Smoked Baby Back Ribs with Blueberry BBQ Sauce Recipe

Preheat the smoker to 250°F. Prepare the ribs. In a bowl, combine the brown sugar, kosher salt, pepper, chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, smoked paprika, cinnamon and the zest of an orange. Mix until well combined. 

Spread the rub evenly on all sides of the ribs. Place the rubbed ribs in the smoker for 2 hours. 

While the ribs are smoking, make the blueberry barbecue sauce. In a dry pan over medium heat, add the nora, guajillo and pasilla chiles. Toast the chiles until fragrant. Remove the toasted chiles from the pan and set them aside. 

Add olive oil, onion and garlic to the pan. Sauté until the onion and garlic start to take on color. 

Add the blueberries, sugar, white wine vinegar, bay leaf and the reserved toasted chiles back to the pan. 

Cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally for 20 minutes. Remove the bay leaf.

Transfer the barbecue sauce into the jar of a blender or use an immersion blender and blend until smooth. Season to taste with salt. 

Transfer the barbecue sauce back into the pan and continue to simmer over low heat for another 10-20 minutes or until desired consistency is reached.  The sauce should coat the back of a spoon.  If it gets too thick, you can always thin it out with a little water.

Prepare the apple and fennel slaw. In a large bowl, add the shredded apple, fennel, napa cabbage, sugar, lemon zest and juice, chopped parsley and extra-virgin olive oil. Toss until well combined. Let the mixture rest for 10 minutes. Stir and season to taste with salt. Set it aside until ready to use. 

After the ribs are done smoking, remove the ribs from the smoker and preheat the oven to 300°F. Cover the ribs in the prepared bbq sauce and wrap in foil. Cook the ribs for an additional 1½-2 hours until they are super tender. 

Serve with extra blueberry barbecue sauce and fennel slaw. Enjoy!