Memorial Day "picnic"

Tonight's Menu

• bbq pork spareribs
  
• grilled garlic toast
  
• potato-artichoke salad
• coleslaw
  

Okay, so it was too hot to eat outside. But I grilled a lot of stuff! Does that count?

The spareribs were my usual, finished on the grill (meat side down over medium heat for 4 minutes, meat side up and slathered in Carolina-style barbecue sauce for 4 minutes, rest before cutting into riblets).

I grill everything from meat to veggies to fruit, but I think this might have been my first time grilling bread! We had some leftover boule (yes, from the book -- I SWEAR I don't have any relationship with the authors/publisher) so I cut that into half-inch slices, brushed it on both sides with olive oil (LIGHTLY -- you don't want to soak it), and grilled it over high heat until it picked up some grill marks, which didn't take long at all. Then I rubbed a cut garlic clove over both sides of each slice of bread. So easy, yummy and fresh tasting! The girl particulary loved this bread. Of course, she lives on bread, so take that with a grain of salt, maybe.

The salad was my favorite summer salad. It's finally summery enough to serve this again, yay!

And the coleslaw was my usual, except I used savoy cabbage because that's what I had.

Here's the timeline:

• Three and a half hours before serving, rub the ribs with spices and put them in the oven at 325 degrees F, TIGHTLY covered with foil.
• Make potato salad and coleslaw after putting ribs in oven; put both salads in fridge.
• Thirty minutes before serving, light grill and pull ribs out of oven.
• Grill ribs as described above.
• Remove ribs from grill; cover with foil and let rest.
• Grill bread and remove.
• Cut ribs into riblets.
• Pull salads out of fridge.
• Serve it up!

One of the few meals everyone will eat

Tonight's Menu

• pork spare ribs, spiced & sauced
  
• homemade cornbread
• coleslaw
  

Seriously, this is one of the few meals I make that everyone in the family will happily eat (with no substitutions of cheese for meat or mundane vegetables for the coleslaw). It's one of those meals that require a bit of advance preparation, but then very little actual work at mealtime. Everyone's happy!

The spare ribs (which are cheap at my local grocery, and very few meats are these days) were rubbed with a mixture of brown sugar, salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder, smoked paprika, dried oregano and garam masala. Then I stuck them in the oven, in a pan tightly covered with heavy-duty foil, for about 3 hours at 300 degrees F. I usually cook them longer on a lower heat with a bit of liquid, but they tend to fall off the bone when I do that and I wanted these to have some structural integrity so I could finish them on the grill. Which I did! I put them flesh-side down over high heat for about 4 minutes, then bone-side down over low heat for maybe 7 minutes, slathered on both sides with bottled Carolina-style (think mustard-based) barbecue sauce. They came out tender and extremely delicious, if I do say so myself!

I've already given you the recipe for the cornbread. I swear this isn't much more trouble than those "just add water" mixes. This particular cornbread was leftover from last week. It freezes really well! To reheat, I drizzled it with a bit of water and then stuck it in the oven, tightly covered, for about 30 minutes at 350 degrees F. It tasted freshly baked! Honest!

The coleslaw was my usual -- half a head of green cabbage, shredded, tossed with a mixture of mayonnaise, white vinegar, sugar and celery seed. Even the girl will eat this, and she doesn't like ANYTHING.

Indoor picnic

Tonight's Menu

• oven-cooked pork spare ribs
  
• chuffed potatoes
  
• coleslaw
• freezer pickles
  

We were expecting rain today courtesy of Hurricane Dolly, but not much materialized. I planned an indoor dinner just in case, though!

I bought a HUGE rack of pork spare ribs at the grocery store. These are cheaper per pound than baby back ribs, at least where I live, and I think they're tastier (probably because they have a lot more fat). I cut the rack in half so it would fit in my roasting pan, then rubbed it all over with a mixture of brown sugar, garam masala, chili powder, garlic powder, salt, pepper and cayenne. I put the ribs on a rack in the roasting pan, added a bit of water to the bottom of the pan, covered it tightly with heavy-duty foil and stuck it in the oven for about three hours at 300 degrees F. Then I uncovered the ribs, boosted the heat up to 425 degrees F, and let them get nice and brown for 20-30 minutes. I didn't bother basting them with sauce; just served some on the side (bottled). They were falling-apart delicious and the girl had seconds!

