Moo's Craft BBQ Beef Ribs
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Beef ribs, says Andrew Muñoz, co-founder with wife Michelle Muñoz of Moo’s Craft Barbecue, are a Saturday special at their Lincoln Heights restaurant. “We can’t make enough of them,” he says. Those ribs are cooked in a smoker customized for the Moo’s team over California white oak. But the couple has developed this home-cook recipe that, as they demonstrated in the Times Test Kitchen, produces beautifully burnished ribs in an ordinary kitchen oven. “We realize not everyone has a smoker,” says Michelle Muñoz, “but everyone has an oven.” And, yes, Andrew Muñoz adds, you can get bark — that layer with earthy smoky notes — on these beef ribs in the oven.”
These ribs are terrific sliced (across the grain) right off the bone and served with traditional barbecue sides, but Michelle and Andrew Muñoz often like to let the ribs cook a little longer and then shred the meat for tacos. Michelle makes fire-roasted salsa with tomatillos, serranos and chile de árbol, but you can use any salsa you like.
Watch Michelle and Andrew Muñoz make barbecue beef rib tacos.
Moo's Beef Ribs
Make the spice rub: Combine the salt, black pepper, smoked paprika, ancho and guajillo chile powders, cumin, Mexican oregano, garlic powder, onion powder, coriander and cinnamon in a container and set aside until ready to use. Makes about 1 pint.
Trim and season the ribs: Remove the silverskin and excess fat from the bone-in short rib plate, but leave some of the fat to retain moisture.
Season the ribs by coating all sides of the bone-in beef plate with the spice rub.
Let the seasoned ribs rest at least 1 hour or overnight, uncovered, in refrigerator to dry brine.
Roast the ribs: Preheat the oven to 275 degrees. Place ribs on a wire rack placed over a sheet tray. Cook ribs in oven uncovered, 4 1/2 to 6 hours (depending on size) until the internal temperature reaches 200 to 205 degrees for shreddable ribs or 190 to 195 degrees for sliceable ribs.
Alternately, for a juicier result, wrap the ribs in foil and cook longer in the oven at 165 degrees until desired temperature (see above) is reached.
Remove from oven and let meat rest, loosely tented, at least 30 minutes. Slice meat across the grain and serve, or shred the meat if making tacos.
Moo's Craft BBQ Fire-Roasted Salsa Verde
Heat a cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat and put the tomatillos in the hot pan. Blister the tomatillos until they soften and have charred spots all over, 10 to 15 minutes, flipping regularly with tongs. Remove from the pan and set aside, covered, in a large bowl.
Add the serrano chiles to the hot pan and char on all sides, rotating with tongs, about 4 minutes. Set aside with the tomatillos to cool slightly.
Toast the chiles de arbol in a dry skillet over medium heat, until aromatic and slightly darkened, about 30 to 45 seconds. Keep an eye on them and stir as needed — they can burn quickly and turn bitter.
Put the roasted tomatillos and serrano chiles, chiles de arbol, onion, cilantro, garlic and salt in the bowl of a food processor. Blend until it’s a well-incorporated chunky mixture. Taste and add salt if necessary. Use immediately or store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days; you also can freeze it.
