Peanut Butter Ribs

Rib Date: September 1, 2012
Ribsters: JR and Aiden McDonald, Kim and Barry Wiss, Stults family

My friend Jim Smith, owner of the Wine Country Inn in St. Helena, Napa Valley, makes killer peanut butter and jelly ribs. These Peanut Butter Ribs were entirely dissimilar, but still good.

The Peanut Butter Ribs were Southeast Asian-inspired (think satay from your neighborhood Thai joint...)

The ribs spent the day relaxing in a bath of homemade peanut butter, coconut milk, chicken stock, soy sauce, lime juice, ginger, garlic, etc. All your typical tasty Asian ingredients. TIP: Shake up your extra coconut milk with some pineapple juice and rum for a refreshing cocktail while you watch the smoke bellow from the smoker.

The ribs went on the Weber Smokey Mountain smoker around 2:45 pm, and, other than feeding more charcoal as required, required little else for 4 hours and 15 minutes. They did take longer than most others. Not sure if the thick coating of peanut butter spicy goo insulated the ribs from the heat, or if the lack of wood smoke somehow affected the cooking duration. Whatever. You can't be in a hurry when you are smoking ribs. And, it allowed for more homemade pina coladas and catching up with good friends.

We rode the Asian theme, as Chef Kim made a tasty Vietnamese rice noodle salad and JR did spinach sautéd with spicy sausage. Simple but delicious.

While the ribs themselves were pretty good, the meal as a whole was excellent! All the flavors tied together nicely and everyone went back for round two.

Some comments from the attending ribsters:

Chef Kim said they were delicious, but her recommended tweak would be to thin the peanut butter sauce out a tad. She's right.

Her hubby Barry also liked the ribs, but thought the peanut butter sauce would benefit from a touch more spice. He's right too.

A collective suggestion was to add some Asian chili oil, like they have on the table at most Chinese restaurants, which would thin it out will kicking it up a notch. Bam!

My wife Gill liked how they fell off the bone and how the caramelized peanut butter sauce gave it that Asian twist.

JR liked them, adding that they went well with his 12 pack of Coors Light. (We enjoyed a nice bottle of Sauvignon Blanc from Provenance Vineyard in Napa Valley- a great wine!)

For a kids' perspective, my 11 year old daughter Eilidh said they were merely "OK.". She didn't dig the peanut sauce, which was pretty much the entire recipe, so, that explains her less than positive review.

We spent dessert (Model Bakery almond cookies and a bottle of Dow's LBV port- remember, real port comes from Portugal!) game planning our booth at the Browns Valley Elementary School Chili Cookoff. Vote for team Holy Mole'!!!

Dinosaur Baby Backs

Rib Date: July 18, 2012
Ribsters: Connor Best, Susan Duke and her husband Joe, Anne Steinhauer, Gillian and Rex Stults

No, the ribs weren't really from a dinosaur. They were from a pig. Dinosaur BBQ is a legendary joint in Syracuse, NY. I've never had the pleasure of visiting, but have heard it's destination dining. And I do own their BBQ cook book. Hope to visit one day.

The Dinosaur Baby Backs have a "Mojo Marinade" and Pineapple BBQ sauce.

This recipe originates from Cuba and definitely has a tropical, fruity and slightly spicy thing going on.

I smoked these babies for several hours on my Weber Smokey Mountain cooker, using oak wine barrel heads as the wood source.

After an hour, the ribs received a regular basting of the Mojo sauce, which had OJ, lime juice, olive oil, garlic, salt n pepper. The last half hour or so, I slathered them with the pineapple BBQ sauce, so it had some time to caramelize.

All in all, these ribs were pretty good, but nothing to write home about, or, apparently, even write blog about, as it took me a month and a half to do so.

We had them with a nice rose' from Boyd Family Vineyards here in Napa, which, being dry and slightly fruity paired nicely with the tropical flavors in the BBQ sauce.

Another good recipe by Steven Raichlen in his book, "Ribs, Ribs, Ribs."

Redeye Ribs

Rib date: June 16, 2012
Ribsters: Stults family, Pomeranian family, JR and Tasha McDonald, Michael and Jennifer Haley

Holy smokes. Back to back killer rib recipes.

The Redeye Ribs with Cafe Au Lait BBQ Sauce were pretty damn tremendous (if I do say so myself).

According to Steven Raichlen's rib bible, "Ribs Ribs Ribs," this recipe is inspired by a southern tradition of cooking with coffee grounds. Those crazy southerners...

The key to these ribs is the rub, which features a heavy dose of coffee grounds, and the BBQ sauce, which also has brewed coffee in it, but oddly comes out tasting like delicious cream of tomato soup.

In addition to coffee grounds, the rub features other ingredients associated with Cafe Au Lait, such as cinnamon. The ribs were rubbed and spent two hours chilling in the fridge. They went on the smoker at 2pm and were basted each hour with a butter and bourbon mop sauce. After four hours I started slathering the ribs with the Cafe Au Lait BBQ sauce. They came off the smoker at 7pm, falling off the bone tender. Yum.

