Recipe: Wicked Jezebel Ribs

the appetizer:

The Global Gourmet's Editor Kate Heyhoe presents The Stubb's Bar-B-Q Cookbook about C. B. Stubblefield, a culinary legend, and brings his best recipes to your home kitchen, from Wicked Jezebel Ribs and Rubmaster's Grill-Roasted Drums to sides like Stubb's Cole Slaw.

Wicked Jezebel Ribs

Serves 4 to 6

Wicked Jezebel Ribs

The Wicked Jezebel Glaze in this recipe is fruity, tangy, and mildly spicy with a golden hue. It simply combines Jezebel Sauce (below) with wing sauce. Barbecue and specialty stores sell all sorts of wing sauces (Stubb's Wicked Wing Sauce is preferred), but if you don't have any on hand, just replace the wing sauce here with equal parts barbecue sauce and hot sauce. To complement the fruit and horseradish glaze, mix up the Coriander-Mustard Rub below, or to save time, use a premixed rub, one that's lighter on chiles and stronger in mustard and herb flavors, like Stubb's Herbal Mustard Rub.

2 tablespoons all-purpose seasoning salt
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1 tablespoon ground mustard
1 tablespoon yellow mustard seed
1 tablespoon poultry seasoning
2 teaspoons paprika
1 cup Jezebel Sauce (see below; make half the recipe)
1/4 cup bottled wing sauce, or equal parts barbecue sauce and hot sauce
Two (2- to 3-pound) racks of baby back ribs

1. In a small bowl, combine the seasoning salt, sugar, coriander, ground mustard, mustard seed, poultry seasoning, and paprika. In another bowl, combine the Jezebel Sauce and wing sauce and refrigerate until ready to use.

2. Pull off the thin membrane from the underside of the ribs (Tip: Once you've loosened a corner of the membrane, grab it with a paper towel and pull; the paper towel keeps it from slipping out of your fingers. Removing the membrane makes ribs easier to eat and allows more spice and smoke flavor to penetrate the ribs.) Blot each rack of ribs with a paper towel to dry. Season the ribs on all sides with the spice rub mixture and pat it in with your fingers. Leave the ribs at room temperature for up to 1 hour if you're planning to grill them soon. Or refrigerate them up to overnight, wrapped tightly in plastic wrap; bring them to room temperature before grilling.

3. Prepare a grill for indirect cooking (see page xix of the book's Introduction). For a charcoal grill, when the coals are ashed over, rake or spread them out in one part of the grill so the food can cook to the side and not directly over the coals. (For a gas grill, fire up the burners on one part of the grill, so the food can cook to the side of the heat but not directly over it.) Cover the grill and bring it to between 250 and 275 degrees F.

4. Cook the ribs bone side down, over indirect heat, with the grill lid closed, for 1-1/2 to 2 hours, or until the meat just starts to shrink back from the ends of the bones. (Don't overcook; meat should shrink back less than 1/4 inch.) To ensure even cooking, set an oven thermometer next to the ribs, also over indirect heat. During the last 30 minutes of cooking, baste the ribs with the sauce mixture every 10 minutes. Set the rib racks on a baking sheet and cover with foil; let them rest for 10 to 20 minutes, then slice and serve.

Jezebel Sauce

(makes 2 cups; use 1 cup for Wicked Jezebel Ribs above, and serve the rest with cream cheese and crackers)

1 cup pineapple preserves
2/3 cup apple jelly
5 tablespoons Creole mustard or whole-grain brown mustard
5 tablespoons prepared horseradish

In a small bowl, combine all ingredients; cover and chill. For best results let the flavors meld overnight. Jezebel Sauce will keep refrigerated at least 4 weeks.