Finger Food Ribs

The recipe I’m showing you today is a recipe for finger food-style ribs. If you’ve never made ribs before, this is a great recipe because it’s simple and quick (headache-free 👌). Of course, if you’re a pro at ribs, this is also a great recipe to add to the menu 😉

I got the idea to cook ribs this way when I asked myself why we don’t cook ribs according to how we eat them. We basically slice the rack of ribs before eating the meat around the bone by holding it with our fingers anyway, so it only seemed logical to prepare them this way. What’s more, it’s a great way to serve them as an appetizer (especially if each person has their own small plate).

In this recipe, I use Saint-Louis-style ribs, meaning that the boneless part has been removed and the whole thing has been smoothed out. Why did I choose St. Louis ribs?  Because flank ribs are really thicker and fattier, they are more flavorful and have more meat than back ribs… Lots of good stuff 😉

You should know that I also trim some of the fat from my ribs, specifically the silverskin (the white membrane on the bottom of the meat). The trick to removing it is pulling it off, starting from the thinnest part of the meat. If there’s any left, you can scrape it off, but it won’t melt.

I also include a side dish for the ribs in my recipe: fiddleheads. You’ll see, the two go great together!

Here’s the recipe:

Ingredients :

For the ribs:

• Saint-Louis style flank ribs
• House of BBQ Experts Kansas Spice Mix and Rub, to taste
• Houseof BBQ Experts Explorer Spice Mix and Rub, to taste
• House of BBQ Experts Maple Bourbon sauce, to taste

For the fiddleheads:

• Fiddleheads, to taste
• Clarified butter
• House of BBQ Experts Texas Spice Mix and rub, to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat the Grill to 350°F.
2. Remove the silverskin under the rib, then use a sharp knife to slice the rib at the bone to separate each rib.
3. Sprinkle Kansas dry rub on both sides of each rib (as it cooks, the sugar will melt, glazing the meat and giving it a nice crust), then do the same with a little Explorer dry rub. (The ribs should be a nice orange color without being coated in too much dry rub.)
4. Place the ribs on the upper grill in the indirect cooking zone and cook for approximately 25 to 30 minutes, until they reach an internal temperature of 190 to 205°F. Flip them halfway through cooking or if they start to burn on one side, so they cook on the other.
5. Remove ribs from the Grill and transfer them to a bowl (or several, depending on whether or not each person has one). Pour Maple Bourbon sauce (cold or hot, according to preference) over the ribs and into the bottom of the bowl, so the ribs can be dipped in it as needed. Set aside.
6. Clean, then blanch the fiddleheads for at least 10 minutes to eliminate their toxins.
7. Transfer the fiddleheads to a BBQ-safe bowl and mix in clarified butter. Place the bowl on the grill in the indirect cooking zone and melt the butter.
8. Take out the Slide and Grill and let the flames brush against the fiddleheads to grill them. (If the Grill doesn’t have a Slide and Grill, rekindle the flame under the fiddleheads to grill them).
9. Sprinkle Texas dry rub onto the fiddleheads and stir so that the fiddleheads are well grilled and seasoned.
10. Take the fiddleheads off the grill, serve them with the ribs and enjoy!

* The reason I recommend using the top grill is that it actually gets more heat but less direct heat. This means that there’s radiant heat, which allows the entire piece of meat to cook through nicely. The bottom grill could have damaged the outside of the meat or burned it.

Happy grilling!