Ribs!

Vegetarians - you may want to skip this one.  If the sight of meat or bones freaks you out - move on.


Making ribs for dinner tonight!  I've had some frozen pork ribs in the freezer for way too long.

Using this recipe 

1.  The first thing that I had to do was defrost the ribs since they'll spend the next 7 hours in the slow cooker.  I didn't really have time for them to defrost in the fridge or on the counter (probably not healthy anyway).  So here's what I'm doing:

That's just cold water pouring over 2 lbs of pork baby back ribs.    I flipped them around a few times, but it only took about 15 minutes for them to full thaw.  

The Next Step:

2.  Make the rub by blending together 1.5 Tbs Paprika, 1 Tbs light brown sugar (I packed mine),  1/8 Tsp of cayenne (I probably used 1/4 tsp or more.  Mine is large pieces because they're dried peppers from my garden from summers past), salt and pepper to taste.  I used about 1/2 tsp of each.  Mix all of that together and you get a really attractive red rub (thanks Paprika!)

3.  After patting the ribs dry with some paper towels, rub the dry mix all over them.

4.  Then place them in a slow cooker with the meat side against the wall and the thicker side down.  I couldn't tell which was the thicker side so I guessed.  Pour 1 cup BBQ sauce over them and cook on low for 6-8 hours.

The Last Steps:

5.  Prepare a baking pan by lining it with tinfoil, and putting a few cooling racks in it.  

6.  Carefully remove the ribs from the slow cooker.  They're tender so watch out cause they can fall apart easily.  Put them on the rack bone side up.

Evidence of the difficulty of moving them (see the fallen rib).

7.  In the slow cooker, skim off any visible fat.  Then pour the juices through a strainer into a saucepan. Bring to a boil and the reduce the heat to simmer for about 15 minutes.  (I accidentally skipped the strainer step.  Oops.  I did skim the fat, but it's tricky.  After a while I just said forget it and started the boiling to simmering).

8.  Make sure that your oven has a shelf at the very bottom (original recipe says 10 inches from broiler, that's the bottom tier in my oven).  Turn on the broiler and let it heat up.

9.  Brush the ribs with the sauce you were just simmering and broil the ribs for 3-4 minutes.  Take them out, flip them over (tongs are handy here... again, be careful so they don't fall apart).  Brush the top side with the sauce and broil meat side up for about 3 minutes, remove and brush with sauce, broil for 3 more minutes, remove and brush with sauce, and then broil for 3 more minutes.

10.  Serve remaining sauce with ribs.

As you can see - there were NO remaining ribs. *burp*  The meat literally just fell off the bone, and the broiler at the end gave them that perfect bit of crustiness.  This one is a winner!

Husband approved!

BBQ menu

July 20, 2012

Having a BBQ tonight with some friends.  Found out our grill was dead so last night the hubby and I bought a new one and put it together from 8:30-11:30pm (after he'd worked a full day - poor hubby). It looks pretty badass though, and now that we've built it we also know how all the parts work and what to replace if it breaks.  As we were putting it together I think we figured out how we could have fixed the old gas grill, but too late.  The junk guys who go down our ally looking for metal are going to be stoked.  Annnnnyway.....

I always cook too much, but I'd rather have too much than not enough.
Here's the menu:

Starters: Chips & Salsa, Watermelon.

Drinks:  Sarasota Lemonade (Mix 2 bottles of Moscato + 1 container of frozen pink lemonade concentrate + 3 cups sprite + 1/2 container of crushed raspberries + ice).  Add fresh raspberries to individual drinks.  AND Adult Root-beer Floats (pour 2 oz vanilla vodka over ice, and 5 oz. root beer.  Top with whip cream.)  Serve with a straw!  Beer (but really, would you drink beer with the other two available??)
VERDICT:  Sarasota lemonade was AWESOME!  I put it in mason jars, sealed them and threw them in the cooler with beer.  They were soooo yummy.  The root-beer floats were also good, but a little strong.  I made them with vanilla ice cream.

Burgers: They should be juicy! (Mix 2 lbs 80% lean ground beef + 1 egg + 3/4 c. bread crumbs + 3 Tbs. evaporated milk + 2 Tbs. worcestershire + 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper + 2 tbs chopped garlic with your hands.  Make into 8 patties).
VERDICT:  I wound up using 2.25 pounds of 75% lean ground beef.  The flavor was fine, but it needed salt & pepper and way less bread crumbs (maybe a quarter cup or more less).

Sides:  Caprese Pasta Salad (4 cups cooked & cooled pasta + 2 cups sliced grape tomatoes + 8 oz fresh mozzarella cut into 1/2 inch cubes + 2 Tbs olive oil + salt & pepper to taste.)  Tabbouleh (1/2 cup bulgar soaked in water for 30 minutes + 1/4 c. lemon juice + 2 Tbs olive oil + 1/2 tsp minced garlic + 1/4 tsp salt + pepper to taste + 2 bunches (2 cups) of flat leaf parsley chopped  + 1/4 c. fresh chopped mint + 2 tomatoes diced + 1 small cucumber peeled seeded & diced.  Toss & Chill.
VERDICT:  The Caprese Pasta salad was good but I didn't salt it enough and it could have benefitted from a little balsamic vinegar.  The Tabbouleh was AWESOME and I forgot the cucumber.  Ooops.  It was a huge hit, which actually surprised me.

Dessert:  Grilled Banana Smores (slice 1 banana per person down the middle & stuff with mini marshmallows & chocolate chips.  Wrap in tin foil & grill.  Sprinkle with crushed graham crackers.  I will also serve with ice cream if people want it.
VERDICT:   We wound up having the root beer floats for dessert.  Guess I'll make the banana later!

What do you think?  Too much?  Just enough?  There will only be 5 people there :) HA!