It's been a hot minute

It's been a hot minute since I've been here, but that's neither here nor there. 

I've been wanting to make something for a while that does not take a hot minute... in fact, it takes many hot minutes. Ribs! 

I've been wanting to conquer ribs because they intimidate me and they are just plain yummy, the motivation for all things right? Also I can't eat them in public for obvious reasons, so I thought I'd try some cooking on the homestead. I know from watching an embarrassing amount of hours of the Food Network that my grill would probably be the most appropriate tool for this mission, but it's winter and I happened to hear on the radio someone talking about how lovely the crock pot worked. Crock pot it is! After doing a little research and a quick jaunt to the store I was ready for my pig challenge. Project Babe. 

...Babe was a pig right?

What you'll need:
-Rack of baby back ribs. I used about a pound and a half. If you have a lot more than that you can trim them up and stack in the slow cooker.
-You're favorite BBQ sauce.
-1/2 cup water.

Here we go.

1. First we have to "prepare" Babe by taking off that membrane that is attached to the underneath of the ribs. Now... I've watched many videos where people have done this no problem, they seem to hook their finger underneath and pull that baby up. Well, in the real world of Meaghan, this membrane removal is for the birds. It legit took me 15 minutes to get this thing off. My suggestion would be to ask your butcher to remove it for you. Save yourself the hassle! If you insist on taking it off yourself, I used a knife and some paper towels. Good luck.

The beast and it's membrane.

2. Once you've finished that dirty job, season up your ribs with whatever you'd like. I went for salt, pepper, mustard powder, garlic powder, and onion powder. Lots of powder. 
3. Place Babe into the crockpot along with the water. 
4. Flip it on high for 4 hours and put your feet up.
5. Ding. Time's up! Carefully remove Babe from the crock pot and set aside for now. 
6. Preheat your oven to 375F.
7. When the oven comes to temperature, place Babe on a greased foil lined tray. 
8. Slather that little oinker with your BBQ or other sauce of choice. 
9. Put it in the oven for 15 minutes.
10. Take it out and baste again. 
11. Pop back in the oven for another 15 minutes and you're good to go!

At this point I was really excited. The ribs looked so yummy and saucy, I couldn't wait to dig in! I got my knife ready for action. I make my first cut and...all the meat falls off.... I felt like I was watching Simba and Nala running through he elephant grave yard.

FAIL.

Zazu is not happy about this elephant graveyard.

I thought this may happen because of the slow cooker and all, but I was hoping it wouldn't. There was no turning back at this point so I settled for just eating the little pieces. And yum! So although I couldn't pick up the rib and eat it in the privacy of my own home, I thought hey! You can use these Babe nuggets for a lot of things, nachos, meat sauce, snacking, slap it in a grilled cheese even! 

Next time maybe I'll do some more research and actually make the ribs on a grill or in a smoker. I'm sure they will come out a lot better and most likely intact. Until then, I will continue not eating ribs in public and continue my search in finding a man that can make some ribs. A girl can dream. 

All in all, the flavor was there and it doesn't matter if the meat fell off, it was an experience! A tastey one : )

-Meaghan