Oven "Grilled" Bar-B-Que Spareribs a la Mark Bittman

 

It's time for IHCC's Potluck with Mark Bittman. Unfortunately we missed the last 2 weeks due to the move. We are happy to be participating this week with these lovely  Oven "Grilled" Spareribs found in his How to Cook Everything Cookbook on pages 759-761. I must first tell you that when I opened the package of ribs and laid them out, I thought; "Oh my, brontosaurus ribs like on the Flinstones. How in the world will these ever be tender?" 

  OVEN BRAISED! Then I remembered the IHCC Potluck and I found this recipe. Next I must tell you that they were not only tender, they were delicious as well. We were quite surprised. I did finish them off with some Carolina Treet Original Cooking Barbeque Sauce which I bought on a whim since it's made here in North Carolina, and am loving it.

The ingredients for the spice rub are simple; salt, sugar, fresh ground pepper, cumin, mild dried ground chile, and paprila, mixed together in a small bowl and rubbed into 5 pounds of pork spareribs. Do make certain to peel off the membrane across the underside of your ribs to ensure that they will be much more tender and your spice rub gets infused into the meat there as well. This is easily done with a tomato shark or simply use a fork to get it started peeling.. Then using a paper towel to hold on to it, gently peel it back from the ribs.

Baked/braised in the oven at 275 degrees for at least 2 hours. Pouring of excess grease about every half hour to hour. Mine were cooked for a total of three hours to ensure that they would be tender. Then basted in the sauce on 500 degrees for an extra 10-15 minutes.

BUY IT NOW

Oven "Grilled Spareribs
Adapted from Mark Bittmans How to Cook Everything

Ingredients
1/2 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 tablespoon ground cumin
1/2 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons mild ground dried chili powder, (I used half Arbol Chili Powder and half  McCormicks Chili Powder)
1 tablespoon paprika
About 4-5 pounds spareribs

Directions
Mix the salt, sugar, cumin, pepper, chili powder, and paprika together and rub well into the spareribs.
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees, and place in a roasting pan in one layer. Bake, pouring off accumulated fat every 30 minutes or so, for about 2 hours, or until the ribs are cooked (if you are in a hurry, cover the roasting pan with aluminum foil). When you are ready to eat, roast the ribs at 500 degrees F. for about 10 minutes, or run them under the broiler, watching carefully, until nicely browned.

These were accompanied by brown rice and fresh stewed kale. We did truly enjoy these ribs. Michael was equally impressed with them, and he is usually the rib master by cooking them on the grill.

This is our submission to this weeks IHCC's Potluck. What will you bring?

Carla and Michael

Shrimp in Green Sauce

  This was one of those recipes that you say to yourself, "Hmm, this just sounds way to simple", and it was. It turned out pretty enough, though it seemed to be missing something in the flavor profile. That and the fact that I tried cutting it down to serve two. My first mistake, way too much garlic. (Didn't think that was possible did you?) Well, yes that was my own fault. Secondly, not enough sauce. Recipe writer mistake. You're supposed to have enough sauce to dip your crusty bread in. Nope, not hardly. So, here we go.

Mark Bittman's Shrimp in Green Sauce  from The Best Recipes in the World on page 220.

Assemblage; Combine the garlic and oil in a small food processor and blend until smooth. Add the scallions and parsley and pulse until minced.

Toss with the shrimp, salt, pepper and chiles. Put into a roasting pan. Add the liquid and roast, stirring once until the mixture is hot and bubbly and the shrimp are pink.

Serve immediately.

Shrimp in Green Sauce

from The Best Recipes in the World by Mark Bittman

Ingredients

6 cloves garlic, peeled (I used 3, I would cut back next time)

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

6 scallions, trimmed and chopped

1 cup parsley, leaves and thin stems

2 pounds shrimp, peeled (I used 1/2 pound)

Salt and pepper to taste

4 dried chilies or a few pinches of crushed red chili flakes, or to taste

1/3 cup stock (shrimp, fish or chicken) or white wine or water.

Directions

Heat oven to 500 degrees. Combine garlic and oil in a small food processor and blend until smooth, scraping down sides as necessary. Add scallions and parsley and pulse until mixture is minced. Toss with shrimp, salt, pepper and chilies.

Put shrimp in a large roasting pan. Add liquid and place pan in oven. Roast, stirring once, until mixture is bubbly and hot, and shrimp all pink, 10 to 15 minutes. Serve.

All in all, I wouldn't call this a favorite (at least, not as of yet) and I wouldn't call it a complete failure. It just needs to be tweaked. I would definately use less garlic and amp up the liquid (1/3 cup didn't do it), since there wasn't enough to cover the rice or dip our crusty bread in as Mark suggests. I am still trying to put my finger on a missing flavor to add to the mix, so I am sitting on the fence about this one. In any event I am submitting this to I Heart Cooking Clubs Potluck Challenge for this week.