Chuffed potatoes were the usual, as was the coleslaw.

The freezer pickles were sort of an experiment. Our CSA has given us quite a few pickling cucumbers lately and I wasn't sure what to do with them because I have NO desire to get into the whole canning thing. My mom used to can stuff and it seemed like a huge pain in the ass. I just don't want to mess with it at all. So I tried my hand at freezer pickles instead, and it was way easy! I used the top recipe on this page for this batch of pickles. I think they're pretty darn tasty -- kind of sweet/tangy. I'll probably try a more ambitious recipe for my next batch, but if you're new to freezer pickles like I am/was, that's a pretty good recipe to get you started!

Ribs on the grill

Tonight's Menu

• sweet & spicy grilled pork spareribs
  
• grilled potato-onion packets
  
• coleslaw
  

I've never figured out how to make ribs 100% on the grill without drying them out or undercooking them. So while these ribs were FINISHED on the grill, they were STARTED in the oven.

What I did was mix up some brown sugar, chili powder, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, sea salt and my secret ingredient -- garam masala. This is a blend of black pepper, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, cumin, coriander and other spices that's used frequently in Indian food, and it gives a nice, sweet-spicy kick to dry rubs and marinades. I rubbed this spice mixture on both sides of a rack of pork spareribs, then put them in a rack in a roasting pan. After adding a bit of water to the bottom of the pan, I covered it tightly with foil and stuck it in the oven at 300 degrees F for about 1.5 to 2 hours.

Then I mixed up a wet sauce -- ketchup, honey, cayenne, sea salt and more garam masala, along with the juice and grated zest of half an orange. I put the meat on the grill over LOW heat for about 10 minutes per side, basting liberally with this mixture. The ribs came out sticky, tender and delicious! And fortunately, they didn't dry out on the grill. I think they would have over a higher heat, though.

The potato packet was my usual -- red potatoes sliced thin, along with a thinly sliced sweet yellow onion, then alternating layers on a sheet of heavy foil with some kosher salt, freshly ground pepper and blobs of butter. Fold it all into a packet, folding the ends in, and place it on the upper rack of your grill (if you have one, otherwise put it over an unlit burner or a pan of water) for about 30 minutes. They come out SO sweet and yummy! This time the potato (one GIANT one) was from our CSA share.

The coleslaw was made with savoy cabbage this time around, just for something different. I still made the dressing from mayo, vinegar and sugar with a bit of celery seed.

It is almost too hot to grill here already, y'all! I can't stand to sit out there and babysit the meat anymore. The back of our house, where the grill is, faces north and gets NO shade in the evenings this time of year. Oh no! What am I going to do?! It's to hot to use the oven much, either. I forsee a lot of salads in our future!

Oven spare ribs

Tonight's Menu

• oven-cooked pork spare ribs
  
• crusty French bread
  
• carrot & beet salad
  

I know! Again with the not posting! I'm so sorry. Our dinners have been REALLY boring lately. Think lots of pasta and hamburgers and stuff like that. Ugh.

Today the weather was really windy and weird -- not at all conducive to grilling. So, I made spare ribs in the oven. Did you know that pork spare ribs are relatively cheap? I didn't, until I went shopping for meat the other day and noticed that holy crap, meat has gotten really expensive!

I get a lot of comments about the amount of meat we eat here in the Badger household, and it's true that we eat a lot of it, but we have our reasons, yo. For one, I've been told by doctors (after a lifetime of anemia) that my body is unable to process/utilize non-heme iron. I can ONLY use heme iron, and that ONLY comes from animal flesh -- you won't find it in eggs, dairy, beans, greens or grains. In addition, both DH and my daughter are allergic to soy, legumes and tree nuts. I do try to load up our family diet with high-protein grains (like quinoa) and other foods as much as I can, but the easiest way for all of us to get iron AND protein is through meat and fish.

So. Anyway. On to the recipes!

