Grilled Barbecue Beef Ribs

Grilled Barbecue Beef Ribs

If you try to cook barbecue ribs entirely on a grill, the sauce will burn and char. Parboil the ribs first and then grill them over charcoal just long enough to give them a good flavor - drizzling or brushing the sauce over them. This recipe works just as well with pork ribs as it does with beef.

• 6 lbs beef ribs or 4 lbs pork ribs
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 cup mustard
• 1 tablespoon hot sauce
• 1/4 cup vinegar

In a large pot, parboil the ribs for about 45 to 60 minutes, until tender. In a bowl, combine the remaining ingredients to make a barbecue sauce. Cook the ribs on a grill, basting them with the sauce and turning them to cook on both sides, well coated with the sauce - for about 15 minutes. 

Serves 8.

Death of Ole Blue

Death of Ole Blue

Grandpa Kader Lewis had a lot of hound dogs throughout the years, but probably the best one he ever had was a blue tick hound that we all called 'Ole Blue'. Now, Ole Blue had about the sweetest bass voice you have ever heard singing in the Dismal Swamps. Combined with the tenor of Pepper and harmonized with Buster it made a sound that would bring joy to the heart of any hunter. I have watched Ole Blue many a time tracking. That hound could track without hardly ever putting his nose to the ground. It was almost like he could read the mind of whatever he was tracking. Be it man or beast. Once he tracked a bank robber from the bank to where he got in a car and then tracked the car to the mans house. If you think a good hound can't do that, just do a little research. They are amazing animals. When hunting, we would take Ole Blue to the area we wanted him to start from and then sit and wait a spell. You could hear him ranging through the swamps and directly he would start singing. Shortly, Pepper and Buster would join in and we would listen real close. After a bit we could figure which way they were running the deer and we would take off running through the swamps as hard as we could go. We may have to run 3 to 5 miles, but in just a short while they would push that deer right to us. Blue was a fine coon dog and treed more coons than the rest of Grandpa Kader's pack put together. He was a great scrapper and would tackle an old boar coon in a heartbeat. Hounds had to be careful when fighting a boar coon though. The Coon would try to get the hound to fight him in a creek and then he would latch on to the hounds nose and hold him under water till he drowned. One September night we went cooning and just sat back and listened to Ole Blue singing his heart out. They kept getting closer and closer and we realized that they were going to pass right by us. Just before they got to us, Old Blue caught up with that boar coon and they commenced to scrapping up and down the railroad track. Boys, it was a glorious fight. We headed towards them on a dead run, but before we could get up to them the midnight freight train from Chinquapin to Beulaville came by bellering steam and sparks and killed both Ole Blue and the coon. Grandpa ran up to Ole Blue and dropped to his knees and commenced to bellering Waaaauuugh Waaaauugh. I put my hand on his shoulder and said "Grandpa, please don't cry over Old Blue like that". Grandpa jumped up and started whacking me over the head with his hat and said.."You demed idgit, I ain't crying over no hound dog. I'm crying cause Old Blue died thinking that demed coon whupped him”.

Carolina Barbequed Pork - Slow Cooked

Carolina Barbequed Pork - Slow Cooked

• 2 onions, quartered
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 (4 to 6 pound) boneless pork butt or shoulder roast
• 3/4 cup cider vinegar
• 4 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1-1/2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes
• 1-1/2 teaspoons sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
• Hamburger buns
• Coleslaw

Place onions in slow cooker. Combine brown sugar, paprika, salt and pepper; rub over meat. Place meat over onions in slow cooker.

Combine vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, red pepper flakes, sugar, mustard, garlic salt and cayenne; stir to mix well. Drizzle about one-third vinegar mixture over meat; cover and refrigerate remaining vinegar mixture. Place cover on slow cooker and cook on LOW 10 to 12 hours (HIGH 4 to 6 hours).

Drizzle about one-third reserved vinegar mixture over meat during last half hour of cooking. Remove meat and onions, drain. Chop or shred meat and chop onions. Serve meat and onions on buns. If desired, top sandwiches with coleslaw. Pass remaining vinegar mixture to drizzle over sandwiches.

Southern-Style Carnitas Crock Pot Dinner

Southern-Style Carnitas Crock Pot Dinner

• 3 lb. Pork Shoulder or Butt
• 1 cup KC's Masterpiece BBQ Sauce (or substitue with your favorite BBQ sauce)
• 1/4 cup Mustard
• 1 cup Chicken Broth
• 2 tablespoons Tomato Paste
• 2 Limes
• 2 Sweet Onions - medium size

Slice the onions and place in the bottom of the crock pot. Place the pork on top of the onions. Combine the BBQ sauce, mustard, chicken broth, tomato paste and juice of the limes in a bowl. Pour the mixture over the pork. Cook on low heat for 10 to 12 hours.

