A BBQ Rib rubdown….

Posted by WiseMóna    12 Comments    Posted under: Kitchen

A pile of raw pork ribs

I have been silenced. The Chef is home this week and has taken away my communication devices and has insisted that I ‘talk’ instead of ‘tweet’ and I ‘speak’ instead of ‘blog’ and that I actually sit down to ‘eat’ instead of ‘shoot’ every meal we share together as a family. I used to think he was the hard one to live with, him being a bat-shit-crazy-egotistical-chef and all, and now I am seeing a whole other side of me.

The 4th of July came and went without a big bang here on the island because, well, it is not an Irish holiday, y’all. The funny (or even sad) thing about this years all American holiday is that it almost slipped by without any celebrations at all. I was the one that had to remind the Chef that the holiday was almost upon us before he decided to start prepping one of our favourite celebratory dinners.

A few slabs of good ole fashioned BBQ Ribs.

If you are looking for the ribs in Galway, the only butcher that has these lovelies in stock all the time (in the freezer) is Finnerty’s (091 565657) in the Galway shopping center.

A Rib-rub-down with spices

The first thing you need to do is make up a batch of spice rub for your ribs. We make up a fairly large batch of dry spice rub and use it frequently during the summer when grilling out. As you do, with all the rain. Do not get me started on the rain.

This is what you need and I suggest you do 1/4 cup measure of each item with the exception of the chili powder. We like things spicy around here so use more. Before you use this on the ribs, you need to salt & pepper the slabs generously.

• cumin
• coriander
• garlic powder
• turmeric
• chili powder (as hot as you can handle)
• Paprika (spanish smoked is fab)

No slacking……do both sides!

Once you have the ribs coated heavily in the spice rub then it is time to put the on the grill for a few minutes. The length of time will all depend on how hot your coals are, or if you are using a gas grill, how low or high the flame is.

White coals and indirect heat is best.

Place seasoned ribs on charcoal……no need for a fancy grill here folks.

We left ours about 3 minutes each side, just long enough to get a bit of colour on the ribs. Once done, take them off and put them into a large roasting pan. Like the size of the Turkey roasting pan at Christmas. Pour in equal parts vinegar and beer. (2 cans of Guinness and large bottle of vinegar for 10 slabs of ribs). Cover with tinfoil and allow 3 hours to cook on 170 degrees celsius. Yes. This takes time. No. Do not try to microwave them.

Just to get a bit of colour.

Rory (8) kept herself busy building her own little American ‘flag’ for the table. It was a very cute show of Americana.

Rory-Belle (our 8yr old daughter) makes us a little present from the garden to celebrate her Americanness

In our never ending quest to keep the kids eating a healthful diet we try to pack in raw veggies at least once or twice a week.

Broccoli & Carrot slaw with homemade buttermilk ranch dressing is a great way to do that.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 cup Glenisk Greek Yoghurt
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1/8 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon Coleman’s mustard powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper (more if you like)
• 1 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh chives

Carrot & Broccoli Slaw with a yoghurt ranch dressing

Beans are an easy — and even popular — choice for kids too. However, the cans of good ole Bachelors or Heinz beans do not pack enough punch for us so …we jazz it up a little!

The beans…..this is where the magic happens

Adzuki, Cannellini and Kidney beans are jam packed full of proteins and the kids never feel like they are eating all that fiber! We always start with and overnight soak of the beans and the next day cook them for at least a couple of hours on a low boiling heat. We start by sautéing some bacon (of course) then adding the beans and some tomato puree to the mix. From here you can jazz the up how you like. Cumin, Chili, Franks Red Hot Sauce, brown sugar……..what ever floats your boat. Put them in a large casserole dish and top with garlic breadcrumbs and bake for twenty minutes. There will be no leftovers.

And for the spicy BBQ sauce

BBQ sauce

Make a decent batch of this and freeze it, or just leave it in a jar in the fridge with a spoon at the ready. Very very addictive.

2 Sautéed onions

1 bottle of ketchup

1 bottle of BBQ sauce (if you could buy liquid smoke instead you would not ned to use the bbq sauce)

1 cup vinegar (cider vinegar is best)

Spicy (pickled) peppers

A half jar mayo (??)

Do not judge me. This is the Chef’s recipe. It works.

When in doubt, just add BACON!

There is not much else to this meal. I would set the table with a paper tablecloth and lots of paper napkins (as opposed to your finest linen whites) because this is one of the messiest meals out there.

Slabs of love I call them

Life can get messy. All we can do is muddle our way though the mess in the hopes that we will, at some point, be able to do a decent job when it comes time to clean it up.

So make things a little easier on yourself and do like I do.

Use PAPER PLATES!

Those are all the WiseWords I have for today and if you are heading West for the weekend, wear your galoshes!

WiseMóna

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From The Kitchen