Snacking State-by-State: Missouri IV - Ooey. Gooey. Buttery. Chewy.

Among all the recipes that Paula Deen has made famous, the gooey butter cake is perhaps the most famous.  Sweet, sticky, gooey and buttery - it is the essence of Miss Paula.  But the gooey butter cake does not originate in Savannah.  It is a St. Louis creation sold all over the St. Louis area, and the original isn't exactly what Paula Deen is making.

Official Name: State of Missouri

State Nicknames: The Show-Me State
Admission to the US: August 10, 1821 (#24)
Capital: Jefferson City (15th largest)
Other Important Cities: Kansas City (largest), St. Louis (2nd largest), Springfield (3rd largest), Independence (4th largest)
Region: Midwest, South; Wet North Central (US Census)
RAFT Nations: Corn Bread & BBQ; Bison
Bordered by:  Iowa (north); Illinois and the Mississippi River (east); Kentucky and Tennessee (southeast); Arkansas (south); Oklahoma (southwest); Kansas (west); Nebraska (northwest)
Official State Foods and Edible Things: Eastern black walnut (tree nut); channel catfish (fish); Norton/Cynthiana grape (grape); bobwhite quail (game bird); crayfish (invertebrate)
Some Famous and Typical Foods: Midwestern and German foods to the north, Southern and Ozark foods to the South and in the center of the state; Kansas City BBQ (sweet BBQ sauce, with dry rub before barbecuing), gooey butter cake

There are various creation myths surrounding the gooey butter cake.  Most St. Louisans say the cake got its origins from a baking accident during the 1930's or early 1940's.  While What's Cooking America has two different reader stories about how their family members created the gooey butter cake, mostly what they say is that it was an accident that a German baker made while trying to make a coffee cake.  They can't really explain what they did wrong.

To make matters worse (or better, depending on your perspective), there are a few variations that made it difficult for me to choose one. The traditional one seems to have a sweet yeast bread crust with a gooey butter filling.,  Another variant had a yellow cake base with the same filling.  Different fillings can be made with or without cream cheese (note this Wikipedia reference) - the ones with cream cheese place the butter in the cake foundation.  Regardless, it's not exactly what Paula Deen would have us believe.

In the end, the version I made was the sweet yeast version with the buttery filling.  This particular recipe comes from the Serious Eats website, posted by Sydney Oland [2011].

The Recipe: Gooey Butter Cake

You will need the following, divided into the crust and the filling (for exact measurements, see the original recipe at Serious Eats):

For the crust you will need:
* yeast (one packet)
* warm milk (warm enough to let the yeast "blossom" but not hot enough to kill it)
* butter, sugar and salt (to cream together - I had all of this)
* egg and flour (had them)

For the filling you will need:
* even more butter (pile it on, folks)
* salt and sugar (again, to cream with the butter)
* egg and flour (again, had them)
* light corn syrup, water and vanilla (I forgot to put vanilla in the photo, but you do need this)

Start by warming your milk and sprinkling the yeast on top of it.

Next, cream together the butter, sugar and salt.

Mix into this the egg, flour and yeasty milk - do not add this until it bubbles.  After 10 minutes mine only slightly bubbled, leading to my dough not really rising too much.

Leave the dough under a towel for at least two hours, more if better.

While the dough rises, mix together the corn syrup, water and vanilla extract with a whisk.

Next, cream the rest of the butter, salt and sugar.

Blend in the flour, egg and corn syrup mixture.

And it should end up looking like this.

When ready, preheat the oven to 350°F, and press the dough into the bottom of a 9 x 13 pan.

Pour the filling over top of the crust, and spread it around.

Bake for about 35 minutes.

Despite my crust never really rising, I liked my gooey butter cake.  It was far sweeter than the recipe lets on - not a problem for me.  Maybe I left it in a little long since it was not as gooey as I had expected.  I could not get enough of this after I pulled it out of the oven.  I ended up eating several pieces.  It is that addictive.  The Serious Eats recipe suggests you eat this sprinkled with confectioner's sugar and drink it with strong coffee.  Not one for coffee myself, I will just eat this on its own.

- - - - -

We have reached the halfway point on this journey through the fifty states and then some.  Over the past year I've learned an amazing amount about half of the states plus the District of Columbia (including my own home state).  Only 25 more to go, plus one territory, because I feel like it.  The next stop in this second half of the series: the Big Sky Country of Montana.

