My sister came into town a couple of weeks ago, and we decided to have a mini family reunion. We invited our cousin and his family to come down, and our focus turned to what we should cook. Well, I’m thinking ribs. What’s better on a summer afternoon cookout then ribs?

My sister then blurts out her ribs are better than mine, and her kids are nodding in agreement. Besides not even having my ribs before, this is a pretty bold statement to tell your host! I’m not one to take the insults to my ribs easily, so I did the only thing I could do: IT’S A RIB COOKOFF!It’s a good old fashion throw down challenge!

Unfortunately it didn’t happen. She backs off and tells me she doesn’t have the recipe with her, forgot where she found it, couldn’t find it on the internet, etc, etc…

We ended up having ribs AND chicken at the BBQ.

But to her credit, she came through today with the recipe for her ribs. So it looks like a Throw Down after all: one cook, 2 recipes and the Fourth of July weekend. What could be better?


My recipe: I am a big fan of a dry rub Tennessee style rib, BBQ sauce is optional (I go without, but you can add BBQ sauce in the last 10 minutes of cooking). I took the dry rub from this recipe: Bubbas bunch barbecued baby back ribs I also cook the ribs “low and slow” and stacked on top of each other, rotating every 15 minutes or so, it lets the ribs self baste. They are on the grill for about 3 hours.

My sister’s recipe: from Food and Wine Magazine:Apple glazed barbecued baby back ribs She substitutes apple cider vinegar for the apple cider.

The food was great, both sets of ribs were wonderful. Denise’s has a glaze finish to it that brings a good amount of sweetness to it. My ribs are classic and savory with a bit of a bite to it.

But we did have a unanimous decision: MINE! Everybody who tasted liked the savory side of just a bit more then the sweeter ribs.

Cheers!

Eric