Oven BBQ Beef ribs with Orzo

One of my favorite things about preparing meals for my family is knowing exactly what's in it. When my crazy busy schedule allows, I prefer to make the foods they eat rather tha buy it ready-made. So for this recipe, I'll be using beef ribs from the cows we raised this summer. If you've bought a side or a 50lb. variety pack from us, this recipe might be extra handy for you!

We cook ribs a lot but always pork ribs. This was my first foray into making beef ribs. Lets begin with preparing the BBQ sauce. With a small saucepan and the following ingredients, we're ready to rock.

The Gear

• small saucepan
• spoon
• measuring cups & spoons
• small spatula

The Goods

• 1 Cup ketchup
• 2 tbsp. cider vinegar
• 2-3 tbsp. maple syrup
• 1 tbsp. Worcestershire
• 1 tsp. chili powder
  

Place all ingredients into the saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until thickened, stirring often. Set aside.
Now to prepare the dry rub! Oh yeah! How I love a dry rub :) Okay, so grab yourself a small bowl and your measuring spoons. Might as well have a fork handy too, so you can combine all these ingredients really well.

The goods

• 1/2 Cup Paprika
  

• 1 tbsp granulated sugar
• 1 tsp salt
  

• 1 tbsp. cumin
  

• 1/2 tsp coriander
  

• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
  

• 1/4 cup granulated garlic
• 1 tbsp freshly ground black pepper
  

• 2 tbsp. dried oregano
  

Blend the dry ingredients together and set aside. Now get your ribs ready...unwrap them from the packaging and pat dry with a paper towel. Place the ribs onto a baking tray and cover generously with the dry rub. Pop them into a preheated 425 degree oven for a good 45 minutes. Turn the ribs over if you can using tongs rather than a fork...gotta keep all the juices inside them suckers!!



Now that your ribs are cooking and getting *that* much closer to landing on your plate, we gotta get that BBQ sauce ready. Grab that saucepan and get a sauce brush.

*here's a tip, keep two brushes in your collection. One for sweet sauces and one for savory. That way your pastries won't taste like BBQ sauce!*

Slather on that heavenly sauce you've so painstakingly created and tuck the ribs back into the oven to bake a bit more (like 10-15 minutes). Yank 'em back out and put on the last of the BBQ sauce and throw them back into the oven for an additional 15 minutes.


While the ribs are cooking, get a non-stick pan and carefully toast 1/2 cup of poppyseeds. Be really careful that you don't burn them! You can't see the color change but they will become fragrant. That's how you'll know to remove them from the heat and pour into a medium sized bowl.
Now, if you're good at planning ahead, grab a head of garlic, slice the top off, drizzle generously with olive oil and wrap up in a foil packet. Put it in the oven for 20 minutes. Remove foil packet and carefully unwrap. Squeeze out roasted garlic bulbs & mash with a fork. Add to poppyseeds.

If you are like me and forgot to buy a head of garlic, grab the trusty bottle of minced garlic and saute on in a frying pan with a generous amount of olive oil. Once they begin to brown, get 'em off the heat or they'll burn. It only takes seconds to turn from beautiful toasted brown to yucky burnt. Once they're perfect, add to the poppyseeds.

Meaure out 1 cup of orzo and add to a small saucepan with hot olive oil. Carefully toast the orzo for a few minutes until some of the noodles begin to brown. Add 2 cups of water or broth and cook until tender. Carefully spoon into the bowl holding the garlic & poppyseeds and toss very gently.

Serve up those ribs & orzo and enjoy!