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...