Ribs in the Smoker or Instant Pot

After nearly a year without a blog post, I started getting that itch again.  That itch to be creative and share with the world.  So here I am…sitting quietly on a Saturday morning, coffee in hand, contemplating what my newest blog post should be…if I were to start back up again.

No one get your hopes up.  It could be like last year when I posted a handful of new things and then went dark again.

The problem is you never know how busy you’re going to be or how much energy you’ll have.  One of the biggest tips every blogger or youtuber will tell you is consistency is key. That’s why I had originally decided to post on Tuesdays and Fridays.  But, honestly, it was so much better when I FIRST started my blog.  I posted when I felt like it.  And it seemed more authentic.  I wasn’t posting things just to stay on a schedule.  I posted things I actually wanted to share with the world.

I mean, you don’t schedule Facebook or IG posts, right?  You post things in the moment when you have something you want to share with people!  So maybe that’s the key?  Who knows.  All I know is that I have something I want to share today and I don’t care about consistency and schedules anymore.

So this may be the only blog post for 2018 or it may be the start of something great.  I guess only time will tell!  So…on to the ribs!

Whenever I meal plan for the week, I typically ask the boys if they want anything special for dinner.  Normally I don’t get an answer, but last week Jeff asked for ribs!  Perfect timing as one of the days I was planning for was Super Bowl Sunday!  I had originally planned to cook them in the Instant Pot (turns out amazing btw), but when he said he wanted to smoke them, I obliged.  And guys…they were out of this world!!

Smoked Spare Ribs
1 rack of spare ribs, trimmed*
Steak seasoning (I prefer the one from DLM, but any mesquite or steak seasoning will do)
Foil pans that fit in your smoker
1 bottle bbq sauce

Trim the ribs of most of the excess fat and remove the membrane if you desire.  The membrane is that silvery thin skin looking piece that’s on the bone side of the ribs.  I have difficulty doing this sometimes and the membrane doesn’t really bother me, so I don’t always remove it.  Season ribs liberally with steak seasoning.  Let ribs come to room temperature for about 30 minutes while your smoker reaches the internal temp of 225*.

Place seasoned ribs in the foil pans.  I used two 8″ square pans and had to cut my ribs in half to fit.  You can also put the ribs directly on the racks in the smoker, but I’m lazy and don’t like to clean, so I left them in the pans.

Smoke ribs for at least 6 hours or until the internal temperature of your ribs reach 190* so they fall apart.  We ran out of time and the ribs were about 170*.  They were still amazing, just a little bit chewy at this temperature.  You definitely want to reach 145* so they are completely cooked through.

Add wood chips to your smoker every 1-2 hours.  The more wood chips you add, the smokier your food will taste.

Some people suggest covering the ribs in foil after 2 hours so your ribs don’t take on that much smoke, but we left them uncovered and liked how smokey they were.  I guess it’s a matter of preference.

Once your ribs are cooked through, remove them from the smoker and cover them with bbq sauce.  I like to broil my ribs after I’ve sauced them, but it’s not necessary.  If you want to do this step, broil your ribs in the oven for about 5 minutes or until the sauce gets a little caramelized.

This night I served them with Flo Lum’s smashed potato skins, which were equally as amazing and so easy!!!

*It was just Jeff and I eating the ribs, but obviously you can use as many racks as your smoker can hold.  Also, we got our ribs at Aldi for $8!  That’s the cheapest I’ve seen ribs and, guys, they were tasty!

 

If you want a great recipe for Instant Pot ribs, check out this guy!  His recipe works wonderfully!

 

Speaking of Instant Pot recipes, would you be interested in seeing videos of the different recipes I’ve made in the IP?  I’ve thought about filming some of them.  Have a great weekend!

Caramel Apple Pork Chops

I have this habit of listening to podcasts on my drive to work.  I used to get audiobooks from the library, but they tend to lose my interest because they are several hours long.  I got on the podcast kick a few years ago when I was planning a trip to Disney World.  Yes, there are podcasts about Disney World.  Good ones, in fact.

Speaking of good podcasts, have you listened to Serial?

“Serial is a podcast from the creators of This American Life, and is hosted by Sarah Koenig. Serial tells one story – a true story – over the course of an entire season.” – http://serialpodcast.org/

Anyhow, obviously I’m into cooking, so I began looking for a podcast that talked about my favorite subject.  That’s when I found The Splendid Table…“the show about life’s appetites.” Since then, I’ve been listening to this podcast pretty regularly.  They tend to talk about seasonal cooking, so here recently it’s been all about apples, butternut squash, and comfort food.

