Stick To Your Ribs Cooking

Whenever I think of comfort food, I usually think of something warm, rich, and hearty. Sweet or savory, a dish that comforts you like a fuzzy blanket or a childhood teddy bear is something to be eaten with pleasure and appreciation. This recipe for country style pork ribs is a perfect example of such a comforting dish. Made with only brown sugar and tomatoes, the ribs pretty much cook themselves in the oven for about 3 hours. These turned out so tender and the flavor was simply delicious. What could be better than simple comfort food like this?

Comforting Pork Ribs (adapted from the Encyclopedia of Creative Cooking)
1 12-ounce can tomatoes
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
3 pounds country style pork ribs

Layer the ingredients as listed in a large casserole dish starting with the tomatoes and ending with the ribs. Do not stir. Cover with foil and bake at 325 degrees F for 3 hours. Uncover during the last 45 minutes of baking.
Yields about 6 servings.

Ina's Lamb Kebobs

We enjoy a good lamb dish every once in awhile and this particular recipe is so quick and easy, I just had to share it. It comes from one of Ina Garten's recipes so you know it must be good, right? All you need is a large mixing bowl, salt, pepper, and a few other ingredients that you probably have in your kitchen and you're good to go. You do need to marinate the lamb for at least an hour though so make sure you plan on that when you make this dish. After that, the cooking is a cinch--only 10 minutes under the broiler and you have juicy, tasty lamb that is perfect for a summer meal. Enjoy!

Lamb Kebabs (adapted from Ina Garten)
1.5 lbs boneless lamb sirloin
4 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons red win vinegar
1 teaspoonful dried basil
1/2 teaspoonful thyme
2 garlic cloves (minced)
Coarse salt, pepper
Metal or wooden skewers

Cut the lamb meat into large chunks and place in a large bowl. Add salt and pepper, olive oil, vinegar, basil, thyme, and garlic. Mix using your hands. Cover with plastic wrap and set in the fridge from 1 to 3 hours to marinate.

Preheat oven broiler; place the lamb meat onto skewers.
Broil the lamb for a total of 10 minutes, flipping the meat half-way through.

A Corned Beef Craving

A couple months ago, my boyfriend had an inkling for some corned beef and cabbage. So, we decided to go out for dinner that night to satisfy his craving. Sounds easy enough, right? Well, to our surprise and slight frustration, not to mention tired feet, we discovered that finding a restaurant that serves corned beef and cabbage (or just plain old corned beef), is pretty tough to come by when the month is August and there's no St. Patty's Day celebration to be found. Even our nearby Irish pub/eatery did not serve the dish! Well, a couple days ago, I was the one who had the corned beef craving, (minus the cabbage, however). This time though, I knew better and decided to make my own corned beef in my ever-so-trusty slow cooker. I adapted a recipe I found from my Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Cookbook, coming up with a fairly straightforward, easy recipe that required minimal ingredients and best of all, minimal time in prepping. Nine hours later, I got my corned beef. Live and learn (and eat)!
Ingredients:
Corned beef brisket (about 3 lbs)
1 large Russet potato (cut up into large chunks)
5 carrots (cut cross-wise)
1 can beef broth (about 1 and 1/2 cup)
1 cup dry white wine
Directions:
Simply place the potatoes and carrots into the slow cooker, and put the corned beef on top ot this. (if beef comes with a seasoning packet then sprinkle this over the meat). Pour the broth and white wine over the corned beef, turn slow cooker on low and cook for 9 hours.

Cooking Lamb The Slow Way

The first time my boyfriend tried lamb Osso Bucco was at a restaurant called Vert in the Hollywood and Highland complex on Sunset Blvd. I remember the night clearly because we had only been dating for a few months and we were still learning about each other’s likes and dislikes in the food department. That evening I learned that a big “like” for him was lamb, and the delicious shank that Vert served up fit the bill perfectly. Unfortunately, the menu at Vert has changed since that memorable dinner date and the restaurant no longer offers this savory dish. So what’s a girl to do? Well, how about try cooking it herself? I reached for assistance in the form of my hand dandy slow cooker and one of my most used cookbooks, Not Your Mother’s Slow Cooker Cookbook. I was happy to find several lamb shank recipes and even one that didn’t include garlic (my BF isn’t too crazy about the stuff). I think the most challenging part of preparing this dish was finding a store that carried lamb shanks. There were certainly plenty of legs of lamb, and lamb chops but the shanks were a little trickier to come by. I finally found my bounty at my third grocery store and happily bought 6 shanks, totaling about 5 pounds. I cooked the meat for an hour less than what was instructed because from previous experience, I’ve overcooked meat in my slow cooker before when I followed the directions exactly. The end result was a flavorful and tender lamb with meat falling off the bone. The carrots also cooked up perfectly in the pot and took on a lot of the juiciness from the lamb as well. I think this dish would have been wonderful with some plain white rice or even a hearty thick slice of bread to mop up the juices. Needless to say, my boyfriend enjoyed his meal and I’m pretty confident he doesn’t miss Vert’s version of lamb shanks one bit!

