First Three Cookbooks for 2009

Some of our cookbooks for 2009 have been chosen. We are going to start out with the Bay Wolf Restaurant Cookbook by Michael Wild & Lauren Lyle. The Bay Wolf restaurant is in Oakland and has been operating for over 20 years and considered to be one of the better restaurants in the East Bay area. Annie, who already has the cookbook, said that she uses many of the recipes from this book and has liked all of the ones she's tried.

We are also going to cook from Made in Spain by Jose Andres. I've already ordered the cookbook and browsed through and found several intriguing recipes that I plan to try soon. I think you'll all enjoy and appreciate this book.

The last idea is to prepare a vegetarian dinner using one of the Greens cookbooks (The Greens Cookbook, The Savory Way, and Fields of Green). I am always seeking new and tasty ways to prepare vegetables, legumes and tofu. We may pair this cookbook dinner with a field trip to Millenium, a fabulous vegetarian restaurant in San Francisco.

We are in the process of choosing a restaurant for our 2009 field trip. Our last trip to the Love Apple Farm and Manresa Restaurant is going to be hard to beat but here's the alphabetical list of places we are considering (with names of people looking into restaurant):
• Basque Cultural Center
• Bay Wolf (Sandi U)
• Greens (Annie)
• Millenium (Annie)
• Plumed Horse (Sandi U)
• Tarragons (Sandi U)
• St. Michael’s Alley (Sandy P)
• We prepare a French Laundry dinner at Domaine Eden (Jeffrey)

Our first cookbook dinner will be February 28, 2009 so after you have rested from the holiday cooking, start cookin'! It will either be at Sandy P, Jeffrey P or Sandi U's home, so stay tuned...

If you have some ideas for additional cookbooks, please let me know.

Bon appétit!

Sandi

Holiday Brunch

Holiday greetings fellow gourmands!
The Crowing Coq Cookbook Club has completed their third successful year with what has become an annual appetizers and dessert event. This year, on Dec. 14th we met for a brunch at the gaily decorated San Jose home of one of our members. This seemingly simple event has morphed into a sophisticated “pot luck” and members brought dishes from one of our cookbooks or a special dish they wished to share! We had our Kitchen White Elephant gift exchange and the Crowing Coq once again changed hands and will now live between two households. Some people just can't live without the familiar "Cockadoodle doo!" emanating from their kitchen.

We started the event with two festive champagnes from Bill's cellar: Veuve de Vernay, NV, Brut Rose Sparkling wine and a Schramsberg, 2003, Brut Rose from California. George also opened a Sauvignon Blanc from Chile that went well with all the seafood dishes.

For our savory dishes George prepared a Seafood Quiche, filled with shrimp, crab,fish and cheese…mmmmm! They were a wonderful sensations in our mouths…you know, that creamy, rich and decadent feel?! His recipe is from Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Mary made Smoked Duck Spring Rolls from Cindy Pawcyn’s, Big Small Plates (p. 78-79). They were wonderful and brought Southeast Asian bright flavors to the event. Sandy created a dish from Jean-Georges cookbook, Cooking at Home with a Four-Star Chef, Simply the Best Crab Salad (p. 53). She adapted it a bit and served them on endive leaves that added a nice contrast to the sweetness of the mangos. These salads were perfect mouthfuls combining the fresh taste of the ocean with just a touch of sweetness from the mangos and a accent of crispness from the endives. Sandi W. made a dish from Julia Child's cookbook, Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home, Moules Ravigote. The succulent mussels were prepared to perfection with amazing flavors from the ravigote sauce: onions, capers, and herbs. Annie made two dishes to round out the savory part of the brunch. The aroma of Cinnamon Sugar Muffins, greeted us as we entered her home and made us all remember traditional Christmases. She also made a deceivingly simple dish of sliced Marinated Oranges, laced with cinnamon, grand marnier and rose water! I tried the recipe with other acidic fruits with equally delicious results.



The finishing touches were an amazing array of rich, sweet, gooey, buttery, and visually beautiful desserts. Willie brought a Enormous Cream Puff au Chocolat just dripping in rich chocolate and filled with “who-can-resist” whipped cream. This dish is also from a Julie Child cookbook, The Way to Cook. Janis prepared wonderfully moist Orange Date Nut Bars that were iced in a gooey orange and cream cheese topping that just made everyone swoon. Sandi U. baked Snowflake Butter Cookies that were iced and decorated in elaborate designs AND were delicious as well…she claims it’s all the butter in the cookies! So often decorated cookies don’t taste very good but these were the exception to the rule.