I forgot to mention it was about 100 degrees here in Napa yesterday. A bit toasty to be standing around a smoker. But a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do.

The ribs were amazing, as were all the wonderful side dishes our friends brought.

We enjoyed the ribs with a plethora of white and pink wines. Anything cold! Among the whites were Sauvignon Blancs from Ledson, Alpha Omega and our home made wine Dump Bucket. The pinks included Saintsbury, Boyd Family and Goldeneye, as well as some Aussie wine brought by Crispy. If that sounds like a lot of wine, well, it was. Especially as JR stuck with his signature 12 pack of Coors Light.

Some comments from the attending ribsters:

Lindsey, the recent high school grad and prim and proper Texas transplant, initially did not take any ribs, but finally broke down, noting "They were good enough for the messiness.". (I'll take that as a compliment.)

Her mom Stacey said she liked the contrast between tenderness of the meat and the crunchiness of the crust.

Crispy said,"I like eggs.". He added the ribs were "Cafe-o-licious!"

My wife Gill said these ribs were her favorites so far. "The sauce is a great compliment to the crust."

My daughter Eilidh said they were "really good."

Jennifer Haley said the BBQ sauce was "good enough to drink."

Her hubby Michael Haley said "they were so beautiful I nearly cried like a baby." To which Tashsa proclaimed "corny" only to be misheard by Michael as "horny.". And then things got interesting. Did I mention there was a lot of wine?

JR said they were great with a 12 pack of Coors Light.

Baby Back Ribs with Cherry Beer BBQ Sauce

Rib date: May 27, 2012
Ribsters: Stults family, McDonald family, and Eric Jorgensen as the Beaver

Steven Raichlen's Baby Back Ribs with Cherry Beer BBQ Sauce recipe was simply off the hook. It may have been my favorite thus far on this swine adventure.

The recipe stems from how well pork and fruit go together in general. Add beer and...presto! Perfection. The thing about it is, these ribs were absolutely made for enjoying with red wine. Though I am sure beer would work too. Beer always works.

The ribs marinate in the fridge for four hours. The marinade is...drum roll please...beer! They suggest a Lambic (cherry beer from Belgium) but since my wife is anti-gluten, we made our own with gluten-free beer mixed with cherry juice. There's other stuff in the marinade too. After four hours minimum, toss ribs on smoker, baste with cherry juice every hour or so until they are nearly ready. Then slather them with the killer Cherry Lambic BBQ sauce until they are fall-off-the-bone tender. Disco!

The key to these ribs is the BBQ sauce, the recipe for which features cherries, beer, and the usual BBQ sauce ingredients.

The recipe was discovered at the now defunct COPIA in Napa, which isn't surprising because they went perfectly with red wine. We enjoyed them with a bottle of Jackse red. Jackse is the red blend we made at work a couple of years ago as a fun team building project. The grapes come from the Napa Valley Vintners property.

Even JR McDonald, who normally enjoys his ribs with a 12-pack of Coors Light, remarked how the ribs made the wine taste better and vice versa.

Funny side notes: Everyone got a hearty laugh at Eric's long laundry list of criteria for girls he would or would not date. Tasha McDonald was amazed, but seems driven to find Eric a girl. A hopeless endeavor indeed...

Chino-Latino Ribs with Guava BBQ Sauce

Rib Date: March 31, 2012 (a.k.a. My Mom's birthday)

Ribsters: Stults family + Eric

These ribs sound fun.  What's not to like about a little Asian and south of the border fusion?

In fact, they weren't all that great.  Fairly unremarkable.  And definitely not worth weathering the rainstorm we had in Napa that day to pull it off.  You can see my wet baseball cap (complete with flashlight attached for illumination) and soaked rain jacket.  I think the big grin was reflective of just being happy to be inside (warm and dry) although the ribs did (and do in the photo) look mighty tasty.

Of all the ribs we've tried in Steven Raichlen's book, "Ribs, Ribs, Ribs," the Chino-Latino Ribs with Guava BBQ Sauce were the least impressive.  According to the book, the recipe originates from Cuba, where some Chinese railroad workers were in the 19th century.  Hence: Chino- Latino.  The rib rub has Asian flavors (Chinese 5 spice).  The cinnamon and cloves add that classic Caribbean touch.  The you add tropical fruit in the sauce and you wonder, "why aren't these delicious?"  Dunno.  They weren't awful, but they weren't delicious either.

We had the ribs with a nice Monticello Napa Valley Pinot Noir that Eric brought.  The wine was better than the ribs.

Maybe we'll have better luck today, as the next set of ribs in Raichlen's bible are about to take their place on  the Weber Smokey Joe: Ribs with Cherry Beer BBQ Sauce!

Happy Memorial Day. 