Michael and Carla

Lechon Asado aka Roast Pig (Pork)

 I guess it seems that we are on a Latin roll here and I would certainly have to agree with you. As I have said before, I especially, love my ethnic foods. This one received a grand review from Michael. I have made this many times before and I don't know why, this time he really enjoyed it. It must have been that in the past I have probably used dried oregano, where as this time I used fresh oregano from our garden. And I have to tell you that the leftovers (and you will most definately want leftovers) make the most wonderful pressed Cuban Sandwiches in the world. I know because I have bought the sliced pork in the grocery store deli and it does not compare. 

  I made the recipe given by Mr. Mark Bittman in his Best Recipes in the World Cookbook. Yes, it's Mark Bittman once a week for the next 6 months over at I Heart Cooking Clubs . This week was all about Herbs.

8 simple ingredients. Pork shoulder, garlic, fresh oregano, ground cumin, salt, pepper, onion, and lemon juice. No I did not want to run to the store for fresh lemons even though I knew I should. Maybe next time. I did add a nineth ingredient, freshly squeezed clementine juice. No, I can not find fresh sour oranges up here, which would also have been preferable.

Mix, rub, and marinate for up to 24 hours.
Mine was for 6 hours.

Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees. Set on roasting rack and roast for 20 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees and cook an additional 1 to 2 hours (depending on the size of your roast), or until meat thermometer registers 150 degrees.

Sliced remaining meat for shredded sandwiches.

Muy Bueno!

Lechon Asado

Adapted from Mar Bittman's Best Recipes in the Worls

Ingredients

2 tablespoons minced fresh oregano leaves

1 tablespoon minced garlic

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 tablespoon salt (kosher)

1 tablespoon fresh ground black pepper

1 3-pound pork shoulder roast

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

1/2 cup sour orange juice (I used fresh squeezed clementine juice)

1 large onion

lemon wedges for serving

Directions

Combine first 6 ingredients. Use a sharp knife to poke some holes all over the meat and insert small amounts of the garlic rub into them. Combine the remaining rub with the orange/lemon juice and onion and rub all over the exterior of the roast; if time allows wrap in plastic or place in a resealable bag and refigerate for 24 hours. If not, proceed.

When you are ready to cook, preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Put the pork on a rack in a roasting pan and put in the oven. Roast for 20 minutes, or until pork begins to brown, then lower the heat to 350 degrees and add 1 cup of water to the bottom of the pan. Continue to roast, basting the pork with the pan juices and adding water to the bottom of the pan if it threatens to dry out, for about 2 hours, or until the interior temperature of the pork reaches 150 degrees on an instant read thermometer.

Remove the pork and let it rest. (You can prepare the dish up to this point in advance, let sit for a few hours, or cover and refrigerate for up to a day. Make the sauce and refrigerate it separately; reheat before serving.) Add more water to the bottom of the panif necessary and cook over high heat, stirring and scraping to incorporate any browned bits of meat that may be stuck to the bottom. Carve the pork, spoon a little of this pan juice over it, and serve with the lemon wedges.

Serves 6

If you have never made this, you must give it a try at least once. Also, don't forget about saving some for sandwiches the next day.

Michael and Carla

Lentil Salad...Not So Much a Recipe as a Method

  Its IHCC's Mark Bittman Challenge time again. This weeks subject is Pantry Raid. To clean out all those little bits of items left in your pantry. So head on over to I Heart Cooking Clubs to see how well everyone did this week.
  I chose Lentil Salad from Mark's Blog Bitten. He seems to love a particular lentil salad he had in Paris and was trying to re-create it here. It is more of a method than a recipe, as you can add or omit whatever you have or don't have on hand. And might I just tell you it was scrumptious! I have never made a salad with my lentils, only the old stand-by, Lentil Soup. Well since spring is here and summer is right around the corner, I will be eating quite a few lentil salads after trying this one. Oh yes, I did eat the entire plate full, as Michael is out of town for the week. Anyway, I am going off the beaten path here.
  I have three differnt types of lentils (Michael is not such a fan), black, green and red. So I chose the green to use for this as suggested.

My little bits of this and that. An almost empty dijon mustard, a few sorry little garlic cloves, an almost wilted green onion, a feww slices of a red onion, a half of a tomato, and my green lentils. Only the bacon is newly opened.

So firstly add a little splash of olive oil to your sauce pan and add your chopped bacon. Saute until crisp tender.

Nextly, add some shredded carrot, garlic, onions, and diced tomato bits. Saute until vegetables begin to wilt and become tender.

Finally add your lentils and cover with water.

Simmer until lentils are tender adding as little water as possible if needed. You want the water to cook off by the end.

I will definately be experimenting with lentils this summer.

PS - The chicken breast was a leftover in the fridge from a three pack that I had two of the night before Michael left. So, I think I did good! (If I do say so myself)

PSS - I almost forgot to mention. See the Feta cheese? I was so excited to try my first lentil salad that I forgot to put some in at the end. Fear not though, as I had a cup of the salad left and can you guess what's for lunch? Yes, Lentil Salad with Feta!

Michael and Carla