It’s finally feeling like summer here in the Bay Area, which has me longing for some Texas summer traditions. Like tubing. And barbecue. So, since I have a nice long weekend thanks to Christopher Columbus, I figured I would take advantage by making an attempt at one of my favorite things left back in Texas: pork ribs. Specifically, I get cravings for the coriander pork ribs from Lambert’s (I know, I know…but that fancy place has some dang good ribs, y'all).

Since moving to San Francisco means giving up a backyard with a porch and nice grill, today’s ribs are done in the oven. Actually, since respectable barbecue is done “slow and low”, oven cooking is a perfectly suitable method for recreating most ‘cue at home. The crock pot is also a great method for other cuts, like a pork shoulder, for the same reason. The thing that is harder to recreate at home is the smoke. Texas barbecue is all about getting smoke to penetrate the meat whereas most other regional 'cues are about specific styles of saucing. To tackle the smoke problem at home, you will have to choose one of two methods: kick up your rub with smokey characteristics or add liquid smoke to your rub. I typically choose the former, but if you want to incorporate liquid smoke you should select a mesquite smoke if you are after Texas 'cue characteristics. One warning about the liquid smoke: liquid smoke is derived from an actual smoke process, so (just like real smoked meat) it will contain carcinogens.

I’ve already said that the flavor profile I was going for was close to the Lambert’s ribs, so ground coriander features prominently in this rub. And with any barbecue pork, caramelization is also key, so we need to incorporate plenty of light brown sugar, molasses, or maple syrup into the rub. I use these basic proportions for all of my dry rubs and just replace the fundamental flavors depending on how I want to push the meat. For example, for a spicy pork shoulder, you could increase the pepper and replace the mustard with vinegar. Or if you want a richer flavor profile, you could skip the mustard and replace the coriander with cocoa powder or finely ground coffee. The quantities below should make enough rub to create a generous bark for any standard slab of pork spareribs, beef brisket, or small pork shoulder, but you can also stretch it to cover two slabs of ribs.

Texas Pork Rub:

Mix all ingredients together into a bowl

¼ cup ground coriander
2 tablespoons salt (I used cedar smoked salt to get that smokey flavor kickin, but you can use plain kosher salt)
2 - 3 teaspoons ground pepper (I’m pretty casual with the pepper grinder at home, and pork is very forgiving, so no need for formalities here. I take my pepper grinder and just grind that sucker until the whole top of my mixing bowl is dusted)
2 teaspoons smoked paprika ( smoked paprika, or pimenton, is important. DO NOT use regular paprika please)
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (these proportions can tolerate up to 1 tablespoon if you like the heat)
¾ cup light brown sugar
¼ cup vegetable oil or other neutral oil like canola or grapeseed
1/3 cup grainy mustard

For the Ribs:

Using your hands, take that rub and coat the meat all over
Place the slabs onto a prepared sheet pan and cover with plastic wrap or foil for at least 1 or up to 8 hours
When ready to cook, preheat oven to 300F
Cover ribs with foil (*see note below about oven methodologies) and place ribs meat-side-up in prepared pan on middle rack in oven
You’ll want to cook a slab of ribs for at least 2 ½ hours, until the meat is tender and ribs pull apart from each other easily; I like to leave mine covered in the oven for 2 hours, then remove the foil and continue to cook for 1 final hour. This method reduces the liquids in the pan and allows the top of the meat to get nice and candied
Remove from oven once cooked to your liking and allow ribs to sit, tented with foil, for 10 minutes before digging in
If you like, you can use those 10 minutes of waiting to reduce any liquids left in the pan. Once reduced to your liking, pour back over the ribs

Oh! Also…

I paired the ribs with a gin + jam cocktail. The jam I used was a homemade spicy plum jam with thyme, but you can use whatever jam or preserve you like. For the gin, I recommend something not too herbaceous and not too briny – Recently I’ve fallen in love with the Terroir gin from St. George, but Beefeater would be just fine as well. For the cocktail, take 2 ounces of that gin, shake with ice, 1 oz lemon juice, ½ oz simple syrup, and 1 teaspoon of your jam. Then strain all of that goodness into a glass, stirring in more jam if you like. Once you’ve mastered that, you can swap the gin for tequila and use orange marmalade instead of jam and this same recipe makes a delicious brunch libation!

* A few notes on oven cooking your ribs: There are a few different methodologies out there, I keep it simple and just wrap a rimmed baking sheet with foil, place the ribs meat-side-up on the sheet and cover snugly with foil. Other methods include placing the ribs, tented with foil, on a drying rack placed directly on the oven rack with a prepared pan underneath. The idea behind this method is that it allows air to fully circulate around the ribs. I imagine that if you are bought into this tactic that you could accomplish the same thing with a broiling pan, placing the pan one rack below the tray.