All the Joys of Summer: Ribs, Corn, and Fruit Crisp (Plus Fresh Bread)

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This past Memorial Day weekend I wanted to kick off the summer with new twists on old favorites: baby back ribs, corn, and summer fruit. These are some of my ultimate comfort foods because they take me back to summer barbecues and outdoor dinner parties with my family. They are hands-on foods, both in the making and the eating, and they seem to satisfy some deep-seeded need I have to fill the summer with just plain good food.

Along those same lines, I’ve been wanting to try my hand at bread baking again. For me, making bread reminds me of my grandmother’s kitchen in every possible way, and recently I’ve found myself yearning for the satisfaction that comes from making – and of course eating – homemade bread. I’ve been inspired watching the Bread Baker’s Apprentice Challenge group as they hone their baking prowess, and a recipe for bread cooked in a Dutch oven from The Pioneer Woman finally pushed me over the edge and into a full commitment to bake bread again.

Between my need for hands-on summer food and the desire to bake fresh bread, my Memorial Day summer BBQ menu came together quickly. I didn’t write any new recipes for this menu because I wanted to test out a whole collection of recipes I’ve been saving for a sunny day. Individually they are all fun and tasty recipes, but when you put them all together, the flavors and textures complement one another to make them even better. Most of the prep for these recipes can be done ahead, so with a little work the night and morning before your dinner there’s plenty of time for some R&R before everyone shows up to partake in the feast.

Main Course

Backyard Baby Back Ribs (from Alton Brown)

Herbed Corn on the Cob (from Gourmet)

Tomato & Cucumber Salad (from Southern Living)

THE BREAD (from Pastor Ryan on The Pioneer Woman’s site)

Dessert

Blackberry and Peach Crisp (from Woman with a Wisk)

Vanilla Ice Cream

To Drink

Buttonwood Merlot, 2005, Santa Ynez Valley, CA

I didn’t make any substantial changes to any of these recipes and each one work very well. I do have a few notes about the recipes though:

• This menu works well for 6-8 people. You’ll need to halve the recipe for the corn. All of these recipes scale up and down easily so you can adjust for the number of people you need to serve. I think you could easily serve 12 or 24 people with as little stress as you can serve 6 with this menu.
• After reading all of the comments on the bread recipe, I decided to add 1 Tbsp. of sugar to the warm water to proof the yeast and I added a Tbsp. or so to the dry ingredients so the yeast would have a little sugar to feed on. I also punched the dough down two hours into the rise. The final loaf of bread was dense but that’s what the recipe intends. It rose beautifully and tasted fantastic.
• The preparation for the corn on the cob recipe involves pulling the husks of the corn down but not off, removing the silk, slathering the corn in butter and herbs and then putting the husks back on the corn and securing with a strip of husk that you tie around the top of the corn. I used kitchen twine because it was much easier to work with. Also, I’d recommend adding salt and pepper to the corn along with the butter and herbs to round-out the flavor.
• I made the ribs over the course of two days instead of three as the recipe calls for largely because I didn’t figure out my menu until the day before the meal. I took the ribs directly from the oven to the grill and they worked just fine.
• I have two ovens so I was able to cook the ribs and bread during the same time frame. If you don’t have two ovens, you have a few options:
  • Start the ribs recipe two days ahead as the directions specify and reheat the ribs on the grill the day of the party. This frees the oven for the bread on the day of the dinner.
  • Put the ribs in the oven to cook first thing in the morning after you’ve made the bread. They only need a couple of hours and will be coming out of the oven about the time the bread needs to go in. You can refrigerate them for a couple of hours and then reheat on the grill just before serving.
  • Along those same lines, if you eat later in the day so you can cook the ribs first, refrigerate them, and reheat them on the grill later.
  • Make the bread the day before. I thought it was great right out of the oven but I bet it would be fantastic sliced and grilled the next day discussed in the bread blog post.
• I made the crisps in individual ramekins instead of in a single large dish for a prettier presentation. Were I making this for a big crowd, I would skip the ramekins and make a big family-style crisp as the recipe calls for.

The Plan

On big food BBQ days like Memorial Day and 4^th of July I like to eat earlier in the day rather than later, so this plan reflects that. You can just as easily serve this menu for dinner and you’ll have even more time between morning prep and dinner to muck about. To make it easier for you to adjust this menu to your own schedule, I’ve added a duration column so you get an idea of about how long each activity takes and a notes column for more information on how the timing of an activity is related to your final meal time. If you need help adjusting this schedule, e-mail me at natanya [@] io [dot] com and I’ll be happy to help.