Category Archives: Meat

Super easy finger-lickin’ good tender baby back ribs!

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spicy baby back ribs

spicy baby back ribs

Believe it or not, you can actually make your own super tender spicy baby back ribs in your kitchen.  Southerners are famous for their smoked ribs but it’s actually very easy to get similar results at home and you don’t even need a smoker, all you need is an oven and a BBQ!  And even if you don’t have a BBQ, you can even use the broiler in you oven to caramelize them.

These are so easy to prepare you won’t believe it.  All the work is done in the oven with very little involvement from you.   The secret to super tender ribs is to slow cook them in your oven at a very low temperature for 5 hours, that’s it!  This is the perfect recipe when hosting a BBQ for a large group as it takes little effort, and everything can be prepared in advance except for the final stage at the BBQ where you caramelize the ribs with the sauce.

I must however outline just a few tips when buying the pork ribs.  We’re actually fortunate in Quebec for having some of the best pork around, however this may not be the case everywhere else.   Since there are no grades of pork as there are with beef, to ensure you get the best pork ribs simply pick a rack that has a deep pink colour.

Additionally, note that before we apply the rub on the ribs, it is also important to remove the membrane, which is found on the back of the bone-side of the ribs.   This is however the most difficult thing to do as sometimes it all comes off in one piece and other times you just have to go at it in strips.

The best way to remove the membrane is to start at the narrowest end of the ribs on the bone-side of the ribs, and at this point, using your knife, lift up the corner of the membrane so you can grab a hold of it.  Then grab the corner of the membrane with a paper towel and pull it straight up and away from the rack of ribs, sometimes it helps to just to run your fingers under it to push it along.  Yes, I know it doesn’t sound like much fun but that’s really the only hard part in preparing these ribs!  Trust me it will be worth it and once you do a few of these you’ll get the hang of it!

Serves 4

ingredients:

  • 4 half racks of baby back ribs
  • 3 tablespoons chili powder
  • salt and freshly ground pepper

BBQ sauce ingredients:

  • 1 cup tomato ketchup
  • 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
  • ¼ cup orange juice
  • ½ cup honey
  • 4 garlic cloves, minced
  • 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
  • 2 tablespoons chili powder
  • 1 tablespoon dry mustard
  • 2 teaspoons ground cumin
  • ½ teaspoon ground ginger
  • ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
spicy baby back ribs

spicy baby back ribs

  1.  Cut a piece of aluminum foil double the length of a rib rack and place it on a baking sheet.
  2. Once you have removed the membrane from the back of the pork ribs, place two racks on each baking sheet and sprinkle the chili powder all over both sides of the ribs and massage it in.  If time permits it’s best to refrigerate the ribs, uncovered, for an hour or so, which will help the rub infuse the meat.
  3. Preheat oven to 250oF.  Fold the foil over the ribs so all the meat is covered and fold over all the edges to make a bundle.  Then cut a couple of small vents with a knife on the top of each bundle.
  4. Place the baking sheets in the oven and bake for 3 hours.
  5. Then reduce the heat to 225oF and bake for another 2 hours.
  6. After cooking for 5 hours the meat should be very tender and the meat should have started shrinking away from the bones.
  7. While you are heating up the BBQ to high, you can prepare the sauce.  In a medium saucepan stir together all of the ingredients for the sauce and place over medium heat and bring to a simmer.  Cook sauce uncovered, stirring occasionally, until all of the flavours are well blended for about 15 to 20 minutes.  Remove the sauce from heat and set aside.
  8. When ready to BBQ, oil the BBQ rack, season the ribs lightly with salt and pepper and and brush the top of the ribs liberally with the sauce and place face down (the side with the sauce) on the BBQ grill.  (If you do not have a BBQ or just want to do these in the winter, preheat your oven broiler to high and place ribs face up with sauce on an oiled rack in a broiler pan.)   Grill the ribs until caramelized, for about 8 to 10 minutes.  Then turn ribs over and brush with additional sauce, and cook until caramelized for another 8 minutes.
  9. Transfer ribs to a serving plate.  For the perfect BBQ serve with corn on the cob and buttermilk coleslaw!  Buttermilk coleslaw recipe follows!

