Applewood Smoked Baby Back Ribs with Butternut Squash and Red Pepper Casserole

The ribs came out spectacularly yesterday. Couldn't have been happier. And couldn't walk afterwards. Literally. I threw my back out moving a concrete stool close to our charcoal grill in order to have a staging station. If I was looking for an event to inspire me to buy a big time charcoal grill with attached smoker, this is it. It hurts to move today.

The ribs were rubbed about 4 hours prior to cooking in Alton Brown's Rub Number 9, and then cooked for 4 hours over indirect heat at 225-250 degrees using the 2 zone cooking method described here. While grilling, I threw about 8 ounces of apple wood chips on the coals during the first hour for a nice sweet smoky flavor. I took half the rack and caremelized a little Sweet Baby Ray's on half of them over direct heat before serving. The side dish was a butternut squash recipe that we found on Epicurious (since we had fresh butternut squash from our local garden). This was a pleasant surprise and will be making a repeat showing. Very easy to make and a great combination of flavors.