Mint Julep Ribs

Rib Date: Saturday, November 12, 2011

Ribsters in attendance: Stults family, JR and Aiden McDonald, Gregory family, Snider family, Eric Jorgensen, his pal Sue, and Jerry Mathers, as the Beaver.

When it came to Mint Julep Ribs, the paint can full of booze stole the show. So let's start there.

Barry Martiner's Paint Can is developing legendary status here in the Legendary Napa Valley, America's Great Wine Capital. An old family recipe from Missouri, the Paint Can features Bourbon, ice, fresh mint stolen from your neighbor, OJ, lemon juice, sugar all mixed up in a brand new, never before used, paint can. This last part is important. You put all that stuff in the paint can, tap the lid shut, and shake the hell out of it, and recite this line repeatedly: "If you ain't shakin', you ain't partakin'." After 10-15 minutes, you have the world's biggest and best cocktail, which, of course, is consumed straight from the paint can, which conveniently has a rag tied to the paint can handle to wipe away the drool and some, but not all, of the backwash. Yum.

I thought the Barry Martiner Paint Can would be the perfect pairing with the Mint Julep Ribs, in lieu of wine. It was.

Oh yeah, the ribs were pretty good too. Steven Raichlen's Mint Julep Ribs with Bourbon Mint BBQ Sauce, from his book, "Ribs, Ribs, Ribs" were fall off the bone tender, with a hint of smokiness. The consensus opinion of the attending ribsters was that they were good, but not great. I thought they were a bit nondescript, lacking in the level of mintiness I anticipated.

The rib rub was a mixture of iced tea mix, sugar, dried mint, paprika, salt and pepper. Rub goes on ribs. Ribs go on smoker. Ribs get brushed with a mint glaze, mainly mint jelly, butter and bourbon, ribs come off and get a drizzle of Bourbon Mint BBQ Sauce, then down hatch.

The real highlight of the evening was neither the ribs nor the paint can. It was Dale Snider saving our house from an electrical fire after the boys all smelled something burning. We had some overheating of the original wiring (1972) in an electrical switch box.

Hopefully there will be no such excitement for our next rib adventure! Next up: Chinatown Ribs!

Silly Sidenotes: Eric brought a bottle of booze to supplement the paint can.  Even though it's technically not Bourbon, he brought Jack Daniels, not for the famous name, but because it came with a free cap (see photo).  What we should have taken a photo of was Eric wearing the cap, because it did not fit on his giant melon.  It kept riding up, irritating JR who tried to help Eric with his style, to no avail.

Silly Sidenote Too: Eric and his friend should rent themselves out as party entertainment.  I am not sure what their fee would be.  Ask him yourself: (707) 226-9814.  He also does windows, mini-blinds and will pressure wash your taint.

Sweet, Sticky Goodness

Rib Date: Saturday October 8, 2011
Attending Ribsters: Stults family, Gregory family, McDonald family, Perry family, Butler family, Eric and Jerry Mathers as the Beaver.

Sorry for the tardiness.  I actually drafted this a couple weeks ago.  Trust me, it was awesome.  Funny.  Insightful.  My best work.  And then it got zapped; I got pissed and nearly tossed the iPad across the room and said screw it. 

Oh yeah, I may look happy in the photos accompanying this, but I actually was in the early stages of feeling like death.  Turns out it was e-coli and these ribs were my last "successful" meal for a couple of weeks.  If you are seeking a quick, painful, horrible weight loss plan, do what I did!  Go to Guadalajara, get e-coli, and watch the weight melt away!  10 lbs in two weeks.  Not that I could not stand to lose a few, but, in reality, e-coli sucks badly.  I can't recommend it.

Nothing like a good e-coli story to lead into your rib review.  But there is a tie in, as the e-coli caused a time out in our plan to tackle a recipe every week or two.  We intend to resume tomorrow.  But for now, it's Maple Glazed Rib review time!

The Maple Glazed Ribs were the best thing to come from Canada since ice hockey.  And Rush. 

The ribs had a basic rub, followed by about four hours on the smoker, periodically receiving a glaze primarily made of maple syrup.  As you may imagine, the maple glaze induced a sweetness to the meat, which was accompanied but a touch of peppery spice from the rub and then, of course, the smoke.  Pretty frickin' good.  Sort of the Geddy Lee of meat.

Laura Gregory succinctly described them as "candied bacon."  JR McDonald not only exclaimed the ribs "better than a 12 pack of Coors Light," but he astutely added that the ribs tasted like "when you dip your bacon in the pancake syrup."  Exactly.  Ironically, both Paul Perry and Eric Jorgensen independently said the ribs were "sweet, sticky goodness."

