Episode 1 - The Ribs Show

The inspiration for our kickoff show came from ribs Jim had at Fat Matt's Rib Shack in Atlanta, GA. The meat fell off the bone, the rum baked beans were fantastic, and he mopped the whole thing up with a side of garlic bread.

Jim uses store-bought BBQ sauce in this show, but we're open to any suggestions for your favorite or homemade sauce. Roxanne's rum baked beans are out of this world. And you'll want to have plenty of garlic bread on hand; the recipe's simple and people will scarf it down.




BBQ ribs
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 3-4 hours
Serves 4-6

Ingredients:
8 lbs of pork ribs
7 15-ounce bottles of bbq sauce
1 12-ounce porter beer

1. Wash the ribs, cut them so you have two ribs apiece and then cut between the two connected ribs most of the way so they're easier to eat once they're cooked. Get a big pot of water boiling and boil them for 20 minutes.
2. Set the oven for "broil" while the ribs are boiling. Place the boiled ribs in a baking pan and coat them with BBQ sauce. Stick them in the over and let them cook until the BBQ sauce carmelizes and gets good and dark (but not black). Flip them over and do the same to the other side. This can be as little as 3-5 minutes. You want to get them looking like they just came in off the BBQ.
3. Dump four bottles of BBQ sauce into the crock pot and add the bottle of porter. Arrange the ribs in the crock pot and top with more BBQ sauce as needed. Cook on "high" for three hours. Check every once in a while and add beer if needed.
4. They'll be ready after three hours, but I usually give them another 30 minutes. Serve with a side of BBQ sauce for dipping.

Rum baked beans
Prep time: 25 minutes
Cooking time: 60 minutes
Serves 4-6

Ingredients:
1/3 pound thick-sliced bacon
1 large red onion, diced
3 15-ounce cans white beans
1 cup low sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup water
5 tablespoons dark brown sugar
2 teaspoons ground mustard
4 tablespoons unsulphured mild flavor molasses
2 heaping teaspoons freshly ground ginger root
1/4 cup rum (I used Sailor Jerry Spiced Navy rum)

1. Empty the three cans of beans into a colander and wash under tap water to wash off whatever juice and seasonings they came with. Set them aside.
2. Dice half an onion (so you have a little more than one cup's worth).
3. Slice the bacon into small strips and begin sauteing in a skillet over medium heat.
4. When bacon is about half cooked (not yet crispy), add the onion and continue sauteing on medium heat until onions begin to turn translucent and bacon is browned.
5. Take the skillet off of the heat and add the beans, chicken broth, mustard, brown sugar, molasses and ginger. If you can, grate the fresh ginger over the skillet so the juice drips into the beans.
6. Cover the pan and simmer at a medium-low heat for 20 minutes - you just want it to bubble softly - this will boil away some of the liquid.
7. Turn off the heat and add the rum. Let the beans sit for 15 minutes before serving to allow the beans to absorb more liquid and flavors.
8. Right before serving, sprinkle 1/2 teaspoon of diced onions.

Garlic bread
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 5 minutes
Serves 8

Ingredients:
1 loaf sourdough bread
5 cloves of garlic
1 stick of butter
Italian seasoning

1. Mush five cloves of garlic in a garlic press or otherwise dice them up really tiny. Melt a stick of butter and add the garlic and a few shakes of Italian seasoning. Slice the sourdough bread loaf lengthwise and brush it with the liquid, making sure to spread the garlic around.
2. Turn the oven on broil and toast them til the top gets crispy.