MadCookery

July 6, 2007

Excellent Oven Cooked BBQ Ribs

Filed under: MadCookery, Recipes — madcook @ 10:01 pm

My grill broke early this summer and I haven’t had the time to fix it. I hate missing grilled food for a summer, but last weekend I found something I wasn’t sure how else to cook, BBQ Ribs. There is nothing better than a slow cooked BBQ Rib that is so tender that it falls off the bone when you try to pick it up. Everything I know tells me that at least half of the cooking time needs to be on a grill for perfect taste, but my desire for ribs overtook my senses and I set out to make some delicious BBQ without using a grill. My results where better than I expected, and while grilled ribs were still superior, the oven cooked ribs were delicious and tender enough that no one but a BBQ fanatic would be able to determine the difference. I realized that I couldn’t properly smoke them in the oven so I opted instead to coat them in a mix of Olive Oil and Liquid Smoke as part of the rub to simulate the flavor of smoked ribs. Here are the details on how I achieved excellent BBQ ribs without a grill:

Preparation Time: 40 minutes (including 30 minutes of sitting time)
Sitting Time: 12 – 24 hours
Cooking Time: 6 ½ hours
Resting Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 full rack of Baby Back Pork Ribs
  • Your favorite BBQ spice rub. There are many excellent premixed BBQ Spice Rubs available, but I opted to use my own mix of the following:

4 Tbl Brown Sugar
2 Tbl Ancho Chili Powder
1 Tbl table salt
1 Tbl Cumin
1 Tbl Hot Paprika
2 tsp Sweet Paprika
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp Cayenne Pepper
1 tsp fresh black pepper, finely ground
½ tsp Onion Powder
½ tsp Garlic Powder
½ tsp ground Cinnamon
¼ tsp ground oregano

  • Your favorite BBQ Sauce (I used a bottle of Stubb’s BBQ sauce, but wish I would have made my own)
  • 2 Tbl Liquid Smoke
  • ½ cup Olive Oil

Instructions

  1. Whisk together the Olive Oil and Liquid Smoke until completely blended
  2. Remove excess moisture from ribs by patting with paper towels
  3. Brush on Olive Oil/Liquid Smoke mixture until finely coated
  4. Let ribs sit at room temperature for 30 minutes to let mixture soak in
  5. Generously coat ribs in spice rub, rubbing it in thoroughly
  6. Wrap tightly in tin foil and place in refrigerator for 12 – 24 hours
  7. Preheat oven to 220-240 degrees
  8. Place ribs, still tightly wrapped in tin foil in center of oven on a baking sheet
  9. Bake for 5 and ½ hours
  10. Open tin foil packet and brush top of ribs with BBQ sauce, close packet tightly
  11. Bake another ½ hour
  12. Brush ribs with BBQ sauce a second time, tightly close packet and back another ½ hour
  13. Remove ribs from oven, open a small hole in the packet to vent, and let rest for 15 minutes
  14. Open packet and serve ribs with plenty of warm BBQ sauce on the side

July 3, 2007

Kitchen Oil Fire Safety

Filed under: Kitchen Safety — madcook @ 8:32 pm

I’m not usually one to disseminate videos from YouTube, but I think this one demonstrates a great piece of kitchen safety information that many people do not know. The basic rule of an oil fire is that burning kitchen oil explodes when water is added. Since the first response to fire is to extinguish it with water, a simple oil fire in a kitchen can quickly turn into a disaster. This public service video from the British Fire Brigade is something everyone deep frying in their kitchen should see. You can find more information on the London Fire Brigade home fire safety page .


July 1, 2007

Summer Food

Filed under: MadCookery Discussion — madcook @ 10:44 pm

One of my favorite things about growing up in a farming community in the United States mid-east was the food in summer. Everything was fresh and delicious and meals were often prepared by going into the garden and selecting our fare, or walking down the road to a farmers road side stand to purchase theirs. Though I still live in the mid-east, I now live in a city and even though there are farmers markets frequently available the flavors are just not the same. I find that people seem to think I’m crazy when I tell them about the fresh summer flavors, but after you’ve had sweet corn that was cooked within minutes of being harvested; no other corn will ever taste the same. I know sweat corn is a skewed example since from the moment it is picked it starts converting its sugars to starch, but just about all fruits, vegetables, and meats taste better as fresh as possible.

When I was growing up my family always had a large garden filled with vegetables of every type, we bought meat fresh butchered by animal; meaning that we would buy half a cow or swine and have it butchered, and often bought chickens fresh killed from the farmer. We bought our eggs from a man who harvested them from his chicken coups that morning, and we picked blackberries from wild plants behind my grandparents home and strawberries straight from the field. Most of the food we had for the year came in the summer and was canned and frozen to feed us through the winter. At the time I hated harvesting the fruits and vegetables and preparing them for canning and freezing, after all I was a kid who wanted to play not pick berries, but now that I’m older I look back at the memory of picking those berries with my Cousins, or spending a Saturday afternoon snapping beans with my Sisters and Grandmother as some of my fondest memories.

