Baby Back Ribs with Spicy Bourbon BBQ Sauce

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Baby Back Ribs. Meaty, tender, juicy, baby back ribs. Ya gotta love 'em.

There re many reasons why I would never make it as a vegetarian, and ribs slathered in BBQ sauce is one of them. They're just too damned good for words - although that's not going to stop me from waxing poetically about them for a few more paragraphs!

Whenever I cook ribs, I almost always start them off in the oven and then finish them off on the grill. It's time and convenience for me. I no longer have the patience required to let something smoke on the BBQ for hours and hours. Besides - I no longer own a BBQ. Or a smoker.

The oven works for me.

I did something a bit different this time around... I started the ribs off in the oven with a half-cup of apricot nectar. I made a boat with the foil, put in the ribs, added the nectar, wrapped them up, and baked them at 350° for a bit more than an hour. I let them cool down while I made the sauce.

Spicy Bourbon BBQ Sauce

  • 1/2 cup bourbon
  • 1/2 cup apricot jam
  • 1/2 cup cane syrup
  • 1/4 cup soy sauce
  • 2 tbsp molasses
  • 2 tbsp worcestershire sauce
  • 2 tbsp dijon mustard
  • 2 tbsp sambal oelek
  • salt and pepper

Place all ingredients in a medium pot and bring to a boil, stirring well. Continue boiling until sauce reduces and begins to thicken - 5 or more minutes, depending on your personal preference.

Remove from heat and let cool.

I liberally coated the ribs with the sauce and then placed them on a medium-hot grill. I continually turned and basted them for about 15 minutes.They were sticky-perfect when they came off!

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Baked sweet potatoes and braised artichokes finished the plate.

Yum.

 


A Tenderloin of Beef

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There's something oddly decadent about putting BBQ sauce on a filet mignon steak. I mean... a filet is the ultimate. It may get wrapped in bacon or topped with Bearnaise Sauce, but BBQ Sauce?!?Quelle horreur!!

Then, again, I was using a Sriracha BBQ Sauce. The stuff rocks the Casaba!

The filets came about because I was at the grocery store pricing meats and realizing I could buy a whole tenderloin of beef for what they were asking for a few steaks and burger. I have a knife. I can cut something into pieces.

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The first thing I did was clean up the tenderloin and rem,ove the chain. There's some good meat on that little piece, but it's not steak material.

Second thing was to cut some steaks.

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I got 15 steaks from the tenderloin, so they ended up costing me about 5 bucks a piece.

They're like anything else you buy, nowadays. The more someone touches it, the more you're going to pay for it. You seriously pay for that perceived convenience. It probably took me 20 minutes to clean, cut, and vacuum-seal the steaks. But even if it had taken an hour, I still came out ahead. The store will charge $10 to $15 a piece for those same steaks - and they won't be as nicely trimmed!

Think about it the next time you're at the store.

I bought a whole pork loin, too. I have 15 thick-cut pork chops that cost me a buck a piece. I didn't take any pictures of those, but suffice to say, we're going to be eating well. And on the cheap!

 

 


Gnocchi and a New Grill

 

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On Monday, I finally decided to get serious about fixing our gas grill. It was rusted through the bottom, burners were rusted, I needed to light it with matches... It was a mess. It had been a mess for a couple of years, but I just kept putting off fixing it. So... I went to the website and started pricing replacement parts.

As I was scanning through the list, I realized I needed way more parts than was practical. Time to get a new grill. I went on to Amazon Smile and yesterday our new grill was delivered. In a really big box. Assembly required.

Assembly doesn't bother me, but instructions without words - just pictures - are not my forte. They generally just don't make sense to me. Icons, in general, don't make sense to me. What can I say?!?

I had planned to put it together tomorrow, but I got to leave work early, today. I came home, baked a loaf of bread, and set out to conquer Mr Char-Broil.

Victor - very wisely - planned a dinner that did not require a grill. He knows me. Well.

I actually did pretty well. I only made one screw-up - misreading the two front panels for a brace I couldn't find necessitating some awkward screwing after the fact - but it was all done in 2 hours. No cursing, crying, temper-tantrums, or smashed fingers.

Meanwhile, Victor was in the kitchen making ricotta gnocchi.

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OMG! Talk about light-as-a-feather gnocchi! These may be his best one's yet - and every time he makes them they're great!

Ricotta Gnocchi

  • 2 cups ricotta cheese
  • 1/2 cup grated Parmesan
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting

Combine the ricotta, Parmesan, olive oil, eggs and 1 teaspoon salt in a large mixing bowl. Add the flour in 3 parts, stirring with a rubber spatula. It will be a loose dough.

Bring the dough together in a ball and cut off one-quarter of it. Dust the work surface with all-purpose flour to prevent sticking, and roll the cut-off piece of dough into a long rope about 5/8 inch in diameter. Cut the rope into 5/8-inch pieces. Dust some parchment paper with flour and place the gnocchi on it to prevent sticking. Repeat with the rest of the dough.

