Jenga Ribs: Recipe 2

I decided to do the ribs for our evening meal so the kids could join us (Maggie's a first-rate carnivore), and afternoons are better for slow, easy cooking in the oven.  I could imagine them coming in the door after school and smelling the ribs...mmmm!

It was a good plan.
Sadly, it was a faulty recipe...for our household.

Here's the recipe...see what you think:

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon (packed) light brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• 2 teaspoons chili powder
• 2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons onion powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 2 racks St. Louis-style pork spareribs (4-4 1/2 pounds total)
• Prepared barbecue sauce

Preparation

• Whisk garlic powder, salt, brown sugar, paprika, chili powder, pepper, cumin, onion powder, cinnamon, and coriander in a small bowl to blend. DO AHEAD: Spice blend can be made 1 month ahead. Store airtight at room temperature.
• Preheat oven to 300°. Rub ribs all over with spice blend and wrap each rack individually in foil, crimping seams to seal tightly. Place both racks on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake ribs until fork-tender, about 3 hours. DO AHEAD: Ribs can be made 2 days ahead. Open foil packets and let ribs cool completely. Rewrap tightly and refrigerate on same baking sheet.
• Preheat oven to 425°. Cut racks between bones into individual ribs. Divide ribs between 2 foil-lined rimmed baking sheets and bake until heated through and golden brown, 15-20 minutes.
• Layer ribs on plates in alternating directions, 3 ribs per layer. Serve ribs, passing barbecue sauce alongside

Read More http://www.bonappetit.com/recipes/2013/02/jenga-ribs#ixzz2JTIJXIzh

The only modification I made was to use beef short ribs instead of pork.

Did you see that?

"The only modification I made..."

Several friends are wondering if I changed medication or something, because I ALWAYS modify recipes!

I prefer to think of it as "enhancing"...

In this case...this ONE CASE!!!...I should have followed my instincts and changed what I thought was an iffy amount of cinnamon in the rub.  

I could see a hint of cinnamon, perhaps a dash, just to make you think, "What IS that flavor...I can't quite place it...?"  It would drive my friend Traci nuts, because it would be familiar, yet out of place.  (I like to mess with her that way.  She's an incredible cook and usually identifies every little subtle ingredient in a recipe when she tastes it. It's SO FUN to stump her!)  

I'm hoping the recipe had a typo...a teaspoon measurement when there should have been a 1/2 teaspoon...because the rest of it was great! I felt like I was concocting some sort of secret dry potion, there were so many various seasonings in the works.  And the ribs looked very sexy after their rub down, don't you think?

I wrapped them each individually, like the recipe said, again ignoring instincts that said, "Grill them a little first, idiot! Smoke 'em up for flavor, THEN bake 'em!" but I was determined to FOLLOW THE RECIPE!  (Have I pointed out that I didn't deviate from the instructions at all??  This is huge, folks...and costly, as it turns out.)

Weather like this helped me make the decision to ignore instincts and blindly follow Bon Appetit's instruction:

We'll try it their way, just this once...

The little foil packets were tucked into a 275 degree oven around noon, all cozy and spicy, and left to tenderize and tantalize.
About an hour in, I could tell something was dreadfully wrong...it smelled like a garam masala meat from India roasting!  If I closed my eyes, I could almost pretend I was in a marketplace, waiting for a street vendor to dish me up some lamb and rice.
YIKES!
That was NOT the flavor I was hoping for!
But it's the one we got.

I didn't take pictures of the finished product, all cooked up and ready to serve, because it was VERY unappetizing...even in color.  Sort of a dark brownish-grey.  I KNOW.  Ick!  The meat was very tender, but we couldn't taste it at all, for the intense cinnamon-ness.  Even Maggie, who loves most any meat set before her, pushed it aside and ate more oven fried potatoes and coleslaw.  It was unsalvageable, even with barbeque sauce.

I don't think it's a bad recipe...I just think it's unbalanced the way it is published!
As for me and my experiment in closely following directions in a recipe and respecting its boundaries?
I don't think I'm a bad cook....I just think I'm a little unbalanced the way I was created.
And the balance is in the favor of good cooking instincts.  I'll know better and trust that, next time!