Sources:

Adams, Marcia. Heartland: The Best of the Old and the New from Midwest Kitchens. Clarkson Potter: New York, 1991.

Bittman, Mark.  "For a Smoky Taste in Oven Ribs".  The New York Times website.  Published: December 4, 2009.

Goldwyn, Craig "Meathead".  "A taxonomy of American barbecue sauces".  Amazing Ribs website.  Last revised September 12, 2011.

Lee, Jennifer 8. "St. Paul Sandwiches (in St. Louis), Made with Egg Foo Young Patties".  The Fortune Cookie Chronicles website.  Published April 8, 2009.

"noahw" (Instructables.com user).  "Oven Smoked Ribs".  Instructables.com website.  Copyright 2011.

Oland, Sydney.  "Sunday Brunch: St. Louis Gooey Butter Cake".  Serious Eats website.  Published May 28, 2011.

Raichlen, Steve.  How to Grill: The Complete Illustrated Book of Barbecue Techniques.  Workman Publishing: New York, 2001.


STLToday.  "St. Paul Sandwich (Fortune Express)".  STLToday website.  Published August 17, 2011.

Stradley, Linda. "Gooey Butter Cake". What's Cooking America website.  Copyright 2004.

Some information also obtained from Wikipedia's "Missouri" page and other pages, and the Food Timeline State Foods link to "Missouri".

Look at the funny chef!

Ever since I caught a Thanksgiving marathon of Nadia G's Bitchin' Kitchen at my sister's house, I I have been fascinated by this hilarious show.  Those of you who have seen Italian-Quebecois chef Nadia Giosia (Nadia G) and her band of merry men may understand why I have taken to calling her the "anti-Sandra Lee": because she has edible food with a heavy dash of humor that is actually funny.  Plus, none of those irritating "tablescapes".

Which explains this all-star Christmas video from her recent Christmas special.  Watch for the rockin' guy in the Ravens jersey. Yeah you know who I'm talking about.

Why didn't I know about this before?

Phil Collins. Gorilla. Drums. It's all an ad for Cadbury Dairy Milk (which we can probably find at Wegman's).

And it. Is. Odd.

Encouraged to find this after watching the sumptuous "Walking in Your Mind" mashup by Ithaca Audio for the umptieth time. Oh and don't click on the box about the referee.

Snacking State-by-State: Missouri III - Meet Me in St. Paul, Louie!

Whenever I look at Midwestern states, I keep on finding strange (to me) sandwiches: Horseshoe sandwiches from Illinois.  Breaded pork tenderloin sandwiches from Indiana.  Loosemeats from Iowa.  Coney Island dogs from Michigan.  And though they aren't sandwiches, there was enough in the way of bread from Kansas (honey sunflower) and Minnesota (wild rice frybread).  So why not continue the trend with perhaps one of the stranger sandwiches I've read about in a long time.

Official Name: State of Missouri

State Nicknames: The Show-Me State
Admission to the US: August 10, 1821 (#24)
Capital: Jefferson City (15th largest)
Other Important Cities: Kansas City (largest), St. Louis (2nd largest), Springfield (3rd largest), Independence (4th largest)
Region: Midwest, South; Wet North Central (US Census)
RAFT Nations: Corn Bread & BBQ; Bison
Bordered by:  Iowa (north); Illinois and the Mississippi River (east); Kentucky and Tennessee (southeast); Arkansas (south); Oklahoma (southwest); Kansas (west); Nebraska (northwest)
Official State Foods and Edible Things: Eastern black walnut (tree nut); channel catfish (fish); Norton/Cynthiana grape (grape); bobwhite quail (game bird); crayfish (invertebrate)
Some Famous and Typical Foods: Midwestern and German foods to the north, Southern and Ozark foods to the South and in the center of the state; Kansas City BBQ (sweet BBQ sauce, with dry rub before barbecuing), gooey butter cake

The St. Paul sandwich is found - of course - in St. Louis, and nowhere else.  It is not only unique among Midwestern sandwiches, but unique among Chinese restaurant dishes.  For you see, the St. Paul sandwich is an egg fu yung pancake between two slices of bread, with tomato, lettuce and onion slices, dill pickles and mayonnaise.  Jennifer 8. Lee, that authority on all things related to Americanized Chinese food (NB: her book The Fortune Cookie Chronicles) notes on her blog what one reader told her about it:

According to local legend, the St. Paul Sandwich was named by Steven Yuen at Park Chop Suey in St. Louis for his home town of St. Paul. It’s considered a fast food snack that is really cheap < $2. [Lee 2009]

She also notes that it isn't "as crunchy as the chow mein sandwich" [Lee 2009], but I should have done that one back when I was looking at Massachusetts.

