London Summer Barbecue

My neighbours may have been a bit puzzled this past Saturday morning, when whiffs of barbecue greeted them at 7.30am.  I suppose it's nearly like waking up to the smell of bacon... nearly.  Thirty minutes before, I was fast at work rubbing two sets of ribs in preparation for an end of Summer party we were having.  The early start was well worth it, as the ribs seemed to get pretty good reviews - the brilliant thing was how easy the recipe was... no faffing around with boiling or homemade marinades, yet the end result is fall-off-the-bone, barbecuey goodness.  The recipe comes from my vegetarian aunt from Michigan:

Baby Back Ribs


1 rack baby-back ribs
1 bottle favorite bbq sauce
salt and pepper
any steak rub


1. Rub ribs with favourite steak/meat rub and salt & pepper, and grill 6-8 minutes per side. (Can stop after this step and wrap ribs in fridge until ready to cook.)
2. Let ribs cool slightly until safe to handle. Cut into individual ribs. Place ribs in a roasting pan and cover with bbq sauce.
3. Bake for 5-6 hours at 110 degrees Celsius (225 degrees F) until falling off the bone.


I also made some salsas, using the ever trusty Salsa Bible - Mark Miller's The Great Salsa Book.





One in particular seemed to be a crowd-pleaser and it's the first salsa I ever made from this book (so also a personal favourite, and brilliantly not much chopping required):


Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 onion, peeled and chopped
• 2 lbs roma (or plum) tomatoes, blackened
• 4 teaspoons finely minced roasted garlic
• 1/2 cup minced fresh cilantro leaves
• 4 chipotle chiles in adobo, chopped
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar

Directions:

1. 1
   Heat a tablespoon of oil in a saute pan over medium heat until lightly smoking, add the onion and saute until carmelized, about 10 minutes or so.
2. 2
   Transfer the onion, half the blackened tomatoes and garlic to a food processor and pulse until finely chopped but not pureed. Add the cilantro and chipotle chiles and pulse again to mix.
3. 3
   Peel, seed and chop the remaining tomatoes tomatoes and fold in along with the remaining oil, vinegar, salt and sugar.
4. 4
   Serve chilled or at room temp with chips, red meat or chicken.