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!