Mike Mills and his daughter, Amy Mills join us to discuss their new cookbook, Praise the Lard: Recipes and Revelations from a Legendary Life in Barbecue. Mike and Amy are the father-daughter duo behind 17th Street Barbecue, a restaurant based in southern Illinois that hosts a yearly “Praise the Lard” competition. Mike Mills has been named one of America’s top pitmasters, and is a four-time world barbecue champion who also co-founded the restaurants Blue Smoke and The Big Apple Barbecue.  Mike Mills and Amy Mills will be at Pig Beach's Summer Guest Pitmaster Series June 27, starting at 5:00 P.M. at Pig Beach Brooklyn, 480 Union St., Brooklyn, NY. Click here for more information and to purchase tickets.    LEGENDARY BABY BACK RIBS 3 racks baby back ribs (about 2 pounds each) Pure Magic (page 29) or Sweet Heat Dry Rub (page 33) 2 cups apple juice in a spray bottle with a trigger handle (see page 76) Apple City Barbecue Sauce (page 36) or Blackberry-Habanero Sauce (page 37), warm 4 to 5 pounds good-quality lump charcoal 1 small (8-inch) piece of apple wood or 2 store-bought chunks String mop  Prep the meat: To remove the thin, papery membrane from the inner side of the ribs, lay each rack, bone side up, on a flat surface and slide the handle of a teaspoon between the membrane and the meat, working from one end all the way to the other. Use a paper towel to grab ahold of the membrane and pull firmly to peel the whole thing off. Then use the bowl end of the spoon to scrape away any extraneous fat on the bone side of the rack, between the bones. Don’t scrape all the way down to the bone; just remove any thick deposits. Turn the rack over and inspect the front. Use a sharp knife to trim off any scraggly edges and hard pieces of fat (which won’t render out during the cooking process). Cut the racks in halves or thirds as needed to fit on the cooker. Lightly sprinkle each side with dry rub. You’ll be layering on rub several times during the cooking process, so don’t overdo it now. Set the ribs on a baking sheet, cover them with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until you’re ready to put them on the cooker. Note: You can dust the ribs with dry rub up to 4 hours prior to cooking, but if they sit much longer than that, the salt in the rub will begin to pull moisture from the meat. Set up the cooker for indirect-heat smoking: Open the top and bottom vents. Pile 3 pounds of the charcoal in one half of the cooker, leaving the other half empty. Load a charcoal chimney one-quarter full of charcoal and light it. When the coals in the chimney are glowing, dump them on top of the pile of charcoal in the cooker. Set the wood on top of the coals, replace the grate, and put the ribs over the side with no coals (the indirect cooking area), bone side down. Close the lid. Don’t open the cooker for 1 hour, but keep a close eye on the temperature (see page 84 for how best to assess and monitor cooker temperature); when it reaches 185°, which might happen very quickly, close the vents about halfway so that less air comes in to feed the fire and the heat in the cooker rises slowly. Let the temperature climb to between 225° and 250° (see page 77 for how to determine your target temperature). Maintain your target temperature for the duration of the cook. Throughout the entirety of the cook, be on the lookout for fluctuations in cooker temperature; if it dips more than 5° below your target and opening the vents isn’t sufficient to bring it back up, you will need to add a few hot coals. If at any point the temperature climbs above your target by more than 5°, close the top and bottom vents further so that even less air comes in to feed the fire. After 1 hour, open the lid and check the edges of the ribs closest to the fire. If they look like they’re beginning to brown, rotate the racks, moving the pieces that are farthest away and placing them closest to the fire, and vice versa. (Do not flip the ribs over, now or at any other point during the cook.) Close the lid and continue cooking the ribs for another 2 to 4 hours, monitoring the cooker temperature and checking every 20 minutes or so to see if the surface of the meat looks dry or moist. If the ribs look dry, mist them with some apple juice and sprinkle on another light coat of dry