Baby Back Ribs with Beer BBQ Sauce

• 1/2 cup A-1 steak sauce
• 1/2 cup bourbon or good dark beer
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 cup dark brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon regular or grainy Dijon mustard
• 2 pinches of red pepper flakes
• Salt to taste
• 2 racks baby back ribs (about 2 1/2 pounds)

First make the barbecue sauce. Heat all the ingredients together in a saucepan over medium heat until steaming. Cool. The sauce will keep in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.

Preheat oven to 325°F.

Cut the racks of ribs in half crosswise. Rub the ribs with the sauce of your choice, paying most attention to the meaty side.

Lay the rib pieces, meat side down, in an 11" x 13" baking dish. The pieces will overlap slightly.

Cover the dish tightly with aluminum foil and bake until the meat pulls away from the ends of the bones and the ribs are tender, about 1 1/2 hours.

You can bake the ribs up to three hours before you grill them and leave them at room temperature. Or you can bake them the day before and keep them refrigerated. Bring the refrigerated ribs to room temperature about one hour before you grill them.

Remove the ribs from the baking dish but reserve the cooking liquids. Grill the ribs, brushing them with a reasonable amount of the remaining sauce, until they're browned and heated through, about 10 minutes.

Move the ribs around as they grill; the sugar in the sauce makes it easy for them to burn, so watch out for that. Let the ribs rest for 5 to 10 minutes before cutting them into one or two bone pieces.

Thanks to Dave Lieberman & BBD