'Twas the night before...
So, it's about 10:22 pm on Friday night. There's a swim meet tomorrow morning at "the crack of dawn-minus 30 minutes" so everybody's asleep except for me and Katie. She'd like to be asleep but Mer has forbidden her from coming to bed before I turn the lights out. She (Katie) has a tendancy to pace the floor at the foot of the bed and near the bedroom door when somebody else is outside the bedroom. So, she hangs out with me -- and every time I walk around she wonders if it's time to go to bed and looks at me with expectation. Since I'm in my office, she's finally decided to crash in her favorite "Dad's in the office"-spot, which is at my door, on the cool tile. If it weren't for all my lumps and bumps and curves, I think I might join her sometime on that comfortable, cool tile.
But that's not why I'm writing.
I'm trying something new this evening. I'm a firm believer in America's Test Kitchen. I have watched the PBS show and bought several of the books and subscribed to Cook's Illustrated for several years. It might have something to do with my love of science, but I am fascinated by the techniques of cooking. AB's my man. I have the ATK Grilling book, which I believe to be somewhat of a bible (some would live by KJV or possibly Betty Crocker, but they're heretics).
Well, ATK is great on technique, but sometimes I find the actual recipes to be a little "high-brow" for me (Heck, I'm just a country boy from the uncivilized plains of West Texas). I absolutely swear by the ATK technique for fixin' pork ribs, but the dry bbq rub the from the ATK Grilling book is a little off (my 'pinion). And lately, I've had a hankerin' for Rudy's. The SAUSE is good and the brisket's moist. But a few weeks ago Mer brought in a slab of babyback ribs and dang if they weren't yumbly in my tumbly....
Well, the Folks are coming in tomorrow afternoon and I was wondering what we'd have for dinner. I've been over-burgered lately and that's probably technically only slightly more fun than grilled hotdogs (the grill-equivalent of mac-n-cheese). And ribs take 4-EVER on a slow, indirect-heat grill. That gives me an excellent reason to hang out in the back yard all afternoon tending to the grill. WHOOP!
Anyway, I decided on spareribs. Although not quite as tender as babyback ribs, they're way meatier and also (IMHO) a bit easier and more forgiving on the grill. Costco has fabulous, 2-slab packs of spareribs for just $2 a pound. Ten pounds in the cart and I'm thrilled!
Now, we're on to recipe. I've been wondering what to do... Like I said, Rudy's is fabulous and I've always done dry ribs, so I decided to spend a little time looking for a great dry rub. I like peppery and sweet and not too spicy. The kids deal well with pepper, but not chiles. I decided to hit Google -- I can't remember my exact search term, but I'm pretty sure it had words like sweet and peppery and best and rub in it. I came across a particularly interesting recipe. I read through the ingredient list and my curiosity was certainly piqued.
And it included a SAUSE recipe.
Interesting...
And the comments were beaming.
Interestingly, the recipe says it takes about 45 minutes of prep. When I finished mixing up the rub, I found it a little too spicy for the kids and Mer, so I took about half of it and cut it with about a half-cup of sugar and about another tablespoon of salt. And the 45 minutes doesn't take into consideration my insane ATK process, which includes actually rubbing the rub into the meat and then wrapping the meat in plastic wrap to seal in the spices for the night.
Then I decided to simmer the SAUSE for about an hour. I just finished reducing it by about a third and I have to say that the flavor is very deep. It doesn't have the peppery chunkiness of Rudy's, but it does have sweet, onion-and-pepper flavor (I chose to use a fine-ground pepper rather that course-ground).
Tomorrow I will get up about an hour before the crack of dawn to prep for the meet. Then, after the meet I will take the ribs out of the fridge and dust them once more with the rub and then get them on a super-low-indirect-heat grill for about 5 hours.
Oh, and I didn't mention that I don't think I've ever made my own barbeque sauce before. I'm excited by the prospect and I just decanted it and transfered it to the fridge and I have to say that it was delicious.
If you don't hear from me for a few days it's probably because I'm full and sitting on the couch with one hand tucked into my belt and a toothpick in the corner of my mouth (didn't I mention I was a redneck?).
But that's not why I'm writing.
I'm trying something new this evening. I'm a firm believer in America's Test Kitchen. I have watched the PBS show and bought several of the books and subscribed to Cook's Illustrated for several years. It might have something to do with my love of science, but I am fascinated by the techniques of cooking. AB's my man. I have the ATK Grilling book, which I believe to be somewhat of a bible (some would live by KJV or possibly Betty Crocker, but they're heretics).
Well, ATK is great on technique, but sometimes I find the actual recipes to be a little "high-brow" for me (Heck, I'm just a country boy from the uncivilized plains of West Texas). I absolutely swear by the ATK technique for fixin' pork ribs, but the dry bbq rub the from the ATK Grilling book is a little off (my 'pinion). And lately, I've had a hankerin' for Rudy's. The SAUSE is good and the brisket's moist. But a few weeks ago Mer brought in a slab of babyback ribs and dang if they weren't yumbly in my tumbly....
Well, the Folks are coming in tomorrow afternoon and I was wondering what we'd have for dinner. I've been over-burgered lately and that's probably technically only slightly more fun than grilled hotdogs (the grill-equivalent of mac-n-cheese). And ribs take 4-EVER on a slow, indirect-heat grill. That gives me an excellent reason to hang out in the back yard all afternoon tending to the grill. WHOOP!
Anyway, I decided on spareribs. Although not quite as tender as babyback ribs, they're way meatier and also (IMHO) a bit easier and more forgiving on the grill. Costco has fabulous, 2-slab packs of spareribs for just $2 a pound. Ten pounds in the cart and I'm thrilled!
Now, we're on to recipe. I've been wondering what to do... Like I said, Rudy's is fabulous and I've always done dry ribs, so I decided to spend a little time looking for a great dry rub. I like peppery and sweet and not too spicy. The kids deal well with pepper, but not chiles. I decided to hit Google -- I can't remember my exact search term, but I'm pretty sure it had words like sweet and peppery and best and rub in it. I came across a particularly interesting recipe. I read through the ingredient list and my curiosity was certainly piqued.
And it included a SAUSE recipe.
Interesting...
And the comments were beaming.
Interestingly, the recipe says it takes about 45 minutes of prep. When I finished mixing up the rub, I found it a little too spicy for the kids and Mer, so I took about half of it and cut it with about a half-cup of sugar and about another tablespoon of salt. And the 45 minutes doesn't take into consideration my insane ATK process, which includes actually rubbing the rub into the meat and then wrapping the meat in plastic wrap to seal in the spices for the night.
Then I decided to simmer the SAUSE for about an hour. I just finished reducing it by about a third and I have to say that the flavor is very deep. It doesn't have the peppery chunkiness of Rudy's, but it does have sweet, onion-and-pepper flavor (I chose to use a fine-ground pepper rather that course-ground).
Tomorrow I will get up about an hour before the crack of dawn to prep for the meet. Then, after the meet I will take the ribs out of the fridge and dust them once more with the rub and then get them on a super-low-indirect-heat grill for about 5 hours.
Oh, and I didn't mention that I don't think I've ever made my own barbeque sauce before. I'm excited by the prospect and I just decanted it and transfered it to the fridge and I have to say that it was delicious.
If you don't hear from me for a few days it's probably because I'm full and sitting on the couch with one hand tucked into my belt and a toothpick in the corner of my mouth (didn't I mention I was a redneck?).
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