Call it the Starbucks syndrome—it's hard to pick up a food magazine these days without reading about some trendy coffee-based sauce or spice mix. Actually, the practice of combining coffee and meat (especially pork) belongs to a centuries-old tradition in the Deep South, where cooks routinely add coffee to the frying pan in which ham steaks or pork chops have been cooked to make a robust, beloved sauce known as redeye gravy. That's the inspiration for these ribs, and if you've never combined java with baby backs, well, wake up and smell the coffee.

For the rub and ribs:
2 tablespoons ground dark roast coffee
2 teaspoons coarse salt (kosher or sea)
1 teaspoon pure chile powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon ground coriander
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 racks baby back pork ribs (4 to 5 pounds total)

For the mop sauce:
2 tablespoons butter
¼ cup brewed coffee, cooled to room temperature
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
2 tablespoons bourbon
Coarse salt (kosher or sea) and freshly ground black pepper
Café au Lait Barbecue Sauce (recipe follows)

You'll also need:
1½ cups wood chips or chunks (preferably hickory), soaked for 1 hour in water to cover, then drained

1. Make the rub: Place the ground coffee, salt, chile powder, onion powder, garlic powder, coriander, pepper, and cinnamon in a small bowl and mix with your fingers, breaking up any lumps.

2. Prepare the ribs: Place a rack of ribs meat side down on a baking sheet. Remove the thin, papery membrane from the back of the rack by inserting a slender implement, such as a butter knife or the tip of a meat thermometer, under it. The best place to start is on one of the middle bones. Using a dishcloth, paper towel, or pliers to gain a secure grip, peel off the membrane. Repeat with the remaining rack.

3. Sprinkle the rub over both sides of the ribs, rubbing it onto the meat. Cover the ribs with plastic wrap and let cure in the refrigerator at least 1 hour or as long as 4. The longer the ribs cure, the richer the flavor will be.

4. Meanwhile, make the mop sauce: Melt the butter in a nonreactive saucepan over medium heat. Add the brewed coffee, vinegar, and bourbon and let simmer gently until blended, about 1 minute. Whisk in salt and pepper to taste. Let the mop sauce cool to room temperature.

5. Set up the grill for indirect grilling (see page 33) and preheat to medium (325° to 350°F). Place a large drip pan in the center of the grill. (For instructions on smoking on a gas grill, see page 36.)

6. When ready to cook, brush and oil the grill grate. Place the ribs bone side down in the center of the grate over the drip pan and away from the heat. (If your grill has limited space, stand the racks of ribs upright in a rib rack; see page 52.) If cooking on a charcoal grill and using wood chips, toss half of them on each mound of coals. Cover the grill and cook the ribs for 45 minutes.

7. Mop or brush the ribs on both sides with some of the mop sauce. Re-cover the grill and continue cooking the ribs until well browned, cooked through, and tender enough to pull apart with your fingers, 30 to 45 minutes longer, 1¼ to 1½ hours in all. When the ribs are done, the meat will have shrunk back from the ends of the bones by about ¼ inch. Mop the ribs once or twice more with the sauce and, if using a charcoal grill, replenish the coals as needed.

8. Just before serving, brush both sides of the ribs with some of the Café au Lait Barbecue Sauce. Move the ribs directly over the fire and grill until the sauce is sizzling, 1 to 3 minutes per side.

9. Transfer the ribs to a large platter or cutting board. Let the ribs rest for a few minutes, then cut the racks in half or into individual ribs. Serve at once with the remaining Café au Lait Barbecue Sauce on the side or, if desired, drizzled over the ribs.

Tips: Any coffee will do for the rub and mop sauce (provided it's not instant); for a really interesting flavor, use a coffee with chicory from Louisiana. Like all good Southern barbecue, these ribs show best under a fragrant veil of hickory smoke. For the optimum results, cook them on a charcoal grill or in a smoker.

Café au Lait Barbecue Sauce
Like thousands of other visitors to New Orleans (and the locals themselves), I start each day I'm there with a beignet and café au lait at the Café du Monde. A beignet is a crisp pillow of fried dough dusted with confectioners' sugar, which you dip into the coffee—a steaming cup of dark, strong, chicory-flavored brew laced with hot milk. Chicory is a root with a sweet-bitter flavor used as a coffee additive or substitute. (New Orleanians likely acquired a taste for it during the Civil War, when blockading Yankee ships interrupted the coffee supply.) That earthy, bitter, sweet flavor makes it a perfect base for a barbecue sauce. Makes about 1½ cups

1 tablespoon butter
1 large shallot, finely chopped (about 3 tablespoons)
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon minced celery
½ cup brewed coffee with chicory (see Note)
½ cup ketchup
2 tablespoons heavy (whipping) cream
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons bourbon
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon liquid smoke
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar, or more to taste
Coarse salt (kosher or sea) and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1. Melt the butter in a heavy nonreactive saucepan. Add the shallot, garlic, and celery and cook over medium heat until lightly browned, 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in the coffee, ketchup, cream, soy sauce, bourbon, Worcestershire sauce, vinegar, mustard, liquid smoke, and brown sugar and bring to a boil.

2. Reduce the heat slightly and let the sauce simmer until thick and richly flavored, 8 to 10 minutes, whisking from time to time. Taste for seasoning, adding salt and pepper to taste and more brown sugar (or any other ingredient) as necessary. The sauce can be refrigerated, covered, for several weeks. Let it return to room temperature before using.

Note: Two good brands of coffee with chicory are Luzianne and Café du Monde, both available in most supermarkets.

Copyright © 2006 by Steven Raichlen. All rights reserved.