Memphis Style Ribs With Mashed Potato Salad.... Memorial Day Celebration!

It's always such a relief when warm weather finally arrives and this year it's more of a relief than ever. Memorial Day weekend is the beginning of warm weather, which also signals the onset of cooking on the grill, which is just about my favorite way to cook most things edible. So, it only stands to reason that one of my first grilled meals of the summer season includes spare ribs. We love them in this house. And frankly, you just can't have ribs without having the traditional potato salad or coleslaw, right?


There must be at least a bazillion different ways to cook ribs (and I love them all) but today my ribs are done in the Memphis style.  

There are also just as many recipes for potato salad, but this is my favorite. I know I must be weird but I just don't like potato salad with the big ole chunks of hard potatoes. It probably has something to do with all the tooth and gum trouble I've had lately. However, I've always preferred my own potato salad to anyone else's.

Memphis Style Barbecued Ribs:

Ingredients:

3 lbs. of pork spare ribs

For Rub:
4 teaspoons paprika
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons of freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon of cayenne

For Sauce:
2 cups ketchup
2 cups chopped onions
1 cup red wine vinegar
4-5 cloves of garlic, smashed
1/4 cup yellow mustard
1/2 cup brown sugar
1-2 teaspoons of Louisiana hot sauce

Directions:

1. Prepare ribs by removing the membrane on the underside and any loose meat or fat. 

2. Prepare smoker or grill. You will want to hold a temperature of around 225 degrees F for 4 to 6 hours.

3. Season ribs with Memphis rub and place on grill or smoker.

4. While ribs are cooking, make barbecue sauce. Blend together everything with the ketchup.

5. Place in a medium saucepan and cook over a medium-low heat for approximately 30 minutes.

6. Remove from heat and set aside. 

6. Cook ribs until they have an internal temperature of about 145 degrees F.

7. Cook the ribs about 30 minutes longer, basting with the sauce every ten minutes, when you turn the ribs.
 

Mashed Potato Salad:

Ingredients:

5 red potatoes
6 Yukon gold potatoes
2 tablespoons butter
salt & pepper, to taste
2 hard boiled eggs, chopped
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup prepared mustard
1/2 cup sour cream
1 stalk of celery, finely chopped
1 red onion, finely chopped
2-3 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
1 tablespoon dill relish (or diced dill pickles)
1/2 bunch of green onions, finely sliced/chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, finely chopped

Directions:

1. Cube potatoes and place in medium size saucepan, covered with water.

2. Cook over medium heat until done.

3. Drain and place potatoes in a large bowl.

4. Mash potatoes with the butter, salt, and pepper.

5. Once mashed, stir in the remaining ingredients until well blended.

6. Refrigerate until ready to eat.


Tip: You can also use leftover mashed potatoes if that's all you have. And, you can change up the ingredients any way you like.

Barbeque Spare Ribs... Snooty Style!

Believe it or not, I have just found the perfect way to have Barbecue Spare Ribs and (my own secret easy recipe) coleslaw. It's so easy that I felt like giving myself a huge thump on the forehead for not coming up with this before. I guess some days are better than others when it comes to the functioning of my aging brain. Feel free to click on the pictures for a larger view.

So, come on all you culinary n'ere-do-wells. This is so easy that it will blow your mind. And if you're trying to impress a man... this should be your signature meal. Most every man likes barbecue... immensely. (Be sure to serve a bunch of paper towels that have been moistened and heated in the micro.) It's kind of like wearing Eau-De-Peanut-Parfum (as in the 2008 Super Bowl commercial). If you make it, they will follow. When I served this to Mr. Snooty, he was like a horned toad when you turn 'em on their backs and rub their bellies. They go into sort of a trance. He was putty in my hands. Lucky for him, I decided to not take advantage of his incapacitated condition.

I started assembling all the ingredients and preparing dinner at 5:30 PM. I was finished by 7:45 PM (with more than a few breaks). I'd say that's pretty damn quick for ribs & cole slaw, unless you happen to eat out. Frankly, we've been some places that we'd have been lucky to get out of, in that amount of time.

Barbecued Spare Ribs:

Ingredients:

1 Rack of Pork Spare Ribs

Your favorite *rub*

Your favorite Barbecue Sauce

Directions:

1. The night before you're having the ribs, coat the ribs in your rub, cover, and refrigerate.

2. The day of cooking, be sure to remove the ribs from the fridge about 30 minutes before grilling, to allow the ribs to come to room temperature.

3. Brush on desired amount of barbeque sauce, coating both sides.

4. Prepare gas or charcoal grill, according to directions. When you cannot hold your hand a few inches above the fire, then it's ready. I normally use the second shelf, putting hickory chips on the bottom shelf, to give them some smoke, when using the gas grill. When I grill them on the charcoal grill, I just add the hickory chips to the coals, once they are ready.

5. On the gas grill 2nd shelf I cook them approximately 10 minutes per side. On the charcoal grill I usually cook the ribs about 5 minutes per side.

6. When they have sufficiently blackened (to taste, of course), I remove the ribs from the fire and entirely enclose the ribs in foil, making sure the seal is tight.

7. I then place them in a pre-heated 375 degree oven, for approximately 2 to 3 hours.

8. When you remove them from the oven they will be so tender & succulent, they will almost fall off the bone.