Quick Ribs

I failed to take a picture last night.  Busy busy and frankly just flat out forgot.  My parents were coming over to see the girls for a couple of hours before they run off on vacation for the next month, so I needed to put something in the oven that required very little work.  Something that could sit and bake in there for a while.  Something that if it overcooked, would be a good/OK thing.

At the local grocery store over the weekend I had happened upon a package of pre-sliced pork ribs.  8 of them.  I LOVE ribs.  We know this from past posts.  But the idea of keeping the oven on in this sweltering heat the past week has not been too appealing.  But what if I could cook fewer ribs, already cut, for less time?  Well then that would certainly work.  Oh, and I grabbed a bottle of my favorite BBQ sauce, knowing that this week I wasn't going to have time or patience to make my own, though I do have a great recipe for one.

I like my ribs tender and to be pullable off the bone without too much effort, but I also prefer that they not literally fall off the bone.  And this combination totally got them there.

So, into my 2.5qt CorningWare covered dish went my ribs to play.
Followed by 1/2 bottle of sauce, maybe a smidge less and.
Lid on and nto a 350 degree cold oven.  Meaning, I had JUST turned it on and put the ribs in as it was warming.
Let them get all happy until about 6:30.
I believe I turned them at least once so both sides could get wet.

Served them up with peas and buttered egg noodles.
Both girls PLOWED through them.
Success.  Will definitely be doing this again.

Ribs Revisited

This past weekend, was a 3 day weekend.  And lucky me, my youngest daughter woke up sick on Saturday morning.  We spent the day at my in-laws where she filled several diapers and I got thrown up on, as did my car on the ride home that night.  Sunday was a good day, Monday was not (for many reasons but personal and public).  While at the grocery store on Saturday, while I got a small chance to escape, I saw ribs on sale.  I get pork ribs perhaps once, maybe twice a year.  They're not always affordable , and they're time consuming to make.  But so worth it.  But I did not purchase said ribs on Saturday. No, I let them go, and went about the sick weekend yearning for that ooey goodness of BBQ sauce slathered on mouth watering pork.  Fast forward to Tuesday where I ended up at home from work since daughter was still sick and I was determined to finally purchase this delectable delight.  Hopefully, still on sale.  And they were.

Due to the aforementioned terrible sick weekend, and the tragedy at the Boston Marathon, it was important that I restore some mental normalcy, if not in the household, than at least my own brain.  And this meant putting on a spread.  Which, in my mind from the weekend, was ribs, asparagus and to appease my 5 year old, french fries.  I'm a semi-homemade mom, so the french fries this time did come out of a bag, but the ribs, oh no, I played.

I like to give my ribs a dry rub massage with their 300 for 3 bake.
And, as you know, I don't measure.  Simply shake/pour on in your desired amount.


Here are the ingredients for today's version of ribs.

• Salt/Pepper
• Garlic Salt
• Onion Powder
• Cumin
• Coriander
• Chili Powder

Sprinkle it all on at your desired taste and just rub it right in.  Get dirty, and love the meat.

 Place the ribs into a roasting pan.  I like to put a rack on the bottom, we are steaming them in the roast pan more than we are boiling them.

This gives the juice the ability to drain to the bottom and the ribs keep their spices attached.

Cover the roasting pan and place into the oven at 300 degrees for 3 hours.




Once your 3 hour timer goes off.  Take them out of the oven, keep the lid on and just let them sit inside the roasting pan on your counter.  Meanwhile, get your grill nice and hot, as hot as you can.  I kept mine about 400 degrees for this yesterday.

Slather your ribs with your favorite BBQ sauce and place them meat side down on the grill.  Cover the lid, turn your burners down to low, we are now aiming for a nice 300 degree grill.
Leave them be for about 10 minutes.
Open the lid, turn them over.  Let 'em sit for 10 more.  Apply more BBQ sauce as necessary and as wet as you like them. Repeat process until they are at the desired texture for you.  I left them on here for a total of 30 minutes, long enough to start cooking my sides and get the table set.

 

 When they're done, slice them up for your desired serving size, 1 to 2 ribs per slice.
As I said, I served these up with Asparagus and french fries.  They were oh so yummy.  Wet paper towel required.