If you'd like to try some of the recipes that came from a source outside of our cookbook lists, go to the end of this blog.

BTW, the fabulous photos continue to improve with each dinner because Willie, our "official" photographer, works hard to chronicle our efforts. As many of you already know, photographing food is very, very difficult. Often, the photos in magazines are sprayed, faked, etc. to make the dish look very appetizing. Our photos are really what the food looked like, thanks to Willie's skills. Thank you, Willie!


Enjoy the holidays and wonderful treats!

Bon appétit!

Sandi


RECIPES:


Cinnamon Butter Muffins
Makes 12 3-inch muffins

Muffins
6 T unsalted butter
6 T shortening
1 C Sugar
2 Eggs
1 t Salt
½ t Nutmeg
1 C Milk
3 C Flour
4 t Baking Powder
Preheat oven to 350º.
Grease 12 3-inch muffin pan cups.
Cream butter, shortening and sugar together.
Beat in eggs, salt and nutmeg.
Stir in the flour alternately with milk until misture is just combined.
Fill muffin cups full (Annie said to just fill 2/3 full)
Bake 20-25 min.

Cinnamon Topping
1 C unsalted butter, melted
1 C Sugar
1 T Cinnamon
Have melted butter ready in shallow bowl.
Combine cinnamon and sugar in separate bowl.
When muffins are done, let them cool for one minute
Turn muffins out onto cooling racks.
Immerse each muffin briefly in the melted butter; let excess drip off.
Roll each in the Cinnamon Sugar mixture.



Orange Wheels
Santre ke Chakle

Serves 4-6
6 large oranges
¼ C Sugar
2 T Raisins
1 t ground nutmeg or cinnamon
4 T rose water
Juice of 1 lemon
2 T Grand Marnier or Orange Liqueur

Peel oranges carefully, removing all yellow pith. Slice each one across into 4-5 rounds per orange. Place in shallow bowl.
Combine sugar, raisins, nutmeg or cinnamon
Pour mixture over orange wheels and refrigerate at least 2 hours
Serve orange wheels chilled, with some of their juice.


Enormous Cream Puffs au Chocolat
Julia Child, Way to Cook, page 396 – 399.

For a giant ring, 12” – 14” round.

Choux Pastry (for 2-1/2 cups of pastry)
1 C Water
¾ stick Unsalted Butter, cut into 6 pieces
1/8 t Salt
1 T Sugar
1 C All-purpose flour (scooped and leveled)
1 Cup beated eggs, exactly. About 5 large eggs (blend together before measuring)

Set out all the ingredients listed, prepare all the baking pans, pastry bags, and other items called for. Preheat oven to 425º.

Bring water to boil in 2-qt pan with butter, salt and sugar. As soon as the butter has melted, remove the pan from the heat.
Pour in all the flour at once and vigorously beat it—it will be lumpy at first but smoothes out rapidly as you beat.*
As soon as blended, beast over moderate heat for a minute or more until the pastry balls up, cleans itself off the sides of the pan and begins to film the bottom of the pan. (This step evaporates excess moisture, so that the pastry will absorb as much egg as possible)

*NOTE: Hand beaten with a wire whip produces the lightest and puffiest pastry. Food processor is not recommended. And, for the puffiest results, form and bake as soon as possible after the pastry is made, since it firms as it cools and that holds down the puff.

Adding eggs.
Turn the pastry into a 3-quart bowl with rounded bottom and stir with wooden spatula or spoon for 30 seconds to cool it off f=briefly.
Then make a well in the center of the warm pastry and beat in a ¼ C of the beraten egg: when blended (it will look strangely separated at first), repeat with another ¼ C of egg and then another and half of the final bit of egg.
The pastry should just hold its shape when lifted onto a spoon. You will be tempted to add more remaining egg but beat it in by dribbles to be sure the pastry is not too loose.

