Fragrant Chile Rub

I put this rub on a rack of ribs (about 12 hours before cooking them). Then the next day, I put it on some mahi mahi (about 10 minutes before grilling it). It was good on the ribs, but amazing on the mahi mahi. That was the best piece of fish I've ever cooked.

The rub has just a little bit of a kick (McKenzie said it was spicy, but she still tried it) and has a great sweetness. The rub keeps for about a month and should be good on just about anything.

• 2 tablespoons salt
• 2 tablespoons paprika
• 1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon ground ancho chile
• 1 to 3 teaspoons ground chipotle chile (I used 1)
• ½ teaspoon ground cumin
• ½ teaspoon black pepper

Combine all of the ingredients.

Habanero BBQ Sauce

To go with our ribs, I made a BBQ sauce from a recipe I found here. I changed the recipe a bit. For one thing, I cut the number of habaneros. The sauce wasn't too spicy, except that it had too much black pepper. Here's what I would suggest, with less black pepper. Apparently, this sauce will keep for a while.

• 4 habanero peppers, seeded and chopped
• 1 (15.5 ounce) can sliced peaches in heavy syrup (I used half a Mason jar of Sarah's bottled peaches)
• ½ cup dark molasses
• ½ cup yellow mustard
• ½ cup light brown sugar
• ½ cup apple cider vinegar
• 2 tablespoons salt
• 2 tablespoons paprika
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• ½ teaspoon ground coriander
• ½ teaspoon ground ginger
• ½ teaspoon ground allspice

Place the peppers, peaches, molasses, mustard, brown sugar, and vinegar into a blender. Measure in the salt, paprika, pepper, cumin, coriander, ginger and allspice. Blend until liquefied. Refrigerate overnight before using.

Spicy Citrus Brine

For Sarah's birthday, we barbecued four racks of ribs and had a bunch of people over to enjoy our new patio. I brined two racks, used a rub on another, and left the others plain. The brine I liked the best was a Spicy Citrus Brine. I'll post the rub recipe later.

The brine isn't as spicy as it's name implies. I didn't think it was spicy at all.

• Juice of 2 oranges
• Juice of 1 lemon
• Juice of 1 lime
• 1½ tablespoons salt
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes.

Combine the ingredients in a 1 gallon Ziploc bag with the ribs, squeeze the air out of the bag, and seal it. Massage the brine into the meat and place in the fridge for about 12 hours.