Summer Days

By Lori Powell

Ribs are so delicious and summer is the best time for them since they are messy, necessitating a picnic table and the outdoors to consume them properly. All ribs are pretty scrumptious, and I usually like mine super-meaty, like country style ribs.

But baby back ribs are making a comeback at my house. Since they are not as meaty, they don’t take as long to cook and the upside is that there is a lot more bone to meat – yes, upside, since the bone adds flavor.

Below is a super simple recipe that requires really no prep and the grill does the rest of the work...cook ‘em low and slow. To serve on the side is the ubiquitous bakejavascript:noop()d potato stuffed with sour cream and scallions.

Since moving to Pennsylvania I have eaten my way through the abundance of great homemade salads, and one category is coleslaw. The Allentown Farmers’ Market, an indoor market that sells meat, poultry, fish, produce and assorted prepared goods, has a plethora of Dutch-style salads. At last count I think there were at least 10 varieties of coleslaw alone – steakhouse slaw, creamy slaw, spicy slaw, pepper slaw, sweet and sour slaw, Betty’s slaw, confetti slaw – I could go on.

Here’s my version of slaw, Pepper Cabbage (a Pennsylvania great), to go with the grilled baby back ribs.

To get the Grilled Baby Back Ribs recipe and shopping list on your smartphone (iPhone, BlackBerry, Android device) or PC, click here.

Grilled Baby Back Ribs and Potatoes
Serves 2

1 large onion, sliced
1 ¼ cups prepared barbecue sauce, divided (I like Annie’s)
1 (2-pound) rack baby back ribs
2 large baking potatoes, scrubbed and pricked with a fork
2 teaspoons olive oil
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
¼ cup sour cream
3 tablespoons chopped scallion greens (green onion)

Preheat grill to medium. Tear off 1 large sheet of heavy duty aluminum foil. Arrange onion slices in one layer in the middle and top of one sheet of foil, topping with ½ cup of the barbecue sauce, followed by the ribs and then ½ cup of the barbecue sauce. Bring the bottom edge of foil up to meet the top edge and roll down the top to seal edges, doing the same on the side ends. Place on grill and lower heat to low.

Tear off 2 smaller squares of foil and top each with a potato. Drizzle each with half of oil and season with salt and pepper. Wrap tightly in foil and add to grill. Cook ribs and potatoes, turning once or twice until ribs are super tender and potatoes yield when you squeeze them with tongs, for 1 to 1 ¼ hours.

Carefully remove from foil and cut apart ribs. Halve potatoes and top with sour cream and scallions. Serve with remaining ¼ cup barbecue sauce on side.

To get the Pepper Cabbage recipe and shopping list on your smartphone (iPhone, BlackBerry, Android device) or PC, click here.

Pepper Cabbage
Serves 2 to 4
You could chop the cabbage and pepper in a food processor instead of by hand.

1 cup chopped green cabbage
¾ cup finely chopped green bell pepper
6 tablespoons cider vinegar
3 tablespoons honey
½ teaspoon celery seed
1/8 teaspoon hot pepper flakes
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Toss in a heatproof glass or ceramic bowl, toss together cabbage and bell pepper. Combine remaining ingredients in a small non-reactive saucepan and bring to a simmer. Immediately pour over vegetables in bowl and toss to combine. Let cool completely and chill for at least 12 hours before serving. Season with salt and pepper before serving.

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