To Form & Bake Puffs
¼ C Flour for the pastry sheet
Egg glaze (leftover egg or a fresh one, beaten w/ a pinch of salt and droplets of water)

Sprinkle the flour on the buttered baking sheet and shake it to cover it with a light even dusting. Turn the sheet upside down and bang off excess flour.
Using a 12-14” pot lid as a guide, trace a acircle in the flour on the baking sheet.
Pipe a circle of warm Choux paste to cover the circular guide. Pipe another circle outside the first and a third on top of both of them.
Paint the pastry with the egg glaze.

Bake 20-25 minutes at 450º until pastry has puffed to almost triple in height and is nicely browned. Reduce heat to 400º and continue baking 10 minutes.
Pierce the sides of the puff in several places to let out steam.
Lower heat to 350ºF and bake 10 minutes more.
Turn off the oven and oven and leave the door ajar for another 10 minutes—all of this in the interest of drying out the puff. There will still be damp pastry inside.
Remove the puff from the oven, and carefully slice in half, horizontally.
Scrape uncooked, damp, pastry out of the bottom and top halves.
To crisp the pastry, set the two pieces, inside sides up, on the baking sheet in a 350º oven for 5 minutes.

Fill the cooled ring with the sweetened whipped cream shortly before serving. Spoon warm chocolate sauce over the top.
Pass remaining chocolate sauce separately.
Cut portions with serrated knife.

Warm Chocolate Sauce
(for about 2 ½ cups)
2/3 C White corn syrup
2/3 C Water
½ C unsweetened cocoa powder
1 ½ C Sugar
2 ozs Unsweetened baking chocolate, chopped
6 T Unsalted butter
½ C Heavy cream
Big pinch of salt
2 t Vanilla

Boil corn syrup in small saucepan for a minute or two, until it forms heavy strands as you drop it off the spoon.
Remove from heat and stir in the water.
Sieve together the cocoa and sugar, then whisk them into the syrup.
Simmer, stirring, for several seconds, until you are sure the sugar has dissolved completely.—very important since undissolved sugar will cause the sauce to crystallize later.
Add the baking chocolate and simmer, stirring, until melted.
Blend in the butter and heavy cream.
Bring to full boil for 15 seconds.
Remove from heat and blend in the salt and vanilla.
NOTE: If you make this ahead, refrigerate in a covered jar and place the jar into a pan of simmering water to reheat.


Orange Walnut-Date Bars
1 C unsifted all-purpose flour
½ t Baking Soda
½ t Cinnamon
¼ t Nutmeg
¼ t Salt
1/3 C softened butter or margarine
¾ C Light brown sugar
1 lg Egg
1 T grated orange rind
2 T orange juice
½ C Chopped pitted dates
¾ C Coarsely chopped walnuts, divided use
Orange Butter frosting (recipe follows)

Preheat oven to 350º. Grease and flour 11x7x1” baking pan.
Sift flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt into bowl, set aside.
In large bowl of electric mixer, beat together softened butter and brown sugar, blending until smooth.
Beat in egg, orange rind, and orange juice.
Beat in the flour mixture until smooth.
Stir in chopped dates and ½ cup of the walnuts.
Spread batter evenly in prepared pan.
Bake about 30 minutes or until browned.
Spread with Orange Butter Frosting and sprinkle with remaining ¼ C of chopped walnuts.
Cut into 33 2”x1” bars.

Orange Butter Frosting
¼ C Softened butter or margarine
1 t grated orange rind
1 lg Egg yolk (or 1 T plain yogurt)
½ t Vanilla extract
2 C sifted Confectioners Sugar
2 t Orange Juice or enough to make frosting spreadable.

Cream butter until fluffy.
Add orange rind, egg yolk and vanilla. Blend well.
Gradually add confectioners sugar, beating well.
Mix in orange juice.
Spread on bar and sprinkle with walnuts.

(99 calories per bar, 4 g. fat, 21 mg. cholesterol. 35% calories from fat.)



Frosted Ornament Cookies
Christmas Sweets by Georganne Brennan, p. 63.

1-3/4 C Sifted Flour
½ t Baking Powder
¼ t Salt
1-1/3 sticks Butter, softened
½ C Sugar
1 lg. Egg
1 t Vanilla

Preheat oven: 400º
Sift flour, baking powder, salt onto piece of waxed paper.
In mixing bowl butter until fluffy.
Beat in egg and vanilla.
Add sifted flour mixture in thirds, stirring until dough is smooth.
Refrigerate dough at least 30 minutes.