The Recipe: St. Paul Sandwich

If you want to make the egg fu yung yourself, there are many recipes out there: pork, chicken, shrimp, beef, vegetarian, combinations thereof (this St. Paul sandwich recipe from STLToday makes a nice one with shrimp, chicken and beef).  Just follow whichever recipe you choose but ignore the sauce.  Or if you don't have the time or the energy to make your own egg fu yung just go to your local Chinese take out and buy some.

In addition to the egg fu yung you will need:

* two slices of white bread
* mayonnaise
* lettuce (most use iceberg but I'm no fan, so I used some of the tastier variety from the bulk lettuce at the supermarket)
* tomato and onion
* pickle chips (normally dill, but I used some of those pickles I made way back in my Kansas pickle post)

The sandwich is simple: start with lettuce and slices of tomato (mine was Roma).

Add onion slices.

Then add your pickles and mayonnaise.

And finally the egg fu yung.

How to describe this unusual little sandwich?  One person said it was surprisingly heavenly: the most unusual fried egg sandwich.  My egg fu yung was fresh from the Chinese restaurant, but I could not really describe it as crispy.  But it was certainly a substantial sandwich, and a most unusual way to eat egg fu yung.  It's a pretty easy sandwich, but if I want my fried food crispy I guess I'll just have to fry it myself.  I did get a nice crunch from the onion though.

Sources:

Adams, Marcia. Heartland: The Best of the Old and the New from Midwest Kitchens. Clarkson Potter: New York, 1991.

Bittman, Mark.  "For a Smoky Taste in Oven Ribs".  The New York Times website.  Published: December 4, 2009.

Goldwyn, Craig "Meathead".  "A taxonomy of American barbecue sauces".  Amazing Ribs website.  Last revised September 12, 2011.

Lee, Jennifer 8. "St. Paul Sandwiches (in St. Louis), Made with Egg Foo Young Patties".  The Fortune Cookie Chronicles website.  Published April 8, 2009.

"noahw" (Instructables.com user).  "Oven Smoked Ribs".  Instructables.com website.  Copyright 2011.

Oland, Sydney.  "Sunday Brunch: St. Louis Gooey Butter Cake".  Serious Eats website.  Published May 28, 2011.

Raichlen, Steve.  How to Grill: The Complete Illustrated Book of Barbecue Techniques.  Workman Publishing: New York, 2001.


STLToday.  "St. Paul Sandwich (Fortune Express)".  STLToday website.  Published August 17, 2011.

Stradley, Linda. "Gooey Butter Cake". What's Cooking America website.  Copyright 2004.

Some information also obtained from Wikipedia's "Missouri" page and other pages, and the Food Timeline State Foods link to "Missouri".

Brilliant stuff you had! Great!

The title of this post is the most recent moderated comment that I received from some online academic paper writing website (if you don't know my opinions of the proprietors of those sites: they deserve the wrath of a thousand infernos.  Okay, maybe just a hundred).

Do spammers REALLY think I'm so dumb or desperate for comments that I will deliberately publish de-contextualized comments that lead to spam sites?  I'm not, though the brazenness is actually becoming amusing.

Snacking State-by-State: Missouri II - The Show Me Slaw!

Cole slaw: it's one of those unassuming yet still classic of American dishes.  And it exists in many forms: creamy, vinegary, boiled or non-boiled dressings, with or without sugar, with big slivers or small bits of cabbage, with red or green or even Chinese cabbage, with a very few ingredients or with many, and even some varieties from outside our country (such as the simple curtido variety brought in by Salvadorans and easily found in any Central American community in the DC region).  And anyone can tell you that cole slaw is the quintessential barbecue side dish.

