Ribs Again?!?!?

At least once a month I have to make ribs for my family.  Tonight  I did a variation of the rib recipe I previously posted. See recipe. I added a tablespoon of both instant coffee granules and cocoa powder.  The ribs were good, but I like them much better without the coffee and cocoa.

Alongside the ribs, I served creamed corn and caramelized sweet potatoes.  The creamed corn was just the stuff from a can mixed with a can of whole kernel corn, drained.  I used a recipe from Emeril Lagasse for the guidelines to my sweet potatoes.

Caramelized Sweet Potatoes

Servings: 8

Ingredients

1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 large sweet potatoes (about 2 pounds), peeled and diced to 1" squares
spiced glaze (see below)

For spiced glaze:
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 cup corn syrup
1/2 cup molasses
1/8 teaspoons ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoons ground cloves
1/8 teaspoons ground allspice
1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1/4 cup water

Instructions

Combine the sugar, cane syrup, molasses, corn syrup, nutmeg, cloves, allspice, and cinnamon in a medium-size bowl and mix well. In another bowl, dissolve the mustard in the water, then add to the spice mixture. Blend well. Use immediately or store in an air tight container in the refrigerator until ready to use. Will keep for 2 weeks.

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Grease a 2-quart glass rectangular baking dish with butter. Toss the sweet potatoes in a large mixing bowl with the glaze to coat evenly. Pour them into the prepared pan and roast until fork-tender, about 1 hour. Serve warm.

Gift of the Month Club

On Christmas, I gave my father and my in-laws a dessert of the month as a gift.  January's dessert is pineapple upside down cake. I just wish I had made three cakes so I could have tried some.

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

1/4	cup butter
2/3	cup packed brown sugar
7	slices pineapple in juice, drained
7	maraschino cherries
1 1/3	cups all-purpose flour
1	cup granulated sugar
1/3	cup shortening
1 1/2	teaspoons baking powder
1/2	teaspoon salt
3/4	cup milk
1	egg

	Print these coupons...
	About Concordance™

Heat oven to 350°F. In 9-inch square pan, melt butter in oven. Sprinkle brown sugar evenly over melted butter. Arrange pineapple slices over brown sugar. Place cherry in center of each pineapple slice. 

In medium bowl, beat remaining ingredients with electric mixer on low speed 30 seconds, scraping bowl constantly. Beat on high speed 3 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Pour batter over pineapple and cherries. 

Bake 50 to 55 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Immediately place heatproof serving plate upside down over pan; turn plate and pan over. Leave pan over cake a few minutes so brown sugar mixture can drizzle over cake; remove pan. Serve warm. Store cake loosely covered.

Taco Beef Stew

It's basketball season.  On game days I am starting to make use out of the crock-pot that has been hiding in my cupboards.

Taco Beef Stew
Yields: 6 Servings

Ingredients

2 1/2 pound stewing beef

1 envelope 1.25 oz size taco seasoning
1 can 15 oz size diced tomatoes, undrained
1 can 4 oz size green chilies, optional
1 can 8 oz size tomato sauce
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 beef bouillon cube

2 can 15 oz size red kidney beans, rinsed, drained
Shredded cheddar cheese, optional




Instructions
Roll beef pieces in the taco seasoning. Place in crockpot. Combine 

remaining ingredients, except beans and cheese, pour over beef.

Cover; cook on Low for 6-7 hours. 15 minutes before serving; stir in beans.

Cover; heat through. Top individual servings with shredded cheddar cheese, if desired.

Ribs, Ribs, Ribs!

Another excellent recipe from Lucinda Scala Quinn's Mad Hungry cookbook. 

Richie's Baby Back Ribs

4 pounds (about 2 racks) baby back ribs, or pork spareribs 

Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper 

2 teaspoons sweet paprika  

1/2 teaspoon smoked Spanish paprika (if available)  

1 teaspoon dried 

/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon  

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin  

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper 

2 tablespoons granulated brown sugar

Sprinkle the ribs generously with salt and black pepper. In a small bowl, combine the sweet and smoked paprikas, sage, cinnamon, cumin, cayenne pepper and brown sugar. Rub the mixture into the meat and let stand at room temperature for at least 30 minutes.

My ribs, covered in rub, resting at room temperature.

Place rub-seasoned ribs on a baking sheet and cook for 1½ to 2 hours at 350°F. Increase heat to 425°F, brush with barbecue sauce and cook 15 minutes more until caramelized. Serve with barbecue sauce on the side, if desired. 

These ribs are so delicious, you will not need any barbecue sauce for them. Print Grocery List

Oven Fried Chicken

The best oven fried chicken I have found is the one by Lucinda Scala Quinn.  The chicken has a nice crispy skin.  I don't miss traditional fried chicken when I eat this oven fried chicken.

I served roasted cauliflower as my vegetable tonight.  All I did was drizzle olive oil on the cauliflower and the sprinkle with salt and pepper.  I roasted the cauliflower in a 450 degree oven for about 35 minutes.  I sauteed some garlic, red chili flakes, and capers in olive oil and tossed this mixture with the cauliflower before serving.

These potatoes were great.  I got the idea after watching one of my favorite television cooks, Chuck Hughes.  I parboiled some small Yukon gold potatoes.  After draining the potatoes I tossed them with melted butter, salt, and pepper.  I then roasted the potatoes in a 400 degree oven for about 30 minutes. 

Turkey Meatloaf and Sweet Potato Chips

Tonight's dinner was a turkey meatloaf and homemade sweet potato chips.  I decided to make sweet potato chips since I had the deep fat fryer full of oil from the beignets I made this morning.

Turkey Meatloaf

Serves 6.

Ingredients

2 pounds ground turkey

2 eggs

1 box of stove top stuffing (any flavor)

½  cup whole berry cranberry sauce

½ tsp. pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a large bowl, combine all of the ingredients.  Shape the mixture into a loaf on a sheet pan.  Bake for 60 minutes, or until a meat thermometer reads 165 degrees.

Sweet Potato Chips

Serves 6.

Ingredients

2 large sweet potatoes

2 Tbsp. sugar

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. kosher salt

Directions

Heat 3 inches of oil to 375 degrees in a fryer or tall, heavy pot.  Peel the sweet potatoes and slice about 1/8 inch thick.  Fry the potatoes in batches for seven minutes or until browned.

Drain fried potatoes on several layers of paper towels.  Combine the sugar, cinnamon, and salt.  Sprinkle the mixture on the warm sweet potato chips.