On lightly floured board, roll dough out to 1/8” - 3/8” thickness, depending upon how fragile cookie cutter shape is.
Cut into cookie shapes and transfer to cookie sheet.
Bake immediately before cookie looses shape.
Gather up dough and re-roll and re-cut.
Bake until lightly browned on bottom and pale golden yellow on top. About 6-8 minutes depending upon thickness of cookie. Do not allow cookies to brown.

Frosting:
Confectioners sugar
Half-and-half
Food coloring
Colored draegies
Colored sugar sprinkles
Stiff paint brushes
Pastery bag with small round tip

Combine sugar and half-and-half until spreadable but not dripping off spoon. If too stiff, add more liquid, a drop at a time.
Divide among several bowls for different colors.
Make more white icing
Frosting will spread more evenly if you put colored icing on while cookies are still warm. For more brilliant colors, let cookies totally cool before icing.
Let frosting set for 30 minutes or 1 hour before piping on any white designs to prevent any colors from bleeding into each other.

Jean-Georges: Cooking at Home with a Four-Star Chef

Jean-Georges - Cooking at Home with a Four Star Chef

Dining with this group of gourmet cooks is like eating out at the French Laundry or Manresa without all the reservation fuss. We enjoy great wines without paying corkage (plus no limit to how many bottles we can open!). We have two (soon to be 4) wine collectors who can speak to us about the wines. Each dish is plated so our dinners tend to be 8-10 courses. And, even if it always surprises us, we finish each and every entre! The short breaks in between each course so the cook can do the final assembly are welcome as they allow us to enjoy the different wines and great converation. We’ve also learned to make our serving portions smaller, following Thomas Keller and David Kinch’s example of enough to give everyone a delightful taste of each dish and still leave room for the next course!

The only general complaint about Jean-Georges Vonrichecten’s cookbook is that one must already be a pretty good cook and guess what he really meant. You have to know what you’re cooking and what kind of results you want and figure out the specificities yourself. Not enough pictures...that's always my general complaint about cookbooks.

Many of his recipes, however, use very few ingredients and are extremely simple AND delicious. For example, his Tomato Towers.

I tried his Potato Ravioli Stuffed With Wild Mushrooms and since the instructions didn’t really state how crispy to fry the potato ravioli’s, and no photos, I’m not sure I did the recipe correctly but I definitely did not like the outcome….which surprised me since he states that it is one of the more popular items on his restaurant menu. Mary tried his pound cake recipe, Sableuse, and, again, she’s not sure if she did it correctly but it definitely was not “light,” which is how his comments described the dessert.

I tried his Peanut Crusted Ribs recipe and the Shrimp with Rice Noodles Salad recipes and loved both of them. Very interesting combinations of spices and very nice blending of tastes as a result. Sandi W. and Willie, tried several of his other recipes and haven’t found one they didn’t like yet…but then, they ARE more experienced gourmet cooks than I!

So, on with our dinner!

Our October 4th dinner had 8 courses starting with the
Mushroom Tarts with Onions & Walnuts (p. 8). Sandi U. prepared the tarts using Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry instead of making her own. She tried Trader Joe’s Gourmet puff pastries but the result was heavy and doughy. The recipe calls for 6” tarts but she made 4” tarts to make the portions smaller. It was served with Baron Fuente nv Champagne Grand Reserve Brut France which complemented the tarts with a rich and creamy champagne.


Janis prepared Creamy Butternut Squash Soup (p. 29) which was wonderfully thick, rich and creamy without much cream in the recipe! It was easy to prepare, according to Janis and everyone thought the result was delicious. Bill offered a Chateau de Sancerre 2006 Sauvignon Blanc Sancerre France to go with the soup and next course.


Annie made the Tomato Towers with Basil (p. 2) using heirloom tomatoes from her own garden. The hardest part was finding tender basil leaves and getting the tomatoes to stay upright. The recipe calls for salt flakes to be sprinkled on top but Annie left the salt addition up to each diner. We continued to drink the Sancerre with this dish.


