TWELVE BONES, Asheville

The First Couple choose their first meal in Asheville to be at Twelve Bones. Ribs, Mac & Cheese, greens, corn pudding . . . which sounds like a fine Southern meal to me. I love Twelve Bones' Blueberry Chipotle sauce on ribs, and the jalapeno cheese grits grits are to die for.

Seems President Obama liked his first visit to Twelve Bones so much that he had to take the missus there while on their honeymoon-like getaway. See the video for yourself, HERE

A second location for Twelve Bones has been opened in Ayden, down Hendersonville Rd, and is open for Sat lunch. As you can see from above, the old service station draws a crowd looking to fill up.

SANDHILLS FARM TO TABLE COOPERATIVE is a marvelous organization bringing boxes of farm fresh food weekly to members in the Southern Pines vicinity. You will enjoy their newsletters chock full of ideas and recipes for dealing with the season's bounty, written by an old newspaper buddy and excellent writer, Jan Leitschuh. To get the newsletter, email Jan HERE.

FARM TOURS .....

Charles Church, of Watauga River Farms, is one of my favorite farmers. He's been farming on land that butts right up to the river there in Valle Crucis since he "could drag a bucket across the fields." Ever resourceful and innovative, he gave up farming tobacco and learned to produce potatoes, beans, squash and "you name it" organically. He's also raising pigs the old fashioned way, on pasture, and produces beautiful chops and terrific sausage.

And he'll be among the ten farmers featured in this year's High Country Farm Tour by the Blue Ridge Women in Agriculture on August 7 and 8th from 2 to 6 pm. That's gorgeous country folks, and a beautiful way to spend a summer's day.

Also check out the Asheville area's Family Farm Tour sponsored by the ASAP on June 26 and 27 from 1 to 6 HERE. It's a huge tour, with over 30 farms included, in some of the most bucolic scenery in the world!

RHUBARB QUEEN........

Susan Boylan of Otus Branch Farm near the gorgeous rural community of Todd, NC, shared her recipe for Rhubarb Mint Chutney for THE NEW BLUE RIDGE COOKBOOK. When we tested the recipe, we served it with grilled salmon, and it was an unusual and absolutely delicious relish. Spicy yet balanced with a bit of sweetness. Ditto with roasted pork. I must admit I had never had rhubarb unless in a pie sweetened with lots of sugar and strawberries. This chutney is marvelous!

This past weekend, Susan helped man a booth at the Watauga Farmers Market sponsored by the Blue Ridge Women in Agriculture, who welcomed both me and my cookbook. An intern from Appalachian State, Kristen, made up several chutney batches and served it on top of slices of baguette from Stick Boy Bakery in Boone, and slices of Ashe County Cheese, also featured in my book. Along with samples of Apple Spice Cake, we drew a taste-ful crowd!

Here's Susan's recipe, as printed in THE NEW BLUE RIDGE COOKBOOK.

RHUBARB-MINT CHUTNEY

2 to 3 stalks rhubarb, finely chopped

1 small chili pepper, seeded and minced

10 to 15 leaves of mint, preferably spearmint, chopped

2 to 3 tablespoons raw or brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

Combine rhubarb, chili pepper, and mint. Gently stir in sugar and salt.

Allow flavors to mellow for at least 2 hours, then adjust sugar and salt to taste. Can by made 1 day ahead and will last up to 3 days in the fridge.

Strawberries....need I say more?

GRILL, BABY, GRILL

I have fallen head over heels for grilled strawberries. I thought the sensuous combo of chocolate and strawberries would always be my true love, but now.....what can I say other than the caramelized stripe of charred sweetness transport a strawberry into a totally different realm?

Last summer we grilled peaches. Grilled pineapple slices remain a favorite. But strawberries? Never imagined that until I tasted one at the Asheville City Market at their weekly demo and tasting booth, which featured this Saturday Knife and Fork, a new restaurant in Spruce Pine.

EAST DOES IT

Recipes for grilling strawberries usually call for them to be wet, then rolled in sugar and then grilled. Many called for balsamic vinegar, so I decided to give that a try. Granted, my balsamic vinegar is not the real thing that costs as much as the price of a fancy dinner out for just one small bottle. Which means that the cheap balsamic I buy is mostly caramel-colored vinegar probably sweetened with brown sugar, which means a perfect coating for grilling strawberries!

