Here in Uruguay it is begin of our BBQ and outdoor cooking season. For many years we make this dish and always everyone is excited with it. The secret crown of it is the BBQ sauce, which I always make as a lot, to have some for a next BBQ (asado) or as a gift for friends. They love it. I know, it is quiet some work to do, but it’s worth it

      Ribs Uruguayan style. Left, some butchers offer American cut, right the Urugayan asado cut.  Boring, tasteless and fatty! Very often stringy and chewy – like chomping on a piece of sandal. Sorry! Why do they do it like that? I found out, they are to lazy to invest time and work into a sauce or not paying good money for other nice ingredients especially top quality meat. Just the cut on the fire and then served with a bit of white bread. Oh yeah – and sometimes sprinkled with dry Oregano – UGGGGG.

Sorry to complain about Uruguayan cooking or BBQing, but I like better 1 or 2 times a very nice portion of meat instead 9 times per week rubbish ! 9 times per week a meat meal is official Uruguayan statistic !!! The positive – I have been in the last 8 years to a lot of Urugayan Asados – some are really good and worth to remember. But never ever I had one who made own sauces except Argentine chimichurri.

  Chimichurri, sometimes nicely made and tasty.

Using the slow cooker allows you to get baby back pork ribs incredibly tender, but you’ll need to cook them in a sauce with tons of flavor so they’re not boring. For these easy, tasty ribs, you make a bacon-whisky barbecue sauce for marinating and simmering the ribs. After 4 or 5 hours, when the ribs are tender, you brush them with more sauce and give them a quick turn in the broiler or on your BBQ.

   The ingredients.

Ingredients.
The dry-ingredients mixture:

2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons smoked paprika, I use the mild/sweet one
3 tablespoons chilli powder
2 tablespoons ground yellow mustard seed
2 tablespoons dried sage
2 tablespoons cummin
1 teaspoon cayenne powder, if its very hot be careful
2 teaspoon kosher salt

   Good smoked ham is important. It will give your BBQ sauce a nice smokey flavour.

The barbecue sauce:

450 gram (15 ounces) thick-cut well smoked bacon, chopped
2 large yellow onions, chopped
8-10 cloves garlic, chopped

  Delicious dark, spicy, whisky, bacon BBQ sauce.

2-3 large shot whiskey, a good scotch or bourbon (you’ll taste it)
3 cups extra-strong brewed coffee, black
3 cups ketchup
4 tablespoon soy sauce

      Your full pork loin rack in Uruguay. Cut out the loin yourself and use the „triangle“ rack for your rib dish.

The ribs:

2 racks of baby back ribs, for 2 persons.
In Uruguay butchers don’t know and don’t like to sell baby back ribs.
That means you have to improvise : I buy the whole loin rack and use
the rib-bone cuts of the loin rack, keeping the loin steak for another purpose.

   If you like the ribs flat, let your butcher saw the rib cage (as it is shown here) and you’ll get it easy separated. But just saw up the bone, not the loin.

How to do.

1. Mix the dry ingredients together and set aside.
2. First cook the bacon in a large pan or skillet over medium heat until it starts to brown, about 10 minutes.
3. Add the onion and garlic and cook until the onions have softened, about 10 more minutes.

   Cooking the bacon in a large pan/skillet.

4. Add the dry-ingredients mixture and stir to evenly combine
5. Add the whisky and stir all of the ingredients together, deglazing the pan.
6. Add the bacon-vegetable mixture, coffee, ketchup, and soy sauce to a blender and blend until smooth. Decide which consistency you like with adding a bit more liquid. I always cook a big pot of sauce and take the time for tasting at the end, means here and there adding a bit of several ingredients. My sauces are never strict to a recipe.

     Adding the onions and garlic and then mixing in the dry ingredients.

7. Place the sauce and ribs in an airtight container ( I like to use a double plastic bag) and place in the refrigerator to marinate. If you can do this overnight that’s best, but even a few hours will noticeably change the flavor of the meat.

                                Cook your racks, standing up, for 4-5 hours on high. Years ago I liked to precook the ribs and adding BBQ sauce much later. Now I prefer to cook ribs in the marinade. The marinade turns after 4-5 hours slow cooking into my BBQ sauce. Left is a purchased Kraft BBQ sauce, right my own one before slow cooking.

8. Turn the slow cooker on high and add the ribs and sauce. Try to stand the ribs up along the sides of the pot to keep the meat from sitting in the simmer. That’s why I left the „triangle of bones“ together. Only the „feet“ are in the liquid. Cook for 4 to 5 hours until done. The bones should separate easily.

      This is how your „triangle“ rack looks like after slow cooking. Now you can enjoy it already or take the racks apart (they will easily separate) and broil them.

9. Turn on the broiler. Remove the cooked ribs from the slow cooker and place them on a baking sheet meat-side up. You also can do this on your BBQ.
10.Apply a thick coat of the sauce and broil for about 5 minutes. (Make sure to keep a close eye on the ribs—you don’t want them to burn in the broiler.)

  This is how they should look like after broiling or after being on the BBQ. Bones and sauce can be burned a bit (good smoky flavor) but not the meat itself, please ! I wish I could buy this kind of „spare rib“ cut here in uruguay. Meantime I have a butcher who really likes to help and tries to deliver my cut after the pics I always show to him. But you need to buy „A LOT“ (about 8-10kg) to get a special delivery. And finally I always bring him after BBQ a nice taste of my results.

Tips.

There should be at least 2 cups of sauce remaining to pour into bowls and serve on the side. Delicious is this meal with french fries and baked beans or coleslaw. Have a cool beer with it. We also had delicious green mashed potatoes and a fresh green salad with it.

   These are the ribs after 6 1/2 hours slow cooked on high in crock pot. I used just marinade to cover, the bones are standing in the juice. Juice is just covering the crock pot bottom.

   This time 5 jars of BBQ sauce to fill. Imagine 5 hours slow cooked, spicy, whisky, bacon flavored !!  Want some ?  Often I vary my sauces a bit, this time I added the juice of the slow cooked ribs and some baked onion slices. Made it more rustic.    I already look forward to my next BBQ meal.

My BBQ sauce tastes spicy, medium hot and a bit tomato like, bacon smoked, sweet sour. If one prefers less heat, use half of the chilli or cayenne powder. If one likes it a bit sweeter, use half of the soy sauce and therefore 3-4 tablespoons of honey. Another way is, before broiling smear the ribs thick with honey – result „honey glazed ribs“. But sweet.

   What to do with the leftover loin? Here an idea, bacon wrapped roast, with homemade applesauce. I tell you, its just …. !  Enjoy !