BBQ Baby Back Ribs

The basic recipe here feeds 4 nicely with a few left overs. The glory of this recipe and process is that it can easily be doubled, quadrupled or deca-drupled for parties and large crowds. (In my insanity I once did ribs for 30 so I can attest it is an easy recipe for crowds). The "secret" to this recipe is pre-cooking the ribs low and slow in the oven so they are cooked through and fall off the bone tender. All the grill does is provide smoke flavor and allows your BBQ Sauce to thicken and caramelize on the racks without fear of having undercooked ribs.

BBQ Baby Back Ribs

• 2 racks pork baby back ribs
• Dry rub (recipe follows)
• Favorite BBQ Sauce. (I use my own super secret recipe)

Split the racks in half. Remove the silver membrane on the underside of the racks. To each side of the half-racks apply 1 tablespoon dry rub. Massage into the meat. In a large square of aluminium foil place an ice cube (or 1 table spoon apple juice). Fold foil to form a sealed packet. Place on baking sheet. Repeat with remaining half-racks.

Bake at 32F for 1 1/2 hours. At this point you can cool them down and refrigerate for use the next day to finish them off on a grill or do it right away. To finish on grill, add smoke chips if you have them. Remove the ribs from foil and place on grill bone side down first. Grill on low heat over and allow fat to drip and "smoke" the ribs. After about 5 minutes turn ribs over and baste with BBQ Sauce. Cover and cook 5 minutes then turn over, basting with BBQ Sauce. Cover and cook for 5 minutes over the slow smokey heat until the sauce begins to caramelize. Turn ribs over last time and rebaste the top with additional bbq sauce if you like them "sloppy wet" or remove to platter and split into portion size pieces. Serve with additional BBQ Sauce on the side.

Dry Rub Mix

• 1 C Paprika
• 1 C Brown Sugar
• 1 T sea salt (or kosher)
• 2 T dried Onion Flakes
• 2 T dried garlic
• 1T black pepper
• 1 T dry mustard
• ¼ t cayenne pepper
• ½ t red pepper flakes
• ¼ t nutmeg
• ½ t allspice

Put mix in blender or food processor and pulse until well blended. For large bulk spices I like to use “It’s Delish” brand as its huge quantities very cheap. Sea Salt or Kosher work better than regular table salt as they are sweeter with no metallic aftertaste. Store in cool dark place.

Easy Oven BBQ Chicken

I'm one of those "chicken is a flavor delivery device" kinda beef guys. In other words, I won't go out of my way to make it and won't order it in a restaurant. But, I have a family who loves the stuff so I find ways to pack in the flavor so I can enjoy it.

Oven BBQ is a fast way to get the flavor of a good 'que without having to hassle with a grill. Liquid smoke is the answer to getting the smokey flavor in. Using your favorite rub is the last half of the secret of making the oven baked stuff taste nearly as good as the grill. Yes, Virginia there is a Santa Claus and this Santa is going to give up his until now uber-secret rub recipe. (I won't be giving up my sun-dried tomato BBQ Sauce though...but I do pass jars along on request to fans of it when I make a batch).

Oven BBQ Chicken

4 chicken breasts - skin removed

2 T liquid smoke (I use the mesquite flavor)

4 T dry rub

Preheat oven to 350F. Place chicken breasts into a bowl and add the liquid smoke to marinate. Allow to sit 5 minutes. Use 1T per breast and rub into both sides very well. Place chicken breasts on a baking sheet sprayed lightly with a cooking oil. Bake 30-40 minutes until done. Serve with favorite BBQ Sauce.
Now for the dry rub. It is a recipe I came up with on my own, feel free to tweak as needed. Mine started loosely as a St Louis Style rub given to me by a friends folks when we lived near St Louis. I just can't keep to a recipe so I added in some extra spices that amp up the flavor without adding calories. IT is so good that you don't even have to add sauce to your ribs, chicken or whatever you apply it too.

Dry Rub Mix

• 1 C Paprika
  
• 1 C Brown Sugar
  
• 1 T sea salt (or kosher)
  
• 2 T dried Onion Flakes
  
• 2 T dried garlic
  
• 1T black pepper
  
• 1 T dry mustard
  
• ¼ t cayenne pepper
  
• ½ t red pepper flakes
  
• ¼ t nutmeg
  
• ½ t allspice
  

Put mix in blender or food processor and pulse until well blended. For large bulk spices I like to use “It’s Delish” brand as its huge quantities very cheap. Sea Salt or Kosher work better than regular table salt as they are sweeter with no metallic aftertaste. Store in cool dark place.