Another culinary Meme - Rib-Wrapped Pineapple

I’ll admit it—I got totally pulled in by Facebook food videos  again. One night, while doom-scrolling through viral recipes, I landed on this wild creation: ribs wrapped around a whole pineapple. It looked completely over-the-top—in the best way. Smoky ribs, caramelized pineapple, sticky glaze… I couldn’t stop thinking about it. So of course, I had to try it for myself.

Of course, what made it even more fun was a little rye. A splash in the marinade, a little more in the glaze (okay, and maybe a sip for the cook). It gave the whole thing this deep, warm kick that took the flavor to another level. Sweet, smoky, tangy, boozy—it was messy, delicious, and way more fun than it had any right to be.

INGREDIENTS

¾ cup brown sugar

½ cup honey

¼ cup garlic powder

¼ cup onion powder

1 tablespoon salt

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or more to taste

1 lime, sliced into wedges

1 rack baby back ribs

1 ripe pineapple

2 ounces bourbon or rye (and a little for yourself)

6 ounces of your favorite barbecue sauce.

METHOD

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees

Combine brown sugar, honey, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, black pepper, cumin, and cayenne pepper in a bowl.

Combine bourbon or rye and barbecue sauce.

Peel all sides of a pineapple. Cut a bit off the bottom to create a flat surface. Set aside.

Remove the silver skin off the back of the ribs.

Squeeze lime juice over ribs; rub seasoning mixture on both sides.

Place the pineapple in a dish that’s roughly the size of a pie pan.

Use half of the sauce mixture to cover the sides of the pineapple.

Wrap the ribs around the pineapple and secure them with 3-4 skewers. Cover everything up to the crown with foil.

Bake in the preheated oven until tender, 3 to 3 ½ hours. Cool before serving, 15 minutes.

Check ribs for tenderness using a fork; if not tender and the pan is dry, add more rye, cover, and bake 15 minutes more.

If you like, paint the rest of the sauce on the outside after about 3 hours and finish baking with the foil removed.

Some of the social media cooking videos are pretty ridiculous, but this turned out well. And there’s one more I want to try...