After three months of proud cookin', I’m happy to report that my investment in Oklahoma Cookin’—a 1976 cookbook that’s as diverse as it is budget-friendly and somewhat healthy—has officially paid for itself!
Turns out I didn’t need a fancy collection of modern cooking manuals—just a buck, some change, and a little culinary curiosity.
So far, I’ve tackled Indian Indigenous Pudding—a festive dessert treat perfect for the holiday season—and Osage Hills Hamburger Pie, a hearty winter dish that filled my coffers and my belly. Both were winners all the way around.
But for this installment, I decided I needed something meatier. How about some Oklahoma Barbecued Spareribs?
I’m not sure how “Oklahoma” fits into the barbecued spareribs history of the state, but I am willing to find out!
With my shopping list ready to go, I went to my new grocery store of Feria Latina—in protest of Walmart, but that’s a different story—and while I got most of the loose groceries, stupidly I bought short-ribs instead of spareribs. Yikes!
Sure, short ribs are beef and spare ribs are pork, but outside of that, what's the difference? Animal flesh is animal flesh, right?
Regardless, with all my ingredients ready to go, I preheated the oven to 450 degrees.
Arranging the ribs just right in my fiancée’s Dutch Oven, I added minced onion and wedges of lemon that seemed somewhat pointless but, okay. With some salt and pepper lightly seasoned across the top, it went in the oven for around thirty minutes.
Meanwhile, in a separate pot, a mish-mash of disparate ingredients including chili powder, wine vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar and, of course, one-fourth of a cup of boiling water were brought together, making a little slurry of distinct flavor.
As the watery, homemade sauce was slowly dribbled and dabbed on the waiting meat, I dropped the oven temperature to 350 degrees and cooked it for one hour and thirty minutes, give or take. But, slowly and without fuss, the runny sauce quickly transformed into a beautifully caramelized river of braising excitement!
And even though I took out the ribs early—around ten minutes or so left on the timer—they were very tender and ready ready to dine on. Sure, there were no extras like a side vegetable or even a potato, but I went in naked, taking my first bite…
Damn. This is truly a tasty dish, perhaps the best non-grilled barbecue I have ever made!
The spare-ribs short-ribs were incredibly juicy and meaty, with the greasy fingerprints of well-seasoned spice swimming in the bowl, making every bite count.
Sure, the usual rule is sweet for pork and savory for beef, but the caramelized sugar and ample chili powder battled it out to create a divine intervention of true taste—one that, I assume, could make any meat taste better.
Even though it was truly a bone-headed mistake in the meat selection, it was a wonderfully compact surprise that made the whole meal more than incredible.
Oklahoma Cookin’…you done did it again!
-
Follow Louis Fowler on Instagram at @louisfowler78.
