What's for Dinner?

Today I'm doing things a bit backwards, so I'm going to tell you what I'll be making and post pictures later on. This works well because 1. Anticipation is half the excitement, 2. I have part of dinner started and have to wait to move on some of it, and 3. Kate is asleep.

A while ago, I made gnocchi with tomato cream sauce, and I'm making it again tonight. I haven't made it since July, and I still have some tomatoes left in the garden. It was so good, and my husband will be crushed when he sees what we're eating without him (he'll be out with his cycling friends tonight for an end-of-the-season ride and meal that won't include anything this delicious). Also, I stated in my previous entry that it's difficult to have an appetizing picture of pink or cream colored food, but I want to try again. I'll let you know if I succeed.

To go with it, I'm having some seasoned chicken breasts. I've seen the sous-vide method talked about nonstop on Top Chef and The Next Iron Chef, so I'm anxious to see if I can pseudo-recreate it in my kitchen. On a very cave-man like level, of course, since my gadgets are limited to the standard food lover's kitchen. Basically, you place vacuum-packed ingredients in a low-temperature water bath with circulating water and cook it for a long time. You can read more about it on the Wikipedia site. I'll be circulating my water by hand, on occasion, and keeping the temperature right around 165° - 170°, much higher than sous-vide methods, really, but since I'm not an expert I'm erring on the side of safety. And we'll see how long we let it cook. My guess is my cross-over method will end up closer to a poached chicken than anything else amazing. But maybe a perfectly poached chicken.

Also, I'm trying a new recipe from Epicurious. It's called brussel sprout hash or something, and I'm making that because my husband isn't here tonight and doesn't like the sprouts, but I do, and I am so excited about this dish I'm jumping out of my skin. I can't wait to tell you how it all turns out. Check back....

Panini

Last night I was looking for a quick but interesting dinner. It was a bit blustery outside, and I settled on carrot soup and panini. I haven't really made panini before, but our sandwiches were full of flavor and very filling, and I remembered at almost the last moment that I should take a quick picture. Thus the blurry bite to the left.

Carrot soup, if you haven't made it, is very smooth and rich, even though I don't add any cream, and I didn't want too much food to serve with it, but just bread didn't sound quite filling enough, especially since I questioned who would finish their soup. It turns out Mark, Kate, and I finished our soup. Actually, Kate ate all but two bites of Emily's (the first two), and David didn't even try it. Oh, well.

The panini was splendid, and very easy, as all sandwiches are. All the work was in going to the grocery store. This is how I layered them:

slice of rosemary olive oil bread (or something equally nice)
slice prosciutto
slice rosemary sundried tomato ham (or just a really good ham, but nothing sweet)
Comté (any Gruyère will do)
thinly sliced tomatoes
salt, pepper
baby arugula leaves
slice of bread

Just lightly butter the outsides of the bread and grill it one of three ways: panini press (I don't have one of these), on a griddle covered with foil and two baking tiles or stones (my first method), or a George Foreman grill (our second method, which also works very well, though it doesn't really press the sandwich if you're looking for that kind of a result).

So, I'm curious. Have any of you made panini, and what do you put on it? How do you cook it?



Also, I'm headed out of town for a few days. Just me and little Kate (for a wedding), so unless I can convince Mark to write a post, you won't hear anything from me until the middle of next week.

Morning Smoothie

I've considered writing this post for a long time - perhaps months - but thought the idea was so ridiculously simple that it wouldn't do. Today I changed my mind because, like every other morning, I realized I just couldn't live without my smoothie for breakfast. My husband favors steel-cut oats or homemade granola, my daughter would give up all other options for eggs, and my 3-year old son strongly prefers any breakfast cereal in a bag. But they will all have a bit of my smoothie if they're home when I make it.

I don't know how I reached this point, but my blueberry smoothie is now a necessity. I won't eat anything else. In the morning, my stomach is empty and fussy and doesn't like any heavy foods (though I can manage a waffle mid-morning) or too much milk. I'm also allergic to eggs (just straight-up...I know, what a pity!) and prefer cereal as a snack. Not to mention I'm a fruit nut.

Mark and I used to make different smoothies once in a while, but a couple of years ago I settled in on one irresistible recipe and almost never vary from it. It's fruity and creamy and absolutely delicious. It's perfect for the morning, nutritious, and it keeps me going until lunch. Also, I have never lost weight on any diet when I have strayed from my smoothie. And now you, too, can have this breakfast every morning. But keep in mind, it's more addictive than any cup o' joe.

Blueberry Smoothie

1 c. frozen blueberries (fresh work, too, but you may need a touch of ice)
1/3 c. vanilla or plain low-fat yogurt (plain if you're dieting)
1/2 - 1 banana, if you have it around (this is totally optional)
about 2/3 c. orange juice
about 2/3 c. vanilla soy milk

Throw all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. If it's too thick to blend, add about 1/4 c. more orange juice or soy milk or both. Serves 1 if it's your entire breakfast or 2 if it's not.

Spare Ribs

When I was young I lived on a farm. Because we were self-sufficient (at least in the food category), we ate a lot of meat. A lot of beef, a lot of pork, and a lot of chicken. We always enjoyed the spare ribs, but for some reason I haven't really had them in my adult life. Back ribs seem to be much more popular in the grocery aisle and at restaurants, so I was skeptical about trying to make them at home, wondering how they could be really good if everyone has turned to back ribs.

