Vacation is over, and I’m finally back home in Jersey City after almost two weeks. It’s not the beach, but the view here isn’t bad.

My boyfriend James and I talked about having ribs before I left for vacation, so I decided to make them for dinner tonight. I used:

• A rack of baby back ribs
• Dijon mustard (if I had yellow mustard I would have used that)
• Weber’s KC Barbecue rub – I love this seasoning, which has a nice sweet and spicy taste
• Beef better than bullion, dissolved in  a coffee mug full of hot water
• Korean-style barbecue sauce (I usually get a good one from H-Mart, a Korean grocery store chain, but this time I got one that wasn’t as good at a regular grocery store. I wouldn’t buy it again, but if you can’t find the good stuff this is fine)

I used a trick my uncle showed me at the shore this year for prep… if you can get a finger under the skin on the back of the ribs, it is easy to pull off the whole piece by hand. I rubbed the rack with mustard , then the KC spice rub. I put the meat bone-side down in a baking dish with the beef broth, wrapped it tightly with foil, and put it in the oven at 225 degrees for about two hours, until they hit about 175 degrees. I brushed on some sauce, put them under the broiler for 10 or 15 minutes until it was soaked in but not burned, then slathered a second time and cooked for a few more minutes, until they looked just right.

For the sides, I first sliced up some onions and shiitake and cremini mushrooms. I browned them up with salt, pepper, and za’atar. I sliced up the napa cabbage and mixed in a few splashes each of shoyu (soy sauce,) mirin, oyster sauce, cooking sake, and just a small splash of sesame oil.  I use the same combination when I do bok choy. I add the white parts from the bottom first, then the leafier parts a few minutes later. There’s always a lot of extra liquid, so I just use tongs or a slotted spoon to pull the cabbage out of the liquid to serve.