Smoked Pork & Beef Ribs

This recipe is a “gnaw on the bone type of ribs”. Later on in the summer I am sure I will post a “fall of the bone type of recipe”. Please enjoy these, they are a little taste of home for me.

Smoked Pork Ribs

Smoked Beef Ribs

Ingredients:   serves 4-6 people with leftovers

• 2 slabs of ribs, pork or beef, about 8 pounds all together. (All of our meat is from Dewig Meats, Haubstadt, Indiana)
• 1/2 pound of dark brown sugar
• all-meat seasoning, (I used Jim’s #1 Seasoning from Dewig Meats, Haubstadt, Indiana. It’s a mixture of salt, pepper, thyme, rosemary, dehydrated molasses, garlic, onion, and paprika.)
• Vinegar based BBQ Sauce (I use Mark’s Brother-in-law’s homemade secret sauce, unfortunately I don’t have the recipe. Well not yet.)
• Sweet Baby Ray’s BBQ Sauce

Day #1: Rinse and pat dry the slab of ribs. Season both sides of the ribs with the all-meat seasoning. Generously rub the dark brown sugar on the meat side of the pork or beef ribs. Wrap tightly in plastic cling wrap and refrigerate for at least 8 hours before placing them in the smoker.

Day #2: Preheat you smoker to 200 degrees, place the slab of ribs in the smoker. We start out meat side down and half way turn them meat side up. Not sure that this matters but it’s the way we do it. Cook the ribs in the smoker for 7 to 8 hours staying between 180 and 200 degrees. We use hickory wood in our smoker, but use the wood you prefer.

Mix equal amounts of each BBQ sauce together and use this mixture to baste both sides of the ribs during the last 3 hours of the cooking process.You want to baste at least 3 times.

 

Garlic Bread Slices

Garlic Bread Slices

Ingredients:

• loaf of fresh french or sourdough bread
• Butter seasoned with Garlic & Parsley (see my recipe)

Slice the french or sourdough bread into 1/2″ inch slices. Spread the Butter seasoned with Garlic & Parsley on one side of the slices. Place the buttered slices on a baking sheet lined with foil and broil on low until the butter is melted and the bread slices start to crisp around the edges. Serve immediately.

Suggestions: Try sprinkling grated or shredded Parmesan cheese on top of the butter before broiling.

 

Watermelon & Banana Ice Cream

Watermelon Banana Ice Cream

I saw a recipe for Honey Watermelon Sorbet, from “Romancing the Bee”, one of my favorite blogs sites here on WordPress. It looked and sounded so delicious that I just had to add it to my Memorial Day Menu. There was only one problem, though I enjoy an excellent sorbet I was really craving a creamy fruity ice cream. I really enjoy strawberries and cream but our strawberries aren’t quite flavorful yet. So how about watermelon? I looked and looked for a watermelon ice cream recipe and just couldn’t find any. So….why not make one on my own, and that’s what I did. Realizing watermelons are mostly water I knew I would need to add something to help thicken this puree….and that’s where the banana came into play.

This watermelon banana ice cream turned out so wonderful. Please give it a try, I promise you will not be disappointed.

Ingredients:   yields 1 quart

• 2 cups pureed seedless watermelon, divided use (that’s about 1/4 of a large seedless watermelon)
• 1 banana
• 2 cups heavy cream or heavy whipping cream (divided use)
• 2/3 cup sugar
• a pinch of salt
• 4 eggs yolks, at room temperature
• 1 tsp vanilla

Prepare an ice bath by putting ice cubes and cold water in a large metal bowl, then put a medium metal bowl down into the large bowl. Pour 1 cup of the heavy cream into the medium bowl and set aside to chill.

Cut your watermelon away from the rind and into large cubes. Puree in a food processor until smooth, then add the banana and puree again until the banana is smooth also.

In a medium bowl whisk the eggs yolks and set aside.

