Bon Appétit's Best Ever Barbecued Ribs

Let's be honest. I don't know how to light a charcoal barbecue. And after today, I still don't! While I was busy in the kitchen making the barbecue sauce with Kelly, Carly and Erica were outside watching videos on how to make a fire in a Webster grill. Shit. I should have been outside or watched the video. Oh well. We knew we needed to make it a medium-hot temperature, so we had some time while the grill was heating up to relax and taste our wines. I have baked ribs in the past (with a homemade barbecue sauce), but never BARBECUED barbecued them. You moppin up what I'm spillin? 

Anyways, this was a fairly easy recipe. The work is really handling the big pieces of meat and baking them the night before. Because I cooked the ribs last night and had the barbecue sauce all ready to go, all we needed to do was combine the barbecue sauce with the ribs juices and baddabing, baddaboom. 

Erica brought me a beautiful bouquet of flowers from the Farmer's Market and some cheese and crackers, and I had a bouquet I bought earlier today, so it really set the scene for a beautiful Sunday afternoon in my backyard. 

Also, because we are LADIES, we barely even finished a rack, so tomorrow find me in HQ and I'll have endless treats for you. I also will not disclose what wines were tasted today because we ARE tasting those at work this week, but will post after the happy hour! 

Enjoy! 

Ingredients:

2 1/2 tablespoons kosher salt
1 tablespoon dry mustard
1 tablespoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
8 pounds baby back pork ribs (2 racks)
1 1/2 cups homemade barbecue sauce (I used Ree Drummond's recipe, which is listed below)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine first 5 ingredients in a small bowl.

Place each rack of ribs on a double layer of foil; sprinkle rub all over ribs.

Wrap racks individually and divide between 2 baking sheets (I just got an aluminum large rack to fit the both of them, individually wrapped each rack, and called it a day).

2. Bake ribs until tender but not falling apart, about 2 hours. Carefully unwrap ribs.

Pour any juices from foil into a 4 cup heatproof measuring cup; reserve juices.

Let ribs cool completely. DO AHEAD: Ribs can be baked up to 3 days ahead (the flavor will be more developed, and the cold ribs will hold together better on the grill as they heat through. Cover and chill juices. Rewrap ribs in foil and chill. (I did this last night, knowing I'd cook them today. I kept the juices in the aluminum rack pan and it was easy to pour into a measuring cup from there. The cold ribs DID cook a lot easier than if they were warm).

3. Build a medium-hot fire in a charcoal grill. Measure your juices to 1 1/2 cups. Add water or chicken broth if it doesn't measure that. Whisk in barbecue sauce to blend.

4. Grill ribs, basting with barbecue sauce mixture and turning frequently, until lacquered and charred in places and heated through, 7-10 minutes. Transfer to a cutting board; cut between ribs to separate. Transfer to a platter and serve with additional barbecue sauce. 

BBQ Sauce Ingredients:

1 tablespoon canola oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 yellow onion, diced
1 cup ketchup
1/3 cup molasses
1/3 cup brown sugar
4 tablespoons minced chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
4 tablespoons distilled vinegar
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
Dash salt

BBQ Sauce Directions:

1. Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the garlic and onions and cook for 5 minutes, stirring, being careful not to burn them. Reduce the heat to low. Add the ketchup, molasses, brown sugar, chipotle peppers, vinegar, and Worcestershire sauce and stir. Allow to simmer for 20 minutes.