Harvard Common Press

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Recipe of the Day:

Rendezvous-Style Baby Back Ribs

Thursday June 11, 2009

When you want to grill ribs, tender baby backs are your choice. Charlie Vergos, my longtime barbecue buddy and founder of the Rendezvous Restaurant in Memphis, Tennessee, has sold boxcar loads of grilled baby backs to enthusiastic rib eaters since 1948. Now his kids run the Rendezvous while Charlie’s legacy lives on. I like the restaurant’s slogan: “Not since Adam has a rib been this famous.” The Rendezvous sells them “wet,” with Charlie’s liquid barbecue sauce, or “dry,” covered with a special mix of dry seasonings. When I slow-smoke ribs, I usually remove the membrane from the back of the slab. But when grilling, I leave it on, because the fire tends to shrivel the membrane away from the meat, making its removal unnecessary.

For Rendezvous-style baby back ribs, choose the special Rendezvous seasoning (available at http://www.hogsfly.com), a mild chili powder, or a dry rub that you like—it’s the seasoning that gives ribs their signature flavor. I like to serve these ribs with doctored-up coleslaw: Add chopped sweet red and yellow bell peppers to a bag of prepared coleslaw and mix it in a bowl with your favorite sour or creamy dressing.

Overview

• Serves 4

Ingredients

• 4 full slabs baby back ribs
• 1 cup Rendezvous or other dry barbecue seasoning, plus more for “dry” ribs
• 1 cup apple cider vinegar for “dry” ribs
• Bottled barbecue sauce of your choice for “wet” ribs

Instructions

1. Sprinkle both sides of each slab with seasoning and set aside.
2. Fill a charcoal chimney with briquets, set the chimney on the bottom grill grate, and light. When the coals are ready, dump them into the bottom of the grill and spread evenly. For a gas grill, turn to medium.
3. Grill whole slabs, turning every five minutes, until done, about 45 minutes. Ribs are done when the meat pulls away from the ends of the bones. Just before serving “dry” ribs, sprinkle or spray cooked ribs with cider vinegar and add more dry seasoning. To make “wet” ribs, brush cooked ribs with barbecue sauce.

Print or online media may reprint this recipe with the following attribution: “Excerpted from 25 Essentials: Techniques for Grilling by Ardie A. Davis. (c) 2009, used by permission of The Harvard Common Press.”