In a medium saucepan over medium heat cook 1 cup of the heavy cream, sugar, salt and 1 cup of the watermelon banana puree mixture. Stirring occasionally cook until the sugar and salt is completely dissolved and the liquid starts to steam. Remove from heat and slowly whisk this heated mixture into the egg yolks. (Adding a little heated mixture at a time so as to temper the eggs rather than cooking them.) Once all the liquid mixture is combined with the egg yolks return the combined mixture to the saucepan and again cook over medium heat. Stirring constantly cook this mixture until it thickens, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and slowly whisk this new heated mixture into the chilled cream over the ice bath. This will stop the cooking process. Whisk in the remaining watermelon banana puree, remove the bowl from the ice bath, cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours but no more than 3.

Pour the chilled ice cream mixture into your ice cream maker and churn following the directions. (For me, my ice cream maker requires 20 minutes of churning.) Once completely churned, pour the soft ice cream into a soft sided plastic container. I reuse an old ice cream container from the market. Stir in the vanilla, then cover and freeze over night before serving.

 

Onion Tomato Salsa

Ingredients:

• 3 Tomatoes, cored, seeded and cubed
• 1/2 a yellow onion, diced
• 1/4 purple onion, diced
• 6 green onions, sliced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 Tb cilantro, chopped
• Kosher Salt
• Cracked Black Pepper

In a medium bowl combine all ingredients and season with Kosher Salt and Cracked Black Pepper to taste. Cover and refrigerate for at least a couple of hours before serving so that all the flavors are fully blended.

Suggestions: This is an awesome addition to your biscuit recipe. Try using this salsa as a marinade for chicken, fish or pork, wow does it add a lot of wonderful flavor.

 

Brookville Indiana is a beautiful place to fly fish

Brookville Tailwaters, Brookville Indiana

We had a nice time fly fishing in Brookville Indiana last weekend. It was peaceful, restful and absolutely beautiful. It’s even close enough that we can make a quick weekend trip out of it.. I didn’t catch a thing, but Mark got 2 trout. I look forward to returning to the tailwaters of Brookville soon.

Well it’s Memorial Day Weekend and we are almost set for a small cookout on Monday. Looks like our menu will consist of Smoked Beef and Pork Ribs seasoned with a dry rub marinade and then BBQ sauce, Rosemary & Garlic Beer Bread, Potato Salad, Baked Beans, Fruit Salsa with Cinnamon Sugar Chips, Watermelon Ice Cream and Sun Tea sweetened with a Watermelon infused simple syrup. The only thing I won’t be making myself is the potato salad, Mark’s sister is picking that up from a local restaurant.

Let’s all remember our fallen Veterans and those serving in the Military on this weekend. I am thankful to them for the sacrifices they are willing to make so that I can live safely and free.  Thank you for your service.

 

Blueberry Cinnamon Spice & Nut Coffee Cake

Coffee Cake Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup shortening
• 1 egg
•  1/2 cup milk
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 1/4 tsp allspice
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup fresh blueberries (or 1 small container)

Topping Ingredients:

• 1 stick salted butter, (8 Tb), room temperature
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 1 Tb light corn syrup
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg

Preheat oven 375 and butter a 9 inch cake pan, bottom and sides.

Blueberry Cinnamon Spice & Nut Coffee Cake

Preparing the coffee cake batter:  In a large bowl, using a rubber spatula, cream together the sugar, shortening and egg. Mix in the milk until blended. Sift together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ground cloves, all spice and salt, then add to the moist ingredients. Stir until well mixed. Gently fold blueberries into the batter. Spread the batter into the greased cake pan.

Combine all the topping ingredients and drop by spoonfuls over the batter. (I use a pastry cutter to mix these ingredients.)

Baking 30 to 35 minutes. When completely baked a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake will come out clean. Top with some butter and serve.

 

Smoked Turkey Panini (Leftover Delight)

Smoked Turkey Panini

Well this isn’t really a recipe. There are no measurements, just an ingredient list. We use our Panini Press quite often. Here is just one of our latest creations.

Ingredients:

• 1 Garlic Herb Hoagie roll, halved, (leftovers)
• Smoked Turkey, sliced, (leftovers)
• Orange Heirloom Tomato, sliced
• red onion, sliced
• spinach, stems removed
• Cheddar Jack Cheese slices
• Provolone Cheese slices
• Horseradish Mustard
• Olive Oil, (for brushing on the outside of the rolls before pressing)
• Italian Dressing (just pour a little bit on the open end of the Panini before serving)

Preheat your Panini Press. Brush the outside of the hoagie rolls with Olive Oil. Layer the ingredients inside and press away. Just love all the different ways to make a Panini.