Cook the gnocchi in boiling water for 2 minutes.

Drain and serve with your favorite sauce.

Our favorite sauce is anything Victor makes.  Fortunately, we have plenty in the house.

Fresh bread, homemade pasta, off work early on a beautiful Spring day, and a new grill.

Life definitely doesn't suck around here!

And tomorrow?!? Time to break that baby in!

Oh... and yes, that is a mosaic picture of San Francisco on our wall outside. It was made by my great Aunt Dolores in the early '60s. It's pretty cool.


Bucatini and 14 quarts of Sauce

 

Another Sunday... Another vat of sauce...

We used our last jar of sauce a few days ago, so Victor hit the kitchen early this morning to make another batch. 14 quarts lasted us from mid-December to early April, so the 14 quarts today should carry us into mid-Summer.

Having jars of your own homemade sauce on the shelf really is one of life's great pleasures. They make for some quick and easy dinners when I work late, and they're a great for those nights when I want to get a bit creative and Nonna isn't feeling adventurous.

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With a big pot and some mason jars, it's quite easy to make large batches of things. It saves on time and money in the long run - and you actually get to know what you're eating. It's major win-win.

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And it really is easy. Most of the time involved is unattended - letting things boil, simmer, or pressure-can. This is Victor's basic recipe - he uses a dozen 28oz cans of San Marzano tomatoes for a canning batch.

And what goes with homemade sauce? Homemade bread, of course! Victor made 2 loaves of bread yesterday while I was at work. He also made a banana-chocolate cake. He's been busy in the kitchen!

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The bread is classic James Beard.

French-Style Bread

Ingredients

  • 1½ packages active dry yeast
  • 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
  • 2 cups warm water (l00° to 115°, approximately)
  • 1 tablespoon salt
  • 5 to 6 cups all-purpose or hard-wheat flour
  • 3 tablespoons yellow cornmeal
  • 1 tablespoon egg white, mixed with 1 tablespoon cold water

Directions

Combine the yeast with sugar and warm water in a large bowl and allow to proof. Mix the salt with the flour and add to the yeast mixture, a cup at a time, until you have a stiff dough. Remove to a lightly floured board and knead until no longer sticky, about 10 minutes, adding flour as necessary. Place in a buttered bowl and turn to coat the surface with butter. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, 1½ to 2 hours.

Punch down the dough. Turn out on a floured board and shape into two long, French bread-style loaves. Place on a baking sheet that has been sprinkled with the cornmeal but not buttered. Slash the tops of the loaves diagonally in two or three places, and brush with the egg wash. Place in a cold oven, set the temperature at 400°, and bake 35 minutes, or until well browned and hollow sounding when the tops are rapped.

We ate well, tonight. Of course, we eat well every night, but tonight was especially well!

And there's at least 13 more meals to come!

 

 

 


Bean Soup

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I did a bit of cleaning out the cabinets last night while making my shopping list for today. My shopping list is always for the things I actually need. Whilst  shopping, I will also peruse the aisles and pick up things I want. Things that are fresh, new, or otherwise just catch my eye and my imagination.

I've always been a lover of beans and would make a pot regularly. Alas, when Nonna moved in, she told me she doesn't really care for beans, so my bean days kinda stopped. My bean-buying, however, didn't. I'd still pick up a bag of dried beans now and again - and toss them up to the top shelf with the rest of them. At one point I had five pounds of beans up there. After today, I'm down to one. I've been sneaking them into soups and other dishes, but with fresh ham bones in the house, I wanted good ol' fashioned Bean Soup.

So I made it!

I soak my beans overnight. I get a better result than doing a quick boil - especially when I'm using beans of questionable age - so last night a bag of beans went into a bowl, covered with water. I have actually brined beans from an idea from America's Test Kitchen, but wasn't overly impressed. Your mileage may vary.

Today, I drained them and placed them into a pot with a nice, meaty ham bone and covered it all with water. I added a bit of garlic powder, but that was it for seasonings.

I brought it all to a boil and then brought it down to a simmer and let it go for about 2 hours uncovered. There was plenty of water so I didn't have to worry about them boiling dry - plus, I was in and out of the kitchen.

When they were pretty much done and tender, I pulled out the bone, shredded the meat, and added it back in. I then added some ancho chili powder, chipotle powder, garlic and onion powders, along with a bit of salt and pepper.

That was it. Simple but with lots of flavor.

I made Nonna manicotti.


Happy Easter 2015

 

Another successful Easter Dinner has come and gone. We're up to 16 for the immediate East Coast family. It's not nearly as crazy as my West Coast family - we're up to 40-something out there - but it's crazy in its own right. And fun.

