July 4th Menu

Well, its been a little while, and I'm way behind on posting - so lets go back to July 4th!
The menu is -

Grilled Tomatoes with Parmesan Cheese
Triple Liquor Baby Back Ribs with
Baked Potato - Pickled Deviled Eggs - Crab Pasta Salad

Ready to dive right in? - Well lets start with the Carolina BBQ sauce I made for the ribs....

Ingredients:

• 1 cup prepared yellow mustard
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup light brown sugar
• 3/4 cup cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon white pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
• 1/2 teaspoon soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 tablespoon liquid smoke (hickory flavoring)

Yield Makes around 2 1/4 cups

1. Mix all except soy, butter and smoke. Simmer 30 minutes. Stir in remaining ingredients and simmer for 10 more minutes.

 Not that tough huh?

Well lets get to the Grilled Tomatoes with Parmesan Cheese-

Ingredients -

• 1 ripe tomatoes
• 1 teaspoon zesty Italian salad dressing
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 tablespoons FRESH  Parmesan - shredded
• 1 Romaine heart

Directions

1. Preheat the grill to medium and wipe down the grates with oil.
2. Stem and wash the tomatoes.
3. Slice each tomato in half.
4. Drizzle each half with zesty Italian salad dressing.
5. Place tomatoes on the grill cut side down.
6. Grill for approximately 3 minutes or until each has nice grill marks.
7. Remove from grill and salt and pepper each to taste.
8. Sprinkle with approximately 1 tablespoon of cheese and allow it to slightly melt.
9. Garnish with basil & romaine heart type lettuce
10. Serve while warm.

Note - My wife REALLY doesn't like tomatoes- she ate ALL of this.....

Well now the fun part.....RIBS!!!!!

Total time: 3¾ hours Prep time: 45 min

• 3 racks of baby-back pork ribs
• 12 ounces beer (PBR)
• 1 large onion, quartered
• 6 garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 cups favorite barbecue sauce
• 3-6 ounces favorite whiskey (Jaimeson)
• 1/3 cup orange marmalade
• 1/4 cup a-1 steak sauce
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 3 ounces favorite dark rum (I used Bacardi)

1. Cut each pork rack into 3 to 4 pieces.
2. In a large pot, boil enough water to fully submerse ribs.
3. Add the onion, garlic, ribs, and beer to the boiling water.
4. Bring to a slow boil, cover and cook for 30-45 minutes.
5. While the meat is cooking, combine BBQ sauce and whiskey in a bowl(mix to taste).
6. Remove boiled ribs from pot and liberally coat with BBQ sauce and wrap tightly with aluminum foil.
7. Put ribs in a roasting pan in a 200°F oven for 2 hours.
8. While ribs are roasting, combine remaining ingredients to make the glaze.
9. When the ribs are done roasting, remove from foil and grill over a low heat for about 15-20 minutes, turning 4-6 times and brushing with glaze after each turn.

Whew - well I wish I could give you the recipe for the pickled eggs and the crab pasta but, those were my wifes doing,... =)
Also - the ribs were fall off the bone moist and flavorful, I added in a dry rub before the grilling but I honestly don't recall what rub it was =(
Oh well!