Servings
6
Cheryl’s Rum Ribs
Colorful bite size roll ups with big flavors
Ingredients
3 lbs baby back ribs
1 cup dark brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup chili sauce (see notes)
1/4 cup catsup
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup light rum
1 tsp dry mustard
1/2 tsp garlic powder
Diamond Crystal Kosher salt, fresh ground black pepper, white pepper and cayenne
Oven to 350. Using a paper towel pull silver skin from underside of rack. Then cut into quarters, each chunk should
have 3-4 ribs. Sprinkle both sides generous with kosher salt. Grind black and white pepper evenly over both sides.
For some spark, sprinkle with a few pinches cayenne.
Lay out a large piece of heavy duty foil on a cookie sheet. Arrange rib quarters down center. Fold long edges
together and seal. Seal up short edges. Wrap whole package up with another piece of foil.
Place in oven and bake 90 minutes. Remove and let cool, in foil, for 30 minutes.
Mean while stir together brown sugar, chili sauce, catsup, soy sauce, worcestershire, rum, mustard and garlic
powder. Will have approximately 2 cups of sauce.
Now that the ribs are cool enough to handle, carefully open packet and transfer ribs to a gallon ziplock bag. Even
more carefully pour all those lovely meat juices into a small bowl.
Pour BBQ sauce over ribs in bag, gently mix to coat. Seal up and nestle in a dish (to catch any possible drips).
Refrigerate 6-8 hours or overnight. If you think of it, gently turn bag to redistribute sauce.
Scoop fat from atop meat juices and then chill or freeze. There will be a generous 1/3 cup ready to add a meaty
boost to vegetables, rice, soups or sauces.
Remove ribs from refrigerator 30 minutes before grilling. Heat grill to medium. Scrape, clean and lightly oil grate.
Lift ribs out of bag and place on grill, bone side down. Cover and cook for 3-4 minutes. Pour sauce into a cup or
bowl and have available to baste. No need to boil before using because meat was fully cooked when added to sauce.
Flip ribs, cover and cook another 3-4 minutes.
Flip again and baste with sauce. Cover and cook 3 minutes until nicely marked. Flip and baste again. Cook another
3 minutes till nicely marked. Flip one more time and cook another 2 minutes. Ribs should be sizzling and nicely
glazed.
Remove to a serving platter. Cover tightly with foil, maybe wrap in a large towel, then set somewhere warm for a
good 15 minutes (resting allows meat to relax, juices to redistribute and allows for a cleaner cut.
Slice and serve! Can reheat sauce and serve on the side, though truly they are perfect as is
Laila's Notes
My dear friend Cheryl served these beauties for a special dinner at her cabin in Arnold. She generously shared the recipe and it is now a family favorite
I modified the original recipe slightly by using a1/2 tsp of garlic powder instead of mincing up some fresh garlic. Twas a lazy day!
The chili sauce used here is American and resembles a zesty catsup, not a spicy Asian Chile sauce. One adventurous day, I
plan on preparing it that way to indulge my love of all things spicy.
For extra tender and flavorful ribs pre-salt when time allows. After trimming and quartering, sprinkle both sides with a scant tablespoon of Diamond Kosher salt (a tsp per pound). Cover and chill overnight. Season with just the peppers before
wrapping and cooking.
The original recipe specified my favorite spare ribs (Todd is a baby back fan). I will, in the near future, cook it so, cutting
the ribs into singles or pairs. I think the smaller pieces will most likely cook in 90 minutes especially if I use a St. Louis
