I love steak. There, I said it. Anyone who reads this blog will instantly realize that I am far from a vegetarian, or any of the sub-sets of vegetarian. That’s just who I am. But, my love of steak is often thwarted by my love of keeping money in my wallet. That, and I haven’t perfected grilling steak – last time I did, the $30 of ribeye I bought turned out tough, dry and overcooked.
But I recently watch the Good Eats special where Alton shows how to cook steak in the oven with a cast iron skillet. My cast iron skillet just picked up a new trick to add to it’s already impressive repertoire.
Jannett made some fantastic asparagus with some Parmesan cheese, salt, pepper, oil and breadcrumbs. Combined with a baked potato, this was a very hearty meal. And the best part? I bought the steaks on clearance from Meijer. $3 and some change for two half pound steaks – Amazing!
Ribs are a tricky thing for me. Its really easy to make tough, dry ribs. Its also fairly easy to make ribs that just fall off the bone. Neither of these scenarios is desirable though. Rather, what I always shoot for is meat that pulls cleanly off the bone. The slow cooker was the secret for zero effort ribs that fit the bill. This summer, I’ll perfect it on the smoker but at 12ºF it’s too cold for me to even care to try outside.
Ingredients
1.0 Slab Ribs
Ground Pepper
0.5 c. Port Wine
1.0 c. water
0.5 c. white vinegar
BBQ Sauce
Instructions
1. I marinated the ribs over night with a simple pepper and wine mixture.
2. Turn the slow cooker to low and add the ribs and add the vinegar and water.
3. Wait 6-8 hours. I cranked the heat to 180ºF for the last hour before the next step.
4. Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Brush on BBQ sauce to taste.
5. Cook the ribs in the middle of the oven for 20 minutes.
They turned out great. Messy, but great. Ribs have a tendency to do that.
