Author: Livia N

This past weekend at moot, [redacted] made what were possibly the second best ribs I have ever had. (the first being, oddly enough, the ones made in my college cafeteria. Even the people from Texas raved about them.)

The rib recipe started out from Southern Cooking by Beverly LeBlanc & Philip Back, but was modified

For moot, we were starting with two honking huge sides of ribs, so [redacted] tripled the rub recipe, and quadrupled the barbecue sauce recipe. I shall give those measurements.

Ingredients

tennessee rub
3 Tablespoons cumin seed
3 teaspoons garlic salt
1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons yellow mustard seeds
1 1/2 teaspoons coriander seeds
2 teaspoons dried mixed herbs: sage [and what else did you add?]
3/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

bourbon barbecue sauce
3 Tablespoons corn or peanut oil
2 medium onions, finely chopped
8 large garlic cloves, minced
generous 1 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
4 Tablespoons yellow mustard seeds
4 teaspoons cumin seeds
8 Tablespoons tomato paste
24 Tablespoons (woot!) of bourbon Jim Beam
8 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
8 Tablespoons apple or white wine vinegar
a few drops of hot pepper sauce to taste

Put all the whole spices for the rub into a mortar and have a slightly tipsy Molly pound it. Add that to the bowl with all of the rub spices that come already as a powder. (have [redacted] grate the cinnamon stick on the bias for maximum efficiency. Then, have a licensed massage therapist slowly and methodically massage the rub into the rack so that every surface is covered with rub and the ribs are completely relaxed and tender. Wrap the ribs and refrigerate overnight.

To make the barbecue sauce, heat the oil in a pan over medium high heat. Add the onion and then the garlic, and cook it until the onion is soft and translucent. Meanwhile, put this next batch of whole spices into the mortar and let [redacted] have a go at them, too. Once the onion is ready, toss in all the rest of the sauce ingredients. Slowly bring the sauce to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar, then reduce the heat and let simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes to an hour, stirring occasionally, until dark brown and very thick. Stick that back in the fridge, as well.

About half an hour before you are ready to cook, pull the ribs out and let them come to room temperature. [put the oven at what temperature?] Brush the barbecue rack with a little oil and put on a pan lines with tin foil (which helps cleanup more than you would believe). Cook with also a covering of tin foil, turning a few times, for 40 minutes [longer?]. If it seems to be drying out, brush with water.

Next time you take the ribs out to turn, coat them with barbecue sauce and let them cook uncovered for 10 minutes, turning and basting a several more times. When finished, the ribs should be dark brown and glossy.

Cut apart and serve.

~*~

There were also fried chicken bits and sangrias made by [redacted], but I wasn’t watching those being made.