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.
