This is a story about ribs. And sheer naiveté. And being stubborn. But mostly really good ribs.
So if you want a recipe, keep scrolling. If you’re ready for me to talk your eyeballs off, thank you and buckle up.
It was a Saturday, and Kaz and I had a full day ahead. After running some errands, we went to visit our friends and meet their baby. She was a sweet, sleepy bundle who only cried when Kaz held her. (Ok, ok, fine, she was just hungry. It had less to do with Kaz, but she clearly followed through with our plan after I slipped her that $5 bill. That kid is going places.)
So we said our goodbyes and made the trip back from Joliet to Chicago. Normally this would take 1-1 ½ hours, but we stopped at a mall along the way. They don’t really have malls in the city and I’m still a suburban girl at heart. (I told you I was going to ramble.) After our brief pit stop to basically take advantage of lower sales taxes – ugh, don’t tell my dad I said that, I'll never live it down – we hopped back on the highway and headed home. By now it was 5 p.m., somewhere between rush hour and dinner time.
I had been planning to make ribs after eyeing this coffee barbecue sauce all week. This was going to be a marquee dinner, a perfect night in after a pretty busy day.
Then I started to back-time in my head. We were going to get home by 6:30 p.m., and the ribs would take…? So we would eat by…? I had no idea, so I asked Kaz to look up a few recipes as we crawled through traffic. Some said 1 ½ - 2 hours, others 3-4.
No, no, that couldn’t be right. What does BuzzFeed say? That site’s for millennials like us who have no patience, there’s got to be a better option.
The same thing. About 2 hours. And I hadn’t even made the sauce yet…
I’ve made ribs before, but it had been awhile and I'd completely forgotten it was a half-day process. For as good of a home cook as I think I am, my sense of timing and preparation can be waaaaaay off.
So we were either going to eat ribs around 9-10 p.m. (very European), have the ravioli we just snagged from Aldi (sounded pretty good), or go out to eat.
When we got home, we deliberated for more than an HOUR. It honestly felt like a movie montage of an aerial view of someone tossing and turning in bed for hours, unable to sleep. Maybe it was the chips and salsa I scarfed down as soon as we got home, but I had zero interest in making any food-based decisions that night.
After much prodding and patience (he’s truly a saint), Kaz convinced me we should just go out to eat. Even that took some debating, but eventually we landed on Piece Pizza in Wicker Park. We’d heard only good things about the place and it had had been on our must-try list anyway.
We got there around 8:30 p.m. and the wait was going to be about 30 minutes. For those of you keeping score at home, yes, by the time we ate, it was after 9 p.m. The same time the ribs would have been done.
*Endless facepalm emoji* Did I mention Kaz is a saint?
It ended up being a fun night, but I learned a thing or two. Mostly that ribs take awhile to cook, DUH KRISTIN.
So I made them the next day when we had nothing planned, and I threw them in the crock pot to make things even easier. Plus, I took a crack at crispy smashed potatoes and it ended up being the marquee meal I had hoped for. I’m not going to ramble on about this, because you’ve heard enough for now.
Here are the recipes: The sauce is from Tasty Kitchen, the slow cooker ribs are from The Stay at Home Chef and the crispy smashed potatoes are from Cafe Delites.
Coffee Barbecue Sauce
From Tasty Kitchen
Ingredients
½ cups strong brewed coffee
1 cup ketchup
¾ cups firmly packed brown sugar
½ cups apple cider vinegar
½ cups finely chopped shallots
½ cups sweet red chili sauce
2 cloves garlic, grated
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons ground cumin
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 teaspoon sriracha or tabasco sauce
Instructions
Mix all ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat.
Reduce heat and let flavors meld, about 40 minutes.
Let cool to room temperature and serve.
Slow Cooker Ribs
Ingredients
1 rack of baby back ribs
Dry rub (I used this basic mix from AllRecipes)
BBQ sauce
Instructions
Cut the membrane from the back of the ribs.
Rub ribs with dry rub, if desired.
Put the ribs in the crockpot and coat with BBQ sauce.
Cook on low for 8-10 hours.
Take the ribs out of the crockpot when done, add a coat of BBQ sauce and broil for 3-5 minutes.
Crispy Smashed Potatoes
From Cafe Delites
Ingredients
1lb. fingerling potatoes
3 tbsp. melted butter
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tbsp. fresh chopped parsley
Kosher Salt and Black Pepper to taste
2 tablespoons Parmesan Cheese
Instructions
Place the potatoes in salted water and bring to a boil. Once at a boil, continue boiling for about 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, create the butter, garlic and parsley mixture.
Remove potatoes with a slotted spoon and place on a lightly greased pan. (Cover with aluminum foil for easy clean up later.)
Lightly press down on the potatoes with another tray, or individually with a potato masher. Be careful to not smash them down completely – just enough to flatten them slightly.
Pour the butter mixture over each potato and sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.
Broil for 10-15 minutes, or until crispy.
Top with parmesan cheese and put back in the broiler for a minute or two, until melted.
Top with more parsley and serve.
Test Kitchen Notes
The crispy potatoes were great. The original recipe calls for larger, Yukon gold potatoes, which may yield a crispier tater. I'm definitely going to try these again, maybe with a different potato or butter mix.