Beef ribs

Serves 4-6

Serve Mark's beef ribs with a salad, coleslaw and maybe some potato wedges cooked in the oven (Jason Lowe)

It always amazes me how these tasty ribs, which come from above your Sunday roast cut, often just get trimmed and minced – or even simply thrown in the bin.

Ask your butcher for beef ribs thatf are cut above the rib with the pieces of meat between each bone or, better still, get the ribs they bone out to produce rib-eye steaks.

I'm all for easy barbecue marinades and sometimes throwing some larder ingredients together quite randomly gets you better results than following a long-winded recipe. My rules are just to include ketchup, HP Sauce, Worcestershire sauce, something sweet like honey and a few spices like cumin, chilli or Five Spice.

Really, it's all about getting the ribs sticky and the flavour penetrating into the slow-cooked meat, so as far as I'm concerned you can use whatever your preference is for marinades. Just make sure you add a little water to the pan every so often to compensate for the juices evaporating and to ensure the ribs don't burn.

1.2-1.5kg beef short ribs, cut to about 6-7cm long
6-7tbsp tomato ketchup
6-7tbsp HP Sauce
1tbsp sweet chilli sauce
1tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2tbsp soy sauce
1tsp Chinese Five Spice (optional)
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
100g fresh root ginger, scraped and finely grated
100ml orange juice

Put the beef ribs into a non-reactive tray, mix all of the rest of the ingredients together and pour the marinade over. Cover with clingfilm and leave in the fridge for at least 24 hours.

Preheat the oven to 175C/gas mark 4. Transfer the ribs to a roasting or baking tray and cook for 2 hours, basting and turning them every so often. You may need to add a little water if the marinade dries up.

Serve with a salad, coleslaw and maybe some potato wedges cooked in the oven.