I bought pork spare ribs with the chine bone removed. That isn't 100% necessary, but it does make it easier to carve them once they're cooked. I made a dry rub of brown sugar, powdered ginger, ancho chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, dry mustard, oregano, cayenne, salt and pepper and rubbed it over both sides of the ribs. Then I placed them on a rack in a roasting pan, poured about a half inch of water in the bottom of the pan, covered it VERY tightly with heavy-duty foil, and put it in the oven at 200 degrees F for about five hours. Then I removed the foil, boosted the heat up to 400 degrees F, and cooked the ribs for another 20 minutes or so, basting with bottled barbecue sauce during the last 10 minutes. After letting them rest for about five minutes I carved them into individual riblets. They were SO deliciously tender and flavorful, y'all.

This sounds like a lot of work, but it REALLY isn't hard to do at all. Most of the "work" time is spent in the oven with no interference from the cook. You can mix up the spice rub the night before, come home for lunch to rub the ribs and stick them in the oven, then boost up the heat and baste them with sauce when you get home from work in the evening. If you're going to be away from them for longer than about six hours, just cook them on a lower heat. As long as you add water to the pan and cover them tightly, they aren't going to burn.

The French bread was bought already made and just warmed through in the oven while the meat rested. Again, you can do this in minutes after work.

The beet & carrot salad can easily be made the day before. In fact, it might be better to do it that way so the flavors can meld for a bit. I made this salad in an effort to use up some of our most recent CSA share -- fresh beets, lovely fresh carrots, and green garlic.

All I did was wash and peel the carrots and beets and then shred them in my food processor. I would guess that the amount I had yielded about two cups of shredded veggies altogether. In a non-reactive bowl, whisk the juice of one lemon (or you could use lime juice, or vinegar) with an equal amount of oil -- I used some pistachio oil that's been lurking in my fridge since DH brought it back from a business trip to the south of France, waiting for the perfect salad opportunity. You could easily use EVOO or some sort of nut oil, whatever you like! I grated in one clove of "green" garlic (you could use a regular garlic clove, and just mince it if you don't have a microplane grater) and added a bit of sea salt and freshly ground pepper. Then I dumped in the shredded veggies and tossed them to coat. Because I can't leave well enough alone, I also snipped in some fresh mint and flat-leaf parsley.

I have never been a big fan of beets, I think because the only kind my mom ever served were the pickled ones from a jar, which are an abomination (sorry, Mom!). This salad was deliciously earthy and a bit tart, which made a nice complement to the rich pork ribs. Very yummy, and I would definitely make this again!

Cooking disasters: tough ribs

Tonight's Menu

• oven-barbecued pork spareribs
  
• salad of tiny red potatoes, marinated artichoke hearts, fresh mozzarella and tomatoes
  
• leftover fruit salad
  

Oh, y'all. I am so disappointed in these ribs. I cooked them on a rack, tightly covered, at 200 degrees F for 3 hours before bumping them up to 400 for 30 minutes or so and slathering with sauce. Turns out I probably should have cooked them on the low heat for more like 5 hours, or else started them at 250 instead of 200. They were TOUGH. And unfortunately, being tough made it difficult to carve them even though I was using a wicked sharp knife. So I ended up with lots of oddly shaped "riblets". So disappointing! Maybe I can salvage them on the re-heat. They were tasty, despite being tough as old boots.

At least the salad was good. This is my favorite warm-weather salad that I made all the time last summer. Just quarter some little red-skinned potatoes, simmer until tender but still firm, drain and let cool. Then toss them in a bowl with a small jar of marinated artichoke hearts (don't drain them -- the marinade forms the dressing for the salad), some fresh mozzarella (the little balls packed in liquid), cherry tomatoes or tomato wedges, and a chiffonade of basil. Season with salt and cracked pepper to taste and refrigerate for a couple of hours before serving. Yum! This is perfect with any sort of grilled meat.

Yet more pork

Tonight's Menu

• oven-barbecued pork spareribs
  
• Ranch beans (from a can! I know!)
  
• coleslaw (from scratch! really!)
• sliced tomatoes
  

Okay, so here's what happened: I made the coleslaw yesterday, intending to serve it with the hamburgers we had for dinner, and then totally forgot I even made it and so failed to put it out. (Instead we had loaded burgers with pickles and blue corn tortilla chips. If you must know.)

