Awesome Ribs for Pork or Beef

This is an awesome and easy-to-make rib recipe. I always thought it was my mother's creation, but a few years ago I found a very similar version in a 1950s Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook. We'll never know who made it first. My mother was a home economist, and a goddess of recipes -- I should post more of her gems. Anyway, I usually make this with pork ribs (almost any cut), but also discovered that it was great for beef ribs. That was when I lived in Syria and pork was hard to get. The first time I ordered ribs from the Syrian butcher, he proudly and kindly cut out the ribs. Bummer. By the way, don't be put off by the number of steps. This is really easy to make.

• Ready In: 2 hrs 30 mins
• Serves: 6

Ingredients

• 4 1⁄2 lbs  of meaty  pork ribs or 4 1⁄2 lbs beef ribs
• 2  medium yellow onions, sliced thickly (1/3 of an inch)
• 1  to 2  lemon, juice of, only
• 1  cup ketchup
• 2  cups water
• 1  teaspoon salt (I use only 1/2 teaspoon)
• 2  tablespoons brown sugar, packed
• 1⁄3 cup Worcestershire sauce

Directions

1. Cut ribs into individual ribs, and place all the pieces in large roasting pan.
2. Scatter the thickly sliced onions over the ribs.
3. Sprinkle lemon juice over the ribs.
4. Bake for one hour in an oven that has been pre-heated to 350 degrees.
5. Pour off ALL the fat and juice that has accumulated.
6. In the meantime, make the sauce.
7. To make the sauce, combine the last five ingredients in a saucepan, and cook (boil) for 20-25 minutes. Stir frequently. You want the sauce to cook down and thicken up.
8. Dip cooked ribs into the sauce, and place in roasting pan. It's best if you make a single layer of ribs at this stage so, if necessary, use more than one pan.
9. Dip cooked onions into sauce, and scatter over ribs.
10. At this stage, you can refrigerate the concoction (covered with cling wrap) for a day or two -- so the flavours can really meld.
11. Cook ribs a second time—for 30-60 minutes—in an oven that has been pre-heated to 325°F If you have refrigerated the concoction, take out of the fridge at least two hours before the second cooking. Thanks to Heystopthatnow for alerting me to the fact that I had omitted a cooking time for this step.
12. Before the second cooking, baste the ribs. Then baste them again every 10 minutes. You want the ribs to be saucy.
13. Serve with corn cobs, baked potatoes and salad. Garlic bread is nice, too.