MELLINA'S JERK RIB TIPS

Steps:

• 1. Preheat oven to 300° F.
• 2. In a small bowl, combine the lime juice, rum, and brown sugar; set aside. Mix together the cayenne pepper, clove, cinnamon, ginger, pepper, salt, and crushed thyme. Place rib tips in a re-sealable bag and pour spice mixture over them, shake to coat evenly.
• 3. Remove rib tips from bag and place on a baking sheet and let sit for 15 minutes to reach room temperature.
• 4. Bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes, until meat pulls slightly away from bone. Baste the tips with the lime juice mixture every 20-30 minutes while it's cooking.
• 5. If you cooked the tips whole, cut up into 2" pieces. Serve with BBQ or jerk sauce, optional.
• 6. Tips and Alternatives: 1. If you don't have rum, you can use 1 tablespoon + 2 teaspoons rum extract, plus enough water to equal 4 oz. 2. If you want to prepare this ahead of time, you can season the rib tips in the morning, refrigerate them, and take them out 15 minutes before cooking. 3. This can be cooked on the grill too, using indirect method. However, I recommend cooking them whole on the grill and cutting them up once they're cooked. 4. I have adjusted the seasoning of this recipe several times over the years. This recipe as written is on the low end of spicy, if you want jerk flavor, but not necessarily the heat, reduce the cayenne pepper to 1 1/2 teaspoons - it won't be spicy, yet it will still bring out the other flavors without the feel that something is missing.