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Enjoy The Super Bowl With My Patriot Ribs (even if you’re a Ram’s fan!)

These ribs have nothing to do with the New England Patriots—for the past decade I’ve simply referred to them as my “World Famous Patriot Ribs.”

These ribs really are world famous.  Since I originally posted this recipe 10-years ago, I’ve received positive feedback from people all over the planet (including states that are known for killer ribs!

Well-meaning, highbrow BBQ aficionados tell me my ribs should have a little more “bite,” but I’ve found the average consumer loves seeing that meat simply fall off the bone.  So, the Patriot Rib recipe is what it is—a delicious crowd pleaser!

By the way, I’ve tweaked the recipe a bit over the years, with the help of my professional chef son, so this is the latest and greatest version!

Here’s the recipe:

Remove the ribs from the wrapping. DO NOT rinse the ribs. Place the ribs bone-side down in a ceramic, or glass, baking pan. Cover both sides of the ribs with BBQ rib rub of choice (I prefer Kirkland’s Sweet Mesquite BBQ Rub from Costco, but if you have a favorite use it!).  By the way, St. Louis pork ribs work just as well as the baby backs (I cannot guarantee this recipe for beef ribs).

Second, by the way…

I’m personally not much of a pork eater, but I put that preference aside for these ribs, because they are DELICIOUS! 

Next, give your hands a good wash (you know me) and then pour a nice stout beer (I prefer Guinness Stout)) into the pan, a little less than an inch deep.  Do not try this with anything other than a dark stout beer or the ribs will be ruined.

Cover with aluminum foil and let the ribs sit for an hour on the kitchen counter.

Preheat your oven to 320.  Bake the ribs (in the pan, with the beer, covered with foil) for two hours.

Next, turn off the oven. Let the ribs remain in the closed oven for another hour.

While the ribs are sitting in the oven, when appropriate fire up your BBQ/grill and get the cooking grate nice and hot.

Now we’re ready for “show time.”  Take the ribs out of the oven and directly onto the grate, bone side down. Slather your favorite BBQ sauce (Sweet Baby Rays is a big winner in my household) on the meat side.  After three minutes flip the ribs and apply the sauce onto the bone side.  Let them cook for 5-minutes.  This will allow for some nice grill marks to develop and allow the sauce to caramelize. When 5-minutes are up, flip the ribs back onto the bone side and let them cook for another 2-minutes.

Finally, get those ribs off the grill and onto a big serving plate!  Don’t be surprised if a couple bare bones lay behind.  Once served, the meat will literally fall off the bone. If your guests want additional sauce on their ribs make it available—and don’t forget a roll of paper towels in the middle of the table.

God bless you, your family, and America! Enjoy the game!

Brian

What a concept! “In God We Trust,” in our schools?

What a concept.  Place our schools under the dependence of God.  Sounds like a great plan to me, but the pagans that run my state of California will never go for it.  Here’s an edited version of the the story by Moriah Balingit, of the Washington Post…

God “is the light. And our schools need light in them like never before,” the Jacksonville Democrat said Feb. 21. “It is not a secret that we have some gun issues that need to be addressed. But the real thing that needs to be addressed are issues of the heart.”

Her proposal? Ensuring every Florida public school student is educated in a building where “In God We Trust” – the national and Florida state motto – is prominently posted. The bill passed and was signed into law.

Florida is one of seven states this year that passed laws requiring or permitting schools and other public buildings to post “In God We Trust.” Arkansas passed a similar measure in 2017, and Arizona this year allowed schools to post in English the state’s motto, which appears in Latin on the state seal: “God Enriches.”

Arkansas state Rep. Jim Dotson, a Republican, said the national motto reflects a central part of what it means to be an American. He sponsored the 2017 bill requiring the posting of “In God We Trust” in classrooms and has since helped lawmakers in other states pass similar laws.

“Our history and our heritage is incredibly important, making sure that we as a nation remember our roots, remember where we came from,” Dotson said. “America is an exceptional nation. It’s the greatest nation in the history of this planet. Obviously, that success is attributed not just to individuals but probably some higher power than ourselves.”

Even though the laws often pass by substantial margins, some members of the public take deep offense at the posting of “In God We Trust,” saying it violates the Constitution and the nation’s legacy of keeping religion out of government.

Americans have long disagreed about the role religion should play in public life. Some argue the acknowledgment of God is central to the nation’s identity. Others point to the founders’ efforts to eschew state-sponsored religion.

Much of that battle has taken place in public schools. The Supreme Court in 1962 struck down school prayer and in another case ruled against a Pennsylvania school that required students to start the day with the Lord’s prayer and a Bible reading.

Charles Haynes, founding director of the Religious Freedom Center at the Newseum in Washington, said these tensions often flare when the nation is in tumult.

“We’ve had really from the beginning of our country, even in the Colonial period, we’ve had a tension or really an argument about what kind of country we are,” Haynes said. “When we have a period of great anxiety about our nation and who we are and we have a great upheaval . . . this comes backs to the surface.”

It happened after the Civil War, when religion advocates pushed to amend the Constitution to include references to God, and during the Cold War, when evangelical Christians successfully inserted “under God” into the Pledge of Allegiance and pushed to make “In God We Trust” the national motto.

Haynes said we may be in such a moment now, with growing polarization between Americans who have radically different values and perspectives on issues such as abortion and same-sex marriage and growing anxiety over how immigration is changing the face of the nation.

That’s why Rep. Daniels, of Florida, fought “to remind our children of the foundation of this country, which was founded on people who came for religious liberty,” she said in February.

Even though Daniels’ measure passed, some viewed it as an empty gesture and accused the lawmaker of capitalizing on a tragedy to advance her agenda of pushing religion in schools.

Greg Pittman teaches honors U.S. history at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High, the Florida school where 17 people died in the February shooting. Pittman said he is religious but resents the effort to bring religion into schools following tragedy.

“I do not see how placing the motto ‘In God We Trust’ is going to protect us from someone coming down the hallway and shooting students and teachers,” Pittman said.

Mei-Ling Ho-Shing, a 17-year-old survivor of the shooting and student activist, said she appreciated the initiative, saying the school could use more “positivity.”

“It’s powerful because it reassures people of faith,” Ho-Shing said.

Read the full story here…