JAR's Race Day Ribs- Jamaican Jerk Style
One batch of this recipe is enough to marinate 10 to 12 pounds of ribs.
"This is a recipe for Jamaican Jerk ribs that I've been making for a few years. Traditionally I do this up on the Sunday before Memorial day (500 Mile Race Day here in Indy), 4th of July, Labor Day, and alsosometimes on a portable gas grill at baseball game tailgate parties. Purists be forewarned: this is a marinate/parboil/quick-grill recipe. The idea is to minimize
the amount of work that has to be done at the cooking site in order to serve a lot of tasty ribs to a large number of people fairly quickly.
Ellen's note: this muulti-step cooking is also how to get the tenderest, juiciest, SAFEST well-cooked BBQ ribs.
"The last time I did these for a race day party I did two batches each of six slabs of baby-backs (about 2 lbs. per slab). I marinate and parboil each batch of six slabs in its own covered 8 quart enameled steel roasting pot/pan. Use glass or enamel or stainless steel. DO NOT use aluminum or cast iron. I have noticed that baby-backs from the grocery store tend to weigh less per slab and have a lot more fat on them than the ones I get from my butcher. Fatty ribs cook faster and have less meat per pound. Some leanness is desirable, since this cooking method will get the ribs literally falling-off-the-bone done.
Ranges and substitution recommendations within parentheses represent variations I have tried before. I'm not real picky about measurements when I make this, and I substitute according to what I have at hand. If you like it hot, use the larger quantities of the dried peppers. If you don't, use the lesser amount of caliente. If you can't get shallots or scallions, use more onion. There really isn't any acceptable substitute for allspice and fresh grated ginger root.
Background:
This recipe was born when I tired of using bottled Jerk marinades, which were becoming a significant expense for the quantities I was getting involved with as well. So I decided to try out the Frug's Jamaican Jerk Pork marinade recipe. After a summer of experimentation it had evolved into this. I do not claim this is authentic Jamaican. I've had many people tell me that it is quite good and I get lots of requests for the recipe.
Marinade
1 large onion, chopped (or 3 medium onions - about 2 cups)
6 shallots, chopped (or another medium onion)
6 scallions (green onions), chopped
6 cloves of garlic, pressed or chopped
5 TBS fresh ginger root, grated or chopped
4 TBS freshly ground whole Jamaican allspice
1.5 tsp nutmeg
1.5 tsp cinnamon
1.5 tsp salt
2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 or 3 habenero peppers OR substitute 3 to 5 TBS caliente sauce
4 or 5 chiles pequin, dried OR (minced jalapeno) for all dried peppers)
2 cups boiling water for the pepper prep
2 TBS peanut oil (or other vegetable oil)
1 pint lime juice (I like Nellie and Joe's Key Lime juice)
For parboiling:
2 12 oz. bottles of beer
For grilling:
Your "tools of the trade" (tongs, meat fork, basting brush)
Your favorite BBQ sauce to baste(optional, or use marinade)
More beer
Preparation:
Please be careful when handling hot peppers. You may wish to use latex kitchen gloves. You should not touch your eyes or any sensitive area after handling hot peppers without very thoroughly washing your hands first. Believe me, I learned this the hard way!
To prepare the dried peppers, boil 2 cups of water. Turn off heat and steep the peppers 10 minutes in the hot water. Stem, seed, and chop the peppers finely.
Unwrap the ribs and use a heavy kitchen knife or cleaver to chop each slab in half about in the middle (6-7 ribs down). Or if you like, you can have your butcher do this for you.
Put all marinade ingredients except beer in food processor or blender and blend or process until thoroughly mixed and chopped. It doesn't have to be pureed -- I prefer it a bit on the chunky side. Place a layer half-slabs into the pot. Pour on some marinade, then poke with a fork, turn, and rub the marinade well into the meat. If you made it hot hot, wear the gloves,
watch the eyes, etc. Repeat layers for the remaining meat and marinade. Pour any remaining marinade over the top. Cover and marinate overnight in the refrigerator.
In the morning, preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Pour the beers slowly down the side of the pot. Cover and cook 2 hours. Baste occasionally to keep ribs on top moist. Remove from oven and allow to cool for about a half an hour.
For transport hot to the grilling site, either remove slabs from the pot or put each pot in a plastic garbage bag lined with the Sunday paperto prevent grease and marinade from sloshing out. To finish, grill about five minutes per side or more over low heat, basting with your favorite BBQ sauce or the marinade. Grill within 2 hours or removal from oven for food safety's sake. If not, refrigerate immediately and plan to grill 10-15 minutes per side, still over low grill heat.
Now pour yourself a beer, chomp into a slab, and raise a toast to the pig...
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