Grilled Root Beer Ribs

Look...when I read about this in Food and Wine...I thought it sounded so bizzare and totally off the heezy that it actually got my attention and I said...Hmmmmm, maybe I ought to look into this.

Inspired by the Southern practice of cooking meat with Coca-Cola, Zak Pelaccio marinates racks of spare ribs in a mixture of root beer, fish sauce, and garlic, then roasts and grills them until tender and charred. "On the Island, we use local root beer from St. John Brewers, which is very sweet — the sweeter the better," he says. 

So check out this recipe-

INGREDIENTS: 

• bottle(s) (12 ounces) root beer
• 1 cup(s) Asian fish sauce
• 1 head(s) garlic, cloves crushed
• 1/4 cup(s) black peppercorns, cracked
• 2 large shallots, thinly sliced
• 16 cup(s) ice
• 2 rack(s) (large) pork spare ribs (about 5 pounds each)
• 1 bean vanilla, split and seeds scraped
• 2 tablespoon(s) finely ground long pepper (see Note) or black pepper
• 1/4 cup(s) fresh lime juice plus lime wedges, for serving

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a medium saucepan, bring 2 bottles of the root beer to a boil with the fish sauce, garlic, cracked black peppercorns, and shallots. Remove from the heat, cover, and let steep for 25 minutes. Transfer the mixture to a large roasting pan and add the ice. Add the rib racks, cover, and refrigerate overnight.
2. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Remove the ribs from the marinade and scrape off most of the solids. Transfer the ribs to a large rimmed baking sheet. Cover with foil and bake for about 2 hours, until the meat is very tender but not falling off the bones.
3. Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, combine the remaining 2 bottles of root beer with the vanilla bean and seeds and long pepper and boil over moderately high heat until reduced to 2/3 cup, about 25 minutes. Add the lime juice and simmer for 2 minutes. Discard the vanilla bean.
4. Light a grill. Grill the ribs over high heat until richly browned, about 4 minutes per side. Transfer the racks to a carving board and cut in between the ribs. Serve the ribs with lime wedges, passing the root beer sauce at the table.

Don't Sweat the TIPS & TECHNIQUES:

 Long pepper, a fragrant relative of black pepper from Indonesia, can be found at specialty food stores and online at salt traders.com.

Enjoy!  Eat well my friends....Have  a Coke with this-