Dave's Famous Ribs recipe is the best ever
Grape harvest season is Duplin Winery's busiest time of year, but all the hard work is worth it thanks to Dave's Famous Rib Lunch.
Lightly smokey with a touch of sweetness and a hint of tang, these ribs are the harvest-season treat dedicated Duplin wine production workers anticipate all year long.
"It gets them fired up because we start (harvesting grapes) at five a.m. in the morning and sometimes we don't finish up until one or two in the morning, so it's a busy, busy time of year" Duplin co-owner Dave Fussell says.
Dave's barbecue ribs recipe starts with a garlic-forward rub suggested by his son, Gray Fussell, the 4th generation of Fussells to work at the family winery. "I really like a nice heavy garlic flavor with a little pepper and a lot of salt," Gray says, "and I love to get pretty heavy with it."
The seasoning enhances the sauce Dave uses to finish the ribs. While the meat cooks on a covered grill at 275 degrees for about an hour, Dave whips up his ultra-easy sauce. The blend gets subtle sweetness from smooth Duplin Brice's Creek white wine. Dave layers on more muscadine flavor and adds body with rich, thick Duplin Gourmet Muscadine Barbecue sauce. Finally, he cuts the sweetness with an equal amout of traditional eastern North Carolina vinegar-based barbecue sauce.
Before Dave sauces the ribs, he checks them for doneness. "I like them a little brown, but I'm not a professional so I've got to get the knife out," he says, cutting into a rack on the grill. The knife easily slides through the tender pork, but the meat clings to the bone. That means it's time for the sauce.
Dave cuts the ribs right on the grill into sections of 4 to 6 ribs. He places a wide-mouth pot of his sauce directly on the grill grate and dips each rib section in the sauce until it is fully coated. He lays the ribs back on the grill for a few minutes to set the sauce and then it's time to eat.
When the production team digs in, everyone agrees that Dave's Famous Ribs should be on the menu more than once a year.
