Рецепт Take the Labor out of this year's Labor Day and try this menu for your Backyard BBQ
It is so hard for me to believe that Labor Day is only 2 weeks away, where did the summer go. OK, so it is almost always summer in Florida, but sooner or later, the nights will start to get a little chilly and I may have to resort to wearing my UF Gator sweatshirt! We are not planning any big picnic this year for Labor Day, since we have a lot of other things going on during the weekend, so last minute, we decided to have a backyard BBQ last night. The temps were in the mid 90's, the thought of turning on the oven for a long period of time was OUT OF THE QUESTION! The problem was baby back ribs are BEST slow cooked. No problem, I have an outdoor kitchen with a large grill and my wonderful husband just filled up the propane tanks! Some heavy duty aluminum foil and we were all set! But first, I put together a very healthy black bean and corn salad. I am trying to lose some weight, which is oh so hard when you love to cook! This salad is perfect.
I drained 2 cans of black beans and one can of yellow corn. Then in a small bowl with a lid, combined 1/3 cup fresh lime juice (oh how I love my Cuisinart juicer) and 1/2 extra virgin olive oil with a minced clove of garlic, some cayenne pepper and salt, put the lid on and gave it a good shake! Once the beans and corn where well drained, I tossed them with chopped fresh jalapenos(my garden overflows), sliced sweet mini peppers and some sliced green onions. Gave the dressing another shake and poured it the over, and tossed lightly to combine, covered and popped it in the fridge! Hint, prepare this right in the bowl you are going to serve it in, cuts down on dishes! It is best if the flavors can combine for a couple of hours. Just before serving, if you have one, toss in a sliced avocado, yummy. I love to eat this salad the next day, plain or with just a little shredded meat mixed in. What a great healthy lunch! I made some BBQ sauce, see recipe below and left it simmering on the stove, while I whipped up some homemade frozen treats for the labs, we have 2, Belle and Apollo, and Molly was coming with her mommy. All I did was put one large container of plain yogurt in the food processor with a ripe banana, 2 tablespoons of smooth peanut butter and 2 tablespoons of honey, whirled it around till it was smooth.
Then I poured the mixture into silicone muffins cups and froze them. It is best to use a silicone muffin pan, much easier to get the frozen treats out of. After a couple of hours, I popped them out of the pan, and placed them in a freezer bag. A cool treat for some hot puppies.
So as to cut down on the mess in the kitchen when our company came, I wrapped the ribs and stuck them in the fridge. I have found that wrapping the ribs tightly in heavy duty foil is the secret to getting them "fall of the bone" moist!
I had 3 rack, so I cut 3 very long piece of foil.
Placed one rack in the center of each, sprinkle with a little of Emeril's Original Essence and sealed them up.
First I folded the foil to meet in the center, crimp together and roll down onto the ribs. Then I crimp the ends and fold them over the ribs, sealing tightly so no juices can leak out. If you punch a hole in the foil, I recommend you patch it, we don't want to loss any juices, this would cause the ribs to dry out and cause flair ups on the grill. Just take another piece of foil, much larger than the hole and crimp it tightly, making sure the seams are on the top of your "packet".
At this point, I put our ribs in the fridge, but you can throw them right on the grill if you are ready. Heat your gas grill, all burners to high and close the lid for about 5 minutes. Turn the flames down to low and place your "rib packets" on your middle shelf, if you have one. If you do not have a shelf in your grill, do not panic, turn off the flame for one burner and place the ribs over that burner. You do not want them directly on top of a flame. Now this is the very important part. Close the grill and leave them alone for one hour, don't open, don't flip, just go enjoy your time with you company! It is that easy.
Since I already had the grill going, I then decided to make one big potato packet. I took another large piece of heavy foil, sprayed it with a little oil olive (or you can use Pam, if you don't no have a refillable oil mister pump). Thinly sliced a couple unpeeled, scrubbed potatoes in the center, sprinkle them with minced garlic, shredded cheddar cheese, crumbled bacon (I saved some from breakfast) chopped red onions and topped with some salt and pepper and dotted with butter. Sealed them up just like the ribs, and threw them on the grill.
While dinner was cooking on the grill, we watched the puppies play in the pool and enjoyed some wine and great conversation. After about one hour, I turned one of the burners off on the grill (ours has 3) and very carefully wearing oven mitts and using tongs unwrapped the ribs, trying as hard as possible to keep all the juices in the foil as not to cause a flair up. I crumble up the foil and removed it from the grill and put the ribs over a low flame and slathered them with BBQ sauce. Closed the lid and let them grill for about 10 additional minutes. Just enough to brown the ribs and release the flavors of the sauce. I turned off the grill, removed the ribs to a tray, left the potatoes on to keep warm and closed the lid. The best way I have found to cut ribs into easy serving size, is to use kitchen shears and cut between every 2 or 3 ribs, depending on what size you are looking to plate. I guess you could just serve them caveman style and put the whole rack on a plate and let everyone dig in, but it is very messy.
- Homemade and Very Easy BBQ Sauce for Ribs or Chicken
- 1 medium sweet onion, finely chopped
- 1 cup ketchup
- 1/2 cup water
- 2 tablespoons finely packed brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
Stir together all ingredients in large pan. Bring to boil over medium heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally, 20 minutes.
Oh and thanks Brenda, for bringing the wonderful key lime squares! She says her secret is coconut in the crust.