Grilled Baby Back Ribs, Buffalo-Style

We’ve done this before and we’ll do it again, because we really like it: grilling something and then cutting it up and tossing it in a Buffalo wings mixture. The combination of the spicy mix and the smoke flavor really works well; in this case, it makes for an appetizer that people are wild about. You have to use the baby back ribs here, because they are tender enough to grill in a relatively short time. Just be sure that you don’t have the ribs directly over the fire while they’re cooking.
Serves8 as an appetizer
Cooking Methodgrilling
CostModerate
Total Timeunder 1 hour
Make Ahead RecipeYes
Kid FriendlyYes
One Pot MealYes
OccasionCocktail Party, Family Get-together
Recipe Coursehors d'oeuvre, hot appetizer
Equipmentgrill
Five Ingredients or LessYes
Mealdinner
Taste and Texturehot & spicy, meaty, smoky
Ingredients
- 2 slabs baby back ribs (20 bones), about 3 pounds total
- 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 15 dashes Tabasco sauce, or more to taste.
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1/3 cup roughly chopped fresh herbs: anyone or a combination of sage, oregano, thyme, basil, and/or parsley
- Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste
- Your favorite blue cheese dressing (optional)
- Celery sticks (optional)
Instructions
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Start a fire well over to one side of a large kettle grill, using about enough coals to fill a large shoe box.
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When the coals are well lit and covered with gray ash, place the meat on the side of the grill away from the coals, being careful that none of the meat is directly over the coals. Put the lid on the grill with the vents open one quarter of the way and cook for 20 minutes. Flip the ribs and cook them for an additional 20 minutes.
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Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine the olive oil, Tabasco, garlic, herbs, and salt and pepper to taste and mix well.
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When the ribs are done, remove them from the fire and cut them apart. Toss them with the sauce mixture to coat thoroughly, then serve with blue cheese dressing and celery sticks if you want.
2000 Christopher Schlesinger and John Willoughby