OVEN-COOKED BABY BACK RIBS

This post is a bit different because unlike the other posts, I didn't exactly follow a recipe that I found off the internet.  Instead, I relied on what a friend's mother told me, some tips from another recipe, and improvisation.

The last time I visited my closest friend in Georgia, his mother cooked ribs for us one night.  Luckily, my friend asked her not to put any BBQ sauce on some of the ribs she was cooking because he knew I didn't like it.  I would have been fine if she had just salt and peppered it and then I'd have the option of dousing it in hot sauce if it needed more flavor (almost everything is made better with hot sauce... and bacon).  Instead, I bit into what was probably the best tasting ribs I've ever had.  Granted, I don't eat ribs very often, if at all, but I know something good when I bite into it.   All with none of that nasty BBQ sauce.

I asked how my friend's mother seasoned it, and she gave me a pretty simple answer: she marinated it in Goya Mojo and then seasoned it with a particular Goya seasoning - her favorite seasoning, she told me.  Unfortunately, I can't remember the other seasonings that she mentioned, if any, aside from extra garlic powder.  Goya Mojo is like a godsend. I'm not an expert in Latin cooking, so I can't say how authentic this marinade is or if there are ways to improve upon it.  I just know that I love it.  The first time I tasted it was when my brother served some grilled steak that had been marinated in that citrus garlicky deliciousness.  Heaven.

When I returned to New York from my trip, I decided to buy this "favorite seasoning" of my friend's mother.    I discovered that it contained MSG.  I know some people are really averse to MSG because of whatever health complications it may pose.  I'm not even aware of what those health complications are supposed to be.  Meh... I wasn't going to let that stop me from using it.

I've never cooked ribs before, either in the oven or on the grill.  The majority of the recipes I read recommended cooking the ribs low and slow - at about 225 degrees for roughly 4 hours.  I was going to heed that advice until I came across another recipe that cooked the ribs at 400 for about an hour.  After I read the reviews that praised this recipe, I decided to cook the ribs the latter way this time.  If it didn't turn out that well, then I'd try it the other way the next time around.

Ingredients:
1 rack of baby back ribs
Goya Mojo Marinade
Goya Sazonador Total (or whatever seasonings you like)
Garlic Powder
Cracked Black Pepper
*I wanted to add some cumin, but I ran out of it and forgot to replace it at the time of cooking

Instructions:
1) Marinate ribs in Mojo marinade for anywhere between 6-24 hours.
2) Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
3) Rub ribs with seasonings, garlic powder, cracked black pepper, etc. to taste.
4) Lay ribs on foil fat-side up and create a tent with foil.
5) Cook ribs for 1 hour in oven.
6) Remove ribs from oven.  Unwrap foil and flip ribs to fat-side down.  Bake with foil open for another 20 minutes.
7) Eat.

after marinating and seasoning

fresh out of the oven

should it have been browner?

I read somewhere that you should let your ribs rest after cooking for 20 minutes.  I'm sure it could probably benefit from that, but I was too hungry and curious to wait.  I think I should have seasoned it more generously.  It had flavor, but not quite as much as I wanted it to.  I think I'll also add a sprinkle of kosher salt the next time.  The ribs were tender, though not fall off the bone tender.  Nonetheless, a pretty good meal for a first-time experiment.