This got me thinking…I need to cook with apples more.  I love apples, but I rarely use them in my cooking.  Why?  Who the heck knows.  After a quick search of my favorite website, allrecipes.com, I came across a recipe for caramel apple pork chops.  I love caramel, I love apples, and I love pork chops if cooked the correct way!

Today was the perfect day to make this dish.  It was a gorgeous fall day outside, with the air slightly crisp and the sun shining.  Jeff and I both loved the dish.  As for Jake…well…he liked the raspberries I gave him.  😐

Caramel Apple Pork Chops
(adapted from this recipe)

2 thick cut pork chops
salt & pepper to taste or meat seasoning such as Penzey’s Northwoods Fire Seasoning
2 Granny Smith apples, peeled and chopped (can substitute other tart apples)
2 tbsp brown sugar
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
2 tbsp unsalted butter
1 tsp vegetable oil*
Boursin cheese (optional)

Remove pork chops from fridge, sprinkle with seasoning of your choice, and let come to room temperature as you prepare the rest of the dish.

Combine apples, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and butter in a medium saucepan.  Cook over medium low heat until apples are tender, stirring occasionally.  Mine took about 20 minutes to get to the consistency I wanted.  Full disclosure:  I forgot to peel my apples.  Learn from my mistake…peel yours.

After apples have been cooking for approximately 10 minutes, heat a large skillet over medium heat.  Add the vegetable oil (*or in my case bacon grease as I was also making my Warm Potato Salad) to the pan.  Cook pork chops on medium heat for about 5 minutes per side or until internal temperature is 145º.  I like using a meat thermometer with my pork and beef because I tend to overcook it and my guy hates overcooked meats.

Remove from pan when pork chops are cooked and let sit for about 5 minutes.  To serve, top with caramelized apples.

Well, here’s what happened when I served the dish.  Jeff ate the pork with the apples and said it was just OK but it was missing something.  When asked what he thought it needed, he said he wasn’t sure but maybe “something creamy like cheese but also a little tangy?  I don’t know…”  My quick thinking produced the remains of the Boursin cheese I’d purchased for my Harvest Salad.  He added a little touch of the cheese to the pork and he could not quit raving about the dish.

So to sum up…add some Boursin.  Everything’s better with cheese, right? (Ignore the crappy picture…I was too excited to eat to worry about composition of this photo.)

And just because he’s so stinkin’ cute, here are a couple pictures of my little guy from this weekend.  Can you believe he’ll be FOUR in two months???  #slowdownkid

Ultimate Pulled Pork

I have a new favorite Food Network show.  Have you met Damaris Phillips?  Damaris, a Louisville, Kentucky native, was the winner of Food Network Star, Season 9.  Now, I didn’t watch that show, but I tend to spend Saturday and Sunday mornings going through the list of Food Network shows as this is when the new cooking shows air.

One day, I happened upon a show called Southern at Heart.  I’m southern at heart…sort of (I grew up in Tennessee)…so I set it to record and went on my merry way.  Well, I don’t remember what Damaris made on the show that morning, but I do know I was charmed the minute she started talking.  With her southern drawl, her quirky behavior, and her passion for somewhat unique ingredients (coconut oil, sorghum, agave nectar), I was hooked.  I’ve made a couple things of hers including Fried Chicken Salad sandwiches (recipe to come) and I’ve never been disappointed.

I’m always looking for a good pulled pork recipe because pork is relatively low in fat and calories and can be made into sandwiches, tacos, or piled on sweet potatoes.  She made a pulled pork recipe on her Football Tailgating episode in November, so I added the recipe to my weekly food list and headed out to the store.

The entire day, I kept smelling the pork.  It smelled good.  I was not disappointed.  I practically ate the whole roast before it had even cooled!  If you’re looking for a delicious, healthy pork recipe, add this to your list.

Ultimate Pulled Pork
(adapted from Damaris Phillips’ Pulled Pork Nachos)

2 tbsp chili powder
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp ancho chile powder
1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
2 small or 1 large bay leaf
salt & pepper
3 pounds boneless pork butt, cut into smaller pieces
One large onion, diced
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup sherry vinegar
1 tsp liquid smoke

In a medium sized bowl, combine the chili powder, garlic powder, paprika, chile powder, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper.  Set aside.  Put your diced onion into the bottom of the crock pot to create a base for the pork to sit on.

