinade and rub.

Make the marinade for the beef ribs

Put the rice vinegar in a medium-sized bowl.

Add the honey to it.

Toss in the mushroom soy sauce, minced garlic, and olive oil.

Whisk well to combine. Be sure to scrape at the bottom of the bowl to get all the honey.

Coat the beef ribs

Pour the marinade into the bag with the ribs.

Seal the bag well. Smoosh it around between your hands to coat the ribs.

They should look about like this:

Set the bag aside and let the ribs soak for a few minutes while you throw together the dry rub.

Make the dry rub for the beef ribs

Put all the spice-rub ingredients in a medium-sized bowl (garlic powder, kosher salt, onion powder, white pepper, dried parsley, cayenne, ground anise, cinnamon, and ground clove).

Mix the spices together with a dry whisk or a fork, until the rub is fairly uniform.

Spice the beef ribs

Lay the ribs out on your prepared sheet pan (don’t wipe the marinade off).

A little marinade will drip onto the pan. That’s just fine.

With your hands, lightly sprinkle the ribs with the spice rub.

Pick each rib up to get it on all sides and underneath.

Into the oven!

Right before you roast the ribs, lightly (as in, very lightly) mist the tops of the ribs with spray oil. This is to give the ribs a little boost in developing a nice crust.

Pop the pan into your preheated 450 degree oven for 12 minutes.

After 12 minutes, drop the heat down to 350 degrees. Roast for another 20 minutes.

After 20 minutes, drop the heat down to 325 and roast for a final 25 minutes.

At this point, your ribs should be done. (Timing can vary slightly here, depending on how big/meaty your ribs are.) Give them a little test. With a fork, pull at the meat on the end of one rib. If it comes away easily, yank the pan out of the oven. If not, leave them in for another 5 minutes and test again.

You want them to look about like this:

Serve and enjoy!

Here are some of the best discounts and sales I’ve come across this week.

***
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