Ribs: 300 for 3, yes please!

Every so often, while browsing the meat aisle in the grocery store, a miracle happens; ribs go on sale. 

It is at this point I notice that my cart is already over-flowing and I've gone well past what I "told myself" I was going to spend.  But the chef in me kicks in and throws caution to the wind and I snag up those ribs and toss them on top of the pile.  I'll just close my eyes at the register.  But, they're on SALE I reaffirm myself with, so it's OK!  I get home, toss the receipt aside and put my ribs in the freezer.   Yeah, they're such an impulse buy that I don't have time to make them that night, and probably won't have time the next, or the next after that, so they are stashed in the basement freezer for another week.

The first time I did this, I really had no idea what I was doing.  Ribs.. right, you just cook them, don't you?  So I had slathered them in BBQ sauce and dropped them on a hot grill.  25 minutes later I had "ribs."  Yeah, they were edible, but they weren't mouth watering, finger licking good.  They were sub-par at best and kinda tough.

Every rib eater has their own style of ribs.  Some like 'em dry, some like 'em wet.  Some like 'em to fall off the bone, others want to play T-rex and rip 'em down.

I grew up in a house-hold where all pork was par-boiled first.  What does this mean?  Well, the pork chops were placed in a big pan, filled with water, covered and simmered for about an hour or so.  When they came out, they were shreddable.  Yum, right?  Yeah, well, I love my mom, she's a GREAT cook, but pork in our house, was a night of pure misery for my sister and me.  That's all we got on those chops, no flavor.  You got a spoonful of applesauce, while she delightfully covered hers in saurkrap (aka sauerkraut), I shudder today at the thought of saurkrap.  My sister and I went through almost a whole jar of applesauce to choke those chops down, and I can remember sitting at the table for hours trying to get the chops down with milk in my glass.  My mom's a great cook, but this is very German, and it's how her mother did it, and her mother before that.  Not.. my... style. 

So then, my next introduction to pork chops was actually through my husband, then boyfriend.  Fast forward to college, where he's cooking for himself.  He would skillet fry his, with salt and pepper and other things.  This would result in a tougher piece of pork, yet flavorful.  So, experimentation began once we were married and I have found a happy medium between these two methods for pork chops that allows them to tenderize but not shred, and also have a massive amount of flavor.  They key, is the CUT.  I tend to now purchase more dark meat pork than white and I've changed up my cooking methods.  But I digress, we're talking about ribs, not chops.  Chops is another blog for another time.

I like my ribs to be tender and fall off in pieces, but still be chewable enough you have to rip them from the bone.  Here's how I accomplish that.  Let's play.

Like any meat, you want ribs that have some fat on them.  That's what makes them juicy and keeps them that way.  So, select your rack, large or small, doesn't matter, the timing is all the same.

I like to give mine a nice rub down and let them marinate all day.  I use a dry rub.  I vary this rub from time to time and use store bought this or store bought that.  Emeril's line of seasonings make a good Southern style spice rub.  Right now I'm actually using a rib rub I purchased at an Amish Country Store in Branson, MO.  I like my rib rub spicy, and then I slather it in sweet BBQ, so your end result is a sweet lips and a zesty tongue.  So give your ribs a good rub (you did remember to defrost them in the fridge overnight, right?), massage those spices right in.  Get your hands dirty and rub that rub right into every crevice of those ribs.  Place on a plate and cover with plastic wrap.  Let them sit from morning until afternoon in the fridge.  Take them out 3 hours before you want to eat.  That's your cooking time.  Hey, I never said this was a quick one!

• Pre-heat your oven to just 300 degrees
• You're going to need a roasting pan, with a lid.  If you don't have a roaster with a lid, use a deep baking dish, and heavy duty tin foil that you can press on tight and seal really well, let no steam out.
• I prefer to lay my ribs on a rack inside the pan so they're not touching the bottom.  Not required.  So remove your ribs from the fridge and place them into your pan
• Cover, put into oven.  Set timer for 2.5 hours.  They're actually going to be in there for a full 3 hours, but 2.5 will remind you that you have to make sides and start finishing the rest of dinner.  If you're doing these not as dinner, then set for 3 hours.

