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A Southern Labor Day Cookout

© Dar Cheek

It seems appropriate that I start my stay at Southern Cooking with a holiday right around the corner, and one of my favorite ones at that.

Everyone usually gets to take Labor Day off from work - except the cook. If we're lucky, the men will tend to the grill and we're only left stuck with all the work in the kitchen; but I've come up with a way around working all day long on the holiday and am now able to enjoy a vacation day myself by preparing items where most of the things can be done the day before.

So, for Labor Day, we're going to take a look at a fabulous barbeque feast with all the fixin's that can be prepared the day before and simply popped in the oven or taken out of the fridge at the appropriate time. This particular extravaganza doesn't stay within my budget regulations, but that's part of what makes it a holiday meal, right?

MENU

Barbeque Spare Ribs
Herbed Pork Roast Au jus

Egg-Mustard Potato Salad
Summer Cole Slaw
Baked Beans
Corn-on-the-Cob

Lemon Icebox Pie

Sweetened Iced Tea

Okay, I know it looks like a lot of work and a billion ingredients, but it will be worth it, I promise!

RECIPES

Barbeque Spare Ribs

1 rack of spare ribs
1 jar of your favorite barbeque sauce
Salt & Pepper
Garlic powder
1 onion & Onion powder
2-3 hot peppers
Ground cayenne pepper

You're going to need a really big pot of boiling water to par-boil your ribs. You can go ahead and toss in your rack of ribs (I cut it in 3-4 pieces), a couple of hot peppers, and one onion, cut in half. Boil this on high for about half an hour, then on medium for an hour, and another half hour on low - 2 hours total.

Remove the ribs and rub with garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper, salt, and ground cayenne. Then wrap the ribs in foil and keep in the refrigerator until the barbeque. When you're ready to throw them on the grill, place the ribs directly on the rack and cook, turning frequently, for about an hour.

When the ribs start to brown, begin brushing them with your favorite barbeque sauce* and continue turning and basting until the ribs are tender. This can take another hour or two depending on the heat of your grill.

(*You could make your own barbeque sauce, but it will cost you more and take more time. I always use plain old Hunts in any variety of flavors, maybe some Dale's.)