Our 2-year old great nephew has a couple of food allergies, so I decided to make a completely inclusive dinner for him - no dairy, nuts, or eggs. Being that I am the butter and egg and cream and nut king of the forest, it was a completely different mindset for me - but we pulled it off without a hitch. We did cheat with the hors d'oeuvres, a bit, though. Uncle Rudy's Easter Pie is mandatory, and I did a spin on Little Gram's Eggplant Appetizer and put cheese it it. Otherwise... we kept to the plan.

I'm pretty yeah, whatever, to food preferences. People don't like this or don't eat that... well... that's your choice. This is what we're having, eat or don't eat as you see fit. No hard feelings. Your choice. Food allergies are different. It's not a choice. And if something is going to make you sick, I'm really going to try really hard not to feed it to you. Especially if you're two.

Besides lots of inclusive foods, there were plenty of spirits not suitable for two-year olds... Tom brought his homemade wine and Joanna had a new cocktail. Some thing with fig vodka...

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I have to admit that, while I love figs, the thought of a fig vodka is pretty rough. But, hey... I wasn't drinking the things...

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Victor made the Easter Pie - A pizza rustica - in a springform pan, this year - and did a lattice top crust. It was stellar. I did a variation on Little Gram's Eggplant Appetizer and it was pretty good, as well.

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I also baked off a loaf of sourdough bread and made a couple dozen sourdough rolls. I didn't get a picture of the loaf of bread, but here are the rolls...

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The recipe is from my Mom's Cook Book. She made this all the time back when we were kids. It's good stuff and the starter just gets better as it ages...

And Victor also made Rice Balls. These are really, really good!

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This is a recipe that has really morphed over the years... The basic is a risotto that has cooled, then rolled into balls, rolled in bread crumbs, and fried. Victor usually sprays them with olive oil and bakes them off in a 350° oven for 30 minutes. Leftover risotto will work just fine. They really are good.

First thing out of the oven was the ham. We got it from Robertson's Ham in Oklahoma. Yep. Oklahoma. We got a whole ham - not spiral cut and not honey-glazed. Moist, tender, and full of flavor. We first heard of them when our friend Ann sent us one as a gift. They're just a damned good ham. Period. I also picked up a smoked turkey breast while I was at it. Both are going to make some fine sandwiches.

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And the bones are going to make some awesome beans and soup.

And while I didn't glaze the ham, I did have a sauce for it - Cranberry Mustard Sauce.

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Dijon mustard mixed into canned whole berry cranberry sauce. Pretty simple but it packs a flavor wallop!

We had plenty of sides to go along with the ham and turkey. First up was a Mango and Red Onion Salad. I've made a lot of variations of this over the years. This one worked really well today!

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Mango and Red Onion Salad

  • 1 bag frozen mango chunks, thawed
  • 1 red onion
  • 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
  • 1/4 cup orange juice
  • 1 tablespoon orange zest
  • 1/2 teaspoon mustard
  • Salt and black pepper to taste
  • 1/3 cup olive oil

Peel and halve the onion. Slice into paper-thin half moons. Gently toss the mango and red onion.

Whisk the vinegar, juice, mustard, zest, and spices together in a bowl. Slowly whisk the oil in until emulsified.

Pour over mango and onions and mix, coating everything with dressing.

Next up was a Shredded Carrot and Raisin Salad. I shredded rainbow carrots on my trusty mandoline and added orange juice, raisins, chopped apricot, pomegranate molasses, a bit of sherry vinegar and a good drizzle of good olive oil.

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I have to admit it came out pretty good.

Roasted potatoes came up next...

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They were merely quartered, rubbed with olive oil and a ton of garlic, and popped into a 425° oven for 40 minutes. The asparagus was oven-roasted, as well.

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It was also drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with garlic powder, salt and pepper and roasted in the same oven for 20 minutes. I finished it off with fresh lemon juice and lemon zest. Really simple, lots of flavor. No butter!

The no-dairy concept was broken by Marie who brought her Pineapple Dressing 

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and an Orzo Salad with Feta.

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Both were totally delish. Miles doesn't know what he's missing, right now, but I really hope he outgrows the dairy allergy soon, because it would be a shame to go through life not tasting his grandmother's pineapple dish. She only makes it at Easter. It's a rule.

We also celebrated three birthdays - including a sweet 16.

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The cake was made without dairy or nuts - or eggs - and actually was really good. I let his mom make that and I stuck with rum balls and fresh fruit for my contribution to the sweet table.

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I made a lot of rum balls for my brother-in-law... The guy knows how to make them last.

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And Re-Re also made cookies... Not Miles-Friendly, but, hey... He's two. He doesn't need all this stuff, anyway!

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Some chocolate-dipped strawberries and jelly beans finished it off...

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The jelly beans were allergen-free.

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The dishes are done, the tables put back, chairs back downstairs, leftovers wrapped and it's time to sit back and relax.

Happy Easter!