Ok, now you wait and let the oven and rib rub work their magic.  Go make a cocktail, or have a beer.

When the ribs are done, take them out of the oven.  If you like them dry, let them sit for about 15 minutes for the juices to redistribute.  Slice them up, and serve.  If you used a spicy rub, oooohhh yum, look out!

If you like them wet, fire up your grill.  Get the grill going at about the same 300-350 degrees.  Grab your favorite BBQ sauce.  Put ribs down on grill top up, slather in your BBQ sauce.  Close the lid, let them sit 10-15 minutes.  Turn, slather with more sauce.  Let sit 10-15 minutes.  Turn, slather with more sauce, let sit 10 minutes.  Remove from grill.  Let them sit on your cutting board for another 10 minutes to let the juices redistribute.  Slice them up, and serve.

Hey, I NEVER said this was a quick recipe.  Yes, total cooking time is just about 4 hours from the time you put them into the oven to when you can put them on your plate.

And you know, I'm pretty sure if you opt out of the oven, you could put them in the slow cooker/crock pot on Low for 4 hours and they'd be just as good, for those of you who enjoy using your crock pot.  And no grill?  No problem, place them back in your pan, no lid and turn on the broiler on high.

AND, this recipe works for both PORK and BEEF ribs.  Beef ribs come out AMAZING this way.
My sides were peas and garlic/cheesy mashed potatoes.  Also good are home made steak fries.  Hmm.. yet another blog.

Chinese at Home

So, I crave Chinese food on a fairly regular basis.  I think they put something it in that tells your brain "In four to seven days, you will want me again."

To entertain, I think yet another football night Rob had a buddy coming over several years ago, I looked up how to make "Chinese food."  What kind of Chinese food, isn't that hard?  Well yes and no.  Don't you need a wok?  Nope!  And to be more specific I had certain dishes in mind that I researched, not just "chinese food."  I have found that most of the recipes I review aren't that complicated, they just require a lot of ingredients and a well stocked pantry for said ingredients, which can get costly.  But, you can cheat your way through some of them and not always have to include every single ingredient and still satiate the pallete. 

One of my cheats is "red meat" as my daughter calls it (aka Boneless Spareribs).  Check your local grocery store in the ethic foods aisle and locate "Ah-so" sauce.  That's all it takes.  Find your favorite cut of pork, slice it up, drown it in Ah-So and bake.  If you let it marinate overnight, it's WAY better, but just tossing it around and throwing it into the oven works too.  I broil mine in a Pyrex clear dish until they look "done."

 So, I did this Tuesday night but needed a side dish.  Duh, fried rice.  Doesn't every single Chinese food meal come with Fried Rice?  And what could I do to it so I wouldn't have to make an extra vegetable.  Pork was a toss and cook.  I can take a little time to make a good rice.  Compared a few recipes, left some ingredients out, and produced the following:

Ingredients:

• 2c uncooked rice – cook it according to package directions (makes 4 cups cooked, give or take)
• Handful of bean sprouts
• now, when I say a "handful", it means, as much as you think should go in there
• Handful of Frozen peas
• Handful of Frozen diced carrots
• 1 egg, scrambled raw in bowl
• Mini pre-cooked tiny frozen shrimp, thawed or frozen, i started frozen, I was in a rush
• Oyster sauce
• Soy sauce
• Sesame oil

And away you go, start playing:

• Heat skillet/wok/sturdy non-stick frying pan really really hot
• Add sesame oil, get it hot
• Add the shrimp – stand back!
• Toss around until heated nicely, takes like 1 minute
• Add the carrots, peas and bean sprouts
• Add oyster sauce
• probably about a 1/4 cup, I don't really know, I just tossed some in until it looked good and tasted nice
• Add soy sauce, to taste, but not more than a few tablespoons
• you don’t want it to taste like soy, unless you like that
• Toss around, keep moving until veggies cooked through
• Make a hole in the veggies so you have the center of the pan clear
• Add the egg, let sit to cook, chop it around, stir into rest of veggies
• Add rice and toss
• KEEP THINGS MOVING AT ALL TIMES