Musical Theater Heritage director loves barbecue. This sweet, spicy rib recipe a fave

Tim Scott, the executive artistic director for Musical Theater Heritage in Crown Center, is passionate about food. He lives with his life partner, Jessalyn Kincaid, and their two children in Brookside.

Q: Do you cook often?

A: I am happiest when I am cooking. It is relaxing when I am grilling and smoking meat. My work right now with Musical Theater Heritage is very busy and challenging. Musical Theater Heritage is a nonprofit organization, and since we cannot offer live, in-person theater now due to the COVID virus, we are offering virtual theater through our website at mthkc.com. My work has changed, as I am doing more editing for our virtual shows.

Q: Who or what has influenced your cooking?

A: My mother and especially my grandmother are the biggest influences in my cooking. They are Italian and food was such a big part of my family when I was growing up. The smell of food cooking is nostalgic and reminds me of my grandmother. I hope that someday when my children are older, they will make the same foods, like all of the Italian dishes and sauces I enjoy making and they grew up with, and they will remember the smell. It is such a powerful sensory memory.

I feel that meals are so much more than food. It is the fellowship of the meal that is so important.

I grew up in Southern California and used to work in the restaurant industry. It was definitely an influence and I learned a lot through my work. I like to support the local restaurants so before the pandemic, we frequently ate out.

Q: What are your favorite foods to cook?

A: I cook a lot of Italian food, like meatballs and sauce. It is time consuming to make good meatballs as you need to sear them all over first, so they don’t turn mushy.

I also love to smoke meats. Even my youngest daughter, who is just 2 years old, loves the flavor of the barbecued meat. If she smells the smoke, she asks for bites. My family and I love the flavor that smoke imparts.

Q: What recipe are you sharing?

A: I am sharing my hot honey sweet smoked spareribs. While the name implies it is spicy hot, and the recipe calls for chili-infused honey, it is not that spicy hot.

I typically buy the spareribs at Costco, which means they come in packages of three slabs. My grandmother bought meat there, so now I do, too.

Q: What wood do you use for the smoke?

A: I use a combination of apple, pecan and hickory. Anyone who says the wood doesn’t matter clearly has never used hickory or only used hickory. It’s a great flavor, but too much hickory can devastate your barbecue. I use mostly pecan and supplement that with apple and hickory.

I recommend that you do not soak the wood in water if you are smoking in a smoker. You want the wood to combust and actually catch fire. Wet wood leads to dirty smoke that makes the food taste “sooty.” When smoking, you really shouldn’t see too much gray smoke from your pit. The smoke should be a very thin, blueish smoke, indicating you are running a clean fire. However, if you are grilling and just want to add some smoke flavor to your food, it is fine to soak some wood chips before throwing them on the grill.

Q: What rub and sauce do you use? And are there other specialty ingredients?

A: There are a lot of good commercial rubs available, and you can use one you like, but I make my own.

I especially like the EAT Barbecue IPO sauce. It is a sauce created by the national barbecue champion Rod Gray, who lives in Kansas City. I buy it at the Kansas City barbecue store in Olathe, but you can often find it at barbecue specialty shops around town, some grocery stores or you can order it on-line.

I also use a chili-infused honey, called Mike’s Hot Honey. I buy it online, too.

Hot honey sweet smoked spareribs

Makes 1 to 3 slabs

1 to 3 slabs pork spareribs

Yellow mustard

Barbecue seasoning rub

Wood for smoking (chips, chunks or logs, as needed for your smoker) pecan, apple and hickory, preferred

Apple juice

Apple cider vinegar

Brown sugar (about 1/3 to 2/3 cup)

Mike’s hot honey (about 2 to 4 tablespoons)

EAT Barbecue IPO Sauce

Remove the membrane from the bottom of the ribs. It’s not totally necessary but it makes for a more pleasant eating experience plus allows the rub to penetrate both sides of the ribs. Use a paper towel to hold the membrane and rip it off.

Slather the ribs on both sides with yellow mustard. This helps the rub adhere to the ribs but also the vinegar in the mustard is helpful. Apply a liberal amount of rub to both sides of the ribs. When you think it’s too much, add about 40% more.

Fire up your smoker. I use a vertical, off-set smoker, but use what you have. For the wood, I suggest using mostly pecan and supplement with apple and hickory woods. You’re looking for a temperature around 250 degrees F. I also include a stainless-steel bowl of water inside the pit to add moisture to the cooking environment.

Once the smoker is up to temp, place the slabs of ribs, presentation side up, on the main cooking grate as far away from the heat source as possible. Every 45 minutes or so, spray them down with a mixture of 1/2 apple juice and 1/2 apple cider vinegar. Cook for 2 hours.

Lay out two layers of heavy-duty aluminum foil a few inches longer than the ribs. On the foil, pour some brown sugar, the chili-infused hot honey and about 1/4 cup of the barbecue sauce. Lay the ribs presentation side down on the honey, brown sugar, sauce mixture. Spray the bottom side of the ribs with the apple juice/apple cider vinegar mixture. Seal the ribs tightly in the foil.

Place the foil wrapped ribs sealed side up (presentation side down) on the smoker and cook for another 2 hours. (If you prefer, you can assemble the recipe, layering the brown sugar, honey and barbecue sauce, then the ribs on the foil. Wrap tightly as directed, then put them on a baking sheet in the oven at 250 degrees to bake for about 90 minutes or until they are tender.)

Remove the ribs from the smoker (or the oven) and carefully open the foil packet to allow the steam to escape. Remove the ribs from the foil and brush with barbecue sauce. Place them back on the smoker (or place on a baking sheet and return to the oven) presentation side up and allow the sauce to “set” for about 20 more minutes. Use tongs to pick up one end of the slab of ribs; if they are ready, the slab will bend a little until the meat starts to crack on the surface.

Allow the ribs to rest for about 20 minutes and then go to town.

Barbecue rub

Makes about 1 ½ cups

½ cup packed brown sugar

½ cup paprika

2 tablespoon kosher salt

1 tablespoon ground black pepper

1 tablespoon chili powder

1 tablespoon chipotle powder

1 tablespoon garlic powder

1 tablespoon onion powder

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Mix together all seasonings. Store in a tightly sealed container, in a cool spot, for up to 6 to 12 months.

Do you want to nominate someone to be featured in Come Into My Kitchen? Maybe a friend, neighbor, sibling or even yourself? Email us at KCComeIntoMyKitchen@gmail.com

Roxanne Wyss and Kathy Moore are cookbook authors and food consultants that make up The Electrified Cooks. They have published over fourteen cookbooks and thousands of recipes. They are members of Les Dames d’Escoffier and blog at pluggedintocooking.com.

This story was originally published September 14, 2020 at 5:00 AM.