BBQ Ribs and Mashed Potatoes

Guys, I am seriously so impressed with myself. I have been branching out and trying to cook different things, and I have had nothing but successes so far! I had originally bought a rack of ribs to use in a slow cooker recipe, and totally didn't think about the size of my crock pot....needless to say, I decided to bake them in the oven instead. Anyways, I had never made ribs before, like ever, and I wasn't sure that they would turn out right, but I invited some friends over, so I had to make them perfect! I found a fairly simple recipe online, and I knew I had some Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce in the fridge, so where could I go wrong, right? Anyways, the link to the recipe is here, and my version of it below!

BBQ Ribs

Ingredients:

~1 3 1/2 lb rack of ribs, trimmed

~salt to taste

~pepper to taste

~seasoned salt to taste (pre-mixed rub)

~paprika to taste

~brown sugar to taste

~Sweet Baby Ray's sauce, any flavor

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 275 F.

2. Trim the fat membrane off the back of the ribs. You can take a butter knife to help you slice the fat. Depending on how big your rack of ribs is, you might need to slice it in half to make it fit in your glass baking dish.

3. Rub your ribs with the spices then cover with two sheets of foil. Bake for 3 1/2 - 4 hours. Take out your ribs and coat with BBQ sauce then broil for about 5 minutes until the sauce is caramelized!

4. Take them out, slice them up, and enjoy!

The key to cooking ribs is low and slow. Low heat, long cooking time! These ribs literally fell off the bone when Cory was slicing it up! Okay, now for the mashed potatoes...

Mashed Potatoes

Ingredients:

~3 brown potatoes, cubed

~1 stick of butter

~heavy whipping cream

~salt to taste

~pepper to taste

~oregano to taste

~1 tsp minced garlic

Directions:

1. Bring a big pot of water to a boil, then add your potatoes. Boil until they are mushy.

2. Drain your potatoes and either place in a bowl to hand mash, or place in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add in the heavy cream (start out with a little bit, then keep adding to your own discretion) and the butter.

3. Add in spices to taste, and mash together or mix on low until there are no major clumps. Everyone likes their mashed potatoes differently so mash to your own taste!

I tried something different for the gravy this time around. It is customary to take the drippings from the meat and add flour to make gravy, and but I wasn't sure that would work for ribs, but we gave it a shot anyways! It tasted a little bbq-y but it worked! I was wayyyyy pleasantly surprised at how well the whole meal turned out (I have not had good luck with mashed potatoes in the past). I hope you guys try these recipes and enjoy! Have a happy holiday weekend!

~S