Are you ready for some condiments?

I'm not talking about your plain jane, boring ketchup or ho-hum mustard.  And, not that mundane mayo either.  No, I mean things like Caramelized Onion Marmalade and Spicy Garlic Aioli.  The condiments that can make or break a good panini, and have you wondering why you are just now meeting them.  I take all the blame for that, I should have introduced you before.  My apologies!

Let's start with the Caramelized Onion Marmalade.  This lovely little beauty is so sweet and rich, you'd be hard pressed to find anyone who doesn't love it.  You take caramelized onions, which are wonderful in their own right, and add all kinds of good things like red wine and balsamic vinegars and brown sugar, to kick 'em right in the pants.  There is a depth to this marmalade that you just wouldn't believe possible coming from onions, but I would not lie to you!  And, there are so many ways to use it:  to send a panini over the top, on a white chicken pizza instead of sauce, over the top of softened cream cheese served with crackers, or spread on crostini.  I even used it atop Triscuit Cracked Pepper and Olive Oil crackers for a quick and tasty lunch today.  I am telling you, I haven't found anything that it doesn't make better.

Here's your Cast of Characters.

2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
3 Tablespoons brown sugar
4-5 Large onions
3 Teaspoons minced garlic (I used roasted garlic)
2 Tablespoons, each, red wine vinegar, chicken broth, balsamic vinegar
1 Teaspoon salt
1/2 Teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Peel onions, cut in half, and slice thinly.

Melt butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat.  Add brown sugar to pan; cook for 1 minute or until sugar dissolves. 

Add onion and garlic to pan.

Mix well and cover.  Cook for 30 minutes, or until onions are very tender, stirring occasionally.

Uncover and add vinegars, broth, salt and pepper to onion mixture. 

Stir, and cook on medium heat, uncovered, for 10-20 minutes, or until golden brown.  Stir frequently.

For the Spicy Garlic Aioli (ay-o-lee), there’s a certain amount of beauty in its simplicity.  There are very few ingredients, and you can completely customize it to your tastes.  If you want it to be subtle and demure, go easy on the garlic and sriracha.  Do you love garlic so much you could be a vampire hunter?  Double or triple the amount of garlic.  Let’s say that you are a pretty spicy person and want a sauce that kicks butt as much as you do.  Keep hitting it with sriracha, then.  Whatever trips your trigger, will work.  Spread it on any everyday sandwich and watch as your mouth comes alive.  Pair it with the Caramelized Onion Marmalade for the perfect combination of sweet and spicy, mouth-watering goodness!

Here's your Cast of Characters

 

 

1/2 Cup mayo

1/2 Tablespoon rice vinegar

1 Tablespoon minced garlic

2 Tablespoons sriracha (Thai chili paste - found in the ethnic section of your grocery store)

1/2 Teaspoon salt

1/2 Teaspoon pepper

 

Mix well.

 

Refrigerate for at least 1/2 hour, but it's better if you let it sit for a couple of hours.

I made paninis last night from the leftover pork sparerib meat.  I had some nice rolls, spread some caramelized onion marmalade on the bottom, topped with meat, a little matchstick carrots and green onions combined with aioli, mozzarella-muenster over that and the top bun spread with a little more aioli.

 

Unbelievable!  That's all I can say! 

Enjoy!

 

Barbecued Pork Spareribs

You know what makes for a good Sunday in my house?  Kids not fighting, a little bit of football - preferrably our team winning, a good dinner and Bailey baking something as I type this post.  So far, most of that has happened, we are just waiting for our team to take the lead.  The kids have not been bickering all day, which is a blessed relief.  Our Sunday dinner was Barbecued Pork Spareribs, Garlic Parsley Potatoes and Spicy Kale Chips, and it was WONDERFUL!  And, Bailey is happily making Snickerdoodle Blondies.  Life is good!

Which brings me to one of my all-time favorite foods - barbecued ribs.  Seriously, I think I could eat them every day of the week.  I prefer pork ribs, just slightly, over beef ribs, but I'm not going to turn either down.  I know we are not supposed to eat, or like, red meat as much anymore, but if loving ribs is wrong, I don't want to be right!  Obviously, I don't really eat them every day, but I would if I could.  If my health and waistline wouldn't suffer, I would be chowing those down non-stop.