Salmon en Papillote (p. 74) was prepared by Jeffrey with Salmon that he personally caught in Alaska last month. He tried it with the Halibut but like the salmon better. He also recommends using parchment paper instead of the tin foil that the recipe calls for. Jeffrey brought wines from his winery to share with the dish, Mount Eden 2006 Chardonnay and Mount Eden 2004 Pinot Noir. Some people liked the Chardonnay better with the salmon and others like the Pinot.

Annie also made the Fennel & Apple Salad with Junipers (p. 48). A surprisingly wonderful combination of flavors. It is important that you have a mandolin to prepare this dish…the thin slices made the dish spectacular!


The main course was Duck a la Jo Jo (p. 100) The duck breasts were cooked rare and perfectly prepared by Sandi W. She said it took time to de-bone the ducks to get the broth she needed for the dish and a lot of prep work but once done, easy to assemble. Sandy P. made two side dishes to go with the duck. Simmered Carrots with Cumin & Orange (p. 130) and Peppery Green Beans (p. 127). She is a big fan of Jean-Georges because of the simplicity of the recipes and these two dishes are prime examples of how to get delicious results with little preparation. Bill provided a Swanson 1987 Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley. Swanson, of the Swanson frozen food company, has been making wines for a long time. This wine opened up after a while but several people thought the Mount Eden Pinot was a better wine for the duck.


Willie baked the Warm Soft Chocolate Cake (p. 168) that just melted in our mouths. He served it with Cinnamon ice cream and if you are a chocoholic, this is the dish to have for dessert. Sandi U. brought a tenth of the 2004 FroZin, Meeker Vineyards, Sonoma County as she believes it’s a wine that goes well with chocolate….although I’m not sure everyone agreed. Some tried the pinot and cabernets with the dessert as well.

As you can see, we ate well, had great conversations about the dishes, cooking in general and got to know each other a bit more as well. Ahhh, THIS is how life should be!

Our Next Cookbook!

One of our cookbook club friends worked with a NY chef, Jean-Georges Vongerichten, who has three NY restaurants: Jean Georges, JoJo's and Vong and was celebrated as the Chef of the Year by Esquire and New York Magazine. He also, like many celebrity chefs, has a restaurant in Las Vegas.

His cookbook is startlingly uncomplicated and some recipes have very few ingredients and don't take days (or even hours) to prepare. Several of the cookbook club members have been trying recipes from his book already and are enjoying the fruits of their labor. I've already bookmarked several recipes that I want to try.


Jean-Georges: Cooking at Home with a Four-Star Chef. It is available at the County Libraries or online for $29 new or as low as $9 used. (it was originally a $57 book).

Bon Appetit!

Willie's BBQ Ribs!

YOU can now reproduce Willie's special BBQ smoked ribs recipe!

We have TWO versions for you. Willie has created a 4+page, step-by-step, detailed and humorous set of instructions to make his ribs. BUT, if you are a seasoned smoker and BBQ'er, we've created a shorter version at the end of this blog.