Religion In The South

Religion in the South

Most of the religious sects and churches in the Deep South are pretty much solemn - and right serious about what they say and do. However, there are other churches that have a lot more fun and I have been lucky enough to visit quite a few of them. (Not so lucky in some cases) A preacher by the name of Sweet Daddy Grace founded one church here. He built a beautiful church of brick and had it painted red, white and blue. Bricks white, cement lines red and the windows blue. Sweet Daddy Grace had a rock and roll band instead of an organ and when the band and choir got wound up, you could hear them blocks away.

Once, Sweet Daddy was taking up a collection during church services and during the middle of the collection he started hollering for everyone to stop everything they were doing. When it got quiet, he started talking in a calm voice; saying "I can hear the clinking of the coins you are putting in the plate and it is an offense to the Lord. It hurts his ears to hear that kind of noise. We are going to start this collection over again and this time I only want to hear the rustle of paper money going into the plate". And that is the way it was.

Another time, he preached for a month that on Easter Sunday he was going to walk on the water of Lake wheeler - on the outskirts of Raleigh. On the appointed day, his limousine pulled up near the water's edge and hundreds of people watched as his red carpet was rolled from the limo to the water. (He never walked on dirt and grass) He walked down to the water's edge and preached a rousing sermon. At the end of which he started exhorting his congregation. "Do you believe I can walk on the water? Yes Sweet Daddy we believe. Do you believe? Yes we believe!" At which point he said, "In that case, I don't have to prove it", and turned around and walked back to his limousine. That story is the absolute truth.

We have other churches here that are called Holy Rollers. During a typical service some of the congregation will get taken by the Holy Spirit and 'talk in tongues' and others will stand and shake and some will run up and down the aisle 'hooting and hollering'. If you have ever seen the church scene in the movie Blues Brothers, that is getting a little close. Unless you have been to a camp meeting in the deep south you just haven't seen anyone 'taken by the holy spirit'. Now keep in mind, we have churches down here where the members literally believe the bible passage that says to "take up serpents". They practice a religion in which they pick up not one or two, but have literally, arms full of the most deadly snakes you can imagine. Diamond back rattlers, cottonmouths and water moccasins. It is the most amazing thing I have ever seen anyone do. I don't think you could get me back in the door of one of those churches with a baseball bat.

I once went to one church where the preacher came out wearing a plaid lumberjack shirt, and brown pants tucked into knee high leather boots. Then SHE proceeded to preach a sermon in "tongues". I did not understand the first word she said. "Tongues" is when a person is 'possessed' by the Holy Spirit and speaks in gibberish. Sometimes the 'possessed' person will foam at the mouth and look as though they are having a seizure.

On the other hand, one of the most memorable churches I have ever been to was an unpainted, cypress clapboard building with no interior finish of any sort and rough pine benches to sit on. It was sitting on a small finger of dry land at the edge of a black water swamp and surrounded by Live Oaks and Spanish moss. I found that church on a Wednesday night when I got lost in the back woods of eastern NC. I never could find that church again.

Country Ham

Country Ham

When buying a country ham, make sure that the ham is soft all over when mashed with your thumb and that the skin is not dry and hard. Allow plenty of time to prepare a country ham. It soaks and cooks for a long while. Use leftovers to make sandwiches and biscuits.

• 1 country ham (12-14 lbs)

Glaze:

• ½ cup molasses
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons mustard
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar

Scrub the ham with a brush under warm running water and put it in a large pot to soak. Cover the ham with cold water and let soak for 6 hours minimum, or overnight if desired. Rinse the ham and then put it back into the pot and put in enough hot water to almost cover the ham. Let the water come to a boil, and then turn the heat down to low. Add the brown sugar and molasses, and let simmer for 3 hours, adding hot water as needed to keep the ham covered. Remove the ham from the pot, let it cool a bit, and then trim off the skin and most of the fat, leaving only a thin layer. Mix together the glaze ingredients and brush them over the ham. Put the ham in a large baking pan and cover with foil. Bake the ham in a 300 degree oven for 1 hour. Turn the oven off and let the ham stay inside until cool. 

Serves about 15.

Southern Lamb Chops

Southern Lamb Chops

• 8 lamb chops, cut thick (about 1-1 ½ inches)
• ½ cup self-rising flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon black pepper
• ½ teaspoon dried thyme
• 3 tablespoons cooking oil
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 tablespoons molasses

Rinse the lamb chops under cold running water, shaking off the excess water. Sprinkle both sides of the chops with the salt, pepper, and thyme. Let the chops sit for 20 minutes. Place the flour in a pan or dish and dip the chops in the flour to coat both sides; shake off any excess flour. Heat the oil in a frying pan over medium heat, add the chops and cover the pan. Let cook on both sides until brown, about 6 to 8 minutes per side. Pour off the excess fat and add the water and molasses. Cover the pan, turn off the heat, and let stand for about 20 minutes so the chops will get moist and tender. Serves 8.