I encourage everyone to go out of their way to discover the flavor of fresh fruits and vegetables. Be aware of what grows around you and when it is in season, and when it is take an afternoon to travel out of the city and find a farmers road side stand or farming community farmers market and purchase some of their goods. Once you have done so, don’t wait, eat them that day or can and freeze the rest without delay. Look for berry fields and apple orchards that allow you to pick your own and do so, once you taste your fare you won’t regret it. It may seem like a lot of work and time, and if you have kids they will complain, but I guarantee both you and your kids will fondly remember those flavors and experiences for the rest of your life.

Now here are three incredibly simple dishes that only taste right from very fresh and ripe items. These have long been some of my favorites and only taste the way they should when the fruits and vegetables and freshly picked.

I. Fresh Tomato Sandwich

People always say the idea of a tomato sandwich sounds horrible, and with grocery store tomatoes they are correct, but with fresh picked, vine ripped tomatoes this sandwich is delicious.

Ingredients:

  • ½ fresh Tomato
  • 2 pieces of fresh bread (white or sourdough)
  • 1 tbls mayonnaise (do not substitute Miracle Whip)

Instructions

  1. Slice the tomato into thick slices
  2. Spread half of the mayonnaise onto each slice of bread
  3. Add tomatoes onto 1 slice of the bread
  4. Liberally salt and pepper the tomatoes
  5. Add the second slice of bread to complete the sandwich

II. Fresh Berries and Cream

Everyone hears about Berries and Cream, here is a simple recipe that we used to eat while I was growing up. I find this recipe only works really well with very fresh berries, preferably ones you picked that day.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup of fresh berries, any type (I prefer blackberries, blueberries, or strawberries)
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 1/8 cup cream

Instructions

  1. Slice berries to bite size pieces
  2. Add the berries and sugar to a bowl, stir well and let sit at room temperature for 20-30 minutes
  3. Add cream
  4. Stir and eat

II. Fresh Sweat Corn

From the time sweat corn is picked it starts converting it’s sugars to starch, so for this to taste the best the corn should be picked as soon as possible before cooking.

Ingredients

  • 6 Fresh ears of sweat corn, shucked immediately before boiling|
  • 1 gallon of water
  • 0-1 tbls sugar (depending on age of corn, see instructions)
  • Butter
  • Salt
  • Pepper

Instructions

  1. Bring water to a boil in a large pan
  2. If corn was picked within the hour then no sugar will be needed. If corn was picked 1- 6 hours before cooking: 1 tsp of sugar per gallon of water. If corn was picked 6-24 hours ago: 2 tsp of sugar per gallon of water If corn was picked 24+ hours ago 1 tbls of sugar per gallon of water
  3. Shuck corn immediately before adding to water
  4. Boil corn in water for 3 minutes
  5. Server immediately with butter, salt, and pepper to be added by the diner

Egg Salad with Chipotle, Scallions, and Fresh Tarragon

Filed under: MadCookery, Recipes — madcook @ 9:43 pm

Egg salad is a great quick lunch or dinner.  Egg Salad can be enjoyed all year, but I always associated it with summer. A thick slice from a tomato picked fresh from the garden, some egg salad, and two pieces of wheat bread always delivers in taste. For the last few years I’ve been trying to perfect an egg salad recipe, and so far this is my favorite.

Ingredients

  • 4 Large eggs
  • ¼ cup mayonnaise (do not substitute Miracle Whip)
  • 2 Tbls of Dijon Mustard
  • Juice of ½ of a medium lemon
  • 1 tbls Chipotle powder
  • 2 tbls finely minced fresh Tarragon
  • 1 tbls dried Chervil
  • 1 stalk celery
  • 1 medium glove garlic
  • 1 tsp salt (or to taste)
  • 1 tsp fresh ground black pepper (or to taste)
  • 3 Scallions, diced

Instructions

  1. Hard boil the eggs and peel
  2. Whisk together the mayonnaise, Dijon Mustard, Lemon Juice, Chipotle Powder, Tarragon, and Chervil until smooth and finely mixed
  3. grate the celery on a fine cheese grater or micro-plane
  4. grate garlic on a fine cheese grater or micro-plane, or press using a garlic press
  5. Stir in grated celery and garlic
  6. Add eggs and smash with a fork until desired consistency
  7. Add diced Scallions and stir until well mixed
  8. Salt and Pepper to taste

Fail Proof Perfect Hard Boiled Eggs

Filed under: Quick Tricks and Tips — madcook @ 9:41 pm

Fail Proof Perfect Hard Boiled Eggs.

I’m always surprised that one of the top questions I am asked by friends and family is how to boil and egg so you can be sure it is done correctly and so the shells don’t crack. I find that most people throw eggs into boiling water and let them boil on high for about 20 minutes, which tends to overcook the eggs as well as crack the shells as the rough high boil of the water thrashes them about. Here is a fool proof method to boil eggs.

1. Fill a pan with tap-hot water

2. Carefully add the eggs to the water

3. salt water liberally with kosher salt

4. Heat until water begins to boil

5. Tightly cover the pot and remove from heat

6. let pot sit off heat, tightly covered, for 15 minutes

7. When eggs are almost done fill a metal bowl large enough to comfortably hold the eggs with ice and water

8. Once 15 minutes has elapse carefully move the eggs from the pot to the ice water with a slotted spoon

9. Let cool in the ice water for 5 – 10 minutes

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