BBQ British ribs with potato salad
About the recipe
Ingredients · Servings 6
- 75g sea salt
- 2 tablespoons white peppercorns
- 6 fresh bay leaves
- 4 racks of higher-welfare pork loin back ribs (3kg in total)
- 150g radishes
- BBQ SAUCE
- 225g HP sauce
- 300g tomato ketchup
- 170g English mustard
- 150ml Worcestershire sauce
- 100ml whisky
- 750ml fresh apple juice
- 200ml runny honey
- POTATO SALAD
- 500g baby new potatoes
- ½ a bunch of fresh dill (15g)
- 1 bunch of fresh chives (30g)
- 50g pickled onions
- 1 eating apple
- 1 ripe pear
- 200g Greek yoghurt
- 1 teaspoon English mustard
- YOU ALSO NEED:
- 1 small handful of whisky wood chips
Method · 3 h 45 min
- Preheat the oven to 140ºC/275ºF/gas 1.
- Place the sea salt, white peppercorns and bay leaves in a pestle and mortar and bash until fine (or whiz in a blender), then decant into a jar.
- Rub 2 tablespoons of the flavoured salt over the racks of ribs (save the rest for another day), then transfer to two baking trays and cover with tin foil.
- In a 25cm x 30cm high-sided tray, mix the BBQ sauce ingredients together. Place all three trays in the oven for 3 hours, with the sauce tray at the very bottom, uncovered – keep an eye on it and add a splash of water to loosen, if needed.
- When the time’s up, remove the trays from the oven, adding a splash of water to each of the rib trays to deglaze. Divide 300g of the sauce between the two rib trays (cool the rest and freeze for another day), turning the ribs with tongs to coat.
- Place the ribs directly on the bars of the oven, with the empty sauce tray directly below. Put a handful of whisky wood chips into a metal sieve and set them alight. Once smoking, put the sieve into a metal bowl, place at the very bottom of the oven and smoke the ribs for 30 minutes, or until sticky and caramelized.
- Meanwhile, scrub the potatoes, cook in a pan of boiling salted water for 15 minutes, or until tender, then drain and leave to cool slightly.
- Pick the dill, then finely chop with the chives and place in a large bowl. Finely slice the pickled onions, then core and finely matchstick the apple and pear. Add it all to the bowl with the yoghurt, mustard and warm potatoes, toss to coat, then season to perfection.
- Transfer the racks to a board and slice into portions or individual ribs, drizzling any juices from the tray over the top.
- Finely slice the radishes and sprinkle over the top, then serve with the potato salad (and some napkins!).
Cooked low and slow, ribs are a time investment, but if you want out-of-this-world flavour, you can’t rush these things! My secret weapon is to smoke them for the last 30 minutes, kissing the meat with incredible depth and smokiness.
