For Your Eyes Only

Vanity got the better of me the other day, and I put one of those web tracker thingies on my blog to prove to my friends that no one was reading it, and sure enough, nobody is. Surprise, surprise, surprise.

But that's not what I wanted to talk about. My pop handed down a BBQ sauce recipe with the admonishment that I share it with no one. That's nagged at me ever since. I mean, a BBQ sauce recipe isn't exactly a state secret, and there are undoubtedly thousands of "classified" recipes out there. Who, exactly then, is gonna fuss over ours? Besides, no one's reading this damn thing, so where's the danger of the recipe falling into the wrong hands?

So, cosseted in a cloak of anonymity, I give you Sherwood's House-made BBQ Sauce and Ribs.

The Sauce

3 cups tomato sauce 2 cups tomato paste 1 cup yellow mustard ⅓ cup Dijon mustard 1 cup molasses ½ cup apple sauce ⅓ cup Worcestershire sauce ½ cup soy sauce 2 Tbsp white vinegar ⅓ cup liquid smoke 3½ cups brown sugar ⅔ Tbsp garlic powder ½ Tbsp onion powder ½ Tbsp cayenne pepper ½ Tbsp black pepper Fold all wet ingredients together and then add dry spices to the mixture.

This is a family restaurant recipe. Unless you're a competitive BBQ grill master, quarter all measurements for a more manageable quantity of sauce.

The Ribs (3 full racks)

Seasoning:

⅓  cup kosher salt ⅓  cup cracked black pepper 2 Tbsp garlic powder

Cooking Liquid:

1 cup liquid smoke ½ gal water

Remove silvery skin from back of ribs. Place ribs in a large, 2" deep backing dish. Cover generously with seasoning spices. Add enough cooking liquid so that ribs are just short of covered. Cover baking pan with plastic wrap, and then aluminum foil. The plastic wrap will fuse with the foil in a hot oven making an airtight seal. Roast ribs in a pre-heated 325° oven for 90 minutes. Pour off cooking liquid, brush ribs liberally with BBQ sauce, recover with foil and bake for another 20-30 minutes.

That airtight seal makes for some very tender ribs by the end of cooking, though - with the exception of a genotoxic cocktail - I'm not at all comfortable with liquid smoke as an ingredient. I'd be willing to bet I can come up with a safer component. Bourbon comes to mind, and I'll be sure to publish my findings in a forum with a little more exposure than You Gonna Finish That?

Accessorize BBQ ribs with a light, crunchy Napa cabbage salad: (prep the night before)

1 head Napa cabbage, sliced thin and rinsed, placed on paper towels on a cookie sheet and refrigerated overnight 6 scallions, diced 2 packages ramen noodles (uncooked) 1½ cups chopped pecans 1 stick butter

Melt butter in a large sauté pan. Toast ramen noodles in butter. Once the noodles begin to brown, add nuts. Toss in pan until golden brown. Allow to cool.

Dressing:

1 cup olive oil ½ cup white vinegar 1 Tbsp sesame oil 1 cup sugar

Blend all ingredients in a food processor or blender until combined. Toss with cabbage, scallions and noodle mixture 20 minutes before serving.

Crispy, crunchy and sweet. I love this salad. The best part is when you get to the bottom of the salad bowl where all the little broken bits of noodle and dressing-soaked pecans are resting. Whoever invented the spoon knew all about reaching the bottom of a salad bowl.

Thanks for taking the time - Blog O. Food