Trim your pork of most of the fat.  I didn’t do this the first time, and I kept finding big chunks of fat amid my delicious pork.  To quote Alton…not good eats.  Damaris suggested cutting the pork butt into more manageable pieces, so that’s what I did.  Once your pork is prepped, dredge in the seasonings and place in the slow cooker.

Next, combine the honey, oil, vinegar, and liquid smoke until mixed.  Pour over the pork.  Set your slow cooker to low and let cook for 6-8 hours.  Remove from liquid and shred with two forks.

This pork is very versatile, but my favorite way to eat it is just alongside Oven Fried Zucchini Medallions.  They’re the perfect side dish to this meal.  Stay tuned!

PW’s Spicy Pop Pulled Pork

The other day, I was watching my version of Saturday morning cartoons:  Food Network “In The Kitchen”.  One of my new favorite shows is the Pioneer Woman.  Sure, she’s not the best on camera, but she’s a food blogger.  I’m a food blogger.  We have something in common.

So anyhow, there I was watching the show when she did a fancier version of my Crock Pot Pulled Pork.  Just the other day, I was rereading my food diary from when I lost 35 pounds a few years ago and I noticed a common theme.  Pulled pork and barbeque.  Since my pulled pork had been lacking something the past few times I’d made it, I decided to try Ree’s version.

It’s quite simple, really.  You lay your pork roast over a bed of onions, top with a can of chipotles in adobo, brown sugar, salt, pepper, pop and you have her recipe for Spicy Pop Pulled Pork.  I made it the other day before going in to work and I gotta tell ya.  It’s pretty yummy.  Just spicy enough to hit all the notes on your tongue, but not so spicy you’re gulping water.

I topped our sandwiches with a little Dorothy Lane BBQ sauce.  It’s the best I’ve found in Dayton.

Then, the next day, I was hunting around in my fridge for breakfast options and saw the pulled pork.  The wheels in my brain started turning and I created Pulled Pork Scramble.

Scrambled eggs tossed with leftover pulled pork and topped with bbq sauce.  Now, I know what you’re thinking.  Eggs with pulled pork?  Really?

Well according to my brother, eggs go with everything.  Who am I to question a chef?

So what do you think?  Do eggs go with pork and BBQ sauce?

Glazed Over

I don’t shop at Walmart.  Like…ever.  I grew up in the boonies where we only had a handful of entertainment options:  the movies, football games, driving up and down “the strip”, and  going to Walmart.

“On any given Friday night,
We’d drive a hundred miles,
Between the Sonic and the Grocery Store,
Laughing all the while,”
-Carrie Underwood, I Ain’t in Checotah Anymore

Yep.  It was that kind of town. Because of this fact, I think I have a mental aversion to the store.  I won’t say what kind of people I think shop at Walmart.  (Sorry, Martin folk…)

Well, the other day I found myself at Walmart.  I don’t remember what I was looking for, but I know I needed some stuff for dinner.  Since my Walmart is part grocery store, I wandered over to that side.  I think I was looking for some meat marinade, which is how I ended up in the marinade section.  While browsing for Lawry’s Caribbean Jerk marinade, I spotted one of my favorite southern ladies, Mrs. Paula Deen herself.

Now, I don’t try not to get swayed by the pretty packaging and big Food Network chef names, but this Sweet Bourbon Glaze looked delicious.  I bought it, brought it home, and promptly forgot about it for a few weeks.

The other night, I was trying to figure out what to have for dinner without having to go to the grocery store when I spotted this bottle in my pantry.  I thought back to the various cuts of meat in my freezer and remembered I had some thick cut, bone in pork chops.  Perfect!

I thawed them out and heated up my grill.  After rubbing the grill with a paper towel coated with a little vegetable oil (my new secret for getting the meat not to stick to the grates), I sprinkled the meat with my trusty DLM steak seasoning and plopped it down.  I brushed the meat with the glaze every time I flipped it, cooked it to 155º, and let it sit to redistribute the juices.

I also prepared some asparagus by drizzling it with olive oil and, again, my DLM steak seasoning.  Then I threw the whole pan on the grill to cook.

