for my bbq foodie friends... commence the mouth-watering!

Last night my husband and I made a new recipe from our favorite grilling cookbook, Weber's Real Grilling. If you're going to buy one grilling cookbook this Summer... get this one. It's chocked full of great grilling tips for charcoal and gas grills, rubs, marinades, sauces and a plethora of recipes to fill up your BBQ menus for the entire Summer and then some.

We made the Texas Beef Ribs with Tomato and Jalapeno Sauce on our charcoal Weber. If you're not a big spicy-heat lover, it's okay, the sauce wasn't spicy at all even though it has "jalapeno" in the title. It had the perfect amount of seasoning and flavor. However, if you're looking for that spicy heat, I'd recommend throwing in a fresh, diced jalapeno while you're making the sauce, saute it with some olive oil before you follow the beginning sauce steps below and heck, a little finely-diced onion thrown in there would also add some fantastic flavor.

Texas Beef Ribs in Tomato and Jalapeno Sauce

Weber's Real Grilling cookbook 2005

Prep time: 10 minutes

Grilling time: about 2 hours

Sauce

2 c. tomato sauce

1/2 c. dry red wine

1/2 c. jalapeno jelly (i used Knox Jalapeno Spread)

1 T. cider vinegar

2 t. chili powder

1 rack beef ribs, 4 to 5 lbs., cut into 3 or 4 sections to fit inside of pan

2 t. kosher salt

1 t. freshly ground pepper

Set up your coals for INDIRECT cooking on your charcoal grill.

1. To make the sauce: In a small saucepan, combine the sauce ingredients and bring to a boil, stirring until the jelly dissolves. Remove the pan from the heat.

At this point, I would recommend whipping up a pitcher of margaritas... because now you have to wait for the grill to do it's magic and it helps to have a tasty beverage while you wait.

2. Allow the ribs to stand at room temperature for 20 to 30 min. before grilling. Season ribs on both sides with salt and pepper. Sear the ribs over DIRECT medium heat until nicely browned, 8 to 10 minutes, turning occasionally "watch for flare-ups." Place ribs, meaty side down, in a deep 10x13" baking dish "NOT aluminum or cast-iron - we used a glass Pyrex dish - also, sprayed it with some non-stick cooking spray for easy clean-up". Bring the sauce back to a boil and pour over the ribs. Cover the baking dish tightly with aluminum foil and put the grill lid on the grill. Grill over INDIRECT medium heat for 1 hour. Remove the foil and continue grilling "with grill lid on" until the meat has pulled away from the bone, 45 to 60 minutes, turning ribs occasionally. Remove the ribs from the sauce. Cut into individual ribs and serve with some sauce drizzled over the top.

While I really enjoyed this recipe, I must say that typically I'm not a huge fan of beef ribs, mostly because they are a little on the fatty-side, and even as a foodie, knowing that fat adds flavor, I prefer a leaner meat choice. At our house, we make a lot of pork on the grill, and I think this recipe would work just as nicely with some meaty pork ribs, like country-styled ribs, or maybe even a nice whole loin -- the sauce would also be fantastic for some pulled pork sammies.

My family has been die-hard charcoal grill lovers for pretty much my entire life -- although, typically because the charcoal grill takes more time, it's something we mainly do on the weekends. If you're new to charcoal grilling and want to try this recipe, don't use charcoal lighter fluid, go to the hardware store and pick yourself up a chimney starter or some electric starters. Either way they are easy to use, inexpensive and much healthier than lighter fluid and if you purchase the Weber cookbook it will explain how to set up your grill for perfect cooking. Enjoy!