I heated up my grill pan, since my outdoor gas grill was indisposed. I dipped the berries first in the balsamic vinegar, then rolled them first in white sugar. (I bet you could place the berries on a skewer, and roll them in sugar all at once.) The result with regular sugar and the balsamic vinegar was pretty good. When I rolled the berries in brown sugar, however, there was more caramelization going on in the grill pan, and the taste was oh so marvelous! I found that only a minute of heat on either side was more than enough.

The result? The berries pooled their sweetness into the plate. The berries are softened just a tad, with a somewhat crunchy bit of caramel on the grilled stripe. Which made me want to just stand there and fill my face rather than save any for tonight's dessert. I'm going to make a shortcake of some sort to serve them with.

SHORT SEASON

From the mountains to the coastal plain, there will be a short season of strawberries this year, due to the weather. Mainly the fault is with the rain, which is not a friend for strawberries when they are ripening in the fields. In fact, I should have known better than to purchase fresh, local berries this morning, what with our recent heavy rains. They were very soft and had a watered down taste, not as intense as those who roast in the dry sun, and I wound up being able to use only half of the basket.

I remember from my 4-H days, when I planted 100 plants for my growing project. The first year, I was required to pinch off the white blossoms, which meant no berries that year. (They don't do that anymore, I understand.) The second year, I'd go out to my berry patch with my bucket and plunk myself down and eat all within reach until I was almost too sick to pick any more!
STRAWBERRY CHOCOLATE TART

So, this gorgeous tart is one of my all time favorites. Chocolate and strawberries, what could be better? Serve a little framboise with it, and yum! You'll also find the recipe in THE OUTER BANKS COOKBOOK: Recipes & Traditions from NC's Barrier Islands.

I've increased the filling to fit my tart pan a bit better. I like to use a removable-bottom tart pan for its ease in serving, and follow the sweet pastry dough recipe given by Julia Child in THE ART OF FRENCH COOKING. If the strawberries are large, slice them in half. Or use just small, whole berries placed bottom up.

8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter, cut into pieces

4 tablespoons heavy cream

1 9-inch pie crust, baked

1 quart (4 cups) whole,fresh strawberries, hulled (large ones halved), rinsed and dried

2 tablespoons strawberry or red currant jelly (not preserves)

1 teaspoon water

confectioners' sugar,sifted

sprigs of lemon verbena or mint

1. In the microwave or a double boiler, slowly melt chocolate and butter together, stirring frequently. When thoroughly melted and mixed, stir in cream and beat with spoon until combined.

2. Spread mixture into the baked tart shell.

3. Immediately place small berries with bottoms up, or large ones sliced in half with rounded side up, starting in the center, in a patterned circle covering the chocolate.

4. Melt jelly and water together in the microwave,stir, then brush the tops of each strawberry with that mixture so that the berries will glisten. Be careful not to allow jelly mixture to pool on the chocolate.

5. Refrigerate for about an hour or two, or up to six hours. Remove from fridge about 30 to 45 minutes before serving so that the chocolate layer can be sliced. Sprinkle confectioners' sugar over the top of each slice, and garnish with the lemon verbana or mint.

CRABS HAVE AWAKENED!

BEAUTIFUL SWIMMERS, Callinectes Sapidus, or how 'bout Carolina Blue Crab? They're awake, after spending the winter buried in the mucky muck of the sounds. When the water warms, they emerge, stretch their legs and hopefully, land in the crab pots constructed or repaired all along NC's coastal villages during the winter and which are now being set out in the Pamlico and Albermarle sounds. Because they're rather hungry and rather randy after their long sleep, they're easily lured into crab pots baited with fish, chicken necks or "jimmies" that the females are quite interested in!

On a quick, unexpected trip to a NC beach a few days ago, we scored my first pound of freshly picked crabmeat for the season. I felt like a kid at Christmas who had to wait to ride my new bike until the rain stopped....and I could hardly wait till dinner to warm some in butter. It beats lobster, hands down, any old time. Sweet, tender, bursting with the flavor of the sea, it was divine.

My seafood buddy in New Bern, Ray Hautch at J & B Seafood on HWY 70, tells me that NC crabbers are expecting a rather sad season. Some folks have given up crabbing altogether, he says. Up in the Chesapeake, however, they're expecting a bumper crop. Why's that? I'll have to check it out, and I'll let you know.

