Eat BBQ and Wear a Helmet...

Ok, I know I said yesterday that this blog was going to be devoted to gourmet BBQ and fiery foods and it will be. I'll tell you what. After this ramble I'll give you a great recipe for unbelievably tasty and simple barbeque ribs. Actually now that I think about it- this post is more about BBQ than any recipe I can share. The way I see it BBQ is less about cooking and eating than it is about spending time with family and friends. Don't be mistaken food is the foundation of all great gatherings, but it is only the beginning.

A few days ago my cousins, Roy and Noel, lost their grandmother. We are all in our thirties, some closer to 4o and ucky enough to have had our grandparents around for much of our lives. Anyway, last evening was her wake and as with most events of this nature it was the first time we have been together in a long while. Now, as far as wakes go this was not a particularly difficult evening. Helen was not well and is definitely in a better place. The odd thing about these times, in my family anyway, is that we find comfort in the humor of our childhoods. I would imagine this is similar in most families. Our conversations seem to begin with the formalities of how's work, the kids, cousin Paul's new shoes and end somewhere around why if we wore helmets as children we would not be married. Yes, we managed to blame the fact that the mandatory dawning of helmets, not being a concern in our childhood, on all of our current situations. I know the notion of marriage, our mortgages and careers as punishment for mistakes made in youth sounds terrible, but lets be honest everyone has these thoughts. I would not trade my bride or child for anything in the world and most days I love my career. For those of you who don’t know me gourmet BBQ and hot sauces are only a respite from my real job (someday I will share what it is I really do with the rest of the world). Anyway, we decided that had we been forced to where helmets as children we would not have had the courage or lack of sense that allowed us to ask our wives out on that very first date. Yes, not wearing helmets made us tough, brave and stupid.

Tough, brave or stupid I love my wife, son and family and next weekend I am going to have the first family BBQ of the season. I plan to cook too much food, eat too much meat and have conversations about helmets, shoes and hot sauce. At the next wake I want to have more than just childhood memories and Paul' shoes to talk about. Now for that recipe...

Keep It Simple Oven Ribs...
The first thing that everyone looks for when they come to my house for a BBQ are my smoked ribs. For you purest here's a link to my recipe for real slow cooked barbequed apple smoked ribs...click here. For the rest a simple version can be found below.

• Ingredients:
  1 rack of ribs ( I always make 3)
  1/4 cup of your favorite dry rub- I love Mary's Cherry Rub (Sweet) and Pork Rubbers Dry Rub (Spicy)
  1/2 cup favorite BBQ Sauce

• Directions for Cooking:
  1. Remove the membrane from the ribs. If you don't feel like dealing with this step or have no idea what I am talking about, don't worry. Simply place the ribs bone side up on a cutting surface and score the back of them (diagonally in each direction) gently with a sharp knife.
  2. Generously coat the rack (both sides) with your favorite rub.
  3. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap.
  4. Place in refrigerator over night.
  5. Remove ribs from refrigerator 30 minutes before cooking.
  6. Preheat oven to 225 degrees.
  7. Leaving the plastic wrap on wrap the ribs in heavy duty aluminum foil.
  8. Place on sheet pan.
  9. Cook for 4.5 hours.
  10. Remove foil and plastic Wrap and place on a sheet pan.
  11. Brush Generously with favorite BBQ Sauce.
  12. Cook for another 15 minutes.
  13. Turn ribs over and cook for another 15 to 30 minutes.
  14. Eat, Drink and Enjoy!!!!!