Summer, beautiful summer. The day was gorgeous. We invited our friends/neighbors the Watsons and Lees over for dinner and I thought I'd do some baby back ribs, potato salad, and corn on the cob. It was a chance to bust out all 3 of my grills: the MAK smoker, the Weber kettle (for the corn), and the Weber gasser (for finishing the ribs).
It's best to have the barbecue sauce made a day ahead of time so the ingredients can meld. I made some Kansas City sauce which is a little sweet, but people love it.
I haven't blogged about this sauce before, so I'll go through the process. First line up the ingredients.
The wet stuff goes together, the onion is diced fine, and the chili powder and garlic are held aside for later in the sauté
Add the wet ingredients, whisk and bring to a boil. Simmer for about 15 minutes. Then pass through a fine mesh strainer to remove the onion bits; we just want the onion essence. Some people like the chunks o' onion in the sauce. I like it a bit smoother. I forgot the tamarind paste today. If you make this sauce,use the tamarind paste. It's delicious as is, but the tamarind takes it to another level.
I've been pretty happy with my ability to turn out consistent ribs. The night before Carla and I unwrapped 2 packets of 3 ribs each she picked up from Costco and rubbed them down with Meathead's Magical Meat Dust then wrapped in plastic wrap. After a walk Sunday morning, I unwrapped the ribs and let them come up to room temperature while the MAK warmed up.
Onto the smoker. The smoker was set to "Smoke"for 30 minutes then raised up to 250* for about 5 hours. I've used a water pan the past couple of smokes and I'm happy with the results. I also did a new thing this time and spritzed them with apple juice a few times.
Then the 2nd best part of barbecue. I sat down on the deck and read a book Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand. This is a fantastic book about a guy in WWII who... well, read the book or wait until my book report on it. It has 5 stars on Amazon with over 1,400 reviews.
Sitting on the deck watching the MAK do its thing.
Five hours later, more or less. This picture makes them look much redder than they were. At this point, I've removed the water pan and am preparing to grill them.
To finish, I turn on the Weber gasser to medium high, slather some of my sauce on the ribs and grill them, monitoring them closing to make sure they don't burn. This gets a nice crust on them.
Smelling good in the neighborhood.
Ready for cutting.
Meanwhile, the Lees (Karen and John on the left) and Maryann and Jay came over with beers and wine.
They had a busy day. Karen and Mary Ann spent the morning in a triathlon up in Federal Way, Washington benefiting Ovarian Cancer research. I hope one of them comments on this page giving the link. Then the Watsons went to the Timbers soccer game. A full day for them.
Dinner is served
After dinner we had ice cream and strawberries on the deck (well on a table on the deck)
What a fantastic meal with great friends. The ribs were succulent--very moist and great sauce--a lapped up every drop! The corn and potato salad were wonderful, too. I terrific evening all around.
ReplyDeleteOur triathlon event was a relay. Last year Karen and I both did the whole thing, but it was a shorter (Super Sprint) distance. This year we enlisted the very capable of our daughters, Karen's sister and niece and another friend to complete. Karen rode the biking leg and I swam. Lots of fun for a good cause--Ovarian Cancer Research Fund (ocrf.org). Thanks, Howard and Carla for your support and a great time. Mary Ann