Official Name: State of Missouri

State Nicknames: The Show-Me State
Admission to the US: August 10, 1821 (#24)
Capital: Jefferson City (15th largest)
Other Important Cities: Kansas City (largest), St. Louis (2nd largest), Springfield (3rd largest), Independence (4th largest)
Region: Midwest, South; Wet North Central (US Census)
RAFT Nations: Corn Bread & BBQ; Bison
Bordered by:  Iowa (north); Illinois and the Mississippi River (east); Kentucky and Tennessee (southeast); Arkansas (south); Oklahoma (southwest); Kansas (west); Nebraska (northwest)
Official State Foods and Edible Things: Eastern black walnut (tree nut); channel catfish (fish); Norton/Cynthiana grape (grape); bobwhite quail (game bird); crayfish (invertebrate)
Some Famous and Typical Foods: Midwestern and German foods to the north, Southern and Ozark foods to the South and in the center of the state; Kansas City BBQ (sweet BBQ sauce, with dry rub before barbecuing), gooey butter cake

Marcia Adams notes in her Heartland cookbook - the definitive Midwestern cookbook that I keep coming back to for this project - that Midwestern cole slaw dressing is typically sweet and creamy.  This is how I like it, and this is the cole slaw I ended up making (I have a lot of left over mayonnaise I need to use up).  But a small contingent in Missouri and other parts of the Midwest like the boiled variety, which is unfamiliar to me.

In Missouri, as it is nearly everywhere in the Midwest, cole slaw is mostly creamy style... but there is a school of slaw makers who still prepare a boiled dressiing: the early forerunners of commercial bottled salad dressings like Miracle Whip.  It is a tradition worth reviving.  Laced with dry mustard, boiled dressing is good on potato salad: thinned with additional cream, it can also be served with roast pork, ham or fish [Adams 1991: 166]

Her boiled dressing, and the adaptation I followed for the typical non-boiled creamy version, are on page 166 of her Heartland cookbook.  And yes, it is a lovely accompaniment to the Kansas City style spare ribs I made in the last post.

The recipe: Creamy Cole Slaw

To make this cole slaw without the boiled dressing you will need to replace all the eggs and flour and mustard and olive oil and cream with three things: mayonnaise (I used Duke's, which I have a whole lot of right now), sugar and apple cider vinegar.  You will add that to the following:

* cabbage (I used Savoy because it was a much smaller head - in retrospect I will just use plain green cabbage; Savoy makes a pretty cole slaw, though not a terribly crunchy one.  Use it if you don't demand crunch in your cole slaw)
* parsley (no fresh on hand so I just used some of the dried - but do try to use fresh)
* carrot (shredded)
* celery (finely chopped)
* onion (also finely chopped)
* green bell pepper (yup - finely chopped)
* celery seed, mustard seed and ground black pepper (had all on hand)

Shred the cabbage as finely as you can (or as finely as your brain can stand), and finely chop or shred the other vegetables.

Mix together all the non-dressing ingredients, and then add the mayo, sugar and vinegar.  Stir until well-blended.  It's easier to mix the dressing first instead of adding the separate ingredients.  (Note to self: read the whole recipe over again before adding your ingredients).

Though not as creamy or as sweet as my grandmother's cole slaw, this is still a pleasant slaw.  I wish I had used the more standard green cabbage which Adams likely would have recommended as well.  Adams notes that you can make this up to a day ahead.  I have been eating this along with the ribs, and though it is a bit messy to hold the fork (as it always is - it is barbecue after all), it still provides a nice crunch even with the Savoy cabbage.

Sources:

Adams, Marcia. Heartland: The Best of the Old and the New from Midwest Kitchens. Clarkson Potter: New York, 1991.

Bittman, Mark.  "For a Smoky Taste in Oven Ribs".  The New York Times website.  Published: December 4, 2009.

Goldwyn, Craig "Meathead".  "A taxonomy of American barbecue sauces".  Amazing Ribs website.  Last revised September 12, 2011.

Lee, Jennifer 8. "St. Paul Sandwiches (in St. Louis), Made with Egg Foo Young Patties".  The Fortune Cookie Chronicles website.  Published April 8, 2009.

"noahw" (Instructables.com user).  "Oven Smoked Ribs".  Instructables.com website.  Copyright 2011.

Oland, Sydney.  "Sunday Brunch: St. Louis Gooey Butter Cake".  Serious Eats website.  Published May 28, 2011.

Raichlen, Steve.  How to Grill: The Complete Illustrated Book of Barbecue Techniques.  Workman Publishing: New York, 2001.


STLToday.  "St. Paul Sandwich (Fortune Express)".  STLToday website.  Published August 17, 2011.

Stradley, Linda. "Gooey Butter Cake". What's Cooking America website.  Copyright 2004.

