Tender and delicious grilled baby back ribs

The secret here is to bake the ribs before grilling them.  And, of course, the delicious homemade basting sauce.

Take 2 slabs baby back pork ribs
some coarsely ground pepper
ground red chili pepper
sea salt

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
Cut each full rack of ribs in half.  Sprinkle with salt and peppers, being conservative with the salt...

Wrap each half in aluminum foil an place on a heavy baking sheet.  Bake for 2 1/2 hours, no longer.

Let cool for 10 -15 minutes before opening foil.  Place on a very hot grill and cook for 3 to 4 minutes on each side.  Brush sauce on the ribs while they grill, and just before you serve them.  Don't add sauce too early as it may burn.

This is a "foolproof" recipe.  The ribs are tender and awesome - especially if you use (my) homemade grilling sauce (below).

Happy days.

Never enough Bourbon BBQ Sauce

It's well worth the "trouble" to make your own barbecue sauce - you won't want to go back to the bottled stuff.

This recipe will give you about 1 cup of sauce.  It can easily be doubled or tripled.  Refrigerate any unused portions.

You need:

2 1/2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 medium onion, minced
3 large cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup tomato paste
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1 1/2 cup water
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 1/2 Tbsp honey
2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp salt
2 Tbsp Old Bay seasoning
1/2 tsp paprika
2 tsp ground red chili pepper
1 tsp liquid smoke seasoning
1 Tbsp dark molasses
dash of Tabasco
2 Tbsp Bourbon

Heat oil in a saucepan over medium heat.  Add the onion and garlic, and cook until translucent.

Stir in all other ingredients, mix well.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat.  Simmer, on lowest heat, uncovered, for about an hour or until sauce thickens.

Triple berry and orange jam

Before you start, bring a boiling water canner, half-full with water, to simmer.  Wash jelly jars and screw bands in hot water, drain well.

For this delicious jam you need 5 cups of crushed fruit.  I used 1 1/2 cups each of blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries. I also added 1/2 banana, mashed, and 1 small orange, cut into very fine bits.  Measure carefully so you have exactly 5 cups of fruit to cook.

Put into a large pot, add 1 tsp butter, 1 tsp vanilla, and 1 package of Pectin (I use Sure-Jell). Stir thoroughly and bring to a full rolling boil over high heat.  Add 7 cups sugar, stir continuously, and return to a full rolling boil.  Boil for 1 minute.  Remove from heat, and ladle into prepared jars.  Wipe jar rims and threads, then cover with canning lids.

Place jars into a canning pot, fill with water to cover jars by at least 1 inch.  Bring to a gentle boil, and process for 10 minutes.  Remove from water, dry, and cool.

Try this jam with Greek yogurt, as a topping for warmed brie, or on a slice of homemade bread.  Delicious on top of peanut butter, too!