A 31-10 win over Washington on Saturday night vaulted Michigan back into the Top 25. The Wolverines used an explosive running game that Washington couldn’t stop, even though they knew what was coming.
This Saturday, Michigan hosts Northern Illinois. The Huskies are 1-1 with a 22-21 win over Georgia Tech and a 50-43 loss to Wyoming.
As I was researching what to cook, there weren’t many options associated with Northern Illinois University. DeKalb, Illinois is known for its invention of barbed wire. The area doesn’t have a well-known food associated with it, either.
So I started looking at notable alumni and that’s where I struck gold. Dan Castellaneta is an NIU grad and the voice of Homer Simpson and other characters in The Simpsons. In fact, he has won four Emmy awards for that work.
What food from the show comes to mind first? The Ribwich, of course!
A Brief History of The Simpsons Ribwich
I’m not a Simpsons diehard, but I have seen it enough to know a few things. Episode 12 from season 14, titled “I’m Spelling as Fast as I Can”, first aired on Feb. 16, 2003.
While walking past Krusty Burger, Homer encounters the “Rib-It” mascot who encourages him to try the new Ribwich sandwich. The mascot was literally dripping with sauce, and when Homer tried it, he was convinced to go inside and buy a Ribwich.
The ensuing montage was a reference to the movie Requiem for a Dream. Homer became addicted to the sandwich, but he learned that it was just a limited time offer — like the McDonald’s version, the McRib. Since it was being tested in different markets nationwide, Homer gets ahold of the schedule. He joins a group of “Ribheads” — a nod to the Grateful Dead “Deadheads” — and hits the road.
The tour culminates in San Francisco and Krusty the Clown announces that the Ribwich is being discontinued because the animal whose meat was used was now extinct.
They never did tell what animal it was, but a commercial in the episode explains, “We start with authentic, letter-graded meat, and process the hell out of it.” The box that it is served in proudly states “Now without lettuce!” and “Will cause early death!”
A Few Notes
The first thing you are going to need to do is cook the ribs. You can use baby backs or spare ribs, whichever you prefer or get the best price on. I almost always prefer to make spare ribs, so that’s what I did for this cook. I cut off the tips to make St. Louis style ribs, which lets me make rib tips at the same time, or freeze the tips and cook them for another meal.
In order to make the ribs into a sandwich, you have to cook them to be fall off the bone. That’s not how I like to eat my ribs normally, but if you like to eat them that way, I have no problem with that. One of my biggest pet peeves in cooking is when people say there’s only one way to do something.
“My way is the only way.”
“Brisket can only have salt and pepper.”
“It’s not chili if it has beans.”
“If your ribs are fall off the bone, they’re wrong.”
False.
Cook it the way you like it. If you like beans in your chili, put them in! If you like your ribs fall off the bone, cook them that way!
The Simpsons Ribwich Recipe
Fire up your smoker to 225 degrees using indirect heat and your favorite wood. I use pecan or cherry when I do ribs. While it’s coming up to temperature, remove the membrane from the back side of your ribs and season them with Down With the Swine rub.
Put your ribs on the grate and smoke for about two hours. Since we’re cooking them to be fall off the bone, we don’t need to worry too much about the bark. After two hours, transfer them to foil along with a few pats of butter, some brown sugar, and a drizzle of honey.
Put back in and let go for another two hours. This step is basically just steaming the ribs, which causes them to fall off the bone. When I normally cook ribs, I only leave them in the foil for an hour because I don’t like them to get too soft. After this recipe, I would encourage you to cook ribs in various ways to see which way you like the best — no wrap, dry rub only, shorter wrap, longer wrap, spritz versus no spritz, etc.
After a couple hours, open up the foil, being careful not to let the juice spill out. Once the meat has pulled away from the bones, it’s ready to sauce. Use your favorite barbecue sauce, or make your own. I used a version of my Up North sauce, but without the Cheerwine.
Mop the ribs with the sauce and keep in the smoker for another 15-20 minutes until the sauce caramelizes on top. Remove from the smoker and carefully pull out the bones without pulling the meat apart. Once you have the bones out, slice the ribs into squares the size of your buns, probably 3 or 4 ribs each.
Place the rib section onto the bun and top with thinly sliced onions and pickles. The onions and pickles aren’t on the actual Ribwich in The Simpson’s, but they are on the McDonald’s McRib, so I added them for fun.
Equipment
- Smoker
Ingredients
- 2 racks Ribs spare or baby back
- Down With the Swine rub
- 1 stick Butter
- 1 cup Brown sugar
- Honey
- BBQ sauce your favorite (or make your own)
- 8 Sub buns
- 1 Onion thinly sliced
- Pickles
Instructions
- Fire up your smoker to 225 degrees using indirect heat and your choice of wood. I like pecan or cherry for ribs.
- Remove the membrane from the back of the ribs, then cover with Down With the Swine rub.
- Put in the smoker and let go for 2 hours.
- After 2 hours, place ribs in foil along with a few pats of butter, some brown sugar, and a drizzle of honey.
- Seal the foil and place back into the smoker for 2 more hours.
- After 2 hours, open up the foil, being careful not to let the juice drip out.
- Mop your ribs with your favorite sauce and close the lid. Let smoke for another 15-20 minutes until the sauce sets.
- Remove from the smoker and carefully pull out the bones.
- Slice the ribs into sections of 3 or 4 ribs each, about the size of your buns.
- Place a rib section onto the bun and top with thinly sliced onions and pickles.
