BBQ RIBS

What better way to celebrate Memorial Day than to have a large platter full of BBQ ribs. Get those grills ready, make plenty of sauce and look for the best deal you can find on some baby backs. There are a ton of ways to approach this task. I myself prefer to keep it as simple as possible. Some people soak their ribs in a sort of brine, some boil them before they grill them, they rub them, marinate them, I'm telling you there are many different processes that are used to produce a good rib. Today we are going to slow cook them out on the gas grill. Now on the under side of the ribs you will find a very thin membrane. If you push from the edge of the rib on a bone toward one end you can get this loose and get underneath it. Lift it up and pull it off. When this cooks it becomes very tough so you want to be sure to remove it. Now season the ribs with what ever you might desire. I like to use some garlic powder, black pepper, and a little Cajun spice or Mrs. Dash Spicy Blend. Once you have the ribs seasoned and the grill is good and hot you're ready to start cooking. Start out with a pretty hot grill so you can get some nice color on the ribs, start them meat side down and cook for about 20 minutes, turn them over and reduce your heat. If possible you want to roast the ribs from this point. Turn all you burners off but one and move the ribs to the other side of the grill so they aren't directly over the heat. Let them set for about 10 or 15 minutes until your grill has adjusted and check the temperature gauge on the grill. You want it to be 300 to 325 degrees and you're looking at 3 to 4 hours cooking time. Now lets go inside and get some other things ready. I guess first we should talk about sauce. Make it or buy it? If you have a good recipe and you like to make it that is great. Economically I find it's cheaper to buy a good sauce, and quicker. I like Sweet Baby Ray's myself. I've made sauce in the past but by the time you get all the ingredients you end up spending a small fortune.......for BBQ sauce? Any way we all have our preference so when it comes time to sauce the ribs use your favorite. I've decided today we will have some potato salad, fresh corn on the cob and some garlic bread to go along with our ribs. I boiled some potatoes and eggs earlier and they are in the fridge cooling. Lets list out the ingredients and get started.

Idaho baking potatoes, boil, peel and dice                    7 each
Large eggs, boil, peel and dice                                       4 each
Celery stalks, diced small                                               3 each
Green onions, chopped                                                   1 bunch
Mayo                                                                                2 cups
Yellow Mustard                                                              1/4 cup
Garlic powder                                                                  1/4 tsp
Sea Salt                                                                             1 tsp
Fresh ground black pepper                                               to taste(lots)
Granulated sugar                                                              1 Tbs
Sweet pickle relish                                                            3 Tbs

Mix all ingredients well in large mixing bowl and chill until ready to serve. I planned to grill the corn but it would seem that I am out of charcoal lighter so we will boil it. Get it cleaned and in a pot of cold water and when the ribs are close to being done we will start the corn. I saw a recipe for corn that once the corn was done they drizzled olive oil and fresh lime juice on it and added fresh basil and black pepper also. I tried this today but I used butter instead of olive oil. I thought it was pretty good and would have it again.  For garlic bread I found a nice whole grain baguette and cut it into about 12 nice thick slices, buttered both sides and sprinkled generously with garlic powder. Put it all back together in the shape of the loaf and wrap it in foil for the grill later. You will want to put it on for about 20 minutes or so toward the end of cooking time for the ribs. While the ribs are cooking you will want to go out a few times and  rotate them. Move the one that is the farthest away from the heat so that it is closest and slide the others over. This will help them to cook more evenly. Well it has been about 3 hours since you started the ribs so lets start to apply some sauce. Apply a nice coating to the top side of the ribs and close the lid, let them set for about 20 minutes and turn them over and coat the bottom side, close the lid and let them set for another 20 minutes, start the corn, take your bread out with you and turn the ribs again so you can coat the top side one more time generously with BBQ sauce. Toss the bread on the little rack that sits above the other racks and close your lid. In 20 to 30 minutes everything should be done. Ribs are kind of a long and painstaking process but the outcome is well worth it. You know they say Memorial Day marks the beginning of summer festivities so we  have a lot of grilling coming up. Enjoy!!!