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.

Vegetable Beef Kabobs

Full of vegetables, I wanted a mild beef flavor that wouldn't overpower the combination. I settled for a slightly sweet honey-beer marinade and was fairly happy with the result. The really good part was (of course) the grilled, juicy vegetables dipped in olive oil and thyme.



Makes 6 long kabobs (15 inch skewers**)
2 hours + 30 minutes + grilling time
-small saucepan for meat
-6 long metal or bamboo skewers
-gallon size plastic baggie
-tongs for grilling
Easy

INGREDIENTS
Beef and Marinade
1/2 of a bottle of light-colored GF beer (I used New Grist)
1-2 tbsp. honey-- to taste
dash of dried ginger
1/2 lb. thick-cut steak, any kind
Veggies
1/2 of a medium red onion
8-10 cherry tomatoes
1 medium zucchini
1 medium yellow zucchini squash
1/2 of a medium green bell pepper
1/2 of a medium red bell pepper
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. dried thyme leaves
1 tsp. dried oregano leaves
salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS
Beef and marinade
1. Into the saucepan, pour the beer and mix with the honey. Add a dash of ginger, then taste your marinade. If not sweet enough, add in more honey. Could also try some Cayenne pepper for a kick.
2. Wash the steak and cut into 1 inch cubes. Place meat into the marinade. Cover and let sit for 2 to 3 hours in the fridge.
** If using bamboo or wooden skewers, don't forget to soak them in water for a good hour or so before threading and placing on the grill.
Veggies
3. Once the meat has soaked long enough, begin coarsely cutting up the vegetables. Thickly slice the red onion and cut into 1 inch 'squares'. Half the cherry tomatoes. Cut both the zucchini and yellow zucchini into 1/2 inch slices, then half each slice. Thickly slice both the green and red bell peppers and cut into 1 inch 'squares'.
4. Place cut veggies into a large gallon-sized freezer bag. Drizzle with 2 tbsp. olive oil; shake to coat veggies. Add thyme and oregano (plus salt and pepper) into the bag. Shake until spices are well distributed. Let sit.
5. At this point, either pre-cook (boil) the beef pieces in the beer marinade for 5-10 minutes. Discard the honey-beer, either way.
6. Skewer the vegetables and meat, alternating and varying along the kabob. There will be much more veggies than meat.
7. Cook kabobs on the grill over open flames until the veggies and meat are toasted and sizzling. My pre-cooked meat kabobs were done within 5-8 minutes over a hot wood-burning fire. Make sure the beef is fully cooked, if you did not pre-boil it. Serve hot, right off the grill, with beans or salad. EDIT: These are not so good re-heated, even in the oven; make sure you eat them hot off the grill.