CRABMEAT PANNED IN BUTTER

It seems almost foolish to give this as a recipe, for there's nothing as simple as spooning cleaned, picked-through crabmeat into melted butter!

I love to serve this as a main course, with perhaps a green veggie, esp. asparagus. You may also ladle it over pasta, or a toasted slice of baguette. For appetizers, I like to fill small puff pastry "bowls" with the crabmeat. You'll find them in the freezer section of your grocery.

1 pound cleaned crabmeat (preferably jumbo lump)

2 to 4 tablespoons of butter (depending on how sinful you'll feel using butter)

1/2 lemon

sprinkle of chopped chives and/or fresh thyme, chopped

sprinkle of Old Bay seasoning, if you like

1. With your fingers, pick through the crabmeat and remove any pieces of cartilege you may find.

2. Melt butter in a saute pan over medium heat.

3. Add crabmeat, and allow to simmer for just 2 to 4 minutes, until warmed through. Gently stir in the juice of the lemon half, the herbs and Old Bay.

4. Serve immediately.

RAMPS!

Yes, ramps stink. These "Easter onions" linger on your breath longer than raw garlic. Kids used to be sent home from school because of their bad breath after eating a "bait" of them. Put a sliver in your ice chest, even wrapped multiple times in plastic, and you'll still have to bleach the lingering smell away.

No matter. Ramps are one of those special foods that are so wrapped up with the culture and terroir, and, they add a terrific flavor to what could be blase´ foods.

Mention ramps to older folks in the Appalachians, and they'll wax rhapsodic. Ramps are one of the first harbingers of spring, a welcome green sprouting from winter's grasp. Gathering ramps up in the hollers and ridges was and is a time-honored ritual, as much a part of the Appalachian culture as growing apples or making moonshine. Traditionally chopped and fried up with "Irish" potatoes, or snipped into scrambled eggs, or just eaten raw, they are considered by those in the highlands a true gourmet delight. And chefs across America are jumping onto the ramp bandwagon, with ramps being served in LA, Chicago and NY city. (In fact, Chicago got its name from a Native American word for the "stinking onion.")

A recent TIMES magazine article suggested that "the Church of Ramp is one of the fastest-growing denominations in the religion of seasonality." Maybe ramps are the new arugula, it asks. Then the article goes a bit too far, quoting David Kamp, author of The Food Snob's Dictionary. "For food snobs.....ramps are overcelebrated and overly scrutinized, like the first ballgame played in April, even with 161 more games ahead."

Tell that to the folks in the Blue Ridge, who worship the ramp at several time-honored communal festivals.

SO WHAT EXACTLY IS A RAMP?

A member of the Allium genus, the lily family, it's akin to wild leeks and wild garlic. During late March through early May, their tender, broad green leaves shoot up from the ground, leaving the bulb hiding below. They like sandy soil in buckeye flats or under the bare branches of poplar, oak, or sugar maple trees in the hollers and valleys above 3,000 feet.

As with morels, the tasty wild mushroom that pops up about the same time, folks can be rather secretive about where they find ramps. Others nourish their patches. Some obtain permission from the national forests to harvest ramps.

With many chefs featuring wild ramps on their seasonal, spring menus, there's been a higher demand for wild harvests. And that has made some folks angry, because some ramp hunters have depleted entire patches. Folks are being encouraged to select the tender leaves and just a few bulbs, and some sow the bright red seeds back in the wild to enable patches to be replenished.

RAMP EATING CONTESTS

Note that no ladies took "the bait" at last year's Ramp-Eating Contest at Whitetop Mountain Ramp Festival near Mount Rogers, VA, held annually the third Sunday in May. The deal is to see how many bulbs you can wash down with the bottle of water provided. It seems the trick is barely chewing and swallowing quickly without choking. The winner "ate"57. His prize? A bottle of mouthwash.

During the afternoon, several bands played wonderful old-time mountain and bluegrass music. On the improvised wooden dance floor laid under a grove of huge old trees, folks clogged by themselves or waltzed or two-stepped with partners who didn't mind the smell of ramp breath.

This sweet little lady was 94 years old, and loved to dance. Her husband, her dance partner for 70-some years, had died the year before. It was touching to see the young men in their twenties, and older men, who took turns asking her to dance.

FUNDRAISING DINNERS

Ramps fried with white potatoes accompanied the barbecued chicken tended by the community grillmasters. Each year, money raised at this Ramp Festival helps to support the work of the Mount Rogers Volunteer Fire Dept. and Rescue Squad.