Some information also obtained from Wikipedia's "Missouri" page and other pages, and the Food Timeline State Foods link to "Missouri".

Harris Teeter Part II - the Pre-Opening

I just spent too much money on car repairs today, but I got my car back in a much better shape than before!  To celebrate, I took myself, with printed out ticket in hand, to the nicest free dinner in town on Tuesday night: the grand pre-opening of the new Harris Teeter.  I just cannot get over the fact that this is a TWO-STORY supermarket.

TWO STORIES!!!

I've never seen the tops of the food aisles before.  Even besides that, it was about as big as a Wegman's, and bigger than any of the other Harris Teeters I have visited before.  Plus there was a strange person walking around in an alligator costume (the store mascot?)

I know you probably are getting sick of me writing about Harris Teeter by now, but I do have to say that I had a few tasty things there, and it was just enough to fill me up:

* their store brand of ice cream is surprisingly good.  I also overheard one woman saying "I haven't seen Blue Bell ice cream up here before!" (Harris Teeter, based around Charlotte, sells a lot of Southern-based products that are otherwise difficult to find here)
* I've had a few opportunities to try their hot food bars in Columbia and around DC, but I never bothered to try their pot roast.  Very good pot roast.
* They have a large cake ready to slice tomorrow morning.  I am avoiding that mayhem like the Plague, but if you go tomorrow you can probably snag some opening day cake (they open, I think, around 7 or 8 tomorrow morning)
* There were some different things I've never seen at a Harris Teeter before: a crunchy shrimp sushi roll, a savory sweet potato (or butternut squash - they alternated) patty, and Carolina-style salsa (salsa with slaw in it).
* And to my surprise, they do indeed sell beer and wine!  But not in the store proper - it's in a not so small alcove near the sodas (you may not bring groceries in there).  There is even a set up for wine and beer tastings.  They did, at least, have several wine kiosks set up throughout the store tonight, plus some sparkling cider.

They also had a lot of cheese.

I think I am going to stay away from the new Harris Teeter for the first week or so. Again, I imagine it will be crowded.  But it is an impressive big piece of McHenry Row, and I will be back.

Okay, no more Harris Teeter talk for a while.

Harris Teeter Baltimore coming soon!

Tomorrow morning, the Locust Point branch of Charlotte-based Harris Teeter finally opens on McHenry Row.  Apparently this evening there will be a "Taste of Teeter" event for the local community, so people can get a taste of what has just opened up in their neighborhood.  I have said before how much I like Harris Teeter, having shopped at their Columbia store and (when I am down that way, which I am often these days) their Kalorama (DC) and Pentagon Row (Arlington) locations.  But it will be nice to finally have access to it in my own home town, the northernmost Harris Teeter location.

Their press release about the grand opening explains more about the supermarket chain.  Alas, they will not (as of yet) be selling liquor or wine.  But one thing I am really loving: IT'S TWO FRIGGIN' STORIES!  That alone merits a visit.  Plus, they sell a lot of South-specific brands that are difficult-to-impossible to find this close to the Mason-Dixon Line (White Lily flour, for example, though I am starting to see it in more strictly Mid-Atlantic supermarket chains, and even Wegman's).  Regardless, I am liking this, and plan to visit the new Harris Teeter soon.

Snacking State-by-State: Missouri I - Finger Lickin' Messy (or How I learned to smoke ribs in my oven)

I'm getting back on track with the state-by-state posts again.  So meet me in St Louie, Louie....

Continuing up the Mississippi River we arrive at the Missouri, a state whose food is at times Midwestern, at times Southern.  The state is more than just wonderful, wonderful BBQ.  I'm ready for it to Show Me just what else is there.

Official Name: State of Missouri

State Nicknames: The Show-Me State
Admission to the US: August 10, 1821 (#24)
Capital: Jefferson City (15th largest)
Other Important Cities: Kansas City (largest), St. Louis (2nd largest), Springfield (3rd largest), Independence (4th largest)
Region: Midwest, South; Wet North Central (US Census)
RAFT Nations: Corn Bread & BBQ; Bison
Bordered by:  Iowa (north); Illinois and the Mississippi River (east); Kentucky and Tennessee (southeast); Arkansas (south); Oklahoma (southwest); Kansas (west); Nebraska (northwest)
Official State Foods and Edible Things: Eastern black walnut (tree nut); channel catfish (fish); Norton/Cynthiana grape (grape); bobwhite quail (game bird); crayfish (invertebrate)
Some Famous and Typical Foods: Midwestern and German foods to the north, Southern and Ozark foods to the South and in the center of the state; Kansas City BBQ (sweet BBQ sauce, with dry rub before barbecuing), gooey butter cake

