This has to be the easiest way to make ribs ever. I will never ever again wash a pan I boiled ribs in. Not only do you loose flavor but it makes a terrible mess!

I started doing ribs this way last summer and now make them at least once a month. I use baby back ribs that I get at Costco. Usually I cook all three slabs. I do use a rib rack, the one in the picture is made by Steven Raichlen and it is very heavy and coated well. I found a cheap one last summer and it changed the way I cook ribs for forever! I salt and pepper both sides of the ribs well. I also use Penzey’s BBQ seasoning on them liberally. If I feel like it a little garlic powder is good also. It really is up to you. I place the ribs in the rack that has been sprayed with Pam. My grill has 3 burners on it and I don’t lite one. I keep the grill at about 300 degrees. I place the rack over the unlit area of the grill. As usual I forgot to take a picture until after they started cooking. In this picture the ribs had been on the grill about 45 minutes.

It is up to you if you want to add wood chips for smoke or not. Today it was still raining out so I decided to skip this step. The ribs were on the grill for almost 3 hours before I added the barbecue sauce, in this case it was Sweet Baby Ray’s Honey Chipotle, which my husband loves. I brush the sauce on the last 15 minutes of cooking on both sides. Here they are all finished. Don’t they look fabulous?

I got this recipe from a friend of mine. She made it for a home party I went to. I absolutely love it and will be making it often this summer. The dressing is light with a orange ginger flavor. It is good served right when you make it or you can wait until it chills. It could be served as a main course salad, it has lots of chicken in it.

Sula’s Orange Chicken Pasta Salad

Dressing
1 cup mayonnaise (I use fat free)
½ cup (from the can) orange juice
2 t. dried basil leaves
¼ t. ground ginger

Salad
4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves, cooked and cubed (about 2 cups cubed)…I’ve also used the frozen cooked Tyson chicken to expedite the preparation time.
2 cups rotini pasta, not over cooked and drained
1 can (11 oz.) mandarin orange segments, drained
½ cup chopped pecans
½ cup dried cranberries

Mix the first four ingredients together. If salad is not going to be served right away, double the amount of dressing as the salad tends to be dry if it has been chilled. Reserve ½ to 1 cup of dressing to add just before serving.

Pour the dressing over the remainder of the ingredient in a large bowl. Mix lightly. If you make this too far ahead of time, the noodles and chicken soak up the dressing.

Delicious!

Stay tuned for tomorrow’s ribs! It started pouring and severe weather warnings just as I was going out to do them tonight so they are now on tomorrows menu. They are cooked with rum and pineapple. I can’t wait to see how they turn out. I’m going to truly try to keep this blog updated.

I have a turkey on the grill right now and decided I may as well take pictures of the process. First I brined the turkey for 6 hours in salt, brown sugar and water. I used 2 cups of kosher salt, 1 cup brown sugar and water to cover the turkey. I also add some ice to the water to get it cold faster. Refrigerate until ready to grill. I brined this one about 6 hours.

When you are ready to grill, remove the turkey from the brine and rinse. Place the turkey on a cookie sheet or aluminum pan that has been lined with foil.

Heat your grill. My grill has 3 burners so I turn the middle burner down low, the end one off and the one where I keep the smoking chips on high. My grill stays around 375 degrees doing it this way.

I soaked some oak and mesquite wood chips for 15 minutes before grilling, I added 1/3 to my wood chip tray over the high burner. You will add the rest of the chips during the cooking at any point while you are checking in on the turkey. I can’t help it I have to open the grill and adding the chips give me a reason too! This is what my turkey looked like when I first checked it after a hour.

I also add a butter herb mop to the turkey with a brush.

Turkey Mop

1/2 cup butter
1 cup chicken stock
2 cloves garlic - crushed or 1 teaspoon garlic powder
4 tablespoons assorted fresh herbs

Melt butter with chicken stock. Add fresh herbs and garlic, cook for a few minutes and remove from heat. Brush on turkey several times while grilling.

Note: This time instead of the fresh herbs I normally use, I used Penzey’s Mural of Flavor. If you haven’t tried this mixture yet from Penzey’s, sample it next time. I love it and use it as a seasoning mixture on everything from burgers to chicken.

This is what my turkey looked like at a little over 2 hours.

This was a 12 lb. Honeysuckle White turkey. This guy is one of a couple turkey still left from last holiday season. I learned when I first moved here that turkeys are not really stocked year around so they can be really pricey in the summer. I always stock up so I have turkey for summer grilling.

This is our turkey as he sits resting before dinner. We have a new puppy and the smell of this turkey is driving her crazy!