Robert Johnson's barbecued spare ribs

Anyone who was in residence at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts in the first thirty years of its existence will fondly remember Robert Johnson. Robert and his wife Dorothy were the heart and soul of the VCCA from its very early days, Dorothy making breakfasts and lunches and beds, and Robert cooking dinners and doing anything else that needed doing. Cooks and chefs came and went at VCCA, but Robert Johnson was the constant. Never the head chef, he was the longtime weekend chef (cook, he would have said) always the stalwart person who stepped in when the chef had a day off or got sick, or, as once happened, when the chef was discovered to be a former jailbird and quickly flew the coop. I heard many rumors (unconfirmed) that in the early days when VCCA could barely afford food for the Fellows, sometimes a big steam-table pan of food would magically appear from the Sweet Briar kitchen where Robert’s full-time gig was.

The most legendary and beloved dish from Robert’s days was, without a doubt, his famous barbecued ribs. Working alongside Robert for more than fifteen years, I was able to wheedle out of him a few of his secrets: among them, his mouth-watering tenderloins and his fall-off-the-bone ribs. Today I offer you a recipe for a great way to feed a crowd without breaking the bank thanks to the philanthropist/scoundrel Robert Johnson.

• Take a rack of pork spare ribs (babyback will not do) leave the white membrane on so they will hold together through all they go through in the next three hours

• Place the ribs in a very large pot, cover them with lightly salted water and boil them for an hour or more (yes, boil them. Robert brought years of experience from restaurants, boys camps, and Sweet Briar and this, it turns out, is the open secret)

• Pre-heat the oven to 275 or 300, take the ribs out and let them drain and cool a bit then rub them with salt and black pepper (cayenne and garlic powder if you want - minced onions if you are inspired to do this, though Robert might not bother) and place them in a large, deep cooking pan

• Cover the ribs with a layer of heavy aluminum foil, seal it tightly along all the edges and bake for two hours or more

• Pull the pan out, raise the oven temp to 400, check the ribs for tenderness, (the meat should be nearly falling off the bone) cover generously on all sides with Sweet Baby Ray’s barbecue sauce (no other will do) and return to the oven

• Cook uncovered until the sauce is thickened nicely, perhaps beginning to char, and the meat falls off the bone when you pick one up

• Serve with crusty bread, baked potato and a big green salad

• After dinner, clear the table and deal a hand of seven card stud. Threes and nines are wild. The ante is a nickel.