The thing is, until about 6 months ago, I had never made really good ribs.  I had made ribs that tasted good, all slathered in barbecue sauce, but were nothing spectacular.  No one complained about them, but they weren't stark-raving mad for them either.  Then, my husband and I found some nice pork spareribs on sale, and I brought them home thinking that I had to find a better way to prepare them.  So, what do you do when you want to find an answer to something?  You Google it, of course!  What did we ever do before Google?  It is one of the greatest things known to man, and I use it about a million times a day.  Once again, Google came through for me.  I found a few recipes that promised the secrets of the "Pitmasters."  Although there were a lot of differences, one thing was a constant - smear the ribs with yellow mustard PRIOR to the dry rub.  I know, crazy, right?!  Well, I gave it a try, and was not disappointed!  What all of those websites said, was that the mustard and rub would work together to give the meat that brown and crusty outside, while keeping the meat juicy and tender on the inside.  With using a brown sugar based rub, you get a caramelized coating that doesn't require it drowned in sauce.  You can use a little sauce if you want, but it certainly doesn't need it.

This recipe does take a little planning, though, because you have to let the ribs sit overnight with the mustard and dry rub doing its thing.  But, otherwise, it's very simple.

Here's your Cast of Characters.

 

 

Rack of pork spareribs
Yellow mustard
Anita's Sweet & Spicy Barbecue Rub or your favorite dry rub

Here's a picture of my dry rub, once the ingredients have all been combined.

 

 

 

Put ribs on a large, foil-lined baking sheet.  Squirt a generous amount of mustard and smear all around.

 

 

 

Sprinkle half of your rub over the mustard and press it in.  Don't mix it with the mustard.

 

Flip over and repeat.  Cover loosely with foil, and refrigerate overnight.  This is what it will look like the next morning.

 

 

Keep covered loosely with foil, and put in a 275 oven for 3 hours, removing foil after 2 1/2 hours.  After that, turn oven to 350, and cook another hour (total cooking time is 4 hours).

 

 

Let it rest for 5 minutes before cutting into servings. 

 

 

Enjoy!

 

 

Served with Garlic Parsley Potatoes and Spicy Kale Chips - Yum!

*Note:  If you like your ribs saucier, you can add your favorite barbecue sauce, but, again, it doesn't need it.

*One last note:  Our football team didn't win, but on the other hand, Bailey's Snickerdoodle Blondies were fabulous, so an almost perfect day!









Anita's Sweet & Spicy Barbecue Rub

You can buy hundreds of different dry barbecue rubs, and some are very good, but you don't need to.  You can make a very good sweet and spicy rub with just a few basic ingredients.  I'm going to share my recipe with you, but I encourage you to play around with it a little to tweak it to your individual tastes.  Once you have everything combined, taste a little of the rub.  You might want it spicier, or maybe with more onion or garlic.  Maybe you like oregano - add some in.  Obviously we like it this way, but it can be your base recipe.  Build on it as you see fit.

Because I made this at the same time as my Barbecued Pork Spareribs, I didn't get an individual picture of the ingredients.  Sorry! 

Ingredients:

1 Cup light brown sugar
2 Teaspoons, each, Lawry's season salt, onion powder and garlic powder
1 Teaspoon, each, black pepper, paprika and chili powder
1/2 Teaspoon cumin
1/8 Teaspoon, each, cayenne pepper and chipotle chile pepper powder

Mix well.

If you look closely, you can see all the seasonings nestled in the brown sugar.  Mmmmmm!

This is good on anything you want to barbecue and use a dry rub for, not just ribs.

Enjoy!

Spinach and Feta Casserole

Do you know one of the favorite things of my childhood?  Being in the kitchen with my mom, grandmas, and aunts.  Big surprise, huh?  Some of my best memories were at the hip of those great cooks.  Because of that, I think it's so important to get my children involved in cooking.  Mind you, it's not always easy because I'm a bit of a control freak and perfectionist.  There are times when I have to fight the urge to say, "Just let me do it."  But, if I do that, what am I teaching them?  Certainly not how to cook.  Instead, I remind myself that things don't have to be perfect, and if they take a little longer to get something done, it's okay because they are learning.  I try to take a step back and play the role of guide as much as I can, particularly with my daughter, since she is older.  My son is only 9, so he still needs more help, but Bailey, at 11, does really well by herself.  When she's in the kitchen, I try to keep my hands out of things, and just offer some tips and suggestions here and there, as needed. 

I am very proud to say that Bailey is turning into a good, little cook.  She really enjoys it, which of course, makes me very happy; and, she spends quite a bit of time asking me if she can make supper.  Unfortunately, it doesn't work out as often as she would like, but I do try to give her at least one day a month where she can give it a go.  Well, I should correct that, except for summertime - I use my kitchen very little and the grill more often than not.

