BBQ Ribs, Homemade BBQ Sauce and Mama Clarissa's Pasta Salad

I am officially a Cal Poly Mustang as of today! I had orientation and registered for classes and I am on my way as a Child Development Major minoring in Psychology! I get to work with kids for school! How awesome is that?

So, knowing that today was going to be a long day, yesterday I started marinating 5 lbs of Beef Ribs to have the boys BBQ today for dinner! And what goes oh so well with marinated bbq beef ribs and homemade bbq sauce? Mama Clarissa's pasta salad! Duh! 

And for those of you who are asking who is this amazing Mama Clarissa, with this AMAZING pasta salad? Well, I'm glad you asked. :) She is only the women who brought the most amazing guy into this world and into my life. Yup! She is my boyfriends mom! And you will be thanking her too after you try her pasta salad, among many other delicious creations like her oh so rich and decadent chocolate layer cake! Ok, i'm so close to drooling on my laptop right now. I need to stop ha ha.

So lets get started with how to marinate these beef ribs a day in advance.

You will need:

5lbs Beef Ribs

1 cup Olive Oil (Vegetable or Canola will work)

1/2 cup Balsamic Vinegar

1/4 cup Lime Juice

3 tablespoons Brown Sugar

2 tablespoons Soy Sauce

1 tablespoon Worcestershire

1 tsp Garlic Powder

1/2 tsp Onion Powder

1/2 tsp Salt

Combine all ingredients. Place ribs on a cookie sheet or roasting pan and pour marinade over. Flip ribs so the bones are facing up and meet is facing the pan. Cover with plastic wrap and leave in fridge overnight. 

As for the pasta salad, I made that yesterday as well after marinating the ribs. Like mama Clarissa always says, "It's always better the day after." And she is so right! Letting the pasta salad marinate in the dressing and goodies you add to it definitely gives the noodles so much flavor! 

Okay okay. Enough torture, let's get to it. 

You will need:

1 box Rotini Pasta

6 oz container Feta or Shaved Parmesan

2 Tomatoes, Diced

12 oz jar Marinated Artichoke Hearts

1 cup Black Olives, Sliced

1/4 Red Onion, Diced

1/2 cup Olive Oil

1/4 cup Balsamic or Red Wine Vinegar

1 tablespoon Parsley, Chopped

Salt

Pepper

Cook Pasta. Combine all ingredients!

Simple as that and...Presto! Stick this baby in the fridge overnight and serve!

Now today while running around campus, I forgot that I needed to buy some BBQ sauce to baste the ribs with while grilling! Oh no! right?

Wrong!

I made a BBQ for the first time, and oh my gosh it was heaven. SO I guess I will share it with you guys.

You will need:

1 cup Ketchup

2 tablespoons Honey

1 tablespoon Sugar

3 tablespoons Brown Sugar

1 tablespoon Molasses

1/2 tsp Balsamic Vinegar

1/4 tsp Red Wine Vinegar

1/4 tsp Ground Mustard

1 tsp Chili Powder

1/4 tsp Garlic Powder

1/2 tsp Onion Powder

1/2 tsp Cinnamon

1/2 Smoked Paprika

1 tablespoon Salt

1 tablespoon Black Pepper

Now the honey I have is THE BEST honey I have EVER had. And you can't buy it in stores. I was given it as a gift from the sweetest couple in Colorado, and I have savored every last bit of it. It's produced in Mexico and I have never had anything like it before. 

Okay, sorry for that babble. Anyways, take all the ingredients and mix them in a small saucepan over medium heat until it starts to bubble. Bring the heat to low and let it simmer for 15-20 minutes stirring every so often. Let cool and can it or use it right away:)

As far as our ribs, BBQing them over a Charcoal Grill is definitely the way to go. The boys grilled these babies over indirect heat with some hickory and apple wood chips, 30 minutes each side. 

Then I slathered them with my freshly made SWEET BBQ Sauce and covered them to let them caramelize for an additional 30 minutes.

Thought this was a pretty neat picture with my leftover BBQ sauce waiting to be used at the end of the grilling.  (5-10 mins before you pull them off re-apply Sauce)

Presto! Prego! Holy Mother of Ribs these were delicious! And SO SO SO EASY! 

When cooking ribs, patience it key, and low and slow!

Our Pasta Salad and Beef Ribs were accompanied by Bi-Colored Corn on the cob from my Tally Farms Fresh Harvest Box.

Time saving tip when cooking corn:

I found blogs and videos claiming to have found a genius way to cook corn with out all the mess of the husk and hairs. And I have to say, I was skeptical at first seeing as its cooked in the microwave. 

Place ears of corn in microwave and cook for 4 mins. Cut bottom 2 inches off with stem and squeeze from the top of the corn out through the bottom and wahlah!!!! Corn on the cob minus the husk and hairs! Genius right?! 

(I will link a video below)

Dinner is served!

I hope you all try these out because individually they are all so worth it.

Until next time fellow food lovers.

xoxo

Megan-Noelle

How to make corn without Shucking!

Mama Clarissa's Pasta Salad:

1 box Rotini Pasta

6 oz container Feta or Shaved Parmesan

2 Tomatoes, Diced

12 oz jar Marinated Artichoke Hearts

1 cup Black Olives, Sliced

1/4 Red Onion, Diced

1/2 cup Olive Oil

1/4 cup Balsamic or Red Wine Vinegar

1 tablespoon Parsley, Chopped

Salt

Pepper

-Cook pasta as per instructions on box. 

-Mix all ingredients together and let sit in your fridge overnight.

Beef Ribs:

5lbs Beef Ribs

1 cup Olive Oil (Vegetable or Canola will work)

1/2 cup Balsamic Vinegar

1/4 cup Lime Juice

3 tablespoons Brown Sugar

2 tablespoons Soy Sauce

1 tablespoon Worcestershire

1 tsp Garlic Powder

1/2 tsp Onion Powder

1/2 tsp Salt

-Mix all ingredients together.

-Place ribs on cookie sheet or roasting pan and pour marinade over the top.

-Flip the ribs over (bone side up) and cover with plastic wrap and let marinade overnight or all day.

-BBQ over indirect heat for 1 hour.

-Slather BBQ sauce on, cover and let cook for 20 mins.

-Reapply BBQ sauce and cook for 10 more mins.

Megan's Perfectly Sweet BBQ Sauce:

1 cup Ketchup

2 tablespoons Honey

1 tablespoon Sugar

3 tablespoons Brown Sugar

1 tablespoon Molasses

1/2 tsp Balsamic Vinegar

1/4 tsp Red Wine Vinegar

1/4 tsp Ground Mustard

1 tsp Chili Powder

1/4 tsp Garlic Powder

1/2 tsp Onion Powder

1/2 tsp Cinnamon

1/2 Smoked Paprika

1 tablespoon Salt

1 tablespoon Black Pepper

-Combine all ingredients in a small sauce pan over medium heat until starts to bubble.

-Bring heat to low and simmer for 15-20 mins, stirring occasionally. 

-Can or use it right away.