Celebrating July 4 in San Miguel

For years now, too many to count, I’ve always cooked ribs on the 4^th of July. It’s tradition. This is the first year I do not have a grill.

When I found this recipe and they said that the ribs were so good they did not even get them from the oven to the plate, it was mine.

I did chase all over town to find Cherry Dr.Pepper. Pretty happy to see it on the shelf at Mega and had to snap a photo with my iPhone. 

I can’t tell you how much I LOVED this BBQ sauce and I will definitely make it again.

                                                In the oven? It was good but please give me back my BBQ grill.

Buen Apetito and Happy 4^th!

Cherry Dr. Pepper BBQ Sauce

Makes 3 cups

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 medium yellow onion, minced

4 cups Cherry Dr. Pepper soda

3/4 cup ketchup

1 tablespoon Tabasco sauce

1/3 cup light brown sugar, packed

Pinch of salt

Pinch of ground black pepper

Place oil in a medium saucepan over medium high heat. Add onions and cook, stirring often until soft, about 3 minutes.

Add Dr. Pepper, ketchup, Tabasco, brown sugar, salt and pepper, stirring to combine. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium low and simmer until thickened, 50-60 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature. Store in an airtight container and chill for up to 5 days or freeze.

Cherry Dr. Pepper BBQ Ribs

Makes 4-6 servings

After cooking these in the oven, finish cooking them on the grill

2 slabs baby back pork ribs, 4-5 pounds total

Salt and ground black pepper

2 cups Cherry Dr. Pepper BBQ Sauce

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (176 C). Cover two baking sheets with long pieces of heavy duty foil.

Sprinkle both sides of ribs with salt and pepper. Place on prepared baking sheet. Fold foil over ribs to cover and bake until tender, about 1 hour.

Open foil and spread the sauce over each slab. Bake for 20 minutes.

Serve ribs hot with remaining barbecue sauce.