Today, we were getting ready to do our massive, and highly pleasurable (sarcasm), monthly grocery shopping trip.  Since I was getting the list ready, I decided it was the perfect time to see if Bailey wanted to make a meal soon.  She jumped at the chance, pulling out her cookbooks and magazine with some simple recipes.  Before long, she had 3 recipes that she really liked.  I added the necessary ingredients to our list, while she picked the one she wanted to make first.  Then she hit me up to cook supper tonight.  It's Saturday, so why not?  When I said yes, she was over the moon.  I, then, asked her if she would be okay with being on the blog.  After only a moment's hesitation, she agreed.  So, tonight's recipe is brought to you, courtesy of Bailey, with only the photos by me.

Here's your Cast of Characters.

3 Eggs
2 Cups part-skim ricotta cheese
1 10-oz. package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and well drained
1 4-oz. package crumbled feta cheese
1/4 Cup butter, melted
3 Tablespoons flour
2 Teaspoons dried, minced onions
1 Teaspoon, each, Lawry's season salt, pepper, Mrs. Dash Onion & Herb and McCormick Perfect Pinch Garlic & Herb
Dash nutmeg
1/3 Cup freshly grated Parmesan or Pecorino Romano (optional - not pictured)

Preheat oven to 350.  Grease medium casserole; set aside.

Lightly beat the eggs.

Drain the spinach, and squeeze out as much liquid as you can.

Put eggs in large mixing bowl.  Add ricotta and spinach.

Next, add feta, melted butter, flour, onion and seasonings.

Stir well to combine .

Spread into prepared casserole.

Bake, uncovered, for 45 minutes, or until center is nearly set.

You want to know one of the great things about this dish?  All the little chunks of feta!  If you look closely, you can see them.  Yum!

Enjoy!

*Note:  You can add freshly grated Parmesan or Pecorino Romano along with the other ingredients.  We didn't do this - Bailey followed the recipe, except for my suggestion to add some additional seasonings.  We both agreed that next time, we will definitely add the Parmesan.

Brown Butter Sage Couscous

Have you ever had couscous (pronounced coos-coos)?  If not, boy, you don't know what you are missing!  These tiny little grains of Mediterranean pasta, made from semolina, are magical.  They cook in 5 minutes.  Back up!  Did I say 5 minutes?  Why, yes I did!  It's as simple as boiling water, adding the couscous, and covering it for that teeny tiny amount of time.  You can season it with anything, any way you want.  Add some herbs in the water, and the couscous soaks up all the wonderful flavor.  I'm telling you, there is nothing bad about this pasta - it is all kinds of awesome!

So, what can I do to make it butter, I mean better?  Well, wasn't that an interesting slip of the tongue?  It just so happens that is one of the things that I am using to give couscous my own special brand of awesomeness.

Have you been reading very many recipes lately?  If you have, you know that brown butter is all the rage.  You see it popping up everywhere.  Why is that?  Ummmm, it's GOOD!  And, one of the herbs that pairs so well with browned butter is sage.  No, not rubbed sage that you put in stuffing, but fresh sage, or dried sage leaves.  The taste is so different from the ground stuff you get in a little jar.

So, without any further adieu, here's your Cast of Characthers.

1 Cup water
1 Cup couscous
1 Teaspoon chicken bouillon granules
8 Sage leaves, fresh or dried
1/2 Stick unsalted butter
1/2 Teaspoon, each, Lawry's season salt and thyme
2 Teaspoons ground pepper
1/3 Cup grated Pecorion Romano cheese

Bring water to a boil.  Add chicken bouillon granules, 1 sage leaf and couscous.  Cover, remove from heat and let sit for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, melt butter on medium heat with thyme and remaining sage leaves, crushed.

Cook, stirring frequently, until brown, about 3 - 5 minutes.

Now, be careful because there is a big difference between browned butter and black, burnt butter.  It's easy to go too far, and burn it.  If all else fails, rely on your sense of smell.  When it turns brown and still smells good, stop.

Add butter to couscous along with Lawry's and pepper.

Mix well.  Add Pecorino, and stir to combine, making sure to get any lumps of cheese mixed in.  Turn heat to low, if needed, to melt cheese. 

Serve right away.

Enjoy!

Roasted Artichoke Pesto

Do you know what kind of pasta is so very simple, but when it hits the plate, looks gourmet?  That's right, you guessed it, pesto pasta!  It is one of those dishes that looks and tastes like you spent lots of time in the kitchen, slaving over some secret recipe, when in reality most pestos can come together in about 15 minutes.  Try it, invite some friends over, preferrably ones who don't know how to cook and make a pesto for them.  They'll think you're the new Food Network star.

