Slow Roasted Baby Back Ribs

Is there anything more indicative of summer than barbecued ribs? But when I awoke this morning it was raining and so I thought to myself: this is an opportunity to use my oven to make Slow Roasted Ribs, instead. This recipe is fail-safe. It always results in ribs so tender that they are difficult to remove from the roasting pan because the meat is falling off the bone. This is my kind of medicine to cure rainy day blues!

Slow Roasted Baby Back Ribs
2 sides baby back pork ribs
1 T smoked or hot paprika
1 T sweet paprika
1 T chili powder
1 T roasted garlic powder
1 T onion powder
1 T brown sugar
1 T sea salt
1 T black pepper
1 bottle beer (your choice)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Remove the silver skin from the bone side of the ribs.
Make a dry rub by combining all of the spices. Rub generously to liberally cover the ribs with a coating of the rub.
(At this point you can let the ribs marinate for a few hours, up to 24 hours)
Place the ribs in a large roasting pan, bone side down.
Pour beer over ribs.
Cover tightly with tinfoil.
Roast for 4 hours.

Remove ribs from pan and place on a rack to let them dry a bit.
Coat ribs liberally with your favourite bbq sauce.
Drain beer from pan.
Turn on oven broiler to 500 degrees.
Place well lubricated ribs back in roasting pan.
Broil until ribs are caramelized.

Fall off the bone goodness!

Carnitas

One of my favourite treats when visiting Mexico are Pork Carnitas on warm fresh tortillas. The melt-in-your-mouth morsels of meat are such a treat for the senses.

Traditionally, Carnitas are made by slow cooking pork, orange slices and spices, in a bath of melted lard. The fat ensures rich and flavourful results. I would recommend doing it the traditional way, for a treat. However, this healthier version is becoming very popular, even within Mexico. It is also full of flavour with a little less guilt!

Pork Carnitas

4 lb pork shoulder roast, cut into one inch cubes

zest and juice of one large naval orange

2 T ground cumin

1 T ground coriander seed

2 T sea salt

1 T freshly ground black pepper

3/4 cup beef stock

Combine all ingredients in a slow-cooker:

Cook on low setting for 10 hours until meat is very tender and shreds easily. Remove from liquid and serve. If you like the meat to be caramelized on the outside, then place drained meat on a well oiled baking sheet and bake at 500 degrees for 5 minutes to crisp outside of meat. Serve on fresh homemade tortillas with the toppings of your choice.

Toppings:

avocado, sliced thin

tomatillo salsa

jalapeno peppers, diced
queso fresco or feta cheesesour cream

radishes, sliced very thin

cucumber, sliced very thin

fresh cilantro

Slow Roasted Pork Shoulder with Rosemary and Garlic

This recipe is so easy but it always turns out beautifully, with such complexity of flavours, due to the fact that it slowly simmers away for hours while all of the flavours meld. I had a Berkshire pork shoulder from Cumbrae Farms, which is perfect for this recipe as Berkshire pork has a much higher fat content than supermarket pork. If you can find it, it is always worth the extra dough!

Slow Roasted Pork Shoulder with Rosemary and Garlic

4 lb Pork Shoulder
2 heads garlic
large bunch rosemary
kosher salt
1.5 cups white whine, separated
freshly ground black pepper
1 large onion, cut into 1/4 inch rings
3/4 lb carrots, peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces
2 lbs baby or new potatoes
2 T flour
olive oil

Heat oven to 300 degrees. Pour about 1 T olive oil into bottom of dutch oven. Break up heads of garlic and place on bottom of dutch oven, with 1/2 of rosemary. Season pork shoulder well with salt and pepper. Place pork in dutch oven and cover with remaining garlic and rosemary. Pour 3/4 cup of wine over pork.


Cover pork with aluminum foil and then place lid of dutch oven over the foil. Roast for 5 hours. Remove pork from oven. Place vegetables and potatoes in dutch oven with pork. Season vegetables. Replace foil and lid. Roast for 1 1/2 hours longer, stirring vegetables a couple of times during this time.

When pork is done, remove pork to serving plate, tent with foil and set aside to rest. Remove vegetables and potatoes from oven and place on a baking dish. Turn on broiler of oven and broil vegetables for 5-10 minutes to give them a golden/brown colour.

Meanwhile, prepare sauce for roast: separate pan liquids from fat using a gravy separator. Pour pan drippings back into dutch oven. Combine with flour until smooth. Heat over medium high heat until very thick. Add remaining wine, bring to boil and boil sauce until clear. Season with salt and pepper.

Irish-ish Stew and Soda Bread

Happy St. Paddy's Day!! I am half Irish, my mother being a descendant of the Donahoe/Griffin clans. I grew up on my grandfather's lap, being lulled to sleep by the sound of Irish folk songs and lullabies. I have a special place in my heart for this holiday, for that reason. Every St. Patrick's day, since being on my own, I have cooked this recipe. At times I put beef in the stew, but usually I use lamb.

This is a tribute to all of you Irish-Americans (and Canadians!) who kept the traditions alive in the new country, to the best of their ability. This stew and soda bread recipe is more likely a melding of the American and Irish traditions. It's warm, flavourful and celebratory, if not truly authentic!