We also did a Beer Can Chicken with the Maple Glazed Ribs.  The chicken was moist and tender, but Ryan Gregory had a hard time getting beyond the can of Coors Light shoved up the chicken's rectum.  He said it reminded him of his last bachelor party.

Kids Corner: Kids LOVED these ribs.  Sweet and not spicy.  My daughter Eilidh said they were "amazing and great for kids."  Her vegetarian friend Delaney stepped off the veggie train for a moment, tried these ribs and said, "they were actually pretty good."

Wine Pairing: We had a nice Oakville Ranch Chardonnay with the ribs.  It paired nicely.  I think next time, given the sweet breakfast flavor going on, a bottle of bubbles would be interesting to to try with them.

Tomorrow night we are looking at Mint Julep Ribs with a Bourbon Mint BBQ Sauce!

Sidestepping the Book

Rib Date: September 24, 2011
Guests: Stults Family; JR, Delaney & Aiden McDonald; Dale, Terry & Calvin Snider; Nick Escobar

The teriyaki ribs were a temporary departure from the plan, as in, this recipe did not come from the Ribs, Ribs, Ribs book. Rather, they were an amalgamation of a Tyler Florence Teriyaki Ribs recipe found online, but done in the Smokey Joe instead of an oven and basted with a bottle of gluten-free teriyaki vs. Tyler's homemade version.

Why in my right mind would I allow for such dramatic deviation after this long held tradition you wonder? It has, after all, been four posts in about a month, with dozens of committed readers, less if you count blood relatives.

The teriyaki ribs were a special request by my son Riain for his ninth birthday party. Most of the names on the guest list were actually his party invitees, who not only enjoyed fabulous teri-ribs, but also "Back to the Future" at our backyard cinema, followed by backyard campout.

Now for the ribs.

They were covered with a rub made of Chinese 5 spice, salt and pepper. (Thanks Tyler). They were placed on the smoker around 1pm and were done at 6:30. For the last hour the ribs received a regular basting of the gluten free teriyaki sauce, with an extra one at the very end. After the teriyaki ribs came off the smoker, they received a sprinkling of sesame seeds, diced cilantro and green onions. The last step took these ribs from good to great.

We served the ribs with chunks of fresh pineapple and a delicious reisling from Sterling Vineyards. The kids didn't partake in the vino.

All in all, the ribs were a success with both the kids and grown ups. They were tender and juicy, and the sesame, cilantro and green onions added fun flavor dimensions. The boys especially liked them, saying "best ever" and wishing the ribs were that good every time. They are not into spicy and some of the previous recipes had a touch of spice to them. As for Riain, he likes teriyaki anything.

Side notes: JR did not say they went well with his 12 pack of Coors Light. He cut himself off after about a 6 pack due to extremely early morning wake up call next day. My wife made a spectacular homemade ice cream cake for the birthday boy, complete with crushed Oreo crust. I missed my quality time in the backyard last weekend due to necessary business travel to Guadalajara. Hopefully my GI tract returns to normal by next weekend and we can get back to the book. Frickin Mexico...I was worried about being robbed or beheaded, when I really should have been more concerned with melted ice or fresh veggies.

Buffalo Ribs

Rib date: September 17, 2011

Guests: Many. Stults family, McDonald family + a couple young cousins, Big Paul and his new bride Corine, Ryan & Laura, Eric & Dave. I think that about covers it.

No silly. These are not the ribs from a buffalo. Rather, they are tender pork ribs slathered in that spicy sauce they serve on chicken wings in high quality establishments like Hooters. I know- saying you enjoy the wings at Hooters is a little like saying you read Playboy for the articles. Hooters does have some pretty damn good wings however! The sauce originated in Buffalo, NY. It's what Buffalo was known for before losing every Super Bowl in the 90s.

I have to give credit where credit is due on the Buffalo Ribs. I got the smoker queued up before heading out for a busy day of wine tasting then to an Oktoberfest event. I came back home later in the afternoon and- voila!- deliciously tender, smokey, zingy ribs. My wife Gillian excelled on her inaugural Smokey Joe test drive. I just swooped (OK, staggered) in at the finish line for a half hour of Buffalo sauce basting.

If you dig that chicken wing type sauce, these ribs are for you. I gotta admit, while they were pretty good and done right, they were not my favorites. For one reason, being a wine geek, buffalo sauce is impossible to pair wine with. I continued, unnecessarily some may argue, with the Oktoberfest theme and enjoyed
Some Silverado Brewing Company Blonde Ale. The sauce is basically an entire bottle of Louisiana hot sauce and a stick of butter. Check the recipe in the Ribs Ribs Ribs book, because there is probably more to it.

The book also provides a recipe for gorgonzola cheese dip to accompany celery stalks. Not bad.

All in all, pretty good, but I am looking forward to the next recipe in the series- Maple Ribs.