RAMP FESTIVALS in NC and southern VA for 2010:

April 24 - 25 Ramp Dinner & Appalachian Dinner/Concert at Stecoah Valley Center in Robbinsville, NC

April 24, Buladean Fire Dept, near Bakersville, NC Annual Ramp & Soup Bean Dinner at 11 until the food runs out. 828 688-4322

April 25 Kana'Ti Lodge at Max Patch Mountain, 3 pm Trout & Ramps Fish Fry and Foraged Forest Greens Fundraiser 828 622-7398 At 11 am, there's a guided mushroom hunt.

May 2 Waynesville NC Ramp Festival, NC's largest ramp festival with food, and country and bluegrass music 800 334-9036

May 16 Whitetop Mountain Ramp Festival (VA) 11a - 6p 276 388-3422

Foodie Feastivals

Recipe at the bottom!!! FRESH PINEAPPLE, CARROT AND WALNUT CAKE

Spring is my favorite time of the year. Seeing bud break, the first violets, redbuds, daffodils and bluets means that in a very short while the farmers markets will be brimming with fresh produce, greens and fruits that my taste buds are aching for. The chickens will be laying once again, goats and cows will be sharing their milk, and livestock will move to greener pastures.

Ramps, the harbingers of spring in mountain hollers, are slower to bulb this year, due to this year's mean, cold winter, says Palette Butler, co-owner of Veranda Cafe in Black Mountain. She shared a recipe for Rampalicious Chicken Soup for THE NEW BLUE RIDGE COOKBOOK, which will be available next week!

In the meanwhile, April brings festivals for foodies to enjoy:

CUPCAKES FOR CURES (www.cupcakesforcures.com), Saturday, April 10th,

1 to 4 pm at the Grove Park Inn in Asheville. For a donation, you get to stuff your face

with creative cupcakes made by competing professional bakers or amateurs, who hope

to earn bragging rights and fantastic prizes. In keeping with the true spirit of Asheville,

categories include Best Beer Cupcake, Best Gluten-Free Cupcake, as well as best holiday

or birthday or local foods cupcakes.

THE BLUE RIDGE WINE FESTIVAL, (www.blueridgewinefestival.com)

April 15 through 18th, Blowing Rock. Join winemaker dinners, watch an Iron Chef-like

competition, Fire on the Rocks, join house tours, champagne brunches, and a chance to

taste many of the fine wines made in the Blue Ridge area of NC and VA. I'll be there to

Meet and Greet on Friday afternoon, and under the Big Tent with all the wines and

gourmet foods, when THE NEW BLUE RIDGE COOKBOOK makes its debut

appearance.

Down east, the little town of Grifton will hold its 40th SHAD FESTIVAL also on

April 17th & 18th along the banks of Contentnea Creek. EAT MO' SHAD as in fried

or in a delicious traditional fish stew and enjoy the carnival-like atmosphere of kiddie

rides and other fair food. www.grifton.com/shadfest/

The largest sustainable farm tour in the country is the annual PIEDMONT FARM

Tour, April 24th & 25th, sponsored by the Carolina Farm Stewardship Assoc. and

Weaver Street Markets. In Orange, Chatham and other counties, you can visit buffalo,

a third-generation beef farm, see the work that goes into producing organically grown

veggies and fruits, and the efforts behind getting chevre and other cheeses to the

market. It's a chance to expose your kids, and your friends, to the world of farming.

Get your tickets in advance at Weaver St Markets and area farmers markets.

For $25 per car, you can visit up to 40 farms, although usually only 3 to 4 in one good

day! www.carolinafarmstewards.org

PROMISED RECIPE?

Dessert for our Easter dinner! Since cream products bother my kids and me, I cut back on the cream cheese in the frosting, and fiddled with the cake batter, too! It was a winner!!

FRESH PINEAPPLE, CARROT & WALNUT CAKE

adapted from Ina Garten

For the cake batter:

2 cups sugar

1 1/3 cup canola oil

4 medium/large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 1/2 cups flour

2 teaspoons gorund cinnamon

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 cup raisins

1 cup chopped walnuts

1 pound carrots, grated

1/2 cup diced fresh pineapple

For the frosting:

1/2 pound (1 large package) cream cheese, room temp

2 sticks (1/2 lb.) butter, room temp

1 teaspoon vanilla

About 1 pound confectioners' sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350. Butter two 8-inch round cake pans, then line with parchment paper, then butter again and dust with flour.

