A visit from Cooper and Stacey today! He did a fabulous job - slept, looked around, ate, cried (just a little), let Nathan, John, and me hold him. Baby heaven. Sighs, snorts, grunts, burps, farts - all of it is adorable. Stacey looks beautiful, of course, and is as happy as can be. Coop
debuted his Che Guevara onesie today, he's a political knockout, the cutest revoluntionary ever. Tee hee.Since it was yet another stunningly balmy day, we had a little barbecue action for dinner. I asked Nathan this morning, what should we grill, and he said RIBS! So we had ribs, pork back ribs. Spice rubbed and slow cooked in the oven first, finished with a slather o' sauce and a pass over the heat to crisp things up a bit - mmmmm.... Fall off the bone, melt in your mouth porkiness. Delicious. A simple, cool and
crunchy cabbage salad alongside. In the name of moderation, I skipped making biscuits, so we could have...a warm cherry tart, with caramel ice cream, for dessert. Hello summer! (Recipes posted in comments, below. The tart crust, in particular, is one of the best I've made, crisp and buttery, and it's simple too. Lovely with the cherries, but would be equally delicious with other tart fillings, definitely a keeper.)And this was my second barbecue in as many days! Last night a grill-out at Suz and Cory's, with the Billadeaus too - burgers, beer, and brownies, the alliterative triumvirate of BBQ heaven. Ahhhh. That, and a
"ses" (short for session) of Feminine Hijinx, and it was a near-perfect night. Not bad chillin' and grillin' out on April 11th - and 12th! - not bad at all.
posted by Stephanie @ 6:37 PM
5 Comments:
Cherry Tart with Almond Crust
Adapted from Sunday Suppers at Lucques by Suzanne Goin
Serves 8
Heaping ½ c. whole raw almonds
¼ c. granulated sugar
1 ¼ c. plus 1 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
¼ tsp. salt
8 Tbsp. (1 stick) butter, melted and cooled slightly
¼ tsp. pure almond extract
¼ tsp. pure vanilla extract
Sweet cherry compote (recipe follows)
Caramel ice cream (Haagen Dazs Dulce de Leche or Blue Sky Caramel)
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Toast the almonds on a baking sheet about 10 minutes, until they darken slightly and smell nutty. When the nuts have cooled, place them in a food processor with the sugar and pulse to a coarse meal. Add the flour and salt and pulse again to combine. Transfer to a mixing bowl, and pour in the melted butter, almond and vanilla extracts, and 1 Tbsp. ice-cold water. Using a wooden spoon, mix until just combined, adding more ice-cold water if necessary to help bring the dough together. Use your fingers to press the dough into a buttered 9-inch fluted tart pan, pressing the sides first and then the bottom, to form an even crust. Chill at least an hour, or cover and chill overnight. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prick the bottom of the tart shell with a fork, and line it with parchment paper or aluminum foil. Fill the lined tart shell with beans or pie weights, and bake 20 minutes, until it begins to brown lightly around the edges. Remove from the oven and cool on a rack. Once cool, lift the paper and beans out of the tart. Fill the shell with the sweet cherry compote to just below the level of the rim. Return the tart to the oven and bake 1 hour, until the cherries darken to a deep ruby red. Let the tart cool for 15 minutes before slicing. Slice the tart into wedges and serve with scoops of caramel ice cream.
Sweet Cherry Compote (filling)
2-12 oz. bags frozen sweet cherries (unsweetened), thawed in the bag
½ c. granulated sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 Tbsp. corn starch mixed with 1 Tbsp. cold water
Heat cherries, their juice, and sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat until juice is boiling. Turn heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes, until the cherries have softened. Stir in the vanilla and cornstarch mixture and bring back to a boil once again, stirring often. Cook a few more minutes, until thickened. Let cool completely.
Crunchy Cabbage Salad
Susanna Meyer
½ head cabbage, cored and sliced thinly
4 scallions, chopped
½ c. slivered almonds, toasted
1 package Ramen noodles, broken up, seasoning packet reserved for dressing, below
Dressing
2 Tbsp. sugar
½ c. olive oil
3 Tbsp. white wine vinegar
1 tsp. salt
½ tsp. pepper
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 Ramen noodles seasoning packet
Put cabbage, scallions, almonds and broken Ramen noodles in a large bowl. Whisk together dressing ingredients and pour half of it over salad. Toss to coat. Add more dressing if necessary, to taste.
Barbecued Pork Ribs
Stephanie Levy
This is one of my un-recipes, a technique for making fabulous ribs that is easy and can be adapted to different serving sizes. I buy slabs of pork back ribs, allowing up to a pound per person, depending on how much your family likes ribs (1/2 lb. is fine for normal eaters). Here’s how it works. Allow 3-4 hours for the whole process, from start to serving time. Preheat the oven to 275 degrees. Create a dry rub by stirring together, in a small bowl, equal amounts of cumin, chili powder, chipotle chili powder, ancho chili powder, oregano, brown sugar, and salt. Rub all over both sides of the rib slabs. Lay the slabs in one or more 9x13 pans so that the ribs fill the pan in one flat layer (don’t stack them, and if you can’t fill two 9x13 pans, use a 9x9 square pan or whatever will hold the ribs snugly but not in layers.) Cover the pans tightly with aluminum foil. Arrange the racks in the oven so you can accommodate two pans, if necessary. Bake ribs for 2.5 – 3.5 hours, until meat is fork tender and bones are loose. Remove from the oven, uncover, slather with your favorite BBQ sauce. Heat your grill and when it’s hot lay the slabs on the grill. Cook for a few minutes on each side, adding more BBQ sauce if you like, until crispy on the edges and sauce is caramelized. Slice and serve.
Stephanie,
I have to tell you that I love the recipe for the BBQ Pork Ribs. I have made it one other time, and I have some in my oven right now!!! I do not have on hand the ancho chili powder or the chipotle chili powder, but it still tastes great. I will have to try Penzey's the next time I am in Uptown for those spices??? Nothing better than Ribs for the 4th of July Weekend! P.s. By the way, I am Kim's friend Bev :)
Hi Bev! I'm so glad you enjoy the recipe, and am so honored you'll share it with others! I get both the chipotle and ancho chili powders at Byerly's, in fact, I think Byerly's house brand of spices has them both. Hmmm, typing this is making me hungry for ribs... Hope you had a good 4th!
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