A traditional pesto typically has fresh basil, olive oil, garlic, salt, pine nuts and Parmesan cheese.  That's the one I usually make, minus the pine nuts because I don't always keep them on hand.  I also add sun-dried tomatoes quite a bit.  It's my daughter's favorite pasta dish.  Most of the time I cook a couple of chicken breasts in the same type of seasonings as the pesto, then cut it up into bite-size pieces and toss it with the pasta and pesto sauce.  It's amazing that something so easy is so delicious.

I love pestos, in part, because of their versatilty.  Don't have pasta; want to try something different?  Use it in place of traditional pizza sauce, spread on some toasted bread, or maybe stuff a chicken breast with it.  You can be just as creative with the ingredients, too.  What if you don't have pine nuts?  Use walnuts, they are awesome in pesto.  What if you don't have fresh basil?  Make a different kind of pesto.  A couple of months ago I made some fresh pasta and a lemon broccoli pesto.  It was outstanding!  (Not to toot my own horn but WOOT, WOOT!)  Or try using Italian flat leaf parsley in place of the basil.  Get creative, use what you like, play around with it.  You can't really screw it up.

I really need to go grocery shopping, I mean REALLY need to go shopping, because my pantry is almost bare, as well as my freezer.  I was in the mood for pesto but didn't have fresh basil or pine nuts.  Okay, so take my own advice and make a different kind, right?  Well, I didn't have broccoli or sun-dried tomatoes, either.  What's a girl to do?  Dig deep in my pantry to find something that will work.  That's where this pesto came from.  I had a can of artichokes hearts, some flat leaf parsley and a roma tomato that needed to be used.  I always have olive oil, lemon juice and garlic on hand, so we were in business.  Roasted artichoke pesto came into being. 

Now, before you wrinkle your nose and tell me you don't like artichokes, let me remind you of one thing.  That attitude doesn't fly in my house.  You have to try it before you say you don't like it.  Also, with all the other things going on in the pesto, the artichokes aren't the predominant flavor.  Actually, there really isn't one singular breakout flavor.  They all blend really well together, and turn into a nice, light, but complex pesto.

Because we are roasting, this pesto takes about 45 minutes, as opposed to a normal one that comes together a lot quicker.  It's worth the wait though.  Here's your Cast of Characters.

1 Can of artichoke hearts, drained
1 Bunch of Italian flat leaf parsley (Do not get the curly parsley.  It is really best as garnish, and does not taste the same as Italian flat leaf.)
1 Roma tomato
6-8 Cloves of garlic (I used 4 medium and 4 large cloves.  It wasn't too garlicky but just right.)
1/4 Cup + 2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 Teaspoons kosher salt, divided
1 Teaspoon freshly ground pepper, divided
1 1/2 Teaspoons lemon pepper, divided
1/2 Teaspoon Lawry's season salt
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
1 Lb. box linguine or spaghetti
1/2 Cup reserved pasta water
1/4 Pecorino Romano cheese, grated + a little extra to sprinkle when served

Preheat oven to 425.  Chop tomato, and peel garlic.  For large cloves, cut into 2 or 3 pieces.

In a small mixing bowl, combine artichoke hearts, tomatoes, garlic, 2 Tbsp. olive oil, 1 tsp. kosher salt, 1/2 tsp. pepper and 1/2 tsp. lemon pepper.  Toss to combine and coat evenly with olive oil.

Spread evenly on a foil-lined cookie sheet, and roast for 25 - 30 minutes, stirring once halfway through.  When there are 5 minutes left in roasting time, start boiling your water, salting it generously.  Cook the linguine until al dente, about 11 1/2 minutes.  When the artichokes mixture is roasted, pull from the oven.  It should be nicely browned by this point.

Place in a food processor (or a blender could be used).

Cut stems from parsley and add into the processor.

Add remaining 1/4 cup olive oil, lemon juice, Lawry's, 1/2 tsp. each, kosher salt and pepper and 1 tsp. lemon pepper.  Blend on high, until chopped well.  When pasta is done, take 1/2 cup pasta water out before draining it.  Place pasta back in pan, and add pasta water to the food processor.  Blend on high another minute.

Scrape all the contents into your pan of pasta.  Stir or use tongs to coat the noodles well with the pesto.

Add 1/4 cup of Pecorino and toss again.

Serve immediately.  Sprinkle with a little extra Pecorino.

Look closely.  You can see the bits of artichoke and chunks of garlic, but when you taste it, you are not getting individual flavors but instead are experiencing a nice melding of complimentary ingredients.  Enjoy!