Short ribs are usually a cut of meat that you would stew or braise, but I made a version tonight where I slow roasted them and smothered them in my favorite barbecue sauce.  I’m not usually a huge fan of ribs, let alone short ribs, but I really liked the taste of these babies.  They have that slow cooked taste that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

As you can see, short ribs are beef rather than pork.  As you will also note from the picture, this cut of meat has quite a lot of fat.  This is why a slow roast is a great way of cooking them.  The fat renders and flavors the meat and then runs off.  You certainly wouldn’t want to throw some short ribs on your backayrd grill and cook them that way because of the high fat content.

I used a dry rub to season the meat.  You don’t want to rely solely on the barbecue sauce to flavor this dish; you want the meat to be able to stand out on its own.

Finger Lickin’ Short Ribs

(My Recipe)

1 package beef short ribs (about 6)

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. cumin

1 tsp. dried oregano

1/2 tsp. onion powder

1/2 tsp. chili powder

1/4 tsp. black pepper

1 pinch of cayenne pepper

1 cup barbecue sauce of your choice (you might want to stay away from flavored sauces such as mesquite)

Preheat oven to 250 degrees F.

In a small bowl, combine the salt, cumin, oregano, onion powder, chili powder, black pepper and cayenne pepper.  Run the mixture into all sides of the meat making sure to have an even crust.  Actually make sure to rub the mixture into the meat.  Lay the meat out on a foil lined baking sheet and roast for 3 hours.

And 3 hours later……

(I love when the meat pulls off of the bones like that.  You know the meat is tender just by looking at it!)

Brush your favorite barbecue sauce all over the meat and serve.  I like to be very thick with my barbecue sauce application, but it’s personal preference whether or not you want to add a little or a lot.

This was such a delicious and satisfying meat dish.  Great for a warm sunny day.

I’d like to make a quick note on the dried oregano.  I hear some people make complaints about the inferiority of dried herbs compard to fresh.  Usually I will agree, but because this is a slow roast, dried herbs are the only herbs that will survive the prolonged heat exposure without wilting and burning.  You’ll get more flavor from the dried herbs in this case.  Enjoy!