Thai Sweet Chile Ribs

Rib date: Feb. 11, 2012
Ribsters: My fantasy football friends: Ed Bryant, David Crum, Myles Davis, George McCuen, Andy Szmidt and Rick Wells. And the Stults family (Gill, Eilidh, Riain and me)

Last night I hosted the annual Rules Meeting for our fantasy football league. The league is pretty awesome if I do say so myself. In 1995, when the Oakland Raiders returned to NoCal from LA, I had the good fortune of being executive producer of their radio pre and post game shows. I spent a lot of time in my little Mazda Miata ( no, I am not gay, not that there is anything wrong with that) driving between Napa and SF. I put that time on the road to good use, trying to create the ultimate, reality-based fantasy football league. With some fine tuning and improvements from Andy and Tony, the ship set sail in 1996 and it is the greatest fantasy league ever. We have 16 dudes, all good guys, and many have been in the entire time. Our waiting list to get in the league is long. One of the reasons the league is so strong is we all get together after the season to review the rules and vote on changes. And eat good food and drink good wine.

We got through the rules pretty quickly and painlessly and turned our attention to talking sports, catching up in general, and Thai Sweet Chile Ribs. The ribs spent the day marinating in a cilantro wet rub, went on the smoker at 3, came off several hours later, and were pretty friggen good. Near the end of their time on the smoker, I basted them with a Thai Sweet Chile sauce. It's important to note it is the milder and sweeter Thai chile sauce and not the Sirancha, which is good but will light you up. The ribs came off tender, with a nice smoke ring, a light cilantro flavor and the tangy sweetness of the sauce at the end. If I had 3 thumbs, I'd give these ribs three thumbs up. But I only have two. They went well with the guilt-free cucumber salad my wife made, as well as her yellow-eyed peas (I think that is what she said) and some Pinot David brought. You can always count on David to bring good pinot. If you want his contact info to invite him to your parties, let me know. The only problem was we had way too much ribs. The culprit there was Jim Van Winden, who popped by just long enough to finagle the rules so he gets to keep Patriots TE Rob Gronkowski next year for next to nothing. Then he bolted. Being about 12 feet tall, I think I added a rack just for Jim. Oh well, we are about to turn those leftovers into Thai Chile Rib quesadillas. I wonder what David is doing for dinner? For more on the Thai Chile Ribs, see page 85 of Steven Raichlen's rib bible, Ribs, Ribs, Ribs. Congrats to Andy on his third consecutive fantasy football championship. The devil just posted a message on our league message board indicating he plans to collect soon.

Buccaneer Baby Backs

Rib Date: Sometime between Christmas and New Years
Ribsters: my father-in- law Douglas Shearer, my Aunt Shirl, Chuck and Elaine St. Clair, Gill, Eilidh, Riain and me.

Family from far and near came to enjoy the Buccaneer Baby Backs. Traveling the farthest was my father-in-law Douglas, who visited from Scotland over the holidays. My Aunt Shirl was here from Portland, Maine. The St. Clairs, meanwhile, came all the way from Coombsville. Elaine is my wife's cousin.
Enough on the family dynamics; more on the ribs. Coming from the Carribean, this is basically how pirates made ribs back in the day. Speaking of pirates, did you kow their two favorite letters are "R" and "I"? These ribs marinate in pepper laced wet rub for a number of hours, then get a rum-based BBQ sauce at the finish. I am not 100% certain, but it may have been my father-in-laws's first rib experience. He must have liked them, because he had seconds. I, on the other hand, thought they were OK. Sorry- no photos of these ribs.

The Italian Girl Comes to California for Chinatown Ribs at Scottish Lady's House

Rib Date: Saturday after Thanksgiving
Ribsters: Wiss Family (Kim, Barry and Momma), Irene and boyfriend from Florence, Italy, Stults family (Gill, Eilidh, Riain and me)

Hello all nine of my followers. Sorry to have been MIA of late. Even though our Napa Valley winter has been more spring-like, I haven't done a lot of rib smoking. I have done some, but haven't done a great job keeping up with my blog. Now it's time to catch up.

The Chinatown Ribs, done back 'round Thanksgiving time, may have been may favorites so far. They had the renowned authentic Chinese flavors like Hoisin and five-spice. They were dark, reddish, with a candy-like sweet crust, and moist and tender inside. The five-spice gave it that hint of anise (not anus) and the Hoisin a plummy goodness. We enjoyed the Chinatown Ribs with some tasty chicken fried rice. To drink: Beaujolais Nouveau- a perfect pairing indeed.

Chef Kim said the Chinatown Ribs were "Mouth watering, bone sucking and fantastic.  They went great with the Beaujolais Nouveau, but would have been even tastier with a 12 pack of Coors Light."

Her husband Barry said, "These ribs make you feel like sexy time!"  Clearly Barry found the ribs arousing to some degree.  He added, "They make you feel like king of the castle.  And we are not lying, gypsy." 

Check out Steven Raichlen's Ribs, Ribs, Ribs book for the recipe details. It was almost 3 months ago that I made these. But trust me, they were killer.