Oven-baked Ribs

I had a hankering this past weekend for my Mom's oven-baked ribs. She used a recipe from an ancient Better Homes and Gardens cookbook that called for ketchup, Worcestershire, and lemon slices, and in my mind, that's what bbq sauce is supposed to taste like. Lemons. Mmmm.

I bought some country ribs from the Giant on Saturday (blissfully empty, due to traffic on York Road being banned during the Michael Phelps parade). They ended up being too lean, and the ribs didn't turn out as succulently tender as I would have liked. The flavor, however, was the stuff memories are made of, particularly as I served it with the traditional rice and corn...albeit not my mother's favorite Uncle Ben's (gag) and canned corn! I made a little succotash with organic frozen yellow corn and left-over edamame, and the rice was jasmine.

Here's the recipe, if you're interested in a blast from my past:

3 to 4 lbs spareribs or loin back ribs, cut into pieces (we always used country style ribs)

1 lemon, thinly sliced

1 large onion, thinly sliced

Basting Sauce

1 cup ketchup

1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp salt

2 dashes Tabasco

1 1/2 cups water

Preheat oven to 450°

Salt ribs; place in shallow roasting pan, meaty side up.  Roast at 450° about 30 minutes.  Drain excess fat from pan.  Top each piece of ribs with a slice of lemon and a slice of onion.

Make sauce: combine remaining ingredients and bring to a boil.  Pour over ribs.  Lower temperature to 350°; bake till well done, about 1 1/2 hours.  Baste ribs with sauce every 15 minutes.  If sauce gets to thick, add more water. Makes 4 servings.