rub. Ribs “sweat” about three times during the smoking process, indicating that the seasoning from the dry rub and the flavor from the smoke are being absorbed into the meat. Never flip the ribs over; instead continue rotating them so each piece cooks evenly. Prepare another round of charcoal in the chimney as needed. This cook should not require more charcoal than the initial amount, but we always keep some coals at the ready just in case more are needed to maintain the temperature. After the ribs have been on the cooker for 3 hours, start checking every 20 minutes or so for doneness by lifting up one end of a rack. If the rack is still rigid like a board or bends only a little, the ribs need more time. When they’re done, the rack will sway, bending in the middle. Mop the ribs with a thin coat of sauce, then close the lid for just a minute to let it dry a bit. Mop with a second thin coat, give them a final sprinkle of dry rub, pull them off the cooker, and serve. Serve full or half racks, or cut into single or double bones to serve as an appetizer. Mike and Amy's Tangy Coleslaw (Ken Goodman/Courtesy of the publisher)   TANGY VINEGAR COLE SLAW MAKES 8 TO 10 SERVINGS 1 medium green cabbage ¼ small purple cabbage 1 carrot, peeled and shredded DRESSING 2 cups apple cider vinegar 2 cups sugar ½ cup chopped onion ¼ cup chopped green pepper 1¼ tablespoons canola oil or other mild vegetable oil 1½ teaspoons celery seeds 1½ teaspoons granulated garlic 1 teaspoon dry mustard (we use Colman’s) ½ teaspoon kosher salt ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper Using a large sharp knife, slice the cabbages into ¼-inch-thick slices. Lay the slices flat and finely chop them, first sideways, then up and down. You should have about 5 cups green cabbage and 1 cup purple. Toss the green and purple cabbages and the carrot in a large bowl. For the dressing: In another bowl, mix the vinegar, sugar, onion, green pepper, oil, celery seeds, garlic, dry mustard, salt, and pepper, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. With a measuring cup, transfer half of the dressing to the bowl with the cabbage and carrots. Toss with clean hands or a large spatula to combine. Keep adding the dressing, ¼ cup at a time, being careful not to drench the cabbage. You may not need all of the dressing; any leftover can be saved in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days and used as a dressing for salad or to marinate vegetables. Cover and refrigerate for several hours, until chilled. The slaw keeps, refrigerated, for 5 days. PURE MAGIC MAKES ABOUT 2¼ CUPS  ½ cup sweet Hungarian paprika ¼ cup kosher salt ¼ cup sugar ¼ cup granulated garlic ¼ cup chili powder ¼ cup ground cumin 1 tablespoon dry mustard 1 tablespoon coarsely ground black pepper 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper Mix all the ingredients. Using a spice mill or coffee grinder, blend ¼ cup at a time to a powder-like consistency so that all of the spice particles are relatively the same size. Store in a tightly covered container in a cool, dark place. The rub keeps for about 6 months, or until the color or pungent aroma fades. BLACKBERRY-HABANERO SAUCE MAKES ABOUT 4 CUPS ½ cup rice vinegar 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar 3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce 2 teaspoons Pure Magic dry rub (page 29) or your choice 1 quart blackberries 2 tablespoons tomato paste 2 tablespoons molasses 2 tablespoons pure cane syrup (see Resources, page 321) 2 teaspoons local honey 1 tablespoon light brown sugar 1 tablespoon blackberry preserves ¼ teaspoon minced seeded habanero pepper ⅛ teaspoon sriracha sauce Combine the vinegars, Worcestershire sauce, dry rub, and blackberries in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, whisking constantly. Take the pan off the heat. Add the remaining ingredients and whisk until well combined. Decant into a mason jar and let cool. Cover and store in the refrigerator; the sauce will keep for at least 2 weeks. Warm or bring to room temperature before serving. Tangy Vinegar Cole Slaw from 'PRAISE THE LARD' by Mike Mills and Amy Mills. Copyright © 2017 by Mike Mills and Amy Mills. Used by permission of Rux Martin Books / Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved.