Eye for a Recipe

The best ribs are cooked low and slow on a charcoal grill—but who has time to tend to the barbecue for hours? Instead, bake your ribs in a tangy marinade, pop them on the grill and baste them with your favourite barbecue sauce. This recipe from Lucy Waverman even gives you a great shortcut to make “half homemade” barbecue sauce.

Avoiding Additives and Preservatives

Look for a Dijon without white wine or sulfites and make sure your spices do not contain colour or anti-caking agents. Heinz ketchup, Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce and Tabasco original hot sauce are all additive-free. I used Miss Diana’s barbecue sauce as the base for my sauce.

Pour the liquid over the ribs in a baking dish

Bake for about 90 minutes

Separate ribs and grill, basting with barbecue sauce

Oven-baked ribs

Ingredients:

2 racks pork back ribs

Marinade

1 cup (250 ml) water

1 cup (250 ml) cider vinegar

¼ cup (60 ml) Dijon mustard

3 tbsp (45 ml) brown sugar

1 tsp (5 ml) hot-pepper flakes

½ tsp (2.5 ml) cayenne

½ tsp (2.5 ml) salt

Half homemade spicy rib sauce

1 cup (250 ml) store-bought barbecue sauce

¼ cup (60 ml) ketchup

½ cup (125 ml) cider vinegar

1 tbsp (15 ml) Worcestershire sauce

Juice of one lemon

1 tsp (5 ml) hot-pepper sauce

1 tsp (5 ml) cayenne pepper

1 tbsp (15 ml) chili powder

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 F (177 C).

Remove the membrane covering the bones as that stops the rub from properly absorbing. Using a small, sharp knife, work the tip under the thin membrane until you have enough to grasp. Then, using your fingers, peel it back and discard. It is easiest to start in the middle and pull each part away from the bones. Place ribs in a baking dish.

Whisk together water, vinegar, mustard, sugar, pepper flakes, cayenne and salt until sugar dissolves. Pour over ribs and cover with foil. Bake for 1 to 1 ½ hours or until ribs are tender. Reserve ribs and discard liquid.

Preheat barbecue to medium and oil the grill. Grill ribs for 25 minutes or until brown and crispy, turning occasionally.

Meanwhile, combine sauce ingredients and simmer for 5 minutes.

Brush with barbecue sauce of your choice and continue cooking until sauce is glazed, about 15 minutes. Cut into ribs and serve with more barbecue sauce. Serves 4.

From Lucy Waverman

This delicious crumble from Lucy Waverman has been a big hit this summer. Fresh rhubarb and strawberries are tossed with spices, sugar, orange zest and butter and then topped with a mixture of sugar, flour, butter and either rolled oats or granola. Pop it in the oven and then serve the warm crumble with ice cream. Yum!

Avoiding Additives and Preservatives

Make sure your spices don’t contain colour or anti-caking agents. Granola may contain preservatives; I used plain rolled oats. Look for butter that does not contain colour.

Mix rhubarb and strawberries with spices, orange zest and butter

Strawberry-Rhubarb Crumble

Ingredients:

4 cups (1 L) chopped rhubarb, cut into 2-inch pieces

2 cups (500 ml) sliced strawberries

½ cup (125 ml) brown sugar

1 tsp (5 ml) ground ginger

½ tsp (2 ml) cinnamon

½ tsp (2 ml) nutmeg

2 tbsp (30 ml) grated orange rind

1 tbsp (15 ml) cold butter, cubed

Topping

½ cup (125 ml) brown sugar

½ cup (125 ml) all-purpose flour

¾ cup (175 ml) granola or rolled oats

½ cup (125 ml) butter

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 375 F (190 C).

Combine rhubarb, strawberries, brown sugar, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, orange rind and butter in a large bowl. Toss to combine. Pour into an 8 x 8-inch (20 x 20-cm) metal baking dish.

Mix together sugar, flour and granola. Cut in the butter with a pastry knife until the mixture looks crumbly. Sprinkle topping over baking dish, making sure the whole surface is covered.

Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until the top is browned and the rhubarb syrup is bubbling. Serves 6.

From Lucy Waverman

You can make these tangy chicken wings from Lucy Waverman on either a gas grill or a charcoal barbecue, but the latter infuses them with delicious smoky flavour. These couldn’t be simpler to make; just combine hot sauce, cider vinegar and melted butter, toss the wings with oil salt and pepper, and grill them, basting every few minutes with some sauce. Cook’s note: keep the basting sauce separate from the serving sauce to avoid contamination from the raw chicken. You may also want to take it easy when salting the wings, as most hot sauces are very salty.

Avoiding Additives and Preservatives

There are lots of great hot sauces out there, and many don’t have artificial ingredients. Two classics – Frank’s Hot Sauce and Tabasco original hot sauce – are both additive-free. Look for butter that does not contain colour.

Grilling these wings over charcoal infuses them with smoky flavour

Ingredients:

Dunking sauce

½ cup (125 ml) hot sauce

¼ cup (60 ml) cider vinegar

¼ cup (60 ml) melted butter

Wings

2 lb (1 kg) chicken wings, separated, wing tip discarded

2 tbsp (30 ml) vegetable oil

Salt and freshly ground pepper

Preparation:

Preheat grill to medium high. If using a charcoal grill, sprinkle some soaked wood chips on the coals; I used pecan wood chips.

Combine hot sauce, vinegar and melted butter. Remove ¼ cup for basting and reserve the rest.

Toss wings with oil and season with salt and pepper. Place wings on grill, and grill for 3 minutes on each side. Baste with sauce and turn over again. Repeat turning and basting with sauce every 3 minutes or until chicken wings are cooked through, about 12 minutes to 15 minutes total, depending on the size of the wings. You can throw the wings into the remaining sauce or serve separately for dipping. Serves 4.

From Lucy Waverman