Jeff the Chef - Sizzlin' Sampler

People often ask me, ‘so, what's your favourite recipe?' It's a tough question to answer because there are so many that I truly enjoy. I don't know if I could narrow it down to just one, but what I will admit to is that this one from, ‘Where There's Food, There's Firefighters?' is definitely in my top 10. It's one of my go to dishes both at home and at the firehouse, and as a bonus, you also receive recipes for my all-time favourite barbecue sauce and spice rub.

FALLIN' OFF THE BONE ALREADY RIBS

At evening shift change, firefighter Laura Duncan started to prepare ribs for her shift's dinner, and it lead to group discussion about the best way to cook ribs. Really, there are so many methods that it's ridiculous, and everyone has their tried and true favourite. Boil ‘em, braise ‘em, bake ‘em, barbecue em - the list goes on. Laura's way is to season the ribs, wrap ‘em in foil, and bake ‘em low and slow before finishing them on the grill. The only problem with this recipe, as she says is, ‘getting them onto the barbecue without having them fall apart.' Yes, Martha, that's a good thing.

GIVE THE RACK A CRANK

Equal parts Fired Up Santa Fe Spice (see recipe at the bottom of the page) and brown sugar.
As many racks of those baby backs as you need – ½ rack each for the general populous, think 1 pricey rack per glutton, I mean firefighter
Your favourite barbecue sauce – mine's the ‘Whiskey Barbecue Sauce' conveniently located at the bottom of this recipe.

COME ON RIB LOVERS, LET'S WRAP ‘EM, BAKE ‘EM AND GET ‘EM ON THE ‘Q'

Combine the Fired Up Santa Fe Spice and brown sugar. Rub the mix on both sides of the ribs and wrap them in cling wrap. I like to let the rub sit on the ribs overnight, or for at least an hour, but if time is tight then skip the cling and go straight to the aluminium.

Fire up the oven to 300 degrees F.

Unwrap the ribs. Lay out sheets of aluminium foil and spray one side with cooking spray. Wrap the ribs in foil with the meaty side up. Secure so that the moisture will have a hard time escaping. Ah ha! The secret's revealed .

Place the foil wrapped racks on a baking sheet. Get the ribs into the baker and let them go for about 2 – 2 ½ hours, or until the bones pull back on the ribs about a quarter inch and the meat is very tender. Keep in mind that cooking times will vary depending on the size of the racks. I hate to say it, but I must: in this case, size does matter.

Now, fire up the barbecue, and lather the ribs in sauce. ‘Q' them just long enough on each side to get those happy grill marks happening. Give them a quick baste again, and ‘Q' them to caramelize the sauce.

If it's wintertime, simply bake the ribs for 15 minutes more, uncovered, or place under the broiler, but only long enough to give them some colour.

Let the ‘fall apart' ribs stand for 5 minutes before serving.

This technique works equally well with St. Louis style spare ribs – in other words, the trimmed rectangular cut of spareribs. Your buddy the butcher will know. In the unlikely even that he doesn't, then pick a rack of spare ribs and instruct the band saw operator to rip ‘em right down the middle.

WHISKEY BARBECUE SAUCE

3 cups ketchup
1 cup rye whisky – that bottle of bourbon in the cabinet will also work
½ cup honey
1/3 rd cup brown sugar
¼ cup molasses – I like fancy molasses, but cooking will do
3 teaspoons dried oregano
1 teaspoon plus red chili flakes – you control the flames

Simply whisk the ketchup, whiskey, honey, brown sugar, molasses, oregano and chilli flakes together in a saucepan. Let it simmer for 15 – 30 minutes or so – long enough to allow it to meld.

FIRED UP SANTA FE SPICE

2 tablespoons paprika – sweet if possible
2 tablespoons Chilli powder
2 tablespoons Kosher salt
1 tablespoon granulated garlic – roasted if you have
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1 tablespoon dried leaf oregano
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons fresh ground pepper – or restaurant style
2 teaspoons onion powder

Simply combine all of the above together and store in a spice jar.