Ribs without any fuss

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 1 ½ kg spare ribs (ribs), flat, cut into portions
• 4 onions, cut into large wedges
• Clarified butter or neutral oil for frying
• Salt
• black pepper
• Bay leaf
• Carnation(s)
• peppercorns
• allspice berries
• Water

Instructions

Working time approx. 30 minutes; Rest period approx. 1 day; Cooking/baking time approx. 2 hours 20 minutes; Total time approx. 1 day 2 hours 50 minutes

braised, baked crispy in the oven, easy to prepare, with a delicious sauce

The day before: Wash the ribs under running water, pat dry, and rub well with salt and pepper. Meanwhile, heat clarified butter and sear the ribs well on all sides, underside first so they don’t curl. I always sear them in my casserole dish/goose roast and an additional pan. Then layer the ribs in the casserole dish and add a splash of water. Sear the onions in the pan, deglaze with water, and pour over the ribs. Not too much water, as they should simmer, not boil. Put the spices in a tea bag and then add them to the casserole dish. Cover and bake in the oven at 150°C (top/bottom heat) for about 1.5 – 2 hours. Once the meat has cooled, I place the ribs on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and cover them with parchment paper. They stay in the oven like this until the next day. The resulting gravy is refrigerated overnight so that the hardened fat (there’s quite a lot) can be easily skimmed off the next day. Remove the tea bag with the spices, bring the sauce back to a boil, season to taste (usually no more is needed), and thicken if desired. In the meantime, I set the oven to 200°C, remove the parchment paper from the ribs, and let them brown for another 20 minutes (maybe less or longer, depending on the oven). I serve these simple, down-to-earth ribs with the sauce and seasonal vegetables (usually Brussels sprouts or sauerkraut) with boiled potatoes. You can also serve them in larger batches for snacking, along with baguette for “titsching” and a spicy dip. Of course, you can also braise, brown, and serve the ribs all in one day. I just like to let the very fatty sauce stand for a day, since I don’t have a fat-removing can, so I can skim off the fat. The ribs freeze very well.