While cooking, I did something I hardly every do anymore…I had a glass of wine!  I almost never drink wine these days partly because I don’t think of it and partly because I’m looking after a little baby.  I don’t buy whole bottles because I’m afraid they’ll get yucky before I can drink the whole thing.  You don’t often find Riesling in to go bottles (maybe that’s just me), so when I saw these at Kroger the other day, I grabbed a pack!  They’ve been in my fridge for just the right occasion and a perfect 72º night by the grill was the ticket!

The pork was wonderful with just the right balance of heat and sweet.  Jeff said it tasted a lot like he was eating ribs!  I can’t wait to try this glaze on chicken and fish.  The fish might have to wait until Carolyn comes to visit in a few weeks though!

As for the asparagus…I think I’ll stick to the oven for that.  Thank goodness for frozen corn!

Brown Sugar Meatloaf

Meatloaf is one of those things…you either love it (and like my husband wants it every week), you tolerate it, or you just can’t stand it.  I used to be in the “just can’t stand it” category, until…

Enter the wonderment that is Brown Sugar Meatloaf.  Now, I know all of you are going to look at this recipe and think, “Yeah…what’s so special?  It’s meatloaf.  What planet has she been living on?”  But, my friends, there is something magical (to me) about this meatloaf.  I can’t explain it.  I can just share with you.

One of the reasons this meatloaf is so special to me is because I made it the night we went to see our current house for the first time.  We did our walk through and then went home to make dinner.  I don’t remember what sides we had, but I do vividly remember putting the loaf together afterward.  It’s the weird stuff that sticks in my memory sometimes…

Anyhow…I give you Brown Sugar Meatloaf.  Make it.  And serve it with Sister Schubert rolls.  Match made in heaven.  I promise.

Brown Sugar Meatloaf
(adapted from allrecipes.com…of course)

1 medium onion, diced
1 medium red pepper, diced
1 tbsp olive oil
1 clove garlic, grated
3/4 cup milk
3/4 cup saltine crackers, crushed
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1 pound lean ground beef
1/2 pound lean ground pork
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup ketchup

Preheat oven to 350°.  In a small saucepan, heat olive oil over medium heat.  Saute the onion, pepper, and garlic in the oil until soft and fragrant (about 5 minutes).

In a mixing bowl, mix the milk and saltines together and let sit.  Take a tip from me…pick a big enough bowl to start with or this happens:

You want the crackers to soak up the milk.  That’s better.

After your veggies finish cooking, add them to the milk mixture along with the eggs, salt, pepper, and ginger.  Mix well.

In a separate bowl, start working on the meat.  You want to break up the meat a little bit before you start mixing it with the other ingredients.  Don’t grab it like a baseball…

but instead, use your fingertips to gentle break apart the meat.

If you grab and squeeze the meat, it can become tough.  After you get your meat worked up a bit, add in your veggie mixture.  Mix to combine.

Now grab a loaf pan.  (This, unfortunately, is not a one pot meal, my friends.)  If it’s metal, you want to spray it with cooking spray.  If you have a silicone loaf pan as I do, you should employ it here.  Meatloaf gets messy.  Press the brown sugar into the bottom of the pan.

Then top with the ketchup.  (If you’re good, you’ll notice I did this step backwards and put the ketchup down first.  Hey…no one’s perfect!)

Top your ketchup with the meat mixture.  Press it down in an even layer.  Place the loaf pan on a cookie sheet (to catch potential boil overs) and place in the oven.  Bake for 1 hour or until the juices run clear.

Now…here’s the great thing.  You can portion control these out.  All you have to do is use a muffin tin instead of the loaf pan! (I was making a bunch to freeze and give away this day.)

This recipe freezes beautifully.  Just cook your meatloaf in the muffin tins, let them cool, pop them out and place the cooked meatloaves on a sheet pan and freeze.  Then, once they’re solid, move them to a zip top bag (or Foodsaver bag) and store in the freezer.  When you want a quick meal, remove however many you want to eat and defrost them in the microwave.  You may have to make a little more brown sugar/ketchup mixture for the top, but that’s easy enough to do.

As I said, my husband loves this meatloaf.  Every time I ask him what I should make for dinner he says meatloaf.  It is a great thing to have tucked away in the freezer for him.  He can pull out a meatloaf muffin and have it for dinner on the nights I have to work.  It’s a great go to meal.

Do you have a favorite meatloaf recipe?  What recipes do you like to stash in your freezer?