Willie’s Barbecue Pork Spare Ribs
Successfully barbecuing tender, juicy pork spare ribs is a day-long affair requiring multiple steps. The first few times you do it you might not think it’s worth the effort, but once you’ve got it down, like anything, it gets easier. Here’s the high-level view, then I’ll get into detail:
1. Set aside a day
2. Make your dry rub mixture
3. Decide on what wood you use for smoking the meat
4. Tenderize the ribs (as needed)
5. Prepare the ribs
6. Prepare your grill
7. Barbecue!
I. Set aside a day
Because barbecuing ribs the right way (slow cooked at a low temperature) takes a long time, you should plan on taking a day to cook them. (It can be done faster, but never with the same delicious results!) The first time you try making these ribs you may think that you can just stick them on the grill and look at them occasionally, turning them over when you want to. Not so!!. Once the meat is on the grill, it should be turned every 30 minutes or so for as long as six hours. This is necessary to keep the juices in the meat from dripping out and drying the meat – and thereby losing a lot of its tenderness and flavor. Barbecuing this way makes for an excellent day for reading a good book, or doing a chore that needs frequent breaks! Be careful, though! I found out the hard way that lengthening the time between flipping the ribs can result in disastrously dry results! (Now I have a portable timer that I keep with me set to go off after 30 minutes.)
II. Make your dry rub mixture
This step is easy and can be done in advance. It makes enough for several racks of ribs, depending on how much you like your meat seasoned.
Mix together the following ingredients:
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup salt
1/4 cup paprika
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon onion powder
1/2 tablespoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon crushed fennel seed
1/2 teaspoon group coriander
Simple addition tells you this makes almost a cup of rub. So find a container big enough to hold it all, since you won’t use it all on a single rack of ribs (or even on several racks). I’ve also found it helpful to put a portion of the in an empty spice jar that has a shaker top on it. That way I can easily shake the rub evenly onto the ribs (or other meat) when needed. You can make your rub weeks in advance; just don’t wait until the last minute. I usually check the amount of rub mixture the night before I plan to barbecue to make sure I have enough, and if not, make more if I need it.
III. Decide on what wood you use for smoking the meat and prepare it
I strongly believe in smoking the meat as it is being cooked. Ideally, one would have a smoker specially built just for smoking. (But if you happen to own a smoker then you probably don’t need to be reading this recipe!) Smoking the meat adds a special flavor to it that can’t be matched by sauces added during or after cooking the meat. The meat gets permeated it with the smoky flavor of the wood that often hallmarks the best barbecue. There are a variety of woods used in barbecuing, but pork barbecue tends to be flavored by hickory or mesquite wood, depending on the part of the country you live in. I like hickory for pork and mesquite for other meats, especially poultry, but you can choose what you like or experiment with both (just not at the same time!).
You can get wood for smoking at just about any grocery store. About an hour before you are going to start cooking the meat, put two to three cups of the wood into a bowl and cover it with water to add some moisture back into the wood. This will keep it from flaming up quickly and burning out; thus prolonging the smoking effect on the meat.
IV. Tenderize the ribs (as needed)
If you buy your ribs at a general supermarket (Lucky’s, Safeway, etc.) or a discount warehouse (Costco, Sam’s, etc.) the quality of the meat will not be all that great. It will likely need some tenderizing. However, don’t fall for the meat tenderizers that you can also get at such places! These mixtures don’t really tenderize all that much, plus they add a flavor of their own and lots of other worthless (and possibly even unhealthy!) chemicals that you don’t need! The simple solution for tougher cuts of ribs is to brine the meat in a highly salinated pot of water for about two hours. (About ??? cups of salt for every ?? quarts of water.)
The best solution, of course, is to buy your ribs from a butcher or a specialty grocery store (like Draeger’s or Andronico’s, although they don’t always have pork spare ribs in inventory, so call ahead!). Even then your meat may need brining and knowing when to brine and when not to only comes with experience and frequent handling of the meat to know when you’ve got a tender set of ribs or not. I suggest you brine the meat until you get an understanding of what a good set of tender ribs feels like.

