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Meat Me in St. Louis AMY MILLS WANTS to get one thing straight: Ribs should not fall off the bone. “If they don’t have structure, they’re overdone,” she says, and she would know. Thirty-two years ago, her father, competition barbecue legend Mike Mills, opened 17th Street Barbecue in their hometown of Murphysboro, Illinois. Today, as they get ready to release their second cookbook, Praise the Lard, she shares some of their hard-won secrets. “Smoking J U N E 2017
ribs is all about maintaining a low, steady heat,” says Mills, who employs a gas grill to make easy work of it. Instead of baby backs, she suggests smoking St. Louis ribs, an affordable, heavily marbled cut with delicious bacony flavor that won’t dry out. Her signature finish is a sweet-spicy sauce made with fresh blackberries (p. 111). “Once you smoke these,” she says, “there’s no going back.” 32 N. 17th St.; 17bbq.com. —JULIA HEFFELFINGER 112
F O L L O W U S @ F O O DA N D W I N E
photograph: con poulos; food stylist: simon andrews; prop stylist: pamela duncan silver
Grinding dry rubs into a fine powder helps your seasonings melt into the meat.