Beef it up with whiskey and honey

The other evening, I was ruminating about what to cook for Sunday dinner. I was thinking of doing something totally Irish and I had got as far as deciding on beef ribs when my musings were interrupted by the Wife;  “Whiskey, Honey?” she asked with her usual economy of language. “Yes” I replied as inspiration dawned, “That’ll do it”. So I enjoyed a glass of Bushmills and plotted Sunday’s feed. There was not a lot of scheming required. It seemed that fate had decided on Beef Ribs with a Whiskey and Honey Glaze. First, I got my hands on some lovely beef ribs for very little money. What you see in the picture cost just €20.

The gratuitous raw meat shot. Most of you have grown to expect it by now.

These were seasoned and placed on a baking tray in an oven at 140 degrees C for 4 hours.

I seasoned them with some black pepper and a little salt.

While this was going on, I mixed a very generous glass of Irish whiskey with about half a jar of 1,000 flower honey (from a friend who has a friend who has a relation who produces it locally).

Irish whiskey and honey, how nice is that?

I suppose I had better show you a pouring shot. Pouring the honey that is. It was far too early in the day to hit the whiskey (tempting and all as it was). Bear in mind, I am doing the pouring, and taking the picture at the same time. A lucky shot, I think (The luck of the Irish).

I love the light glowing through the honey.

After three hours, I took the ribs out of the oven and painted them with the glaze. Half an hour later, I turned them over and re-glazed them.

Starting to look pretty tasty, if I say so myself. The aromas were heavenly.

At this stage, I popped some seasoned sweet potatoes into the oven too. After 30 minutes (on the 4 hour mark) I took the beef ribs out.

Beef ribs gleaming in the whiskey and honey glaze.

I let them rest for 10 minutes while the sweet potatoes finished cooking. I served this with a side of very slowly sautéed onion. The picture speaks for itself.

Don’t be fooled. That is a BIG bowl. I could hardly finish it. It was a lot of beef!

The beef was falling off the bone. The whiskey and honey glaze worked really well with the sweet potato. This was 100% Irish and a 100% success.