Baby Back Ribs

Ingredients:

• 1 full rack of baby back ribs
• 1 cup barbecue sauce

Dry Rub Recipe (makes a lot extra)

• 1/4 cup salt
• 1/4 white sugar
• 1/4 raw sugar (turbino) or brown sugar
• 1/2 cup ancho chili powder
• 2 tbsps freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tbsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp dry mustard
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tsp ground chipotle pepper

Why am I'm doing a baby back ribs video in the dead of winter. I love how they taste. Sorry I don't have a more interesting answer for you, but I'll be damned if I'm going to let the earth's periodical tilting away from the sun prevent me from enjoying these tasty pieces of pork.

I'll be the first to admit this is not the best technique for doing ribs. You just can't replace slowly roasting the meat over smoky coals, but, that said, this baked in the oven version is way beyond respectable.

I've always found baby back ribs a very user-friendly product. Unless you severely over or undercooked them, they're pretty hard to mess up. I know I'm going to get all kinds of tips and tricks for the ultimate rib – the plastic wrap, the steaming, the braising, the marinating – but quite frankly, I've never seen the need.

Maybe this summer I'll try some of the more interesting ideas, but for this early January, this will do just fine. Speaking of ideas, yes, those are chicharrones on the plate of ribs. You're welcome.

This works with literally any dry rub and barbecue sauce combo. I've posted a basic, all-purpose rub recipe below, in case you're interested. For the sauce, I've of course used Michele's SFQ, but any premium quality barbecue sauce will work.

Anyway, if you're in the mood for a little virtual trip into summer, I hope you give this technique a try. Enjoy!

Beef Satay

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds thinly sliced beef
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons fish sauce
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons fresh very finely minced or pureed lemongrass
• 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 1 tablespoon ground coriander
• 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

This video recipe is really more about the marinade than the meat, as this will work with almost any cut of beef. If you want to splurge, you can use tenderloin, which is super-tender, and really is a nice choice. If you're on the other end of the luxury meat spectrum, you can use a cheap cut like rump steak, or you can split the difference and use something in the middle, like this sirloin tip.

I'll sacrifice a little tenderness for flavor any day, and as long as you slice nice and thin, against the grain, you can't go wrong. As I show in the video, I like to put lots of meat on the skewer, so I can caramelize the surface without having to worry about the lean, grass-fed beef drying out.

All the ingredients, some of which may sound exotic, should be fairly easy to find in any large, higher-end grocery store. By the way, these skewers can be done with chicken or pork, and I can personally verify they are just as delicious. Enjoy!