While shopping at Trader Joe’s for what to grill this past Sunday and Monday, I was undecided between the beautiful baby back ribs or the cryovac packaged sirloin tips.  So I got both.  The ribs actually never touched down on the grill – I slow baked them in a 275 oven for about 2-1/2 hours after rubbing them down generously with a dry rub adapted from “Thrill of the Grill”.  I like to keep a supply of this on hand for when the mood strikes.  My Thanksgiving roasting pan is just perfect for accommodating two racks:

At the end of 2-1/2 hours,  the ends of the bones are protruding and the fat has mostly dripped into the pan.  I then lightly brush both sides with TJ’s Bold & Smokey Kansas City Style Barbecue Sauce, turn up the heat to 350 for only a few minutes, and serve them with more sauce on the side.  Couldn’t be any easier.

Here’s the rub:

Dry Rub for Ribs: 2 T kosher salt; 4 T light brown sugar ( or 2 T each of white and dark brown sugar); 2 T ground cumin; 2 T ground black pepper; 2 T chili powder; 4 T sweet Hungarian paprika

The meat was quite literally falling off the bone, so succulent and tender, and all guilt about fat dispelled by my witnessing of the fat that dripped off into the bottom of the pan.  Soon to be repeated.

Now for the tips – sirloin tips on skewers with sweet onion and red peppers.  The marinade was delicious – a paste rub heavily comprised of oregano, cumin and garlic – but sad to say the sirloin tips were not as tender as I would have liked.  TJ’s refunded the $21.60 I paid for these, after I served much of my portion to our little Cicero.  But the recipe, courtesy of Gourmet (August 2009) will be repeated with a better selection of sirloin tips:

Cumin-Scented Beef Kebabs Marinade: 1/4 cup olive oil; 2 T finely chopped fresh oregano; 1 very large garlic clove minced; 2 t ground cumin; 1 t ground coriander; 1/4 t cayenne; 1/2 t ground black pepper; 1 t Kosher salt.  Stir all together and coat the beef – marinate at least 2 hours or all day, and grill on skewers laced with onions and peppers.