I started by learning the difference between the two: spare ribs have more meat on them, but the bone is larger, and back ribs are easier to cut apart. That doesn't sound like any big deal, of course, so I'm not sure what the big deal is. Maybe in the South spare ribs are still more popular.

In the past, I've used Alton Brown's recipe for making baby back ribs and really liked the method, but I wasn't crazy about the flavors, so Mark and I decided to shake it up a bit. (Of course it was a collaboration, since it involved a big piece of meat.) I really like the flavor of my brother Dan's dry spice rub (or my loose interpretation of it, based on what I had around the house), and I have some of that on hand still. But, since the weather is cooling, I couldn't really plan on grilling for several hours. The charcoal wouldn't have held its heat, and I didn't have that kind of time to devote to one thing. So I decided to combine a few ideas.

We rubbed the meat, let that soak in for an hour, then braised it in the oven, using Alton Brown's suggestions. Then we used the braising liquid as a base for a sauce to baste the ribs with while finishing them off on the grill. The rub had all the spice we used in the recipe and the sauce was a sweet and acidic balance to the spice, making the overall spice fairly mild (just tolerable for Emily). Additionally, the meat was really tender and easy to pull from the bone, while the flavor was nice and bold. I really liked doing it this way, though if it were just for adults, I'd throw more rub on in the beginning to make it spicier. Of course, this is all assuming you don't have a smoker.

We served it with potato salad and the corn salad recipe from the other day, sans the bleu cheese, which it didn't really need, since I wanted to make that one last time before fresh, local corn was gone for the summer. My potato salad is pretty simple: boil red potatoes, slice them, add cider vinegar, chill them, and add diced sweet onions, lots and lots of chopped pickles, a touch of pickle juice, chopped boiled eggs, mayonnaise, salt, and pepper. It was a good potato salad. A good standard potato salad. Sometimes I like a more inventive one (with tarragon or Dijon or bacon or something), but sometimes the standard is good, too.

In case you might get to it, here is the recipe for the spare ribs. And if it's too cold to grill, you can finish them under the broiler, but watch them carefully and don't put them too close to the heating element.

Dan's Spice Rub
adapted from Dan Metcalf, or you can use his original recipe

3 T. brown sugar
1 1/2 T. Kosher salt
1 1/2 T. cumin
1 1/2 T. black peppercorns
1 T. dried, ground chili of choice (I used ancho or guajillo), or chili powder
1 dried guajillo chili, destemmed, torn (or 2 Anchos would be good here, too)

Throw all the ingredients in a blender and blend to a fine powder. Set aside.


Spare Ribs

extra-long heavy duty aluminum foil
Dan's Spice Rub
1 rack (4-5 lb.) spare ribs
Kosher salt
3/4 c. white wine
1 1/2 T. white wine vinegar
2 T. Worcestershire sauce
1/4 c. honey
4 cloves garlic, smashed
2 t. yellow mustard
1 T. molasses
2 T. white wine vinegar
1/2 c. apple cider
brown sugar
honey
dash or two of Worcestershire sauce

Lay out a long sheet of aluminum foil on a baking sheet. If it will not be wide enough to wrap around the ribs and roll together, place to sheets side-by-side and roll the ends together to make it fairly airtight. Set the rack of ribs on top of the foil.

Sprinkle both sides of the ribs with the spice rub and with a light, even dusting of Kosher salt, then rub it into the meat. Use a thin layer for mild to medium ribs, more as desired. Bring the foil together on top of the rack and fold together (as you do the top of a brown paper bag), leaving extra air above the meat for steaming, then roll up the ends. Let the meat set for an hour to absorb the rub.

Preheat the oven to 250°F.

In a bowl, combine the wine, 1 1/2 T. white wine vinegar, 1/4 c. honey, 2 T. Worcestershire, and garlic cloves. Microwave for one minute, then stir to blend well. Open up one end of the foil, pour the liquid in, and close the foil back up. Shake it gently to slosh it around inside, just to spread it a bit. Place the baking sheet with the ribs on it in the oven and bake for 2 1/2 hours.

Open up the foil end again and pour off the braising liquid into a small saucepan (it will have multiplied, since it has pork stock in it as well now). Return the ribs to the oven and let them continue to cook for about 20 minutes as you make the sauce. As you start on the sauce, light up the charcoal for your grill to get it ready (unless you're using gas).

Set the saucepan over medium to medium high heat and whisk in the mustard, molasses, vinegar, cider, Worcestershire, and about 1/2 c. of brown sugar and 1/4 c. honey to start. Cook, stirring occasionally, until it has reduced to about 1 or 1 1/2 cups. Taste for flavor and adjust as necessary. It should be rich, sweet, slightly acidic, and little mustardy to balance out the spice in the rub.

After your grill is very hot, baste the ribs with the sauce and grill, turning a couple of times, applying a couple of layers of the sauce until it's all used up. Grill until the sauce has glazed well and the ribs have a nice sear on them, then cut and serve.

Now, isn't that inspiring?