Camilo Mejia Fundraiser recipes: Ribs and David Bacon Sticks.

Thanks to all who came to be with us at our 32nd annual fall event and fundraiser with Camilo Mejia!

I had some requests to share recipes that we used to cook for this event, and thought it might be nice to put them up on the Website.  So without further ado I give you our rib and David Bacon sticks recipes:

Will’s Rib recipe:

Okay, so for starters, I used Baby Back ribs for this event, I have a different method for Beef ribs, Southern, or Country Style ribs, but would use this method for Pork spare ribs if I were going to do spare ribs.

Score along the bones:Take your ribs and lay them round side down on a cutting board, so that you have access to the cup shaped underside.  Using a sharp paring knife, score along the bones, NOT IN BETWEEN THE RIBS, BUT ALONG THE ACTUAL BONE, as the ribs cook, this will allow the tough thin skin that covers the bones here to peel away so that the meat falls off the bone cleanly when you eat them

Dry rub your ribs:  At the fundraiser we used a wet rub of Sriracha and diced garlic.  At home I like to do thyme, rosemary, garlic and onion powders, salt, and chipotle.  Play around to make the ribs taste the way you want them to.  EG: You could rub with brown sugar, salt, and chile for sweet ribs.

Cook Em!: At home I use a cookie sheet, put a grate over it, dump in some water and liquid smoke and toss a baking pan over top to trap the steam, at the event there were grates and pans that worked even better; bottom line: you want a reservoir of water and liquid smoke slowly steaming up to the ribs, with some method to catch that steam and trap it, but you don’t want the liquid underneath to ever touch the ribs.  Your ribs will juice as they cook, and you are bound to lose some liquid from the system, so the levels may change, keep an eye in the situation, don’t let the liquid boil down to nothing, and don’t let it touch your ribs.  Cook at 275 for 4 hours.

Finish the ribs:  Brush your ribs with your favorite BBQ sauce, I tend to go with sweet baby rays at home, we went with the less sugary KC Masterpiece at the fundraiser. Now you want to remove the liquid and the cover to dry the outer layer of the ribs and let the BBQ sauce thicken. We double basted, waiting for the sauce to thicken before putting on the second coat, and then letting it thicken just a bit the second time.  You can do the same thing on a grill, but the total process shouldn’t take you more than about 15 minutes, otherwise your ribs will start to dry out.

Voila!

David Bacon Sticks:

The adjective most people used to describe these at the fundraiser was “Evil”.  And it’s easy to see why, a David Bacon stick is a breadstick, wrapped in bacon, with a layer of caramelized brown sugar and chile on the outside.  You can prepare them the day before, which makes them an easy addition to a big meal, or something to toss in the oven at a pot-luck.

Ingredients:  Four simple ingredients, 1.  Simple store-bought thin breadsticks.  2.  Good Quality Thick Sliced Bacon.  Hormel Black Label is always a safe bet, I have used Market Basket Brand, but it did not work as well. 3.  Brown Sugar. 4. Chile Powder.

So, you take your breadstick, wrap a slice of bacon around it in a simple spiral, a little overlap is okay, but if you go with too much, the slice won’t make it all the way up the breadstick.  Once you have done a couple, it will seem like bacon was made to be wrapped around breadsticks.  Now, lay out some brown sugar in a pan, add a liberal spoonful or two of chile powder and mix it in, roll the bacon covered breadstick in the brown sugar/chile powder mix, and store in a covered container until you are ready to cook.

Spray a cookie sheet with nonstick cooking spray, and lay the David Bacon sticks out, they should not touch.  Bake at 325, start watching at about 20 minutes.  You want the bacon to be cooked, but as that happens, the sugar will start to burn very quickly, so watch closely, don’t let the sugar turn black.

So there it is.  If there were other foods at the event that you would like the recipe for, drop me a line, and I’ll send them along!  Will@nhpeaceaction.org.

Peace,

Will