The Art of Grilling Ribs

I just realized that as much as I talk about grilling and ribs, I haven't posted a single thing on how to properly make them. Time to correct that oversight. :) When it comes to doing ribs, I am a big fan of the beef country style ribs, however, I am not totally against pork baby back ribs. For the sake of arguement, I will be talking about doing pork baby back ribs, but everything does transfer over to other types of ribs.

First thing you wanna do, after picking out the best quality ribs you can find, is to parboil them. Basically, cut them into sections and put them into the biggest sauce pan you have. Cover with water and bring to a boil. Leave them in there for about 15-20 mins. What this does is A) starts the cooking process so they will be cooked all the way thru on your grill and B) helps take out the excess salt that is naturally in pork. That way, anyone in your dinner party who has a major aversion to sodium can partake and not swell up like a balloon! Once that is done, pull them out and place a nice dry rub on them. The lexington dry rub works great for this. Place them on the grill, either charcoal or gas. If using charcoal, make sure that the coals are all ashen and the flesh should start to sizzle when you put them on. If using a gas grill, keep the temperature at a nice 300 degrees. Slather them with your BBQ sauce, close the lid, and let them cook for about 15-20 mins. Flip them over, slather more sauce and then cook for about 15-20 mins again. after this time period is up, flip them, slather on more sauce, close the lid and let them cook for another 10 mins. Flip, slather, close lid and cook the other side for another 10 mins. After this, pull 'em off and serve 'em up.

Now, if you're lucky enough to have a large grill, you can do the slow and low method of grilling. All you need to do is instead of placing the ribs directly on top of the flame, place the racks of ribs around the edges. This is called indirect grilling. This will allow the ribs to cook slowly and take in more flavour. When you place the ribs on top of the flame, that is called direct grilling. It works just as well, but you can run the risk of having tough ribs once they are done.

Potato Salad

Potato Salad





2 pounds small Yukon gold potatoes
2 large eggs
Kosher salt
1/2 bunch sliced scallions, white and green parts
2 tablespoons drained capers
2 cups mayonnaise
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
1/4 cup finely chopped dill pickles with 1/4 cup juice, about
2 pickles
1/2 small red onion, chopped
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/2 bunch dill, chopped
1/2 lemon, juiced
Freshly ground black pepper
Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling

Put the potatoes and eggs into a big saucepan of cold salted
water. Bring to a simmer. After 12 minutes remove the eggs
with a slotted spoon and let cool. Continue cooking the
potatoes until a paring knife poked into them goes in without
resistance, about 3 minutes longer. Drain the potatoes in a
colander and let them cool.

Reserve some scallion greens and capers for garnish.
Meanwhile, stir together the mayonnaise, mustard, pickles and
their juice, onion, remaining scallions and capers, parsley,
and lemon juice in a bowl large enough to hold the potatoes.
Peel the cool eggs and grate them into the bowl. Stick a fork
into the potatoes and lift them 1 at a time out of the
colander. Break up the potatoes by hand into rough chunks, add
them to the bowl and toss to coat with the dressing. Season,
to taste, with salt and pepper. Drizzle with a little olive
oil before serving.

Middle Eastern-style Lemonade

On very hot, dry days in the Middle East, nothing will quench your thirst more than a tall glass of lemonade. Lemoade in the middle East is prepared a little differently than traditional western lemonade, but is very popular among westerners.

Prep Time: 10 minutes


Ingredients:

3/4 cups lemon juice or juice from 8 lemons
3/4 cups granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon orange blossom water
1/4 cups fresh mint, finely chopped
8 cups of cold water
crushed ice

Preparation:
In a blender, blend water, orange blossom water, lemon juice, and mint.
Pour into glasses filled with crushed ice and serve, or keep in refrigerator until ready to serve.

Serves 6.
Variations
Instead of using lemons, you can use the juice of 20 limes. You can also add more or less sugar to taste, but remember that Middle Eastern lemonade is not supposed to be sweet. Enjoy!