Grilled Baby-Back Ribs With Birmingham Barbecue Sauce

The “Cooking School” Collection 2012

Assistant Principal Mary Sowada

Mary of Lourdes Elementary and Middle Schools

Little Falls, Minnesota

  

Yummm!!! Talk about finger lickin’ good! Mary Sowada and her husband, Gary, found this exceptional recipe for pork baby-back ribs in Joe Famularo’s “The Joy of Grilling” cookbook about 15 years ago. It is their all-time family favorite.

“Everybody loves these ribs,” Mary said. “This is our kids’ favorite meal and what they always request for their birthdays or other special occasions! Whenever we’ve made them for friends, they want the recipe.”

These ribs sound so tempting and mouthwatering that I can hardly wait for Minnesota’s snow to melt and our grilling season to return. I’ll be dreaming about trying them until then! CJK

Grilled Baby-Back Ribs 

With Birmingham Barbecue Sauce

(Mary Sowada)

5 to 6 lbs. pork baby-back ribs

3 tbsp. peanut oil

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 medium onion, minced

2/3 cup tomato catsup

1/2 cup cider vinegar

1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce

2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice

2 tsp. dry mustard

1 tsp. ground ginger

1 1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 cup honey

2 tbsp. brown sugar

Trim the ribs, including fat and membrane, leaving the rack of ribs whole and at room temperature.

Combine all other ingredients, except the honey and brown sugar, to make a marinade. Lay ribs flat in a glass or ceramic dish and pour marinade over them. Allow ribs to marinate at least four hours. (Or refrigerate overnight to gain maximum flavor. Bring to room temperature before grilling.)

Remove the ribs from marinade. Scrape marinade from ribs with a rubber spatula and reserve. Grill ribs over a slow fire for about 40 minutes, turning every five minutes. (Take care to not let the fire flare up and burn them.)

Place reserved marinade in a saucepan and add sugar and honey. Heat only until the sugar is dissolved. Brush on ribs and continue grilling about 20 minutes more, basting as often as necessary to keep ribs moist.

Slice ribs just before serving.

Yield: 10 to 12 servings

A note from Mary: Gary grills the ribs while I prepare other dishes for the meal. He would tell you to watch them carefully and to keep a spray bottle near the grill to put out any flames. Flare-ups occur and you don’t want to burn the ribs.

My recommendation is to have lots of napkins on hand.

A note from Carol: This is Mary’s first year as assistant principal for Mary of Lourdes Elementary and Middle Schools in Little Falls. (Maria Heymans-Becker is the principal for both schools.)

Mary has taught in a number of locations over the years — a majority of those positions were overseas in international schools or language schools in cities where the couple was living. Gary’s work as a computer programmer for the airlines took them to Belgrade, Yugoslavia; Mexico City, Mexico; Helsinki, Finland; France; and Copenhagen, Denmark.

Mary and Gary are the parents of three children: Sebastian (16), Sophia (12) and Katherine (8). The Sowadas live on the family farm near Little Falls where Gary grew up. They are members of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Little Falls.