7 Days/7 Recipes - Day three - baby back ribs

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RECIPE SOURCE: CENTENNIAL MAGAZINE INSTANT POT RECIPES - FALL 2020 EDITION
Note: I do not receive any compensation from links provided in these reviews. They are simply here as a way to cite original sources and provide the reader with necessary resources to make the dish.

I have a confession. I jumped on the Instant Pot bandwagon later than most. I know it's been a few years since this speed demon cooking gadget came on the scene. I didn't get my IP until Christmas 2018 and even then, I was hesitant to use it. Why? I don't know. Remember, the whole reason I'm doing this 7 Days/7 Recipes challenge is that I easily get into meal prep ruts!

When I did finally start to use it, it was mostly for cooking chicken or chicken and dumplings. See what I mean about rut??

I was flipping through the pages of the Instant Pot Recipes Fall 2020 Edition by Centennial Magazine and saw their recipe for Baby Back Ribs, I handed my money over to the cashier.

By the way, I found the magazine at Walmart, but you can also order it from Amazon. I think you can find anything on Amazon, though, if you look long enough.

I haven't had ribs in so long. Normally, cooking them takes a long time, which is one reason why I haven't done it very often. So, I was excited to try out this recipe!

But first, I had to overcome the biggest challenge of baby back ribs: removing the membrane on the back of the rack (a.k.a silver skin).

THE HARDEST PART OF THIS RECIPE

When you flip over the rack of ribs, you'll notice a membrane. This is called the silverskin. It needs to be removed before cooking, otherwise your ribs won't be tender and flavorful. 

It's not the most difficult thing to do in the world, but since I wasn't familiar, I headed to YouTube and found a helpful how-to video from e-How's Cooking Guide.

It's not as challenging as this guy makes it sound, but it is pretty slippery. Grab those paper towels. You'll thank yourself, trust me.

WHAT I LIKED ABOUT THIS RECIPE
This recipe is pretty darn easy. You mix up spices to rub on the ribs before you cook them. There are quite a few, but nothing out there or crazy. I had most of them on hand before I went grocery shopping.

​They included dark brown sugar, cumin, chili pepper, cayenne pepper, salt, black pepper, oregano, dry mustard, thyme, onion powder, and garlic powder. 
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Just dump all of these spices into a bowl and give them a good stir. Warning, inhaling this mixture can leave you a little teary-eyed and sneezing. Again, just trust me on this.
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Once the spices are mixed up, rub them all over your slab of ribs. It may be called a dry rub, but your hands are gonna get messy.

Then, pop them in the fridge to sit and absorb all that yumminess. The recipe said for up to an hour. I left them in for about two hours. It's not going to hurt them to sit in those spices for longer.

​Tip: I put some parchment paper under the meat to prevent a sticky mess on my baking sheet, which I'd use later in the prep.

A couple of hours later, these beautiful baby backs were ready to go into the Instant Pot. You'll want to use the rack in the bottom to keep the ribs from sitting in the liquid on the bottom: 1/2 cup vinegar + 2 cups of chicken stock.

​Note: You can also add some liquid smoke here. The recipe doesn't call for it and I forgot to add it. I didn't miss it.

Wrap your ribs along the interior of the IP on top of the rack like this:

Then, set your IP for 30 minutes and let them cook! 

That leads me to the part of the recipe I DID NOT LIKE.

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE ABOUT THIS RECIPE

At the end of the recipe, it says to allow for a Quick Release for 10 minutes. I think that was a misprint, because a Quick Release of pressure only takes a couple of minutes. So, back to the Google I went to check out other rib recipes. The verdict? I opted to allow the IP to do a natural release for 10 minutes and then did a Quick Release. 

The ribs were already pulling away from the bone at this point. I put them on my baking sheet—now covered with aluminum foil—and brushed some store-bought BBQ sauce on them. For the finishing touch, they went into the oven to broil on High for 3 to 5 minutes. They totally transformed in those short minutes!! Before the basting and broiling, the ribs looked like well-spiced, but boiled meat. But afterwards....WHOA BABY!

WILL I ADD THIS RECIPE TO OUR MENU ROTATION?

These ribs melted in our mouths and had a perfect blend of sweet and savory flavor with a tiny kick of spice. The only reasons I wouldn't make these every damn week are

1. Baby baby ribs aren't cheap and I have a grocery budget I try to stick to and
2. Mama is watching her calories. For the record, one serving (about 4 ribs) was 786 calories. I had 3 of them but really wanted to polish off more. But, they were worth every. single. calorie! 

If you've felt like ribs were too intimidating to make, I highly recommend doing them in the Instant Pot. So easy and the results looked and tasted like restaurant quality--at least according to us! 

What's next on the 7 Days/7 Recipes Menu? Penne with Meat Sauce in the Instant Pot!