Cherry-Root Beer BBQ Ribs

Homemade BBQ sauce is a must make this summer, especially when it involves fresh sweet cherries and root beer! Slather it on ribs or your favorite grilled meats.

Well, Argentina laid into the USA soccer team last night. While the outcome was not surprising, I had hoped it would’ve at least been a good game. Alas, it was not the case. Thankfully prior to such destruction I had a most enjoyable time with friends, testing out Lineage’s new rhubarb beer made from local rhubarb. I love that we are able to walk to such places from our neighborhood, especially with weather as beautiful as it was last night. Then on the walk back home the lightning bugs were working overtime as they looked like twinkling Christmas lights in all the trees along the river trail.

As I’ve mentioned before, with all this wonderful weather I’ve been making sure to make use of the grill as much as possible. That patriotic dessert I shared on Monday? It was not the only thing to appear on the menu this past weekend. I also whipped up a homemade BBQ sauce that has sweet cherries and root beer in it – heck yea! I then slathered it on ribs and plan to put it on pretty much everything from now until the end of time (or until I run out). This recipe certainly makes plenty of BBQ sauce to use for many other purposes.

One year ago: Sweet Orange Risotto with Strawberries

Five years ago: Roasted Potato Salad

CHERRY-ROOT BEER BBQ RIBS

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

BBQ SAUCE

1/4 cup unsalted butter

1 medium yellow onion, chopped (about 1 cup)

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 cups dark sweet cherries, pitted

12 oz. tomato paste

1 cup cider vinegar

1 cup honey

1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce

1 cup Dijon mustard

1/2 cup reduced sodium soy sauce

1 cup root beer

2 Tbsp chili powder

1-1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

RIBS

5 lbs. Baby Back or St. Louis ribs

2 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

Directions:

1. For the sauce, heat the oil in a large saucepan over low heat, add the onions, and cook for 10 to 15 minutes until the onions are translucent but not browned.  Add the garlic and cook for 1 more minute.  Add the remaining ingredients and bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes, or until cherries are tender and sauce is thickened, stirring occasionally. Transfer to a blender or use an immersion blender to blend until smooth. Use the sauce immediately or pour into a container and refrigerate.
2. For the ribs, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Line a large sheet pan with aluminum foil.
3. Place the ribs on the sheet pan meat side up and sprinkle them with salt and pepper.  Pour a generous amount of the BBQ sauce on each rack and cover the ribs loosely with aluminum foil.  Bake for 1-1/2 hours for baby backs and 1-3/4 hours for St. Louis ribs, or until the meat is very tender when tested with a fork.  As soon as the ribs are out of the oven, spread them generously with additional BBQ sauce.  Grill right away or refrigerate to grill later.
4. Heat a gas grill to medium-high heat.  Brush the coking grate with oil to keep the ribs from sticking.  Place the ribs on the grill ribs-side-down, put the lid on top (be sure both vents are open), and grill for 5 minutes. Turn the ribs meat-side-down, put the lid back on, and grill for another 4-5 minutes, until nicely browned.  Place on a cutting board, cover tightly with aluminum foil, and allow the ribs to rest for 10 minutes.  Cut into ribs and serve hot with extra BBQ sauce on the side.

Source: Adapted slightly from Ina Garten’s Foolproof Ribs with BBQ Sauce.