Comments from the crowd: mainly positive and focused on the sauce and kick it provided. JR said they went well with his 12 pack of Coors Light, an impressive accomplishment given he was with me at Oktoberfest...

Kids' take: my son chickened out entirely when he saw an entire bottle of hot sauce go into it. My daughter said they were a bit spicy, but still pretty good.

Side notes: Ryan almost got punched after comparing Paul to one too many famous fat guys. That would have been funny. Eric relayed that he was afraid to bring his new girlfriend around, so instead he brought an old boyfriend. Just kidding! These are jokes people. Hello, is this thing on? Having no evidence to the contrary, I think Eric may have ordered his new girlfriend off RealDoll.com, making her anything but real. Badumbump. It was nice to catch up with Dave. Sorry- no photos this time. Did I mention Oktoberfest?

Rendezvous Ribs

Rib Date: Sept. 4, 2011
Guests: Stults family, J Butler, Michael & Jennifer, Eric, JR and kids, Paul

Michael said these ribs were proof of God's existance, or some such nonsense.  He'd had a bit of wine, but more on that later.

The Rendezvous Ribs were outstanding.  They were all dry rub; no sauce.  The rub is a mixture of spices, but especially paprika, which imparts the red tone you can see in the photo.  They were fall-off-the-bone tender after nearly six hours in the smoker.  The wood smoke from the apple wood paired well with the spice from the paprika.  It especially paired well with the killer wines we enjoyed with the Rendezvous Ribs, especially the 2006 Chase Cellars St. Helena Zinfandel.  Our homemade Dump Bucket Napa Valley Syrah was fun too. 

All in all, another fun evening of laughter with friends, family, fantastic food and excellent wines!

Sidenotes: This new blog was a hit with the folks at the fiesta.  It's nice to know that at least a few folks read it, albeit in person on my IPad.  Michael Haley, a.k.a. Napa Blogger, suggested doing something more to foster readership- such as linking up with Napa Patch.

Additional sidenote: My intent with sidenotes is to share some funny side story from the evening. I recall hours of hearty laughter, but the specifics are Vague. Rest assured, it had nothing to do with the 8-10 (who's counting?) bottles of great local wine. And, while JR did sample some of the zins with his Rendezvous Ribs, he insisted they paired well with his 12 pack of Coors Light.

First-Timer's Ribs

Rib Date: Sunday August 28, 2011
Guests: Stults family, JR, Tasha, Delaney and Aiden McDonald, and Eric.

I've actually done "First-Timer's Ribs" many times, successfully on the standard Weber kettle grill.  They are pretty simple and hard to screw up.  But the Smokey Mountain took them to a new level.
It was my pioneer rib adventure on the new toy and the results verifed- slow and low is the way to go.

Using a rib rack to accommodate 3 racks, I put the ribs on at 1:30 and they were done a little after 5pm.  I slopped on the BBQ sauce at the end and put them directly on the grill for another 15 minutes.

They were pretty damn good if I do say so myself.  Tender and juicy, with a clear, pink smoke ring. (That sounds dirty). The ribs did not take as long as I had anticipated.

They nicely accompanied a variety of wines: "Josephine's Blush" (a Napa Valley rose' we made at work), a Malbec-based red blend from Norton in Mendoza which Eric brought aloong and last but not least, some of our homemade swill: Dump Bucket 2009 Napa Valley Syrah.  JR said they tasted good with his 12 pack of Coors Light.

Other highlights: Eric detailing his experiences with his new gal pal.  We may not see him for a while, but he'll be back.  He always is.

Smoke 'em if you got 'em

Testes, one, two...hello is this thing on?

I hereby am officially doing something I said I'd never do: blog.  Most bloggers are annoying.  And, speaking of annoying, it's taken me an hour to get this set up.  Actually, it's taken my wife an hour, as I was ready to throw in the towel a half hour ago.  Lots of hassle for something four people will see...

The idea for this was spawned last spring, when I decided to spend a good portion of the late spring and summer months working my way through Steven Raichlen's rib bible, appropriately titled "Ribs, Ribs, Ribs" tackling the recipes featured therein in succession.  And so it began.

The place: my backyard in Napa, CA.
The original equipment: a good old fashioned Weber kettle grill.  Old school.

We worked our way over the sunny spring and summer months through the first handful of rib recipes, making it all the way to the "Chino Latino Barbecued Ribs with Guava BBQ Sauce."  By and large, the results were consistantly good, according to my family and friends and own pallat.  The variable was usually the ability (or lack of) to control heat properly on the Weber. 

But that all changed in late July, when my family got me a new Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker (a.k.a. "The Bullet") for my birthday.  It was time to start the adventure anew!  And so we did.

Here lies the adventures of a man in his backyard, with family, friends, lots of great Napa Valley wine, and ribs.