Wolf Moon in January reflected the last of most cured, salted, smoked meats for our ancestors when refrigeration was a block of ice from the river or lake placed over top a cellar dug into the ground. Many would share what they have with those in their village. Welcome to my online village to share recipes and knowledge that has been generously past on to me. These ribs are roasted and fork tender when finished. They are to remind us of comfort in the wafting scent of slow roasted meals in the oven.
I have had many blessings in life, but one that I hold very dear is the blessing of community. I was raised in a tiny town in the Northwest Territories by parents who surrounded our family with friends and loved ones. I am grateful to have been raised in a metaphorical village as well.
My parents' friends became aunts and uncles to me in the village sense, and their children were like my family. We also kept in touch with extended family and i was close to my grandparents. Throughout my youth, the nurturing influence and wisdom of my Elders was palpable and real, and I felt held in a web of love and goodness that I sense to this day. My connection to community pulses through all that i do.
Many people have sourced out Homesteading recipes and lifestyle tips as part of their online village. The top thirteen culinary traditions that have been past down to generations and helped to get through the Wolf Moon Season are as follows:
Cheese making
Grinding grain
Pickling
Sun-drying
Fermenting beverages
Bread baking
Sugaring
Butchering
Pressing apples, grapes, and other fruit
Curing meats
Culturing dairy products
Smoking meats
Rendering fats
I remember my grandparents canning meats, fermenting cabbage, pickling vegetables, butchering and smoking meats, and certainly lots of bread baking. It hasn't been since the past few years that I value these techniques more and more. This year, 2021, I will be sharing more of them throughout each season.
These ribs are often made at my parents and I am usually asked to bring them to gatherings, so I thought this should be an easy recipe to start with. Easy. Oven ready. Delicious.
If you are looking to feed your family an easy and delicious meal, start here with these ribs.
The joy of roasting these ribs is the scent is grounding as they slow cook and because you basically leave them alone for over and hour, it gives you time to either visit with them or read Women Who Run with the Wolves to keep the wolf theme in the month for January.
Simply season and wrap in foil, place in the oven and voila!
Here is the recipe:
Ingredients
2 racks of baby back pork ribs. (Side ribs don't have as much meat but you can use them if you wish.)
Sprinkle generously with the following spices:
Back Eddy Steak Seasoning Salt
Lawry's Seasoning Salt
Garlic Powder
And...gently sprinkle Ground Cayenne Pepper. You don't want to make them too hot.
** you will need a favorite BBQ sauce but DON'T use until the last 10 minutes, notes below.
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 F with oven rack in center of oven.
Place ribs on cookie sheet with lip. There will be lots of liquid as we are about to steam them in the pan for over an hour.
Cover with spices and with the instruction above, generously but not with the cayenne pepper.
With two sheets of tin foil, cover and wrap the edges tight to keep the steam in the pan and for the ribs. This is what keeps them moist and tender.
Place covered ribs on baking sheet into oven.
Bake for 45 minutes.
After 45 minutes do not open oven door but turn oven temperature down to 300 F.
Bake for 1.5 hours.
Once time for roasting is finished.
Open oven door and keep baking sheet on the oven rack, there will be lots of liquid and don't want you to get a burn from the liquid or steam.
Very carefully, start at one corner of baking sheet and open the tin foil. The steam can burn you so please be careful.
Slowly remove all the tinfoil.
Take a kitchen baking brush or fork, brush works better, and the BBQ sauce out.
Drizzle a very light strip of BBQ sauce down the center of each rack of ribs.
Spread the BBQ sauce with brush over the ribs. It should be a very light BBQ sauce cover. You don't want stick ribs, just a hint of the sauce and baked in to the ribs.
Place ribs uncovered into oven. The heat should be turned back up to 350 F.
Bake for 10 minutes.
The BBQ sauce should be baked into the ribs and not stick, see photo above.
If they are still sticky, leave in oven for another 5 minutes.
Remove from oven. Let the ribs sit for 10 minutes to rest, this locks in the juices from the ribs.
Cut and serve.
Call your family and friends.
Celebrate a beautiful meal with those in your Village, proverbial or real. Encourage your table talk to be what you are most thankful for and reflections of the year.
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