Lamb Shanks With White Wine (adapted from Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Cookbook): Ingredients:
4-6 lamb shanks (depending on size but totalling about 5 pounds), trimmed of visible fat
1/2 cup AP flour
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium size onion
1 cup dry white wine
4 cups chicken or beef broth as needed
8 large carrots, cut into thick slices
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Using the tip of a knife, pierce the lamb shanks several times. On a large cookie baking pan or platter, roll the shanks in the flour to coat completely. In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat and brown the shanks on all sides, 5-7 minutes in all. I had to do this in batches because my skillet wasn't large enough. As they brown, transfer the shanks to the slow cooker. Add the onion to the skillet and cook until lightly softened, about 3 minutes. Add the wine and bring to a boil, scraping up any browned bits stuck to the pan; pour the onions and wine into the cooker. Add enough broth to cover the lamb and lightly season with salt and pepper. Cover and cook on LOW for 3 and 1/2 hours.
2. Add the carrots, cover and continue cooking on LOW until the lamb is very tender when pierced with a fork and falling off the bone; this is approximately another 3-4 hours depending on your slow cooker.
3. Season with salt and pepper and enjoy!

Notes: Use a medium or large round or oval cooker; cooking time may vary but is generally around 6-7 hours.
Serves 4-6 (or if you're like me, two of us with plenty of leftovers for the work week)!

Baby Back Ribs on Game NIght

As promised, I wanted to share with you a recipe I tried out on my new slow cooker. I previously mentioned that I had to buy a replacement after sadly dropping my old Rival Crockpot and breaking it. Well, I purchased a basic, oval, 5.5 quart slow cooker and finally "broke" it in the other day. We had some friends over for a fierce game of Password and Taboo (two of our favorites), and I thought that some baby back ribs were in order. Once again, I turned to my trusty Not Your Mother's Slowcooker Cookbook for some inspiration and decided on a barbecue recipe. It's quite simple to throw together and does not require a lot of ingredients which is a huge plus for me. After all, cooking in a slow cooker is all about convenience and saving time right?
The results? Meat that was so tender and juicy that it literally fell off the bones. I think I would have liked the sauce to be a little thicker the next time though as it seemed to thin out a bit during the long cooking process. Otherwise, the ribs had that wonderful BBQ, tangy flavor without being too sweet, and everyone seemed to enjoy them.
Oh, in case you were wondering, I was on the winning teams for both games. Woohoo!
Barbecue Pork Ribs (courtesy of Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Cookbook by Beth Hensperger):
notes-
-Use a larger round or oval slow cooker
-Cooking time--Low for 8-9 hours
Ingredients:
2 cups barbecue sauce of your choice (I used Bullseye)
1/2 cup ketchup
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons light or dark brown sugar
4 pounds pork baby back ribs cut into 3-4 ribs each (can also use spareribs or country style ribs)
1. Combine the BBQ sauce, ketchup, Worcestershire, and brown sugar in the slow cooker. Add the ribs, submerging them in the sauce. If you have a round cooker, stack the ribs with sauce in between (I had to do this even with my oval cooker).
2. Cover and cook on LOW until tender and the meat starts to separate from the bone--approx. 8-9hours
3. Transfer the ribs to a platter and serve with any extra sauce that remains in the slow cooker.
(serves 4-6)

Not Just Your Average Joe

My boyfriend surprised me the other day with a brand new cookbook from the Nettle Creek School PTO titled, “50 Years of Fox Family Favorites.” Like other community cookbooks, it is very sweetly compiled with many recipes contributed by the teachers, parents, students, administration, school board and community that make up Nettle Creek District 24C. I love these type of cookbooks because they give a person a chance to peek inside a community that one may never have a chance to visit. It’s a wonderful example of how food is a universal language that can connect people from all over the country as well as the world.
I was eager to test out several of the recipes when I peeked inside, but my BF had a special request—he wanted me to make the Jurak Joes. These are basically a variation of your traditional “sloppy Joe” sandwich, named after the author of the recipe, Laura Jurak.
So, guess what we had for dinner on Thursday night?
This was probably one of the easiest and quickest meals I’ve prepared in awhile not to mention quite tasty. I cut back on the brown sugar and the taste was still on the sweet side. We ate these on toasted buns with plenty of accouterments for me, like shredded carrots, tomatoes, pickles and lettuce. My boyfriend doesn’t like having all these extras on his Joe’s so he kept his simple with just a slice of Havarti cheese.
Whichever way you decide to eat your Jurak Joe’s, I’m positive you will enjoy every bite.
Jurak Joes by Laura Jurak
3 lbs ground beef (I used extra lean)
1 onion (I omitted this)
1/2 cup packed brown sugar (I used 1/4 cup)
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1 and 1/4 cup tomato ketchup
1 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp soy sauce

Brown the ground beef in a large skillet and drain all the fat. Add all the other ingredients and heat thoroughly. Serve on hamburger buns, eat and enjoy!