Bourbon Ribs and Spoon Bread - Nigella Style

Valentine’s Day is the theme over at IHCC so I choose to submit Nigella’s Bourbon ribs and spoon bread.



Sticky, tasty baby backs......



I will have to disagree with sentiment on the Hallmark-holiday comment though. :-) It can be lots of pressure, and lots of tears, with the commercialized expectations of February 14th becoming another mini-Christmas. So, show your love, appreciation and commitment year round and forget saving it for one solitary cold day in February!

Onward to a kick-ass recipe that you will be sure to enjoy…. if you are fan of baby back ribs.

Presenting...Bourbon Glazed Ribs

I modified the recipe a bit as it called for 24 St Louis style pork ribs and there are only three of us. Also Tristan isn’t home all the time for dinner so I thought…let me make a half order. Then I see Fresh Market has baby back ribs on sale so I used those.

Let me say – ohmygod…I can’t wait to make these again. They were a tremendous hit!

My half recipe went as follows:



One rack of baby back ribs weighing in at about 3 pounds

¼ cup brown sugar

¾ cup bourbon (Doug said I couldn’t use the Maker’s Mark so I bought a small bottle of Jack Daniels)

1 TB soy sauce

1 TB yellow mustard

1 TB ketchup

Put ribs in resealable freezer bag and add all ingredients for marinade. Place in the fridge overnight. I left them in marinating two nights.



When you are ready to cook the ribs, remove them from the marinade and preheat oven to 425 F. SAVE the marinade and place in a saucepan; set aside.

Place the ribs in a shallow roasting pan and line with foil for an easier cleanup.



Cook ribs for one hour, turning over halfway through. When they are cooked, bring marinade to a boil and let it cook for 5 to 7 minutes. This makes GREAT dipping sauce!



Doug and Tristan said it tasted like it had been grilled, had a rich taste to it. Next time I am making the full order.

And what went quite well with these ribs?

Spoon Bread



Preheat oven to 425 F. Grease a casserole or oven-safe skillet with ¾ stick of butter and place in the oven to melt down. Set aside.

Place 3 cups drained can corn, 4 scallions and 1 ¼ cups shredded cheddar cheese in a food processor with 4 eggs.



Process to chop vegetables and cheese, then add 2 cups yellow cornmeal and 2 teaspoons baking powder.

Process again until mixture becomes paste-like. With motor running add about 4 cups of whole milk.




Pour this mixture into the buttery greased pan and bake for 1 hours or until set. Let it stand 10 minutes before serving.



Both the ribs and the spoon bread cook for the same time and at the same temperature so that is quite convenient. It went well together and the bread sopped up some of the juices.




THIS meal ranks as one of favorite meals along with the creamy seafood sauce and pastas we had at the end of January. If you missed that, click HERE for the recipe.



Head over to I Heart Cooking Club and see what romantic dishes have been posted.