COUNTRY-STYLE RIBS

Country-Style Ribs image

This is barbecue belt cooking all the way. I don't care if you're in Austin, Texas, or Manhattan, New York-if ribs are on the menu, you've got to roll up your shirt sleeves and have a big stack of napkins ready. This dish has New Yorkers doing just that when it makes its weekly appearance at Bar Americain. Racks of meaty ribs are dressed up with a smoky spice rub for extra flavor. The rich barbecue sauce, spiked with the molasseslike flavor of bourbon, will leave even the most refined diners licking their fingers. It wouldn't be proper barbecue without some corn bread to mop up every last delicious bit of flavor from the plate, and I like to serve this dish with a savory tomato one.

Yield Serves 4

Number Of Ingredients 14

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Ingredients

4 cups hickory or oak wood chips
1/4 cup ground ancho chile
2 tablespoons smoked sweet Spanish paprika
2 tablespoons freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons dry mustard
2 tablespoons kosher salt
2 tablespoons ground coriander
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon ground cumin
2 teaspoons ground chile de árbol
2 racks country pork ribs (12 ribs each), membrane removed
1/4 cup canola oil
Bourbon Barbecue Sauce (page 236)
Tomato Corn Bread (page 191)

Steps:

Soak the wood chips in water for at least 30 minutes. Drain well.
Stir together the ground ancho, paprika, black pepper, dry mustard, salt, coriander, oregano, cumin, and ground chile de árbol in a small bowl.
Brush both sides of the racks with the oil and rub liberally with the spice mixture. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 12 hours and up to 24 hours. Remove the ribs from the refrigerator 45 minutesbefore smoking to allow them to come to room temperature.
Stuff several sheets of newspaper in the bottom of a charcoal chimney starter. Fill the chimney to the top with charcoal. Remove the top rack from your grill. Place the chimney on the lower rack. Light the newspaper and let the charcoal burn until the coals are gray on the outside, about 20 minutes.
Open the bottom vent on the grill. Turn out the hot charcoal onto one side of the bottom rack. Using a metal spatula, spread the charcoal to cover approximately one-third of the rack and then scatter half of the soaked wood chips over the charcoal.
Return the top rack to the grill. Place an oven thermometer to one side of the rack to allow you to monitor the temperature of the grill, which should stay between 250°F and 300°F at all times. (Check the temperature every 10 minutes.)
Place the ribs on the rack to the side of the coals, not directly over them, and cover the grill. Pour one-quarter of the bourbon barbecue sauce into a separate container and set aside. Cook, turning the ribs and basting them with the rest of the barbecue sauce every 20 minutes, until the meat is very tender when pierced with a knife, about 1 1/2 hours. After the first 30 minutes of cooking, light additional charcoal as before, placing the chimney starter on a heatproof surface. When the temperature in the grill drops below 250°F, use oven mitts to lift off the top rack with the ribs in place and set on a heatproof surface. Using tongs, add hot charcoal from the chimney starter to the bottom rack and then scatter the remaining wood chips on top. Return the rack of ribs and cover the grill with the lid.
Transfer the ribs to a baking sheet; brush with the reserved barbecue sauce and let stand for 10 minutes. Cut the meat between the bones to separate the ribs and serve with the tomato corn bread.