Baby Back Rib

The success of these ribs lies in a straightforward three-part process. Long marinating in a sweet, garlicky rub ensures the ribs soak up loads of flavor. Next, a leisurely roast in the oven makes them tender. Finally, a mop of balsamic-brown-sugar glaze and a few minutes on the grill gives the ribs a whiff of smokiness and caramelizes their edges.

Like the classic steak preparation for which they are named, these crisp panko-crusted ribs cook fast, but they're surprisingly tender on the inside.

Editor's note: The recipe below is adapted from Elizabeth Karmel's Web site, girlsatthegrill.com .

Editor's note: The recipe and introductory text below are from The Barbecue! Bible 10th Anniversary Edition, by Steven Raichlen. To read more about Raichlen and barbecue, go to our feature The Best Barbecue in the U.S.A. It never fails to amaze me how one simple idea can give birth to so many great regional variations. Consider ribs. The pork rib is one of the most perfect morsels ever to occupy a grill. The meat is generously marbled, which keeps it moist during prolonged cooking. As the fat melts, it crisps the meat fibers and bastes the meat naturally. The bones impart a rich meaty flavor (meat next to the bone always tastes best), while literally providing a physical support—a gnawable rack on which to cook the meat. Yet depending on whether you eat ribs in Birmingham or Kansas City, or Bangkok or Paris for that matter, you'll get a completely different preparation. I've always been partial to Memphis-style ribs. Memphians don't mess around with a lot of sugary sauces. Instead, they favor dry rubs—full-flavored mixtures of paprika, black pepper, and cayenne, with just a touch of brown sugar for sweetness. The rub is massaged into the meat the night before grilling, and additional rub is sprinkled on the ribs at the end of cooking. This double application of spices creates incredible character and depth of flavor, while at the same time preserving the natural taste of the pork. Sometimes a vinegar and mustard based sauce—aptly called a mop sauce—is swabbed over the ribs (with said mop) during cooking; I've included one here, for you to use if you like. You can choose any type of rib for this recipe: baby back ribs, long ends, short ends, rib tips—you name it. Cooking times are approximate. The ribs are done when the ends of the bones protrude and the meat is tender enough to pull apart with your fingers. I like my ribs served dry, in the style of Memphis's legendary barbecue haunt, the Rendezvous. If you want to serve them with a sauce, you'll find a number to choose from in this chapter.

It may sound like the kind of bogus claim made on late-night infomercials, but trust us when we say it's true: You really can have juicy ribs ready in an hour! Finishing the ribs under the broiler is the secret to getting a perfectly crisp-moist texture.

I once considered making more authentic smoked ribs for a tailgate party and, in the planning, realized that not only would I need to be at the parking lot hours before everyone else, but my grill was not large enough to smoke enough ribs for everyone in my party. And to try to pass off just "a taste" of barbecued ribs is like trying to arm-tackle Priest Holmes. So it was a choice between shelling out for another grill or devising another method of cooking the ribs. Baking them first in a slow oven produced moist, flavorful meat I then had only to finish on the grill.

Years ago, in one of his famous cooking classes, James Beard showed us this simple, "can't fail" method for roasting spareribs. He predicted that this recipe would become an all-time favorite, and he was right. These ribs have the rich flavor of pork, which you can really taste, and they are also very tender and moist. Who needs all that BBQ sauce? If you can, get baby back ribs — they're best — but any pork spareribs will do.

A slightly sweet tomato sauce blankets these tender baby back ribs.

It takes one to two days to marinate the meat for this recipe, but it's worth it. These will be some of the best ribs you'll ever eat.

Steve Katz of Potomac, Maryland, writes: "I would like to share a recipe for the most finger-licking baby back ribs you'll ever cook on your stovetop. The secret ingredient is Lapsang souchong tea, used in the braising liquid to give the ribs a smoky flavor. Active time: 45 min Start to finish: 2 1/4 hr

Provide knives so your guests can slice the sections into individual ribs. Have lots of damp paper towels on hand.

Sometimes baby back ribs are sold in sections of four to six ribs rather than as whole racks; those will also work here. Begin preparing the ribs a day before serving so that they can chill overnight after the spice rub has been applied.

At Clark's Outpost Barbecue in Tioga, Texas, Warren Clark uses St. Louis-style pork ribs (slabs of ribs that have been trimmed to uniform size) and prepares them in a smoker. To make this recipe easier, we call for the more readily available baby back ribs and suggest a combination of baking and grilling for equally delicious results.

Thin slices of sweet potato can be grilled alongside the ribs, then drizzled with maple syrup. Have coleslaw and corn bread on the side, too. End with lemon meringue pie.

Baby back ribs are less fatty than spareribs, and this marinade is flavorful without being a heavy barbecue sauce.

To create a meal around these sweet and pungent ribs, just add fresh corn on the cob and a salad of watercress, red onion and orange slices.