Smokin’ Maple ribs from Klondike and the Main Event

By Keith Fisher

Last week I posted the winning team’s desert from Klondike Cook off. We all know, desert should always come first, so I posted the Terry and Stuart Lewis’s pie.

This week, I’m going to post my absolute favorite dish from the cook off. I’ve always been a meat person. I’ve taken pride in my main dish recipes. When I looked at Terry Lewis’s sauce, I accused him of stealing it from me. When, while judging, I tasted the sauce, I knew it was much better. The rib dish Terry served was stand-alone. When they applied the sauce, they created heaven on a bone.

It’s likely they would have won best main dish with the meat alone, but Terry went on to make a rice bed that was mouthwatering. When I added the sauce, the rice almost (not quite though, are you kidding) made me forget the ribs.

So here, with that build up, is the recipe for . . .

Smokin’ Maple Bacon Ribs with Buttered Rice
By Terry and Stuart Lewis, winners of 2009 Klondike Dutch oven Cook off.

Ribs
2 racks baby back ribs (1 ½ lbs each rack)
favorite pork rub
2 oranges (sliced)
2 bottles beer

Sauce
8 slices bacon
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 small onion, diced
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped
1 bottle beer
½ cup maple syrup
1 cup orange or peach marmalade
1 ½ cups catsup
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon mustard powder
2 teaspoons hot sauce
2 tablespoons worchestershire sauce
½ teaspoon Liquid smoke
salt to taste

Rice
2 tablespoons butter
1 ½ cups white rice
½ teaspoon salt
3 cups chicken stock
handful flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
salt and pepper to taste

• Remove membrane from the backside of each rack. Cut between each rib.
  
• Rub al sides with your favorite rub. Place ribs in a zip loc bag to marinate (at least one hour)
  
• Start sauce. Cut bacon into ½ inch chunks. fry until cooked. Add onion, garlic, and jalapeno. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are tender.
  
• Add one bottle of beer. Stirring to loosen all the bits that are stuck to the bottom. Bring mixture to boil. Reduce heat to medium/low and continue to cook until reduced by half.
  
• Add remaining ingredients and return to boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 15-minutes longer, stirring occasionally.
  
• Place ribs in a 12-inch Dutch oven. Add sliced orange, ½ bottle beer (to cover the ribs).
  Simmer for 1 ½ to 2 hours.
  
• When ready, remove ribs and discard boiling mixture. Dip each rib in the sauce and place back in the Dutch oven. Pour enough of the remaining sauce to cover the ribs. Cook for an additional 30 minutes.
  
• Start rice 45 minutes before you need to serve it. Melt butter in a 10-inch Dutch oven. Add rice and toast for about 2 minutes.Add stock and ½ Teaspoon salt. Bring rice to boil. Cover and cook for 20 minutes (until all liquids are absorbed).
  
• Remove from heat and fluff rice with a fork. Stir in parsley. Season with salt and pepper.
  
• Serve with rice in a ring around the outside of a Dutch oven lid. Pour extra sauce into a hollowed out bell pepper in the center, and arrange the ribs on the rice around the pepper bowl.
  

There you have it. Next week, I’ll post the bread recipe. In the mean time, mark your calendars for the Main Event. The 2009 IDOS World Championship Dutch Oven Cookoff will be held at the Sandy, Utah Convention Center, March 12-14. Starting with qualifying rounds Thursday and Friday and the championship on Saturday.

You can root for the Lewis’s as well as many others, and the returning champions from last year. I will be judging on Saturday come and say hi.

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