Thursday, July 05, 2007

BBQ Baby Back Ribs

A summer treat! This is perhaps one of my all-time FAVORITE recipes! These are much much easier than you would expect: pre-boil the cut ribs, make a quick sauce, then cook over a fire. Juicy, tender and exploding with flavor. This BBQ sauce is absolutely perfect for grilled pork ribs; don't buy a store-brand, this sauce is so wonderful and easy. If you are making these for a crowd, be sure to buy enough meat. Normally people consume 5 ribs, minimum.
From "Gooseberry Patch" Summer? Cookbook.

As you can see, I grill with gathered dried sticks and firewood.. heck with 'natural' store-bought charcoal.

**Most all 'regular' charcoals are bound with wheat. Beware!**



Sauce covers 16 ribs, give or take a few.
25 + 25 + 10 minutes (boil, sauce, grill: total 60 minutes)
-large large pot with lid
-long tongs suitable for grilling
-dried sticks or GF charcoal, for grilling
Easy

INGREDIENTS
2 to 3 lbs uncooked pork ribs -- my 2.4 lb rack cut into 14 ribs. (That's about 6 ribs per pound).

Sauce:
1 medium white onion
2 large celery stalks
2 to 3 cloves garlic
1 tbsp. olive oil
1/4 c. packed brown sugar
1 c. ketchup*
1/4 c. red wine vinegar*
2 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce*
1 tbsp. mustard*
*Heinz ketchup is GF; Heinz gourmet Red Wine Vinegar is GF; Lea and Perkins worc. sauce is GF; French's original mustard is GF.

DIRECTIONS
1. Cut apart the rib meat into 'singles' (separate between each rib bone). Place cut pork into a large large pot and add enough water to cover the ribs. Cover pot with lid and begin cooking over high heat.
2. When water finally comes to a rolling boil (this will take awhile, since Vwater is so large), turn heat down to medium-- the water should now simmer gently. Start timer from this point and cook covered for 20 minutes. Stir occasionally to make sure all meat is cooking.
--Start making sauce at this point in another pan such that everything will come out at once. I used the same pot for the sauce to save dishes.--
3. Once time has passed, carefully pour out the hot water. Line a small cookie sheet, or platter, with Aluminum foil. Place still-hot boiled ribs onto the foil. Let cook slightly, then place in fridge until sauce is done.
Sauce:
4. Wash and finely dice the white onion. Also thinly slice, then dice, the washed celery. Peel and wash the garlic, then equally dice. You want these piece as small as possible (I don't have a food processor).
5. Wash out the large pot. Pour in 1 tbsp. olive oil then stir in the small pieces of onion, celery and garlic. Mix well.
6. Saute veggies over medium heat for 5 minutes, or until onions become translucent. Stir frequently. Turn down heat slightly if pieces begin to burn on the bottom of the pot.
7. Add in packed 1/4 cup of dark brown sugar and 1 cup ketchup; stir well. Now definitely turn heat down to medium-low. Mix in the red wine vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, and mustard. This should already look 'sauce-like'.
8. Let the sauce lazily bubble on the stove for 10 minutes-- it will throw sauce around a little, since the mixture is so thick. Stir occasionally to re-mix in the vinegar; don't let the brown sugar caramelize. Sauce is done when it becomes a darker red and thickly coats your mixing spoon.
(--Could now temporarily remove sauce from the stove and run through a food-processor to really make it creamy.--)
9. Turn off the heat, then take out your cooked ribs. Place ribs into the sauce-filled large pot, three at a time. Stir ribs around in the sauce to thoroughly coat them, then remove and re-place back on Al-foil lined platter (no fear of contamination, since the meat is fully cooked!).
10. Take ribs outside and GRILL them over a fire... 5 minutes on each side. Done when ribs are heated through, slightly charred and sauce is caramelized and sizzling. Serve warm alongside beans; eat with fingers and make a big, wonderful mess.

1 comment:

JLC said...

Better than Dink's---Ace!! We are enjoying your recipes. This is ACE week.