The McRib is Back

In my house.

Kinda.

But I’m doing it my way.

(Wait, is that Burger King?)

This thing of gluttonous and slopped up, sexy beauty is my homemade Whole Wheat Sweet Potato Biscuit, made extra-specially large and then stuffed and stacked with the following culprits:

• Slow-cooked Babyback Ribs seasoned with adobo and brown sugar, then slathered with a…
• Homemade Peach Barbecue Sauce
• Buttermilk-Cornmeal Baked Vidalia Onion Ringlets
• Quick Garden Pickles

So, yeah.  This thing is good.

Hope your weekend was one for the books, guys.

Much love. XO

BBQ RIB BISCUIT BURGER

(aka My McRib ish)

And here’s how we get there…

 . click me for the whole wheat sweet potato biscuit recipe and also old video of me making them .

Follow directions on that link, except cut the biscuits into 4 large rectangles instead of the….12.  Yeah… these are big sandwiches, y’all.

And adjust the baking time to 25 minutes, with the possibility of a little more time if the centers are too soft (depending on how thick yours were cut).  You want firm centers and slightly golden brown edges on these.

. slow cooked babyback ribs .

We cook ribs a lot at home, right in our oven.  It’s one of the easiest things to do.  Just double line a large baking sheet with heavy duty aluminum foil.

Place your rack diagonally in the pan.

Season heavily with your favorite salted seasoning blend (Mine has always been Adobo by Badia, which is also what I use for my Roast Chicken. You can get a case of it here on AMAZON.COM).  Season both sides of the ribs.

And then all over (both sides) with light brown sugar– about half the amount you used of the seasoning blend.

Rub it in well, all over, and place in the fridge, uncovered, to ‘marinate’ for a few days if you can, or all night if that’s all you have, but any amount of time is better than none.

Before cooking, add a big splash of vinegar (plain, white is fine) to the pan and cover tightly with foil to allow the meat to steam in the oven.

Cook at 350 for 3 hours, or until the meat is tender and almost falling off the bone.

(Before serving, you can flash grill them to get a good char on them if desired.)

Brush with your barbecue sauce (my recipe is below), and place back in the oven/on the grill with the sauce.  Then repeat.  This puts a good layer of thick sauce onto the meat.

. vidalia onion ringlets .

Thinly slice 1 vidalia onion.

Separate the rings.

Place in a shallow dish.

Cover with…

• enough buttermilk to coat them all
• several dashes of your favorite hot sauce
• a couple heavy pinches of kosher salt

Soak for at least 30 minutes, but all day/night is best for more tender and flavorful onions.

In another dish or large bowl, combine the following…

• about 1 cup flour 
• 1 cup cormeal (panko is preferred)
• good pinches of kosher salt

You don’t have to go crazy measuring this, just as long as the ratio is about 1:1.

Remove onions from buttermilk mixture

*RESERVE LIQUID AS A CONDIMENT FOR YOUR SANDWICHES, as it is now this delicious, creamy and tangy oniony condiment you didn’t even mean to make*

Add the onions to the dry ingredients and mix well with a fork.  It will become gummy, and you may need to add more flour/cornmeal.

Using the fork, place what is now an onion ringlet goop mass onto a baking sheet lined with parchment/foil and then greased for easy clean-up. Spread them out in as even of a layer as possible.

Bake at 425 for 30 minutes, or until crispy.

Some may get stuck together and onto the pan, that’s fine. It’s a delightfully clumpy onion mess.

. peach barbecue sauce .

In a medium saucepan on medium heat, with a small amount of oil and 1 TB unsalted butter, add the following…

• 2 medium-large peaches, pitted and diced
• 1 small yellow onion, minced

Season with a pinch or two of kosher salt.

Allow to break down and soften, stirring occasionally.  You don’t need them to color, just sweating them out is fine.

Add in…

• 4 cloves garlic, minced or grated using a microplane

Stir in the garlic and once you smell it, add in the following…

• 1/4 cup ketchup
• 1/4 cup light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar (note that these are all just ‘very large pours’ and no measuring devices were harmed during this sauce process)
• 2 TB light soy sauce
• 2 TB mollasses
• 1 TB dijon mustard
• big spoonful peach preserves 
• 2 cloves

Stir to combine, bring to a bubble and reduce the heat.  Simmer, uncovered for about 30 minutes until it’s thickened. Longer also works… just keep an eye on it and make sure it doesn’t go too far and lose it’s sauciness.

Remove cloves.  Curse me for making you drop tiny things into a pool of thick stuff and then making you fish them out.

Puree if desired for a smoother texture. Or just spatula-smoosh the peaches a bit.

(You will be brushing this onto the ribs, but also saving some for sandwich composition.)

  . quick garden pickles .

I used a large cucumber from my mom’s garden, and about 1/2 of a medium onion.

1. Thinly slice cucs and onions and place in a wide, glass dish (9×9 or 9×13 casserole dish both work fine).
2. Season all over with several pinches of kosher salt.
3. Sprinkle with white sugar to coat the top of the veggies.
4. Sprinkle over the top, a good amount of mustard seed, coriander seed and celery seed.
5. Barely cover with white wine vinegar (most any light vinegar could be used).
6. Allow to sit at room temperature for a couple hours.
7. Taste and adjust salt/sugar if necessary.

. composition .

1. Split open a warm Sweet Potato Biscuit.
2. Spread some of your reserved buttermilk/onion ‘sauce’
3. Place several ribs-worth of meat onto the bottom half (de-ribbed for his and her pleasure)
4. Top with several onion ringlets.
5. Top with some quick pickles.
6. Top with your oniony buttermilk sauce

Combine halves.

Smush.

Devour.

Virtually smooch me.