2701

My method is super-easy and requires no attention at all!

Dry rub ribs, wrap in foil, leave in fridge for 24 hours.

Put it in a pyrex dish and throw packet in 300 degree oven for two hours. Depending on the ribs you may need to extend to 2 1/2 hours. You can judge by opening the packet, the bone should be starting to come loose.

Take out, drain packet of juice, throw ribs on High grill. Turn once (maybe 5 minutes a side just to sear) and you’re done.

Now if you want to make the ribs insanely good, put that juice and fat that drained out of the packet in a skillet and get it simmering. Add 1/4 volume of the juice of store-bought BBQ sauce and a TSP of mustard to the juice and reduce it down to a saucy consistency. Hot up the grill and sear the meat side of the ribs, then turn the grill down and baste the ribs with the sauce for 15 minutes or so, letting it cook on.

It’s all just a variation on AB’s method but there’s almost no effort involved.

H.

2702

That sounds delicious. Now I want ribs.

2703

It’s lazy but using the bottled BBQ sauce with the drippings results in a very, very good sauce that really coats the ribs without just being burnt sugar. Plus it’s an easy recipe to experiment with, minced garlic would be good, hot sauce, etc.

H.

2704

I think that I’ll try that. Hopefully tomorrow.

2705

This picture inspired me to make something similar for lunch today. I also added in zucchini and mushrooms and ditched the olives. Rosemary and dijon mustard for a flavor. Then, put it between some sourdough bread and grilled the sandwich up. Very good. Thanks for the inspiration.

2706

After cooking on an barrel style grill/smoker I recently upgraded to a WSM for smoking. This weekend I smoked some Steelhead Trout and it was awesome. I skinned the filets and packed them in 2 parts light brown sugar and 1 part coarse salt for 4 hours and then smoked them at 250F for about 45 mins. It turned out some great fish and I dont really like fish.

2707

You don’t add any sugar to the whipped egg whites. Cream of tartar isn’t needed. A few drops of lemon juice can make it easier to whip it up, but if you’re using relatively fresh eggs it should be fine without.

2708

That depends how you want it in the end. I wanted a softer texture, so I included the veggies and the (cheap previously frozen block of) cod to the mixer, and then added the solids that I wanted to remain solid afterwards.

2709

It’s a little known fact that New Jersey has the best tomatoes in the nation. It’s little known because the Jersey tomato, while amazingly juicy and delicious, also travels extremely poorly. It’s far too delicate to put in a truck, or to stock in a supermarket. The only places to get them are local farm stands, and they’re only available a couple of months out of the year.

I picked up a few pounds today and turned them into a gazpacho. Guess what I’m having for lunch tomorrow!

2710

Hey interman while I am at it - can you give me an idea of how you made the chocolate tart a page or two back? That looks like exactly the sort of thing I should whip up to impress a girl.

2711

Okay, I’m no Interman but this turned out fairly well:

Fresh green pepper from Dad’s garden. Chorizo, garlic, onion, jalapeno, cumin seed and mozzarella. Pretty good, I should have used some dried breadcrumbs to bind everything and soak up the water that baked out of the veg.

H.

2712

This looks delicious, you should try with a red pepper, so much sweeter than green.

2713

'tain’t the season yet!

H.

2714

Heehee! I can’t tell you his recipe, but I can send you a dark chocolate tart that’s really not very hard and will knock (at a minimum) the socks off any lady.

Smitten Kitchen’s dark chocolate tart.

2715

It’s pretty easy. You pretty much just need some kind of a crust, and some kind of filling. I made a standard shortcrust one, but I was considering using part almond powder instead. If you prefer you can just crumble up some cookies and mix with melted butter.

As for the bottom filling I used an orange custard (to offset the dark chocolate). Custards aren’t too hard, and can have some pretty strong flavors. Juice some oranges, add some lemon juice, liqueur if you like, some zest, and boil. Whip up some egg yolks with some sugar and leave it in a bowl. Strain the boiled liquid to something else to get the zest out and pour a little bit of the liquid into the egg yolks, making sure to stir constantly. Once that’s incorporated keep adding the liquid in a slow and steady stream. Next put this back on the oven on low. You want the temperature to rise slowly. Again, stir constantly. Once it’s gotten fairly thick put it in a waterbath to thicken. Add it to the crust. Put it in the fridge for a while.

Next is the chocolate ganache. I use pretty much equal parts cream and dark chocolate. Bring the cream to a near boil and pour it over the chopped up chocolate. Leave it for five minutes. Stir. Add liqueur if you’d like. Put it in the fridge to get a little bit thicker. Pour it over the custard. Put it back in the fridge.

Once ganache goes thick it takes on a kind of matte color. If you’d like you could melt some more dark chocolate mixed with a bit of butter to get more of a shiny appearance…

The candied orange peel is nice too, but a little bit of work. You could use a cheese slicer, but this will give you fairly thin peels. I unpeeled the oranges and scraped out the white part, which is just bitter and yucky. Cut them into strips if you’d like. Next you’re going to boil and strain the peels four times. I’m guessing this is to improve the color and weaken the taste a little bit. Make a syrup out of sugar and water and let it boil for a while to get rid of the water. Drop in the peels and leave them on a simmer for a while. They’re done when they look super shiny and awesome. Put them on a plate or something to harden a little bit. Add them to the thickened ganache.

Done! Overall it’s not too hard to make as long as you follow directions. Keep in mind that even with the orange custard it’s still dark and heavy. Most people that tasted it really liked it, but only had one slice. Make sure the girl is a chocolate lover, because you get a lot of it.

2716

Cilantro-jalapeno mini waffles. (I have a waffle iron that makes 3 mini Belgians at a time.) There’d be pictures, but we ate them all.

2717

I intended to cook the ribs the other day when I was working from home the other day, but work had other plans. I went with plan b, today, the slow cooker. I cut up the ribs into groups of 3 and poured commercial BBQ sauce over it and set the timer to 8 hours. It didn’t turn out so well. They tasted a bit dry, of all things, but there was too much sugar in the sauce and while it wasn’t burned, it certainly tasted scorched and too carbon like. So it goes.

2718

This surprises me, because honestly, that’s exactly how I do ribs in my crockpot when I’m feeling lazy, and they come out phenomenal every time. Maybe it’s just a difference in crockpots or the ribs themselves.

But I do the same thing… cut my rack into 3 rib pieces, pour bottled bbq sauce over them (I use Sweet Baby Rays) and let it cook for most of the day… at least 8 hours, sometimes longer. By the time it’s dinnertime, the meat is super tender and falling off the bone.

I cook them on low… are you cooking them on high, by any chance? Because I could maybe see 8 hours on high drying them out.

2719

Todays lunch with some friends. Hot and cold Italian and Spanish sausage, Spanish cheese (Manchego and La Mejor), several kinds of tomatoes and homemade cheese bread (thin crust bread filled with cheese). White wine and beer for drinks. Yummy!


Lunchtime on Flickr

2720

A quick simple dinner of home made Vitello Tonnato with Foccacia bread. Both easy to make but a summer favourite.

And a slightly out of focus of my favourite childhood cake made after my dad’s old recipe

(just exchanging butter for margarine… I don’t like margarine, but my dad was keen on saving money back in the day). It’s a very basic non-rising sweet dough at the bottom. Baked for 15 minutes, then a thin layer of raspberry jam - preferably homemade - and meringue with sliced almonds and then baked again at low heat til the meringue is done.