Baby Back Ribs

Yet another pork recipe! This was one of the last times we used the grill during the official summer season. It is currently still reaching the nineties during the day, so we will most likely keep grilling well into November - one of the few perks to living in Florida.

Baby back ribs is a dish whose success has eluded us. We have tried a few times before. They either ended up chewy instead of tender, or lacking the caramelized barbecue coating and therefore not flavorful enough. This time, the ribs scored on both counts. The recipe utilized oven for slow-cooking, and then the grill for the finish. One day I would like to find a satisfying recipe that uses only the grill, but these ribs work well enough.

Baby Back Ribs
From Meat
By John Harrison with Frederick J. Simon

1 rack of baby back ribs (about 1.5 lbs)
1 small onion, sliced
1 bay leaf, crumbled
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 ½ c barbecue sauce of your choice (we used Stubbs)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place ribs in a large roasting pan and add enough water to come about ¼ inch up the sides. Add the onion and bay leaf to the water; season with salt and pepper. Tightly cover the pan with foil. Place the pan in the oven and braise for about 1 hour, or until the ribs are tender but not falling off the bone. Remove the ribs from the pan, drain on paper towels, and cut into smaller 3 or 4 rib mini-slabs. Discard the cooking liquid.

While the ribs are baking, prepare the grill. Brush the ribs with barbecue sauce and grill over medium-high heat for about 7 minutes on each side, until dark and crisp. Baste frequently with the barbecue sauce. Serve ribs with more barbecue sauce.