IRISH STEW

2T olive oil (divided)

2 lbs stewing Lamb (or beef) cut into 1 inch cubes

3T flour

3 cups mushrooms, quartered

4 medium onions, chopped

4 cloves garlic, chopped

8 white or red new potatoes, peeled and cubed

2 cups carrots, chopped

2 cups parsnips, chopped

2T caraway seeds

1 t fresh thyme

1 t nutmeg, freshly grated

1 large can Guinness beer

6-8 cups beef broth

fresh salt and pepper

1/2 cup parsley

1. Dredge lamb with seasoned flour


2. Using a large dutch oven, heat 1 T of oil on medium-high heat and fry lamb in batches making sure to brown it well on all sides.


3. Remove lamb to plate, set aside
   


4. Add onions, mushrooms and garlic and fry until soft. Add caraway seeds, nutmeg and salt and pepper.
   


5. Add lamb back into pot, add beer and scrape all crispy bits off the bottom.


6. Add stalk and bring to boil


7. Turn heat to low cover and simmer until meat is tender about 1.5 hours


8. Add remaining vegetables and continue to simmer for 35 min until soft


9. When meat has tenderized and stew is of the desired thickness, stir in parsley.
   


10. Serve with soda bread.
    

Irish Soda Bread

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for kneading

3/4 cup sugar

2 tablespoons caraway seeds

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 1/2 cups buttermilk, plus more for brushing

2 large eggs

Preheat oven to 350° and butter a large baking sheet.

In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, caraway seeds, baking soda, salt and baking powder.

In a separate bowl, whisk buttermilk and eggs.

Cut 2 tablespoons of butter into the dry ingredients, until mixture resembles coarse sand.

Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, to form a dough.
Turn dough out onto floured surface and lightly kneed into a 9 inch round. Place on prepared baking sheet. Brush loaf with buttermilk and using a sharp knife, score an "X" onto the top of the loaf.
Bake until skewer inserted in centre comes out clean (35-35 minutes).
Cool on wire rack for a few minutes before serving.

Pho obsession ...

Those of you who know me, know I have a great love for many types of Asian food: Thai, Japanese, Sichuan, Cantonese, Shandong, Malaysian, Laotian and Vietnamese (so far!). However, I have recently returned to my rural roots, and as such, it has been very difficult for me to find decent Asian ingredients (forget about restaurants!). On a recent trip to Toronto, I gathered some of the ingredients to make homemade pho.

The thing about pho is that it is so simple: noodles, beef, broth and a few garnishes (or not). Regardless, it feels like a warm hug from the inside. Fragrant full bodied broth, lovingly ladled over chewy rice noodles and tender threads of shredded beef. There is simply no dish like it!

I researched a number of websites and blogs, in order to find a fairly authentic version of pho. I would credit most of my attempt to the following sites and cookbooks: “steamykitchen.com” “lovingpho.com” and “allrecipes.com” and Into the Vietnamese Kitchen by Andrea Nguyen.

Here is the recipe I used:

2 onions, quartered
large nub of ginger, halved lengthwise and widthwise
5-6 lbs of beef soup bones, leg, knuckle or oxtail
1 lb of beef meat – chuck or brisket
6 quarts of water
1 cinnamon stick - cracked
1 T coriander seeds
1 T fennel seeds
5 star anise
1 black cardamom pod - opened
8 whole cloves
2 T salt
1/4 cup fish sauce
1 inch chunk of yellow rock sugar
2 lbs rice noodles (dried or fresh)
1/2 lb flank, sirloin or fillet, sliced paper thin
fresh mint (large bunch)
Thai basil (large bunch)
2 limes, cut into 6 wedges
2-3 Thai bird chili, sliced (remove seeds and membrane if you want it milder)
Hoisin sauce
Sriracha chili sauce

METHOD:

Toast your spices: Add all spices to dry pan until fragrant. Place toasted spices in cheesecloth and tie all corners tightly to create a bouquet garni (spice bundle).

Char your aromatics: Turn on the broiler of your oven, and place the top rack about 5 inches from the broiler. Place ginger and onions on a large backing sheet and brush with oil on both sides. Broil until ginger and onions begin to char. Flip and continue to char other side. Process should take 10-15 minutes.

Parboil the bones: Fill a stockpot with cold water. Add your bones to the pot and bring to a boil. Boil your bones on high heat for approximately 10 minutes. Drain and rinse your bones. Rinse out your stockpot.

Broth:
Refill your stockpot the parboiled bones along with about 6 quarts (24 cups) of cold water. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium low. Simmer bones for 2 hours. Periodically, skim any scum, fat or other particles from the broth using a fine mesh strainer.

After the bones have boiled for two hours, add the ginger, onion, bouquet garni, chuck, rock sugar, fish sauce and salt to your pot. Continue to simmer the broth, over medium low heat for 6 hours.

Remove the chuck meat and shred, set aside.

Strain broth over a large bowl, saddled with a colander, lined with cheesecloth. Let the broth drain for at least ten minutes, to allow for all of the goodness to drain into the bowl. Return the broth to the pot. Taste your broth and adjust the seasonings (you might wish to add more fish sauce, salt or rock sugar).
Prepare bowls: Slice your flank steak as thin as possible (if you freeze the steak for 15 minutes prior to slicing it will make it easier to get thin slices).
Prepare your noodles according to the directions on the package.

Place a large handful of noodles in the bottom of each bowl. Place a small handful of the shredded cooked beef over the noodles. Place a few slices of the raw steak slices atop of the noodles and cooked beef.



To Serve: Place your strained broth into the stockpot and bring to a rolling boil. Ladle broth over the steak, the boiling broth will cook the raw steak slices. Place plates with garnishes (herbs, limes, chili and sauces) on the table so that your fellow indulgers may garnish their own bowls.

Enjoy!!