This is my girlfriend Lucy's recipe for
Baby Back Ribs and my way to cook Corn-on-the cob on the grill. She
tells me this is how they cooked the freshly slaughtered ribs on her
family's Hog farm in St. Libory, Illinois when she was growing up.
Since everyone's idea of a bar-b-que sauce differs, I'll get you
started with the marinade, baste with the sauce of your choice. The
corn recipe came from an old fishing captain I crewed for when I was
growing up on the Jersey shore in the 60s.
Get yourself about 3 pounds of Baby Back Ribs.
Have your butcher crack (separate) them or do it yourself. Put in a
pot and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil over medium high
heat, let them cook for about 15 minutes until the fat comes to the
top. This boiling off of the fat will make these ribs tender as can
be and also helps them fall off the bone.
Remove from water and put them in a Tupperware
bowl with a lid and put aside.
Make a marinade of: 1 cup hot water; 1/3 cup Apple
Cider vinegar; 3 Tablespoons brown sugar, 2 crushed bay leaves and a
couple of cloves of crushed garlic. Mix well and add to ribs in
bowl. Make sure they are fully covered, if not adjust marinade
recipe.
Let stand at room temperature for at least two
hours. Turn upside down a few times to distribute the marinade.
When ready to cook, pre-heat grill to low/medium.
When ready to cook, oil grill and place ribs on
grate, meaty side down, pour a little of the marinade over the ribs
at this time. Cook for about 10 minutes until meaty portion of rib
is seared. Turn over using tongs and again pour some marinade over
the ribs and cook for about another 10 minutes.
Now here's where your personal favorite bar-b-que
sauce comes in.
Baste the meaty side of the ribs with the sauce
and turn over. Now remember, most sauces contain sugar which will
make the ribs brown (or blacken, depending on your taste) really
fast, keep an eye on them. When you think they're ready, baste the
bone side and turn again. This side should only cook for a few
minutes. Right before you're ready to serve them, apply a little
more sauce on the meaty side, flip over and sear for about another
30 seconds.
Meat should fall off the bones. It should be gray
of lightly pink-gray depending how you like them cooked.
Corn-on-the cob on the grill: Try this once, I
guarantee you'll never boil corn again.
Take your fresh corn, strip it of it's husk and
silk, clean the best you can. Put 1/3 cup salt in a bowl and fill
with warm water. Put corn in salt water and put aside. Let sit until
you're ready to prepare, 2 hours is cool, just like the ribs. Take a
stick of butter out of the refrigerator to allow to come to room
temperature.
When ready to prepare, pull an ear of corn out of
the water, smear with soft butter (use margarine if you're watching
your blood pressure) load it up with salt and pepper and wrap in a
couple of paper towels. Dip it in the salt water and then wrap in a
sheet of aluminum foil (shiny side in) and repeat for the rest of
the ears.
Throw it on the grill (on the upper rack if you
have one) and turn often cooking until steam comes out of the ends
of the aluminum foil. Let sit for a few minutes and unwrap