2. Beat the sugar, oil, and eggs together in a large bowl, using an electric beater. Beat until light yellow. Add the vanilla.

3. In a small bowl, sift together the flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt.

4. Add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture and slowly mix just until all is moist.

5. With a spatula, fold in the raisins and walnuts, then the carrots and pineapple, mixing well.

6. Divide the batter between the two prepared pans. Bake for about 1 hour, more or less, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

7. Allow the cakes to cool in the pans over a wire rack.

8. With an electric mixer, cream together the cream cheese and butter and vanilla. Gradually add the sugar until you've got a spreadable mixture.

9. Place one layer of cake on your serving dish, and spread its top with the frosting. Place the second layer on top, and spread the frosting on the top and sides. Wipe the edges of the plate clean. Lick your fingers and your spreader.

10. Place in the refrigerator under cover.

STRIPED BASS

STRIPERS. STRIPED BASS. ROCKFISH (because they like to hide under rocks). It's the fish of many names. My favorite is "Mr. Pajama Pants" (because of their stripes).

Ari Weinzweig is one of the creative forces behind Zimmerman's, a grand yet earthy source of fine foods available online and at its Ann Arbor, Michigan home, as well as a bakehouse and creamery. He's the author of the Zingerman's Guide to Good Eating, a fabulous resource. After picking up a copy of THE OUTER BANKS COOKBOOK, he called to chat about Fish Muddle, the quintessential North Carolina fish stew that was traditionally made during the spring runs of rockfish, as they are more often called on their inland cruise up rivers to spawn where they themselves were spawned. Rockfish, or stripers, then return to the ocean and head up north with the Gulf Stream, only to migrate during late winter, early spring down along the Outer Banks, then turn into our sounds and head up river to repeat the spawning cycle.

Ari wound up recalling our conversation in the introduction to his recipe for NC Fish Muddle in his latest book, Zingerman's Guide to Better Bacon. The connection to bacon? It's a major flavoring in the traditional recipe, and, pigs were slaughtered during colder weather, meaning the bacon was cured just in time to add it to a late spring muddle that was stewed right at the rivers' edge at the fish camps that dotted the shores.

The hubby and I made a road trip two weeks ago to Weldon, a small mill town on the Roanoke River, where at times the small fishing boats are so thick that you can hop from stern to prow all the way across the river. The river was up so high that the rocks that almost dam up the river could not be seen. You can't catch much in muddy water, and the stripers and the shad had yet to arrive, according to the few fishermen lining the banks. After casting with no results for about an hour, we went home empty-handed.

But a quick run to the beach this past weekend netted us a magnificent striper at B & J Seafood on HWY 70 at New Bern. While cleaning him, Ray told us that one of their fishermen had caught this 4-pounder that morning.
Striped bass is a very mild fish, and like most bass, its firm white flesh could use a little more flavor. So I stuffed the cavity with fresh thyme and thinly sliced onions and lemons, with a generous pinch of sea salt and freshly ground pepper. I forgot to slash the flesh on each side, down to the bone, about an inch apart. Some folks also place half a lemon slice in each slash. On the Outer Banks, the fish would then be wrapped with slices of bacon, which I did not have on hand.

So instead I placed more onions, and some bell peppers and lemon slices around the fish, then massaged it with olive oil on both sides, allowing a bit of oil to collect under the fish to keep it from sticking. I sprinkled it with more sea salt and freshly ground pepper.

Notice I placed the fish on heavy duty aluminum foil, which aided clean up, but also, I topped it with another piece of foil and folded the edges together to form a tight seal that would help steam the fish.

Into a preheated 400 degree oven it went, for about 45 minutes.

Perfecto! When the foil top was opened, the flavored steam that escaped was downright sinful. The skin slid off easily. And it was easy, using a spatula and a large fork, to cut pieces of the fish from the top half, down to the backbone, and slide them onto plates. After discarding the backbone, the rest of the fish lifted readily off the other skin. The onions and peppers were soft and succulent, giving the fish a lovely depth of flavor and mouthfeel.

We enjoyed this striper with flavored jasmine rice and a sauvignon blanc.

Now that's a significant "bone to pick." Think we liked it?