 

Organic Smoothies in the morning?

I have been so inspired by my friend, Lisa, who leads a Paleo lifestyle. She is a true inspiration for how I can change my health even in my 50s. (She’s not in her fifties, just good ole me) So, last week I decided Mark and I would try adding organic smoothies to our breakfast. I used a base of ingredients then added different fruits every morning. At first I thought well how am I going to make these I don’t have a juicer. Then I thought, hey I will use my blender. Then I remembered we had a smoothie machine…and that is the tool I use. It works great, as it chops, mixes and blends everything. So not only do I have the juice of everything but also the pulp has been blended into the smoothie.

Strawberries & Oranges

Blackberries, Blueberries & Raspberries

Papaya & Pineapple

Apple & Pear

Now don’t be thrown off by the green colors. It must be the spinach and parsley. Only the berry combination produced a different color.

The base ingredients I use in every smoothie are:

About 1 cup of Coconut Milk, a handful of Spinach, about 1/2 cup of Parsley, 2 Carrots chopped, 1 Banana and a really good squeeze of Honey.

Then I added different combinations of fruit:

1st –  Apple  & Pear, peeled and cored     2nd – Papaya peeled & Pineapple (this was my favorite)

3rd – Blackberries, Blueberries & Raspberries    4th – Strawberries & Oranges peeled

We generally drink a small glass of bottled fruit juice with breakfast, but no more. If you follow my recipe blog you see that we really eat breakfast, no skimping here. But we have enjoyed these morning smoothies so much that we will continue to add them to each and every breakfast. They are so much more tasty and enjoyable than their store-bought counter-parts that we now drink a large glass of these fruit and vegetable smoothies with every breakfast. I’m thinking at the end of summer when our vegetables are ready for harvest I will experiment with all vegetable smoothies. Thank you Lisa, you are a wonderful inspiration to me.

 

Breakfast Biscuit Sandwich

Breakfast Biscuit Sandwich

Ingredients:

• Herb Drop Biscuits (see my recipe under breads)
• cooked bacon slices
• scrambled eggs

We used biscuits and bacon that were leftover from a previous breakfast. I scrambled some eggs with spinach, green onion and tomatoes with a bit of shredded Parmesan Cheese sprinkled on top of the eggs. Layer the eggs and bacon in between the open biscuits and there you have a quick, easy and delightful breakfast.

 

Peppers & Onions Cheesy Bread

Peppers & Onions Cheesy Bread

Ingredients:

• 1 Tb vegetable oil
• 1/2 of an onion, diced
• 1/4 of a red bell pepper, diced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup Crema Mexicana (you could substitute sour cream if desired)
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 egg
• 1 1/2 cups Bisquick
• 1 cup blend of white & yellow cheddar cheese, divided use
• 2 Tb salted butter
• 1/2 tsp garlic salt
• 2 Tb Cilantro, finely chopped

Preheat your oven to 400 and butter a 9″ inch cake pan.

Using a small skillet over medium heat add the vegetable oil, onions, bell peppers and garlic and saute until they become tender. In a small bowl whisk the Crema Mexicana, milk and egg together. In a large bowl add the Bisquick and a 1/2 cup of the cheddar cheese tossing together until the cheese is well coated. Add the onions, peppers and garlic mixture into the dry ingredients, then pour in the wet ingredients and stir together until just mixed. Spread the batter into the buttered cake pan.

Melt the 2 tablespoons of butter and stir in the garlic salt until well blended. Drizzle this mixture over the batter and top by sprinkling the Cilantro over that. Bake for 15 minutes then sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 cup of cheddar cheese and return to the oven and bake for an additional 5 to 7 minutes, until golden brown. Serve immediately. We love to top it off with a little butter.

Suggestions: Use any type of bell pepper that you like or try using a blend of red, green and yellow. You want to spice it up? Try adding some jalapeno. We love to eat this bread with our scrambled eggs in the morning.