And I KNOW I just made pork spareribs for New Year's Day but they had MORE at the store today and I love them so. This time I rubbed them with a mixture of brown sugar, dry mustard, chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne, Jane's Krazy salt and freshly ground pepper, put them on a rack in a roasting pan, added a little water to the pan, covered it tightly with foil and cooked them at 225 degrees F for about 2.5 hours. Then I cranked the heat up to 400, uncovered the pan, slathered the ribs with barbecue sauce (from a bottle, because I'm lazy) and cooked them for another half hour. They were falling-apart tender and SO yummy.

I loves me some pork ribs, y'all.

Happy New Year!

Tonight's Menu

• pork spare ribs with sauerkraut
  
• mashed potatoes
  
• sauteed baby spinach with blackeyed peas and bacon
  

So hey, everyone! Happy New Year!

In my family of origin we always ate pork and sauerkraut on New Year's Day. I don't know why, we just DID. Every single person in my family, on both sides. I'm relatively certain they all still do.

I usually do a pork loin with sauerkraut in the crockpot, but this year I got a wild hair and made SPARE RIBS with sauerkraut in the crockpot! I know! Crazy! All I did was cut the spare ribs into slabs of 3-4 ribs each, salt and pepper them, brown them off in a skillet, then stack them in the crockpot (making Xes with them as I went). I drained a jar of sauerkraut and kind of dumped it on top, poking it down in the spaces between the ribs, then sprinkled a little brown sugar on top. Cook on low for 9-10 hours and Bob's your uncle. WAY yummy, too!

The mashed potatoes? FROZEN ORE-IDA. The boy child ate about four helpings.

Now we come to the Texas portion of the meal. Down here, they are all about the blackeyed peas and greens on New Year's Day. I dunno why, something to do with money or good luck or something. I don't question it. I just DO IT. Because you HAVE TO.

So anyway, what I did there was to chop up a couple of slices of bacon and brown them off, toss in some (rinsed, drained) canned blackeyed peas, then add two packages of fresh baby spinach and let it wilt down, tossing it constantly to work the un-wilted leaves to the bottom. You need to do this in a big pan, but it'll cook down to almost nothing. When the spinach was wilted to my satisfaction, I stirred in some red wine vinegar and a bit of sugar, then seasoned with salt and pepper. Delicious!

So. What did YOU have for dinner tonight? Any traditional foods for good luck in the new year?

More ribs!

Tonight's Menu

• spicy pork spareribs
  
• garlic breadsticks (frozen)
  
• sweet corn (also frozen, sadly)
  

Tonight's dinner was a bit of an adventure. I had planned to cook the spareribs for a couple of hours on low heat in the oven, then finish them on the gas grill. However, about 10 minutes after I put them in the oven, our power went out. Since our oven is electric (which I HATE -- I really miss my gas oven!) that meant no ribs unless I cooked them 100% on the grill. Which I did, and they got overcooked, dammit! I had the burners turned down as low as they would go, but I wasn't able to do indirect heat because the rack of ribs was so big that it took up the whole grill, even after I cut it in half.

ANYWAY. They were still very tasty. I did a dry rub before I stuck them in the oven (brown sugar, dry mustard, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, cayenne, salt and pepper) and cooked them uncovered for the short time they were in there. Then once they were on the grill, I whipped up a sauce on the stovetop (which is gas). I sauteed some sweet onion in EVOO, then added some apple jelly, ketchup, dry mustard, onion powder, garlic powder, cayenne, cinnamon, ground cloves, ground ginger, allspice, salt and pepper and let it simmer for 10 minutes or so before saucing the ribs in their last 10 minutes of grilling. If I made this again, I'd add some sort of booze to it -- dark rum or bourbon would be delish. Soy sauce or worcestershire would be good too if you knocked back the salt a bit, but DH and the girl child are allergic to soy and I totally forgot about the worcestershire.

The power came back on while the ribs were grilling so I was able to heat up some frozen crappe to go along with them. I'm still pissed that the ribs got dry from being grilled too long, though. Oh well.