I was at the grocery store browsing pork tenderloin when a full rack of pork ribs at eye level caught my attention — marked at the unbelievably low price of $5. At first I assumed it was a mislabel, but then I noticed the racks under it were priced $4.65 each. Whatever sale they were running, most of the side ribs were hovering around five dollars. I couldn’t not buy two.
I love ribs, and I’d never had so many in such a short time. I briefly considered saving them for our birthdays coming up this month, but I’m trying to clear out the freezer, not fill it. One rack got bumped to make room for a cheesecake I needed for an event the next night, so I spent two minutes putting the remaining rack on a baking sheet, covering it with foil, sliding it into the oven, setting the temperature to 300°F, and walking out the door. (Mike was home, so don’t worry.)
The secret to tender ribs is precooking. I find roasting easier and less messy than boiling, though boiling works too. After a low-and-slow roast, you simply brush on your favorite sauce and finish the ribs on the grill for flavor and to heat them through if they were cooked earlier. For this meal I also roasted a few long sweet potatoes — poked with a fork and placed on a rack beside the ribs — and briefly blanched green beans in about an inch of simmering water for five minutes. In truth, the active work for this dinner took about five minutes.
One note about the photo: the plate shown is not a full dinner plate but something between a dinner and dessert plate — more like a lunch plate — so portions may look smaller than expected. That’s not to say a few ribs didn’t disappear before they reached the table.