Mother's Day weekend pt1

Ah, Mother’s Day weekend and the grill is getting a real work out. It is hot outside so I get a break on the charcoal, even a small handful of lump charcoal produces some intense heat. I grilled some Kielbasa the other day and I believe I could have dispensed with the charcoal all together and just closed the lid on the grill. It was up to 101 in the back yard.

My daughter and her husband came to visit – I wasn’t sure when they’d get here so I didn’t pull the ribs out of the fridge until I saw the whites of their eyes. This precluded doing the usual mustard and dry rub for seasoning as the ribs would have to go overnight, so I made a sauce. I generally don’t care for using BBQ sauce, preferring to go with the rub method but BBQ sauce is easy to put together in a hurry.

Be aware I really like to bring the heat, so feel free to adjust the amount of hot pepper. In fact this recipe is pretty basic, so feel to play around with it ‘til it suits your taste. I used about 2 cups of Ketchup, 2 Tbs Whiskey, 1/8 Tsp Liquid Smoke (this stuff has a really strong flavor so a little goes a long way), and about 2 Tbs of Molasses. I like the Oriental concept of contrasts with in a sauce, so I try to balance things out a bit. Besides I like the look on folk’s faces as they are enjoying the sweet taste of the sauce and suddenly the heat kicks in – now that’s funny.

I chose St Louis Style ribs because they tend to be a bit meatier and that’s what the store had, though baby-backs are great too. I remove the layer of skin-like silvery tissue from the backs of the ribsones. It can be the devil’s own to remove, but it pays off in two ways; the rib meat can soak up seasoning from the back of the rack of ribs, and your guests don’t put their jaw muscles through a Pilates workout trying to eat the ribs. I applied some salt and pepper then tossed them on the grill.

I had problems with the charcoal, some stores let the stuff get wet and then charcoal is tough to start and never seems to come up to its full potential. I use lump charcoal because I don’t fancy cooking over petroleum byproducts found in most briquettes.

As the ribs cook I slather them with a mop sauce, in this case 2 Tbs of dried red pepper flakes and a ¼ cup of brown sugar dissolved in quart of apple cider vinegar. I just baste the top of the ribs with this from time to time to add some flavor and keep them moist. I use indirect heat (coals on either side of the ribs) and will sometimes place a tinfoil pan of beer directly under the ribs to help with moisture and catch and drippings.

Can’t say as I make the best ribs in the world, but I don’t get any complaints…