Jack Daniel's BBQ Ribs

Well, another holiday is fast approaching, so it’s time again for one of my favorite holiday recipes. I took Momma, a very, very, very good Baptist, over to the dark side with this recipe. As you probably well know, any Baptist worth her salt wouldn’t be caught dead in a liquor store. Momma’s solution was to come over to my house to bum some Jack for her BBQ sauce, but I finally had to cut her off. So, she calls me the other day and asks if I’d like to go to lunch. I pick her up, and she sheepishly asks, “Will you go to the liquor store with me to buy some Jack Daniel’s?” We walk into the liquor store, and Momma is confused and overwhelmed. I explained to her that drunks are easily confused, and they post gynormous red signs for them. “See,” I say, pointing, “there’s the ‘TN Whiskey’ sign.”

Momma kept looking around nervously. I think she might have felt more inconspicuous had she not been wearing her lime green VBS T-shirt. Perhaps I will school her in covert operations next.

My point being, any recipe that can get a good, God-fearing, Baptist woman into a liquor store is one worth trying!

4 lbs pork ribs

Jack Daniel’s BBQ Sauce
½ c Jack Daniel’s (up to 1 c and as little as ¼ c can be used)
½ c brown sugar (the Splenda brown sugar product is actually pretty good in this if you’re watching your sugar)
1 c catsup
2 tsp worcestershire sauce
¼ c vinegar
1 Tbsp FRESH lemon juice
3 cloves garlic, minced
½ tsp dry mustard (if you don’t keep dry mustard in your pantry, don’t go out and buy it – a squirt of yellow mustard will work fine)
salt & pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients for sauce. Cooking is not necessary unless you are using the Splenda brown sugar – if I’m using that, I’ll cook it on the stovetop (medium heat) for about 5 min. or so. Place ribs in stock-pot. Cover with water & parboil for approximately 20 minutes. (For you non-foodies, parboil is basically a fancy-smancy word for “boil”). Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Remove ribs from pot & water and place on foil lined roasting pan (keep a little water in the pan – under the foil - throughout the cooking process to keep the ribs from drying out). Pour about ½ of sauce over ribs. Top with foil and bake for 2 ½ to 3 hours. I baste the ribs throughout the cooking time with the remaining sauce (maybe every 30 minutes or so).