V. Prepare the ribs
Once you think you have tender ribs, don’t think the preparation work is done. They will probably need some trimming, in addition to adding the rub. First, you need to remove the white sheathing that is on the back (or underside) of the rib. This is a layer of light creamy colored gristle-type of substance that runs almost the length of the ribs, flat against the bones. It’s fairly easy to remove by first running a sharp knife under one edge of the gristle to lift it off the bones by a quarter inch or so, then, using a paper towel to get a good grip, grabbing it between your fingers and thumb and pulling it up and away from the bone. With a little practice, and a firm grip, you can remove it all in one pull. (Sometimes it will tear, or break, and you’ll have to pull again on what’s left.) If you cook the ribs without removing this you will end up with a flavorless piece of chewy gristle on the back side of your ribs. Not desirable!
Sandi and I differ on any further trimming. She likes to trim off everything except the row of straight ribs that dominate the slab, cooking and serving the rest of the meat separately. IMHO, cooking that part separately often ends up with meat that can easily get overcooked when separated into individual pieces and not cooked with the reset of the ribs.
Spread the rub mixture onto the slabs, both sides.
VI. Prepare the grill
I use a gas grill. I prefer gas over charcoal because of a couple of things: (1) gas provides an even and controlled temperature that is easy to maintain for the long period of time without much fuss and bother, and (2) I’m lazy – it’s just plain easier! I understand that there are those who believe they need to use charcoal, or even wood, to be truly authentic to the long tradition of barbecue. I’m not one of those. I think I can get ribs that are just as tender, juicy, and good tasting with gas as with a more traditional approach. And (can I say it again?) it’s just easier!
That said, you need to make sure your grill is properly prepared for cooking ribs. First, make sure you have enough propane in your tank. Even though your gas grill could be on for almost six hours, it won’t use much gas because you’ll only use one burner set to it’s lowest setting (or somewhere thereabouts). So you don’t have to use only a full tank. However, nothing is worse than starting a barbecue and running out of fuel part way through the process. If your tank is low make sure you’ve got another full one standing by. I always have a full tank for just such occasions. (It’s not much fun to run out of gas when you’re cooking anything, whether its ribs or burgers. Besides, we live in earthquake country. It’s comforting to know that I can always cook meals at home if a disaster should happen!)
Second, clean your grill thoroughly. On the morning I plan to grill (or even better, on the day before) I usually turn on the grill to full heat and close the lid for about 15 minutes to burn off any extra drippings and other gunk (that’s a highly sophisticated barbecuing term!) that may be on the grill racks from a previous cooking. And then, while the grill is still on high I scrape the racks with a good metal brush to clean off and ashes or other gunk still stuck on the racks. I do this well before I plan to put the ribs on the grill so that the temperature has subsided to a good slow-cooking temperature. (Nothing’s worse then putting ribs on a hot grill and searing them before they start smoking. The smoky flavor doesn’t penetrate the meat as well if it’s already been seared.)
Place an aluminum pan underneath the grill racks and above the burners. Use one that is big enough to catch all of the drippings off the rib. If you can’t find one that large make one from heavy-duty aluminum foil. (That’s what I usually do.) Putting a drip tray under your ribs serves three purposes, (1) it protects the meat from any direct flames, (2) it catches the juices from your meat, thus preventing flare ups that may singe your meat, thus making it tough and chewy, and (3) it helps keep the flavor of the meat by cooking the juices in the pan.
Some gas grills have accessories you can buy. One that will prove useful if you plan to do a lot of grilling is a “smoker” that can hold the wood chips you will use to smoke your ribs with. My grill has just such a container that fits on the burners of the grill. It works well and sure beats the alternative of making my own by wrapping the soaked wood in aluminum foil and punching holes in it to let the heat in and the smoke out. I could never the right balance of number of holes in the foil and the size of the holes to got the wood hot enough to smoke without getting it too hot to flame up. The accessory smoker that comes with the grill works just fine. So before you start cooking the ribs make sure your “smoker” is filled with the soaked wood chips and is place in the grill.
VII. Barbecue!
When I have the grill all prepared and I’m ready to start cooking I turn the flames up all the way until the chips are afire and the wood is smoking (lots of smoke is filling the grill and flowing out through the cracks between the lid and the grill basin). When the smoke is full I turn down the grill all the way (with only one burner on at its lowest setting) and wait until the grill temperature gets back down to about 350° before putting the meat on the grill. I make sure that it is placed fully over the aluminum pan/foil with no exposure to the direct heat of the grill burner.
It is ideal if your grill has a built-in thermometer. That way you can maintain a steady temperature for the meat. When I barbecue ribs I only have one burner on as low as it can go. On warm days the thermometer registers about 250°, which I find to be just about perfect, as long as I make sure the meat is never directly over the flame. If it’s a cooler day I usually have to have the burner turned up higher to maintain that temperature, but then I have to be extra careful about keeping the meat away from the direct flame.
From here on it gets a lot easier. Turn on your timer to 30 minutes and every time it goes off, flip the meat over. About 3 ½ to 4 hours later, you can test the meat (press firmly on a meaty section) to see how it’s coming along. If it’s still soft to the touch, then it’s just about done – you don’t want it to get crusty and firm to the touch. If the bones can be easily twisted inside the meat then you know it is done. (I prefer my ribs to be at the point where the bones just turn a little in the meat because I’m still going to cook it a little longer.) About this time (sorry I’m not more precise, but the variables in grill temperature can make a big difference in how long you have the meat on the grill) I take the meat off the grill, put a large piece (large enough to wrap the entire rack of ribs) of heavy-duty aluminum foil on the grill rack and place the meat back on it. You then heavily coat it with your favorite barbecue sauce and then loosely wrap the foil around the ribs and cook for about another hour or so at the same temperature. I say “loosely wrap the foil” because I want the meat to simmer in the sauce so that it gains the flavor of the sauce and remains moist and juicy, but at the same time the sauce evaporates and thickens up. It’s good to leave the foil open at the top so this can occur.
After about an hour much of the sauce should have cooked off. If you’ve timed this well, there will be about another hour before dinner is served. If so, take the meat off the grill, wrap it tightly in the foil so no air or sauce can leak out and put it in a paper bag. I know this part may sound silly, but it’s crucial to making good ribs. Storing it this way causes the meat to reabsorb the juices and will make it very tender and flavorful, as well as keep it warm. (If it’s going to be longer until dinner then leave it on the grill a little longer or keep it wrapped tightly in the foil in a warming oven, but still plan to pull it out an hour early so the meat can rest and reabsorb the juices.)
When ready to serve, take the meat out of the foil, put it on a cutting board and cut each rib portion between the bones. The meat should be so tender that you can cut it easily; some will just fall off the bone.
It can be served with a warm barbecue sauce of your choice on the side.
Note:
I don’t specify the sauce for this recipe because everyone has his or her own preferences (usually depending on where they’re from because barbecued pork ribs are highly regionalized, from Texas to Kansas City to the Carolinas). I’ve tried a number of recipes but keep coming back to a commercial sauce – a mixture of Armadillo Willy’s Jalapeno Recipe and their Original Recipe. Obviously, I like my sauce spicy, with a hint of sweetness.

