Raichlen - Best Ribs Ever: A Barbecue Bible Cookbook: 100 Killer Recipes

BARBECUE!
BIBLE

100 KILLER RECIPES
Including
SLAWS, BAKED BEANS & FINGER-LICKIN SAUCES

STEVEN RAICHLEN

Workman Publishing New York

Copyright 2006, 2012 by Steven Raichlen
Photographs 2006, 2012 by Susan Goldman

Barbecue! Bible is a registered trademark of Steven Raichlen and Workman Publishing Co., Inc.

This book references websites that may be of interest to the reader. Every effort has been made to ensure that the information about these websites is correct and up-to-date as of press time.

All rights reserved.
No portion of this book may be reproducedmechanically, electronically, or by any other means, including photocopyingwithout written permission of the publisher. Published simultaneously in Canada by Thomas Allen & Son Limited.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.
eISBN 9780761171263

Cover design: Raquel Jaramillo
Cover and book photographs: Susan Goldman
Author photograph: Sylvia Pedras
Cover skewer: EuToch/istockphoto

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Workman Publishing Company, Inc.
225 Varick Street
New York, NY 10014-4381
www.workman.com
www.barbecuebible.com

TO BARBARA,
WHO WARMS MY BONES

This may be a small book, but it involved the help of a huge cast of characters. It gives me great pleasure to thank some of the many individuals who helped make it possible:

From Workman Publishing: Editor extraordinaire Suzanne Rafer; copy editor Barbara Hawk-eye Mateer; production editor Irene Demchyshyn; art directors Raquel Jaramillo and Lisa Hollander; photographer Susan Goldman; typesetter Barbara Peragine; publicist Selina Meere; marketing maven Jessica Wiener; sales wizard Walter Weintz; editorial assistant Erin Klabunde; and of course, all my other friends at Workman, including Bob Miller, Jenny Mandel, Pat Upton, and David Schiller; plus, the one and only Peter Workman.

Thanks, too, to the photogenic cast of Workman rib eaters, who were happy to ham it up for the camera.

From The Greenbrier, where the recipes for this book were tested: Rod Stoner, Peter Timmins, Sue Moats, Maria Battaglia, and Ken Clasen. Also Ethan Hileman, Ken Hess, Dave Thomas, James Crookshanks, Brenda Goins, Kathy Bailey, Dee Given, Bill Zimmerman, Raymond Ramos, Gunnard Cunningham, Lynn Swann, and Steve Halliday.

Pit masters and mistresses: KC Masterpiece creator, Rich Davis; Dinosaur Bar-B-Q founder, John Stage; BBs Lawnside founder, Lindsay Shannon; Joffre DiSabatino and George Holder from Porkosaurus; Dianna Fick, Philip Fick, Sandy and Danny Crabtree, and Mel and Janet Holle; and other pit masters unnamed here who so generously shared their knowledge.

Thanks also goes to Heidi Friedlander, Linda and Fred Griffith, and Sanford Herskovitz, aka Mister Brisket.

On the home team: Super kids Betsy and Jake; BBQ University producer Charlie Pinsky; manufacturing genius Chuck Adams; and legal eagle Mark Fischer and Leslie Arnold. A huge thanks to my ruthlessly efficient and completely indispensable assistant, Nancy Loseke, who did research, tested recipes, proofed these pages, and generally kept me on the straight and narrow.

And, above all, my lovely wife, Barbara, whose wisdom, good sense, and love inform everything I do.

Hands down, this is Americas favorite rib, here cooked to glorious perfection. From the deliciously simple First-Timers Ribs to the Maple-Glazed Ribs of Quebec to Chinatown Ribs, Buccaneer Baby Backs, Peanut Butter Ribs, and Porkosaurus Memphis in May Championship Ribsthese are ribs at their finest.

Theres much more to pork ribs than baby backs. Fire up the grill and test out Jamaican Jerk Spareribs, Milk and Honey Spareribs, BBs Rib Tips, and Country-Style Ribs with Chilean Pepper Sauce.

Short ribs, long ribs, veal ribs, bison ribstheyre all here. Feast on Lone Star Beef Ribs, Rabbis Ribs, Grandpas Barbecued Pastramied Short Ribs, Rotisserie Veal Ribs with Herbes de Provence, and Bison Ribs with Cabernet Sauvignon Barbecue Sauce. All delectable.

Lamb ribs turn up often on the worlds barbecue trail. For a Mediterranean touch, grill Lamb Ribs with Garlic and Mint. And wait until you try them tandoori style with Indian spices, or with ginger, rum, and pineapple as they do in Australia. To really heat things up, serve the North African Mchoui of Lamb Ribs with a spicy Harissa, then turn to the Drinks chapter to cool things off.

Some may wish to feast on ribs alone, but that would mean missing out on Grilled Corn with Barbecue Butter, Smoke-Roasted Sweet Potatoes, Molasses Mustard Baked Beans, and Fennel Slawand that would be too much to sacrifice.

Ribs and beerwhat could be better? How about a Dark and Stormy or a Guadeloupean Rum Punch or a glass of White Sangria? Want something a little less high-test? Try Minted Lemonade or Half-and-Halfs. And for dessert, there are Molasses and Spice Grilled Bananas, a Grilled Peach Caramel Sundae, or Grilled Fruit-and-Pound-Cake Kebabs. Perfect!

The rib is surely the most perfect morsel of meat known to man. Most of the worlds great food cultures back me on this. The Chinese have their lacquered sugar and soy spareribs. Argentineans prefer tira de asado, simply seasoned, crustily grilled, crosscut beef ribs. Koreans favor kalbi kui, slicing short ribs paper-thin, grilling them over charcoal, and serving them wrapped in lettuce leaves with a high-voltage array of panchan (pickled vegetables) and spicy condiments. Italians slow-cook pork spareribs with the age-old Mediterranean trinity of rosemary, garlic, and wine. Even lesser-known food cultures have their rib specialties, from Norways pinnekjttsalted lamb ribs served with mashed rutabagasto Brazil, where they marinate baby backs and expertly cook them on a rotisserie.

This doesnt begin to address the multiplicity of ribs enjoyed in the United States. If ribs are an article of faith in much of the world, in America theyve evolved into a full-blown religion. There are sects ). But there are two points on which just about every American barbecue buff can agree: No self-respecting cookout is complete without some sort of rib. And when it comes to flavor and the pure, unadulterated enjoyment of eating barbecue, ribs are hard to beat.

What accounts for the ribs near universal popularity? I think there are a number of factors. First, meat thats next to the bone tends to be the best marbled and the most flavorful, and no other cut offers a higher proportion of bone to meat. Second, the rib bones give the meat structure, presenting a broad surface to smoke and fire and keeping the meat from shriveling up on the grill. Third, theres the sheer versatility of ribs, from the ubiquitous pork and beef to the more rarified lamb, veal, and bison. Fourth, ribs can be cooked using myriad methods, including smoking, indirect grilling, direct grilling, braising, stewing, and spit roasting. Many pit masters employ multiple methods, braising the ribs first, for example, then sizzling them on the grill to brown them. And portion sizes vary widely, ranging from the delicate single- or double-bone portions served by