Barbecue Ribs

Bon Appetit featured the best-ever barbecued ribs on the cover of their July 2012 issue. When my husband brought home these St. Louis ribs from Costco, I knew this was just the method to cook them. The magazine’s recipe calls for cooking the ribs in the oven for a few hours, then cooling the ribs before finishing them off on the charcoal grill. What a great technique for a dinner party—do all the work ahead of time then have the grand finale of the heat, the flame, and the grill marks once the company arrives.

Bon Appetit has a full ingredient list for a dry rub; the ribs we cooked came pre-seasoned with a mix of chili powder, garlic, onion and salt. We had St. Louis ribs, but other cuts would work in this recipe too.

First, enclose the ribs in a double layer of aluminum foil. Cook the ribs in the oven at 350 degrees F for 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Let the ribs sit, reserving any liquid that may have accumulated. Refrigerate the ribs for a few hours or overnight.

Seasoned Ribs Before Cooking

Cook (wrapped tightly in foil) for 1 1/2 to 2 hours at 350 F

Make a quick barbecue sauce with the accumulated juices, a 1/2 cup of barbecue sauce and a small bit of stock if the sauce needs to be thinned out slightly.

To finish the ribs, grill them on a hot, charcoal grill for about 10-15 minutes, turning them a few times and basting them with the barbecue sauce mixture.

I am a novice at cooking (and eating) ribs but this method is going to be the way we enjoy ribs at our house going forward. The ribs were juicy and moist, albeit rather messy!

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Rosemary Baked Potatoes

Baked potatoes are a welcome side dish to steak, pork, and chicken. Even in the summertime, it’s nice to cook meat on the grill but still have an easy side dish baking away in the oven. When I saw Ina Garten’s recipe for Rosemary Roasted Potatoes, I knew I had to try it. Ina used baby Yukon potatoes but I had the fully-grown Yukons so I made a few adjustments.

Make thin slices, about 1/4 thick at most, across the length of the potato without cutting all of the way through.

Combine a few tablespoons of softened butter with some fresh, chopped rosemary. Coat the potato slices with the rosemary butter then wrap the potato in foil.

I baked the potatoes for an hour at 400 degrees F then unwrapped the foil to help brown the potato slightly. Add salt and pepper as needed

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This is a melt-in-your-mouth potato. Since baking this potato, I've learned this method of cooking potatoes is called "hasselback potatoes". I'll have to look into how the name came about, but that will be for another post. Even though it is as easy to make as the standard baked potato, this version could easily be served to company since it looks (and tastes) much more impressive than the effort required to make it.

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Mango Ice Cream (Made without an ice cream machine)

Mango Ice Cream served in a lemon cup

Sooner or later I’d like to get an ice cream machine but, for now, I am going to make do with recipes like this one that do NOT require a machine. You’ll be surprised by how creamy and smooth this mango ice cream tastes. Blend the ingredients with a food processor or blender, then freeze—that’s it!

I found this recipe for mango sorbet which I followed with only a few small changes. I took the liberty of renaming it “ice cream” since the recipe contains whipping cream. I would like to try a dairy-free sorbet on my next experiment with mango. I was also so impressed with Chrissy Taylor’s strawberry ice cream, which is also made without an ice cream machine. Strawberry ice cream will be in my dessert bowl this summer too!

Ingredients:
3 mangoes, peeled and cubed
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp lemon
1 cup heavy whipping cream

Step 1: Puree the mangoes and sugar in a blender or food processor

Step 2: Whip the cream to stiff peaks using a standing mixer, whisk, or even a blender (with the mango puree removed). Add the lemon juice.

Step 3: Combine the whipped cream and the mango-sugar mixture in the blender only until just blended.

Step 4: Pour into a freezer-safe container and let the ice cream freeze for about 3 hours. Any less time and the mixture will be soft, but much more time leads to a frozen solid ice cream. No problem if you need to leave the ice cream in the freezer overnight or longer, just allow for a good 30-60 minutes for the ice cream to come back to a consistency just right for eating.

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Wonton Cups

Wonton wrappers are a gift for making quick appetizers. The steps are simple: bake the wonton wrappers in mini muffin tins for a short time then add a filling. I made two versions: the first cup is filled with homemade mango guacamole and the second has a chicken and parsley mixture. Store-bought suggestions for fillings include spinach-artichoke dip, guacamole, or chicken salad just to name a few. Other ideas might include shrimp with pineapple salsa, goat cheese with roasted red peppers, or coleslaw topped with shredded pork.

Step 1: Fit the wrappers into the mini muffin tins. It’s your choice—either leave the wrappers square or cut into a circle to eliminate the corners. Spray a mini muffin tin with cooking spray then gently push the wrappers into the molds. Try to push the wrapper flat on the bottom so that it will stand on its own when it comes out of the muffin tin. Bake at 350 degrees F for 8-10 minutes.

Step 2: Let the wonton cups cool then fill with your choice of fillings.

Chicken with parsley, olive oil, cilantro and garlic. Wontons were cut into a circle before cooking.

Guacamole wonton cups. Wonton wrappers were left in a square (notice the sharper edges).

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