I have to be honest: I'm not sure where to begin with Missouri, the state right around the center of the nation (at least according to 2010 Census figures - Plato, in Texas County, MO, is the population center of the United States).  Like California, Missouri has so much going on: Southern and Eastern, Western and Northern, Mississippi River and Ozark Mountains, steamboats, frontiers, barbecue - all nestled in a very big chunk of the Midwest. And I thought my own home state of Maryland was confusing.  As with all things Midwestern, I turn to Marcia Adams to clear things up.  She points out that Missouri attracted all manner of settlers: folks from the Upper South who brought their foodways and their crops - and slaves; immigrants from Ireland, France and especially Germany who loathed slavery (hence Missouri's status as a border state) but brought their own foods - especially German beers [Adams 1991:149-150].  Missouri is also bookended by two of the Midwest's most iconic cities, each with its own character:

St. Louis...with its location at the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers...was a Southern-belle sort of town with an Eastern look to it... Buzzing with activity and crammed full of inviting new shops and restaurants, it is as lively today as it was a hundred years ago.
Across the state on the western border is Kansas City, and it is as Western as St. Louis is Eastern; there is an expansiveness here... Today it is a metropolis, a sophisticated place with a flourishing arts community, wide streets, and green meadow parks dotted with Henry Moores.  And, of course, there is Kansas City barbecue, an enthusiasm of the whole area, as important as baseball or ballet. [Adams 1991: 150-151]

Okay then, so you know which dish I have to tackle first.

Kansas City-style barbecue is, among all the regional variations of barbecue in the United States, one of the most iconic.  Even one of the US's foremost authorities on barbecue, Craig "Meathead" Goldwyn, points this out about KC barbecue: "Kansas City is Mecca for barbecue lovers. Barbecue is to KC what pizza is to Chicago" [Goldwyn 2010].  Kansas City barbecue is slowly smoked with a dry rub, and works with various meats - pork, beef, etc.  Perhaps even more characteristic of KC is its barbecue sauces.  Just as there are many varieties of clam chowder in New England though Americans still think of the type from Boston as the iconic chowda, so there are many varieties of barbecue sauce in the South and Midwest, though when most  Americans think of barbecue sauce the stuff that comes from Kansas City is the first that comes to mind.  But to take Meathead's advice, I avoided buying barbecue rubs and KC-style BBQ sauce and made my own, using Steve Raichlen's barbecue and grilling Bible - and yes, remember that barbecue is not the same as grilling for God's sake!!!  He gives various dry rub and sauce recipes, and his first one of each are, to my knowledge, pretty typical of Kansas City.

The one problem I had in making this was where to cook it.  I don't have a food smoker, and my charcoal grill isn't exactly useful at the moment - especially since I don't have the time to fire it up and wait for the food to cook.  Curious if there was any way to do this in the oven, I set my fingers to the Google, and came up with two sources that looked promising. One was Mark Bittman's article for the New York Times that describes how to get slow cooked and wood smoked barbecue ribs in the oven in mid-December (a recipe is linked).  The second was a very useful Instructables.com page authored by user "noahw" detailing just how to do this step-by-step.  Eventually I used Steve Raichlen's recipes but followed Noah's procedures.


The Recipe: Kansas City Style Barbecue (with dry rub and Kansas City Style Sauce) - in the oven

There are three things you have to do in order to slow smoke your ribs in the oven: prepare the ribs and pan, make the rub, and make the barbecue sauce.

First, you will need some pork ribs.  Make sure you have as long an oven pan as you can to fit them,  You will also need aluminum foil (I needed far less than I thought I would), a short rack that will fit in your pan (upon which to rest the ribs), and your choice of wood.  I should have gone with hickory wood chips, a common choice in Kansas City, but went with cherry instead.  Not a bad choice, but next time I'll go with the hickory.

Before applying the rub to the ribs, remove the membrane from the rack.  You don't have to do this, but it's easier to do it before you slow cook them than while you are eating them.
 
Next you will preheat your oven to a low 250°F, and prepare the rub.

