Bertha's Savory Barbeque Ribs
I got this recipe from Bertha (my mother-in-law) which I used for our
Memorial Day barbeque party and as recently as last weekend. Previously
I had this prejudice against barbequeing ribs as I was under the
presumption that they are difficult and messy to prepare. In truth,
barbeque ribs are pretty easy to whip up, you just need to plan ahead.
Tenderizing the Ribs. Go to Costco and buy a package of their
baby back ribs. The package includes three strips of about 16 ribs
which is enough to serve 7 or 8 adults. Depending on the size of the
package, it should cost between $25-$30. Place the ribs in an 8-quart
stock pot and cover with water. Add a generous amount of salt, pepper,
and garlic powder. Place over high heat and bring to boil. Turn heat
down to medium-low and simmer on a low boil for about 2 hours.
Preparing the Barbeque Sauce. Mix the following ingredients in a
medium-sized sauce pan and slowly bring to a boil.
¾ cup ketchup
¼ cup molasses
1 cup dark brown sugar
½ cup coconut milk
½ cup pineapple juice
1 tsp dry mustard
2 tbs vinagar
¼ tsp garlic powder
1 tbs teriyaki sauce
2 dashes Worchestershire sauce
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tbs cornstarch
smoky hickory flavor to taste (not too much!)
Tip: Whisk the mustard and constarch into the pineapple juice to avoid
clumping (promoted from comments... good idea Mark!).
Bertha's original recipe calls for 1 cup ketchup and no
molasses; ½ cup Kearns Coconut/Pineapple juice (which apparently isn't
available in my market); and no cornstarch. The ingredient list above
respresents my modifications to her original.
Grilling the Ribs. Remove the ribs from the stock pot. Place rib
strips with the meat side facing down on a cutting board and carefully
cut into individual ribs (you can grill the rib strips as a whole if you
like, but I like to maximize my sauce to rib ratio). Dredge each rib in
sauce and place on grill. The ribs are already cooked, the goal is to
carmelize the sauce... making them lip-smacking good. Turn ribs
occasionally and rebaste as desired.
(Note: Reserve liquid from stock pot by pouring into two 2-quart plastic
juice containers. After the liquid cools, remove the solidified fat,
then freeze in freezer safe ziploc bags. The liquid makes a great base
for vegetable barley soup.)
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