Wok's For Dinner: Barbecued Babyback Ribs

Wow, April is practically half-over. It's time to sweep away the remains of Winter's dreary days and pull out the lawn chairs, bug zapper and heat up the grill!

Tricia and Cortney at Once a Month Mom are seeking grill recipes. Got a favorite you'd like to share? Email them at tricia@onceamonthmom.com and submit your favorite.

Here's one of our favs. My husband had a bad experience with ribs when he was a child (something about losing a tooth when he bit into one). He refused to eat ribs the first 6 or so years of our marriage, until I served up this recipe. And he loves it! The rub is a variation of several recipes that I had stumbled across that I "mixed and matched." I even tried it out on my father-in-law, who is a rib fanatic, and got rave reviews from him.

Barbecued Babyback Ribs

Ingredients:

2 racks pork baby back ribs
1/2 cup dark brown sugar, firmly packed
1/2 cup paprika
2 Tbsp black pepper
1/4 cup garlic salt
1/8 - 1/4 cup chili powder
1 - 2 Tbsp dry mustard
Barbecue sauce (bottled or homemade, your preference)

Directions:

Remove the membrane on back of ribs. Rinse racks under cold water; pat dry with paper towels. In a medium bowl, stir together brown sugar with seasonings. Combine until all lumps are gone. Rub seasoning mixture on both sides of ribs--lay it on thick! Put your ribs into a large gallon-size plastic bag. Squeeze all the air out before sealing, then refrigerate overnight.

Next day, when you're ready to cook: remove ribs from refrigerator and plastic bag. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F, making sure you move the oven rack into the center position of the oven first. Get a large baking dish or pan and line with foil. Place ribs on the foil in the pan; cover ribs with more foil. Bake for 90 minutes. (One benefit of cooking ribs is that you can leave 'em and forget 'em. Pop them in the oven and load the dishwasher, fold a load of laundry, put together a puzzle with the kids...there's plenty of time to get creative!)

About 10-15 minutes before ribs are done baking, prepare your grill. You'll need about 2 1/2 lbs of charcoal for a charcoal grill; for a gas grill, heat grill on high heat then set to medium.

After ribs have baked for 90 minutes, remove pan from oven, remove foil, then remove ribs to a large plate.. Transfer ribs to grill rack. Grill 5 minutes per side. Ribs are ready when rib meat offers a bit of resistance then tears apart easily, using "pull apart" test (hold two bones and give them a pull). You can baste the ribs with barbecue sauce or serve it on the side.