The Recipe: Steve Raichlen's Basic Dry Rub

The most difficult part is gathering the ingredients (the exact specs are on page 441 of Raichlen's How to Grill):

* brown sugar (note to self: check to make sure you don't need to go out and buy more.  I keep assuming I don't have enough brown sugar and now I'm drowning in it)
* paprika (I used both smoked and not - you will need at least a quarter cup)
* coarse salt (in this case kosher salt)
* sea salt (alder smoked in this case, which I already had around from Whole Foods for about $3 for a few ounces - that will last a good long while)
* black pepper (had it)
* onion powder (only had dried chopped, which was actually pretty difficult to grind up)
* garlic powder (that I had)
* cayenne (had it)
* celery seeds (same)

Mix all the dry rub ingredients together in a bowl.

Use your hands if you can.  If you are also making the sauce from scratch, depending on the recipe you are using, set aside about a tablespoon of this rub to mix into that.

Next, apply the dry rub to both sides of the pork ribs.  Set aside and prepare the slow cooking pan.

Take your pan and spread a layer of your wood chips on the bottom.

Next, pour just enough water to almost cover them.

Put on top of that the rack that the ribs will sit on.

Place the ribs on top of the rack.

Next comes the important part: creating the smoking pan.  In order for this to work, you must completely seal up the pan so that no water (steam) escapes during cooking.  Put together a few large sheets of aluminum foil.

And wrap it around the entire pan, creating a tent around it (as Instructables.com suggests).

Like so.

While the ribs are in the oven, prepare your barbecue sauce.  Steve Raichlen's is not so difficult, and if you use the new HFCS-free ketchup, you can avoid all that gunk in this barbecue sauce, since the store-bought stuff is usually full of it.

The Recipe: Steve Raichlen's (Kansas City Style) Barbecue Sauce

This Kansas City-style barbecue sauce is also pretty easy to make (find the complete recipe on page 447 of Raichlen's How to Grill, where he notes "there isn't a Kansas City pit boss around who wouldn't recognize it as local" [Raichlen 2001: 447].

* ketchup (I used HCFS free, usually from Trader Joe's though in this case I used Hunt's)
* Tabasco sauce (had it)
* molasses (same)
* liquid smoke (this I did not have, and shelled out about $3.  This gives the sauce its smoky flavor)
* Worcestershire sauce (had it)
* brown sugar (had more than enough by now)
* black pepper
* cider vinegar
* prepared yellow mustard
* dry rub (in this case, the one I made above)

Mix your ingredients together in a saucepan, and stir together until blended.  Bring to a boil.

Turn the heat down, and let simmer for about 15 minutes.  It will stay good in the fridge for up to six months.

Meanwhile, tend to those ribs, which will be done after about three hours.  Be careful of the steam when opening them.

Serve them with the barbecue sauce (Raichlen suggests running them under the broiler for a few minutes first, but I was hungry and lazy and wanted ribs now, dammit).

What can I say?  These were just wonderful, spicy ribs with a beautiful and tangy sauce on top.  I really can't go into it anymore.  Wonderful stuff, just wonderful.  And now I know how to have them year round, when I can't fire up the grill because it's covered under two feet of snow.

Sources:

Adams, Marcia. Heartland: The Best of the Old and the New from Midwest Kitchens. Clarkson Potter: New York, 1991.

Bittman, Mark.  "For a Smoky Taste in Oven Ribs".  The New York Times website.  Published: December 4, 2009.

Goldwyn, Craig "Meathead".  "A taxonomy of American barbecue sauces".  Amazing Ribs website.  Last revised September 12, 2011.

Lee, Jennifer 8. "St. Paul Sandwiches (in St. Louis), Made with Egg Foo Young Patties".  The Fortune Cookie Chronicles website.  Published April 8, 2009.

"noahw" (Instructables.com user).  "Oven Smoked Ribs".  Instructables.com website.  Copyright 2011.

Oland, Sydney.  "Sunday Brunch: St. Louis Gooey Butter Cake".  Serious Eats website.  Published May 28, 2011.

Raichlen, Steve.  How to Grill: The Complete Illustrated Book of Barbecue Techniques.  Workman Publishing: New York, 2001.


STLToday.  "St. Paul Sandwich (Fortune Express)".  STLToday website.  Published August 17, 2011.

Stradley, Linda. "Gooey Butter Cake". What's Cooking America website.  Copyright 2004.

Some information also obtained from Wikipedia's "Missouri" page and other pages, and the Food Timeline State Foods link to "Missouri".