Too much information? Here's the short cut version.


Willie’s Barbecue Pork Spare Ribs – abbreviated version

If you have never smoked ribs, do not use this version…

1. Set aside a day – you will need to turn the meat every 30 minutes for about 4 hours (give or take 30 min.)
   
2. Make your dry rub mixture
   
   
   
   • 1/4 cup brown sugar
     
   • 1/4 cup salt
     
   • 1/4 cup paprika
     
   • 1 tablespoon black pepper
     
   • 1 tablespoon garlic powder
     
   • 1 tablespoon onion powder
     
   • 1/2 tablespoon cayenne pepper
     
   • 1/2 teaspoon crushed fennel seed
     
   • 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
     
   
   
3. Decide on what wood you use for smoking the meat - I like hickory for pork and mesquite for other meats, especially poultry. Soak chips in water for 1 hour before grilling.
   
4. Tenderize the meat - for tougher cuts of ribs is to brine the meat in a pot of salt water for about two hours. (About ??? cups of salt for every ?? quarts of water.) OR buy higher quality ribs from a butcher or a specialty grocery store (like Draeger’s or Andronico’s).
   
5. Prepare the ribs - remove the white sheathing that is on the back (or underside) of the rib. Trim fat, etc. to your preference. Sprinkle or spread dry rub over ribs, both sides.
   
6. Prepare your grill -
   
   
   
   • Make sure you have enough propane.
     
   • Clean your grill thoroughly.
     
   • Place an aluminum pan underneath the grill racks and above the burners to catch drippings.
     
   • Put wood chips into grill’s smoker tray or in heavy aluminum foil that has had several holes punched into it.
     
   
   
7. Barbecue!
   
   
   
   • Turn grill on to a high temperature until the chips are afire and the wood is smoking and fills the grill.
     
   • When the smoke is full I turn down the grill all the way (with only one burner on at its lowest setting) and wait until the grill temperature gets back down to about 350° before putting the meat on the grill.
     
   • Once the meat is on the grill, lower temp. to 250º.
     
   • Turn ribs every 30 minutes for about 4 hours (give or take 30 min.)
     
   
   
8. Sauce the ribs.
   
   
   
   • Take the meat off the grill
     
   • Put a large of heavy-duty aluminum foil on the grill rack and place the meat back on it.
     
   • Heavily coat ribs with your favorite barbecue sauce and then loosely wrap the foil around the ribs and Remember to leave foil open at top to thicken sauce.
     
   • Grill for another hour at same temperature.
     
   
   
9. You’re not done yet! One more step:
   
   
   
   • Remove the ribs & foil from the grill.
     
   • Tightly wrap in the foil and then place foiled ribs in paper bag for hour.
     
   • After another hour, remove from bag and foil and cut each rib portion.
     
   • Serve with your favorite BBQ sauce on the side.