You can cook these ribs in the oven, or consider springing for a cheap offset smoker. Ask your butcher for a square-cut whole rib plate.
Dinosaur ribs
Serves 7 or 8
Special equipment:
Butcher knife or large chef’s knife
Nonreactive food-safe container large enough to hold the ribs
Aluminum foil or a smoker
1 square-cut beef rib plate, 8 to 10 pounds
For the marinade:
1 cup kosher salt
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup soy sauce
One 6- to 8-ounce can pineapple juice
2 tablespoons freshly ground black pepper
Grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
2 teaspoons bonito flakes
1. To fabricate the ribs, take a bullnose butcher knife or large chef’s knife and cut the riblets off the bottom of the ribs at the joint where they meet.
2. Next, cut all the way through the space between the ribs with your knife, making sure that each rib has meat on it. Place the ribs in a large nonreactive food-safe container.
3. To make the marinade, combine the salt, brown sugar, soy sauce, pineapple juice, black pepper, lemon zest and juice, and bonito flakes and mix well in a medium bowl, using your hands to squish any lumps of sugar. Pour the mixture evenly all over the ribs and rub it in. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Set an alarm to wake up as early as you think you can.
4. When the alarm goes off, remove the ribs from the refrigerator and place them out at room temperature somewhere where they are unlikely to be molested by man or beast. Go back to bed.
5. When you wake up again, fire up your smoker or oven. You can cook the ribs at 220°F for 12 hours or at 250°F for 8 hours, depending on how early you got out of bed and what time you want to eat.
6. Put the ribs in (if using an oven, wrap them in foil first), sit back, and settle in for a day of lazily poking at the ribs. When the ribs are tender but not quite falling off the bone, they are ready.
7. Serve with the barbecue sauce, cold beer, and loud music.
Meat Hook Barbecue Sauce
Makes 3 cups
2 cups ketchup
1 cup water
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1/3 cup light brown sugar
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon mustard powder, such as Colman’s
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
Combine all the ingredients in a non-reactive saucepan, bring to a simmer, and simmer gently for 1 1/2 hours. Remove from the heat and let cool for 45 minutes.
Stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator, the sauce will keep for up to 1 month. Freezing is not encouraged.
Excerpted from The Meat Hook Meat Book by Tom Mylan (Artisan Books). Copyright © 2014. Photographs by Michael Harlan Turkell. Illustrations by Kate Bonner.