Ribs and grilled corn

To accompany my delicious cornbread, I turned to the barbecue in a day-long attempt to be Southern. It was tasty. Ribs are my standard birthday request and they are always good because well, they're ribs. I knew Cook's Illustrated could take me further. These are slow cooked (pick a nice afternoon to spend outside tending the grill) and incredibly tender. If you're going to the trouble of spending four hours on ribs, it's not much more to make your own sauce, but store-bought is also acceptable.

Kansas City Style Sweet and Sticky Ribs

• 3 tbsp paprika
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tbsp ground black pepper
• 1 tbsp salt
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 2 full racks pork spareribs, trimmed of any large pieces of excess fat, membrane removed and patted dry
• 1 cup wood chips
• 2 cups bbq sauce

1. Combine paprika, sugar, pepper, salt and cayenne in a small bowl. Massage spice rub into both sides of rib racks.
2. Soak wood chips in bowl of water for 15 minutes, place in small disposable aluminum pan. Place pan directly on primary burner of gas grill, ignite, turn all burners to high and preheat with the lid down until chips are smoking heavily, about 15 minutes. Turn primary burner to medium and shut off other burners, adjusting temperature of primary burner as needed to maintain an average temperature of 275˚. Position ribs over cooler part of grill.
3. Place sheet of vented aluminum foil directly on top of ribs and cover grill. Grill, turning and rotating ribs after each hour for 3 hours. Brush ribs liberally on both sides with sauce, wrap them tightly with aluminum foil and cook until very tender, about 1 hour more.
4. Transfer ribs (still in foil) to cutting board and rest 30 minutes. Unwrap and brush with additional barbecue sauce. Slice ribs between bones and serve with remaining sauce.

And now the sauce:

• 2 tsp vegetable oil
• 1 onion, minced
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 1 cup root beer
• 1 cup cider vinegar
• 1 cup dark corn syrup
• 1/2 cup molasses
• 1/2 cup tomato paste
• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 2 tbsp brown mustard (regular if you can't find brown)
• 1 tbsp hot sauce
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp liquid smoke (optional)

Heat oil in medium saucepan over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add onion and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Whisk in remaining ingredients except liquid smoke, and bring to boil. Reduce to simmer until mixture is thick and has reduced to 4 cups, about 1 hour. Stir in liquid smoke if using-I didn't.

Corn is so plentiful this time of year that one could ALMOST get tired of eating it boiled on the cob with lots of butter and salt. For a nice change of pace, try Mexican-style grilled corn.

• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 3 tbsp sour cream
• 3 tbsp minced cilantro leaves
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• 3/4 tsp chili powder
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 4 tsp lime juice
• 1 ounce Pecorino Romano, grated (about 1/2 cup, I substituted parmesan)
• 4 tsp vegetable oil
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 6 large ears of corn, husks and silk removed

1. Turn all burners to high and heat with lid down until very hot. Scrape and oil grate.
2. Combine mayonnaise through cheese in large bowl. In second bowl, mix oil and salt. Brush evenly onto corn and grill until lightly charred on all sides. Remove from grill and bursh with mayonnaise mixture, serve immediately.