Okay, so those of you that have been following Lea's food blog over at http://copperpots.blogspot.com will have already seen my last batch of ribs and a desire to improve upon them the next time. Well this is the next time and they are GOOD! Read down to the bottom to see what I did differently!
To re-iterate Lea's post, here's the guts of it all:
"First, he asked me to make a rub for them... I'd never made a rub before so I jumped online a combined a few different ones I found depending on what we had in stock. We were short chili powder so it did prove to be a challenge... but in the end I wound up using: dry mustard (I used dry English mustard), paprika, cayenne, parsley, black pepper, Mrs. dash, and salt. We let them sit with the rub in the fridge for about 3 hours...
From here Dave completely took over. First he boiled them in 3 bottles of dark beer (his own brew!)and some water for an hour....
Here they are fresh out of the pot, rub still intact...
Then to the grill they went to cook for another hour... occasionally basting with some BBQ sauce. Unfortunately it was getting late at this point, and here we can see Dave basting in the almost-dark:
They turned out delish, with a bit of a bite from the rub."
Okay, so what did I do different? Well my main criticism over the last batch was they were a little of the chewy side. I'm used to working with baby backs and these were spare ribs of the larger, meatier with more connective tissue variety. Therefore it stands to reason that larger ribs take longer to tenderize! So this time using the same rub, and the same boil in beer method as before I let them soak a while longer, a little over a hour to be exact. Then it was out to the grill..........A little less heat and a few more turns to make sure of an even cooking.
As before I used the Jack Daniels baste to sweeten up the affair and complement the slightly spicey bite provided by the rub.
I have to say this time they were a LOT better but all said and done I think I prefer baby back ribs!
Until next time, eat well!
Monday, October 30, 2006
Stick your Ribs together!
Thursday, October 26, 2006
West Indian Style Grilled Chicken
Wednesday is pool night for me and now that Lea and I live a little closer to the pool hall we have time to eat together before I go out to play! This leaves me (I finish work earlier) with a perfect opportunity to step into the kitchen and practice my culinary skills.
This dish is inspired from a sort of Caribbean/West-Indian assumed style.
Anyway, here's how it all worked out.
Ingredients
2 large chicken breasts
Can of blackeye peas
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 tablespoon curry powder
pinch of ground cumin
pinch of ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
1 teaspoon chopped cilantro
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 tablespoon honey
Mix the paprika, curry powder, ground cumin, ground cinnamon, lemon juice, garlic, cilantro, salt and pepper with the melted butter to a smooth paste.
Next mix in the honey to complete the marinade and baste the chicken all over.
Cut small slits in the surface of the chicken breasts and spread the marinade all over the chicken.
Put the chicken in the fridge to absorb the marinade for as long as you can (I'd suggest a minimum of about an hour).
Prepare the barbecue and preheat as required.
Place the chicken directly on the grill and adjust the heat for an even cook. Apply any remaining marinade as a baste during the early stages of cooking and turn as necessary until thoroughly done.
I served the dish with blackeye peas to complete a simply delicious and easy to prepare West Indian style meal.
I'd love to hear from anyone with suggestions or variations for this recipe or alternately just to hear you enjoyed it.
Until next time, eat well!