There's a tale I like to tell about walking down the beach at Nags Head one late Feb afternoon and seeing a bevy of fishermen casting over and over, dragging up huge stripers on the beach. After watching for a while, I went to look at a huge striper one fellow was putting into his ice chest, which was already full of the big boys.

"This must be pretty exciting," I said to him.

"Ma'am, this is THE most exciting thing I've ever done in my life," he said, with such a great big grin on his face.

"Better than sex?"

"Ma'am, that only last a minute, and this has been going on for hours!" he said emphatically.

RIB-TICKLIN' GOOD

I committed a cardinal sin. I went to the grocery store hungry. I had forgotten to take dinner out of the freezer that morning, and so thought perhaps I'd buy some fresh fish.

Walking by the meat dept., I saw a couple of packages of ribs. Hhmmm....and they were from Niman Ranch, the national brand that attempts to produce their meats on small, family farms in an humane way with no antibiotics.

The "no antibiotics" thing has become important to our family. The hubby is an ER doc, who over the last decades has seen an alarming and dramatic rise in the number of germs and nasties that do not respond to an ever-increasing array of antibiotics. There is no need to add antibiotics to animal feed, unless they are being raised in an overcrowded, inhumane and rather unsafe environment.

Go see FOOD, INC, or FRESH, both movies that will make you head straight to your farmers market for pasture-raised, grass-fed meats. (Joel Salatin, the farmer/guru from the Shenandoah that Michael Pollan wrote about in THE OMNIVORE'S DILEMMA and featured in both films was in Raleigh this week for a Film Feastival at Meredith College, co-presented by Slow Food Triangle. He's entertaining while he making his point.)

photo by Mollie Nicholie, Maple Creek Farm

MEAT with a BETTER CONSCIENCE

Niman Ranch infiltrated into our huge hog-producing state back in the early '00s, partnering with about 30 small NC farmers in eastern NC. Rather than hog-factory style with huge waste ponds, these farmers raised hogs the way their ancestors did - free-roaming (within electric fences), which allowed them to snooze mud-caked in the sun or under the canopy of trees and shrubs. Niman claims to have "happy pigs." Then in 2006, when fuel prices were high, getting the hogs to the processing plants in Iowa proved to be too expensive, so contracts ended in NC. I read that some of those farmers tried to find restaurants to sell to, like The Pit in Raleigh.

You can find pork from free-ranging pigs at Cane Creek in Chatham County, or at various farms near Asheville, like Maple Creek Farm, and a few even in Wake County. You will be amazed at the difference in taste, and how much less fat there is.

IMPORTANT TRICK for RIBS

Like tender ribs? Here's the first thing you need to do: Slide a knife or your finger under the thin membrane under the rack of ribs. Grab it with a paper or cloth towel and pull it up and away from the ribs. Now, these "naked" ribs will absorb more rub or sauce, and you will not have to bite through that tough membrane.

RUB MY RIBS

I've adapted a couple of recipes together to come up with a great tasting rub for pork. If I want them real hot and spicy, I add the chili and cayenne. Sometimes I prefer the ribs without the heat, and they're still delicious. I also like to grind the spices all together in my old coffee grinder.

This rub is enough for 3 racks (about 7 lbs)

1 teaspoon ground caraway seeds (buy it that way or grind it yourself)

2 tablespoons smoked Spanish paprika

1 tablespoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 tablespoon kosher salt

2 teaspoons freshly ground pepper

OPTION: To make the rub a bit "hotter"

1/2 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne red pepper

NOTE: Reserve 2 tablespoons of the mixture for the glaze.

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.

Using the best tools in your kitchen - your clean hands - rub the spice mixture onto both sides of the ribs.

Place the ribs in a large roasting pan, and cover with foil. Cook for about 1 1/2 hours. Rotate the ribs, cover tightly again, and cook for about 20 to 30 minutes longer, or until very tender.

For the GLAZE:

Reserved 2 tablespoons of the above spice rub

1/2 cup apricot or guave preserves

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

Place all in a small glass bowl and microwave on high for about 20 seconds, or until preserves melt enough to mix all together.

When ribs are tender, remove from oven. Turn oven to broil. Quickly spoon or brush glaze over the meaty side of the ribs. Broil the ribs for about 10 minutes or until browned. If there is any remaining glaze, you may also do the other side of the ribs.

Slice between the bones and serve immediately.

Enjoy the ribs with a zinfandel, syrah, or Cotes du Rhone . . . a hearty red.