Enjoy!

fresh springtime four-herb pesto spaghettini

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four-herb pesto spaghettini

four-herb pesto spaghettini

The beauty of spring is that we no longer have to buy expensive fresh herbs from the grocery store, which often go bad before we get to use them all up.  We are now able to pick our own fresh herbs either from a window box or a home garden.  There’s nothing like using fresh herbs and here’s a pesto recipe that will beautifully leverage the bright flavours of the fresh herbs in your garden.

This is an updated version of the pasta served with pesto.  The pesto is comprised of four herbs which you should hopefully have in your herb box or garden; parsley, tarragon, sage and basil.  The difference between the basil pesto and this four herb pesto is that these herbs are chopped and not taken through the blender so the flavours of each herb is much more prominent.   The four-herb pesto spaghettini can be served as is for a vegetarian option, but if you enjoy a little protein as I do, you can simply top the pasta with chopped strips of prosciutto as I have done here.

The pesto can be prepared a few hours in advance and then combined with cooked pasta when ready to serve.

Serves 2

four-herb pesto spaghettini

four-herb pesto spaghettini

ingredients

  • ½ cup lightly packed fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
  • ½ cup lightly packed fresh basil leaves
  • 1 tablespoon lightly packed fresh tarragon leaves
  • 1 tablespoon lightly packed fresh sage leaves
  • ½ teaspoon fresh lemon juice
  • 1 small garlic clove, coarsely chopped
  • ¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
  • ¼ cup pine nuts, lightly toasted
  • ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
  • spaghettini for two
  • pinch of freshly ground pepper & kosher salt
  • 2 slices of prosciutto (optional)
four-herb pesto spaghettini

four-herb pesto spaghettini

  1. Boil lightly salted water in a large pot over medium-high heat for the spaghettini.
  2. Finely chop the parsley, basil, tarragon, and sage and place in a bowl.  Sprinkle the lemon juice on the herbs and coat the herbs with the lemon juice.
  3. Combine the garlic, Parmesan cheese, and pine nuts in the blender or food processor.  Then add the olive oil slowly as the machine is still running and process until mixture is creamy and fully blended.
  4. Pour this oil mixture into the bowl with the herbs and stir to combine.
  5. Add the spaghettini to the boiling water and cook according to package instructions.
  6. If you wish to top the pasta with prosciutto, while the pasta is cooking chop the prosciutto into ribbons and set aside.
  7. When the pasta is cooked, drain and transfer to a serving bowl and toss pasta with the pesto, a pinch or two of salt and a few grinds of pepper.
  8. Top with the prosciutto and serve.

the grilled lamb chops that wooed my husband to be

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grilled lamb chops à la provençale

grilled lamb chops with herbes de provence

Spring is here and the BBQ is starting to work overtime!  Here’s my favourite grilled lamb chop recipe, not only because it is super easy to prepare but most importantly because I wooed the man I would marry on the third date with these lamb chops!

They say you can win a man’s heart through his stomach.  I’m sure there’s more to that, but I agree that good food does help!  And serving lamb with mint jelly just doesn’t cut it, so if you want to make a lasting impression, whether for your date or for your guests, the best way to savour lamb chops is by grilling them on the BBQ with a herbes de provence marinade.

lamb chops with herbes de provence

lamb chops with herbes de provence

ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
  • 2 garlic cloves minced
  • 1 tablespoon dried herbes de provences
  • 2 teaspoons kosher salt
  • 1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
  • 6 medium size lamb chops, trimmed of fat
  • squeeze of lemon

Serves 2

  1. Mix first 6 ingredients together in a small bowl.
  2. Rub marinade lightly on each of side of the chops, you don’t want the marinade to overpower the meat as the meat is so flavourful.
  3. Let chops sit at room temperature for a half an hour.  Or you can cover and refrigerate for up to 4 hours, just make sure to let the chops stand at room temperature at least 20 minutes before grilling.
  4. Heat grill at medium-high and grill each chop for 3-4 minutes each side depending on thickness (about 3 minutes if an inch thick and 4 minutes if thicker).  Ideally lamb chops should be served medium-rare to medium, often referred to as rosé.
  5. You can then let chops rest for 5 minutes before serving and then just squeeze a little lemon on top of each chop.

These lamb chops go well with a Greek salad.   That’s it, it’s that easy!

grilled lamb chops served rosé

grilled lamb chops served rosé