Back to School BBQ

These are unbelievable Back Back Ribs with home-grilled Bourbon Barbecue Sauce. It is back to school this week so we decided to send the 2010 Summer out with a big flavor bang. Dorothy and I are college professors and we teach year-round, so "back to school" does not have the same meaning it did when I our kids were young, but the start of school still feels like the end of Summer to me. There is nothing better than spending an summer afternoon watching some baseball, having a few really cold ones, listening to Kenny Chesney's "Summertime" and letting some Baby Backs slow roast for three hours on the grill. Here's how we did it. 

I started in the morning by making a dry-rub. In a small bowl I mixed to together paprika, coarse Kosher salt, Turbinado sugar, light brown sugar, with chipotle and chili powders. I stretched out the Baby Backs on a tray, peeled off the interior membrane (don't forget to do that!) and doused the ribs with some sweet Kentucky Bourbon. With the ribs wet with bourbon, I sprinkled on the rub - both sides. I started a three-hour clock in my head from grill light to first bite. When that clock started, I covered the ribs in foil and lit the grill. I set the grill on low and placed the ribs on an upper grill rack. This method really turns your grill into an oven. The ribs never are exposed to direct flame, so they roast low and slow. 

Remember one of the virtues of the grill is that it forces you to slow down and put yourself on the pace of the grill. This is one of the main reasons that you would want to grill on a week-night during a busy week for instance. Your first thought is that you would not have time - but that is the whole point. The grill forces you to make time and while the grill is doing its work you can talk to your family, listen to some music, open a bottle of wine, watch a ball game - the grill helps you do the things that matter. The stuff we fail to do when we are in a fast-food hurry. You can also use a long grill time to overlap your other preparations. I had the Kentucky Bourbon out, so I decided to make a Bourbon BBQ Sauce and Dorothy made Bourbon BBQ Beans and Skillet Cornbread - the aromas were making the neighbors crazy! I started the sauce by grilling some onions in a skillet with butter and some bacon drippings from Dorothy's beans. When the onions were ready I threw in tomato paste and tomato sauce (instead of ketchup), molasses, honey, dry mustard, chipotle chilies, and then I poured in the bourbon - a lot of bourbon. I have not provided any measurements because I never really measure anything. I keep track of proportions. I know I like equal portions of honey and molasses, but I couldn't tell you how many tablespoons or ounces or cups I use. I use what looks and feels like enough and I taste and make adjustments along the way. This sauce was blended together and placed on the grill under the ribs. The sauce simmered for at least two hours.

The sauce tasted more like bourdon during the first hour, but by the second hour all the flavors came together into a thick sweet sauce with a kick. Meanwhile, Dorothy soaked a combination of Great Northern Beans and Red Beans, then simmered them through several cycles. I don't know all the ingredients she used, but at one point she cooked up some super thick cut bacon and she had onions chopped and garlic from the press - and the rest of the bourbon. The beans were baking during the last hour that the ribs were on the grill. 

    

And if that were not enough she had cornmeal, buttermilk, sugar, honey and I don't know what else going into a cast iron skillet to make ranch-style Cornbread. When it was done it was almost like cake. It had great cornbread flavor, but it was also sweet. Those BBQ ribs and beans had some big flavors but the Skillet Cornbread cooled everything off and balanced the feast.

After three hours it was time for the big unveiling of the Baby Backs. The phrase "fall off the bone" is probably over-used but is the correct description here. I opened the foil and brushed on some of the Bourbon BBQ Sauce and let it sit and soak it in.

According to the planet's orbital mechanics, the end of summer does not occur until the Equinox - but that is still about a month away. For others, the end of summer happens when the kicker's toe hits the football on the first kickoff of the football season. Still others think that summer ends when the State Fair ends, or on Labor Day. For us, because we are teachers, we don't think of the new year as January 1st, but as the first day of classes in "the fall." That is when summer ends. Sadly, summer ends for some when they cover and/or put away the grill - but this, of course, is a mortal sin of the grill. Grill season never ends - not with summer or fall or Thanksgiving or the Super Bowl or the Final Four or when pitcher and catchers report to spring training. Covering your grill against the elements is allowed - but never put away your old friend. We have so much to grill - and the grill creates for us plenty of time to do it.

So keep your tongs at the ready. Don't put away your charcoal, your pepper mills, your grill gloves, and your secret recipes. It is the end of summer - the perfect time to Grill It! Paul


One last thing: The St. Francis Turn Up the Heat Contest is over in two days! My YouTube video entry into the contest to become the Sonoma Grillmaster has more views than any other. You can see that video and the entire collection at http://www.youtube.com/user/StFrancisContest#p/f/21/Gr1Y4MUFX_U. 
The judges start their deliberation on September 1st, with the finalist notified by September 15th. Wish me luck!