Chrysalis Farm

Last Saturday, we got invited to our first official braai. For those of you who are not conversant with South African English, a braai (pronounced like "pie" except with a "br" in front) is a barbeque or a grill. The word is actually Afrikaans and can be a verb ("I'm going to braai some sausages tonight") or a noun ("We're having a braai at the weekend"). 

RECIPE

• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1-1/2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1-1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1-1/2 tablespoons black pepper (more or less depending on how spicy you like your ribs) (Added 9/21/2011: a couple of readers have found 1-1/2 Tblsp too spicy for their taste. Cut back to 1/2 Tblsp for medium/calmer ribs. Don't worry, youi won't be labeled a wimp, they'll still have a "kick" as the sauce has mustard and black pepper too)
• 1/2 tablespoon paprika

Ribs

• 2 lbs pork ribs (equivalent to approx. two racks of spareribs)
• 1-1/4 cups ketchup
• 3/4 cup beer (you can substitute chicken or beef broth or even water, but frankly, what are ribs without beer? So, you're gonna have to go out and buy beer anyway!)
• 3/8 cup cider vinegar 
• 1/8 cup Worcestershire sauce 
• 1/4 tablespoon dry mustard (Coleman’s) 
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar 
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme 
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger 

1. Place racks of ribs in a glass baking dish. Rub dry rub all over ribs. Cover and refrigerate several hours or overnight. 
2. Mix together ketchup, beer, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, brown sugar, oregano, garlic, basil, thyme, pepper, and ginger in a medium-size bowl. 
3. (Drink rest of the can of beer.)
4. Preheat oven to 325F (160C). 
5. Put ribs in a baking pan (or if you're lazy like me, use the same glass baking dish — just make sure it's not still cold when you put it in the oven). If you're going to put them on the BBQ after baking, reserve 1/2 cup sauce for basting later. Pour the sauce over ribs.
6. Cover with alum foil. Bake at 325F (160C) around 2 hours (the meat should start loosingly from the bones nicely), basting occasionally.
7. At this point, you can just serve and enjoy! But, if you're BBQ-ing, when the BBQ (braai) is fired up and ready to rock and roll, place your pre-baked ribs on the grill and baste with the reserved sauce. One of the beauties of these is that since they're oven-baked, all they need is a warming up and crisping on the grill.

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