Summer BBQ Season: game on

I <3 Summer, who doesn't.  Let me list the things I love about it, in no particular order

• Heat - yes I like it hot and could live on a beach, given the chance

• The cool of the evening on the deck after a hot day

• Margaritas

• Plum ice cream

• BBQ ribs.

....Halt.  yes, BBQ ribs should be at the top of the list.   Once the temps starting hitting 80+ my mind turns to bbqing on the BFG2000 grill.

My ribs recipe is one I've been iterating on for about 15 years at this point and I think I may stop tinkering with it after tonight.  It was just spot on parfait.  Super juicy, moist, just dropping off the bone tender with a nice patina of sear for the first bite crunchiness factor.

I'll spare you the 12 iterations to date and cut to tonight and what works so well.

#1  Get good baby back ribs.  See that Safeway?  Keep driving.  Find a good butcher shop you trust  (like Diablo Foods, hint hint) and buy a nice fresh rack or two.

2.  Bring it home and at room temp coat it thoroughly in your rub of choice. I fluctuate between my own creation:  http://allrecipes.com/personal-recipe/64272593/beef-and-lamb-dry-rub/  and a local blend called Oakland dust.  Oakland Dust has more paprika than my rub so it's a matter of mood, really.

Anyway,  coat it about twice as thick with your rub as your instincts tell you to, then double foil wrap it tightly and place into a 225-250 degree oven.  With my doddering, olden oven, temp is a bit of a guess, but tonight I put it to 250 and it worked like a champ.  Walk away and do something else for 2 hours -- I spent my two hours building a big fat Greek salad and playing with my dogs.

3.  When two hours is up, remove the now fully cooked and dropping off the bone ribs from the oven and let them cool slightly while you make a brushing sauce:


Le sauce:

#1 fry up a half a pound of bacon and do what you must with the bacon,  but reserve the bacon fat in the pan.

add:

The juice of 3 limes
four tablespoons of organic honey
a tablespoon or more of the same rub you used earler
a dollop of dry sherry

Simmer this for 5-7 mins, stirring until it reduces a bit and is slightly thickened, but not mud-like

4.  Brush this over your cooling ribs and take them to the grill that you've been pre heating at high/stun level for 10-15 minutes.

5.  Quick sear the ribs for 3 mins a side, praying for blasts of flame  (you won't have to pray too hard, the rib /bacon grease helps a lot).

Remove and eat.  Holy Moly! this batch was absolute perfection,  Juicy and falling off the bone but with a certain satisfying crackle on first chomp:

my Big fat Greek salad:

Come on by anytime the mercury passes 85 degrees or so and it's bbq game on.