Slow Cooker Revolution - Easy Barbecue Ribs

I think I'm in the minority of home cooks who hasn't fully appreciated the virtues of crockpot cooking-- until now.  Seriously, I never really found crockpot recipes to be the wonderful time savers that so many people swear that they are.  I don't have time to prep my dinner at 5:00am, when I'm struggling to get ready for work.   When I was first learning to cook, in my early twenties,  I used to grab a can of condensed soup, some raw chicken and I'd plug in that Harvest Gold Round crock pot and call it a day.  Did I just date myself?  I don't cook that way any longer. I like to sear my meats before braising.  So, my slow cooker lived in my garage pantry most of the time, because I wasn't going to prep food in the morning, on a work day.

I'm a huge fan of America's Test Kitchen.   I pondered, for a long while, if I really wanted to buy their  book "Slow Cooker Revolution".  I finally did, and I have to say that there are two particular pros to this book.  For one, the photos are in color, and they are mouth watering.   I also like that the recipes don't use canned soups or mixes.  I bookmarked quite a few recipes, vowing that I would see if I could learn to appreciate coming from work, to the aroma of dinner being ready.   I realized that I should plan my recipe that night before, and maybe I'd like this method of cooking. 

This weekend, I had thawed a frozen 3 pound package of  pork ribs that we bought after the Labor Day weekend.  NOTE: 2 packs of 1-1/2 pound of baby back ribs is recommended.  However, I managed to maneuver my larger rack with a little bit of finesse. Last night, I decided to prepare the ribs with a brown sugar rub.  My game plan, was to keep the ribs refrigerated and then I'd start the slow cooker as I left for work at 6:15am. 

America's Test Kitchen's recipe for the rubs is 3 Tablespoons sweet paprika, 2 Tablespoons brown sugar, 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper, salt & pepper. However, I had an unopened package of Tyler Florence's Brown Sugar Pork Rub that was given to me at last year's Foodbuzz Blogger Festival.  I liked the ingredients, and they were close to ATK's recipe.  

Generally, I make my own barbecue sauce.  My husband was born and raised in Kansas City, MO.  He really likes this BBQ sauce that I buy at Trader Joe's. I like it, too, and there aren't any scary ingredients.  Really, that's all that is needed to make these ribs.  I like that my slow cooker has a removable ceramic insert.

I buy Reynold's crockpot liners,  and they are one of the best inventions.  Cleanup really is a snap.  Look in the section where you buy plastic wrap and foil.  If you see them, buy them!  So, I set the ribs into my slow cooker, standing, along the perimeter with the wide end down and he meatier side facing the slow-cooker insert wall.   I covered it with the lid, put it in the fridge and went to bed.

Right before work, I poured about 1-1/2 cups of the barbecue sauce all over the ribs and turned it on low.  I had a crazy busy day at work, and came home feeling really tired-- 10 hours later.  The ribs smelled good, and I could tell that they were really tender.  I prepared a baking sheet with foil, set a baking rack on top and sprayed it with olive oil spray.  Removing the ribs wasn't easy, I'll tell you.

I managed to get them on the rack, but a few pieces broke off.  I tented the ribs with foil and then turned on the broiler, and set the oven rack to about 10" below the broiler unit.  In the meantime...

I skimmed as much fat off as I could, from the braising liquid, with a large and wide spoon.  Then, I strained the braising liquid into a pot.   I then set the liquid to a high simmer, for about 10 minutes, until it reduced and got a little thicker.

The recipe said to first set the ribs, meat side down, and then brush sauce evenly over the ribs.  After my difficulty in setting the super tender ribs onto the rack, I wasn't going there. I left the ribs meat side up and then put the whole rack under the broiler... every 2-3 minutes, I'd brush more sauce on the ribs until they looked sticky and crunchy.

I let the ribs rest for a few minutes.

My husband and son were waiting in the wings, as I cut the rubs. They were very tender.

My son and husband are crazy about ribs.  I'm not kidding. Me? Not so much. I'll eat one, maybe two.  My son dug in, first.  My husband followed next. 

VERDICT:  My son said these were the best ribs ever!   My husband was slower to respond.  Undoubtedly, he was comparing them to the ribs he's learned to grill well. I do agree that the ribs were very tender.  His verdict is that they are very tender, and almost smoky. I liked that there was a slight stickiness to the outside of the ribs, and a slightly charred taste from the broiler.  There is nothing like slow-cooked ribs, over wood chips and a Weber grill.   However, I will say that after the rough day that I had at work today-- I'm beginning to see how slow cookers can be my new best kitchen helper.   I give America's Test Kitchen kudos, for this recipe.  Broiling the ribs is key.  Otherwise, these would just be braised meat, and not barbecue.

I'm actually posting this in "real time" folks.  After dinner, I simply removed the crock pot liner and tossed it away.  Clean up was easy for me- which my son and husband graciously did for me.  I think my busy weekend in San Francisco just caught up with me.  Next up-- Part II of the Foodbuzz Blogger Festival. 

Here's the recipe:

What is a "Foodbuzz 2011"? Food, friendship and Social Networking Technology!

 Photo taken via Instagram.

I'm very fortunate, that in less than two hours, I can drive on Highway 101 and there is one of my favorite cities-- San Francisco.

 Photo taken via Instagram.

This weekend, I returned for my second time to attend the 2011 Foodbuzz Blogger Festival. For those of you who are following me on twitter or my Facebook Fan Page, you couldn't help but keep up as I tweeted throughout the weekend. 

For last year's Foodbuzz Blogger Festival, I felt like a bit like a country bumpkin when my friend, Monica, and I checked in to the Sir Francis Drake Hotel.  Both of us eagerly rummaged through our welcome bag,  that was chock full of food samples, kitchen gadgets and coupons.   Though Monica and I had never met, before, we were to be roommates. At that time,  neither one of us had an iPhone and I could barely understand what the big deal was with Twitter-- let alone, I couldn't understand what a "hash tag" was!    Still, we took classes on photography, food writing workshops and food demos.  The fine folks at Foodbuzz fed us very well, and we met many food and drink vendors at the Taste Pavilion event.  With the exception of our transportation and hotel expenses, the whole event was free! 

I marked my calendar, well ahead,  for this year's event. I was not going to miss it. Since last year, I had finally upgraded to being an  iPhone owner.  I downloaded the Twitter app.  I had Instagram.  I was armed, ready and dangerous to step up to a new level of technology!

This photo is a bit blurry, I know. I took a quick snapshot of a new friend, Ally Gaffan (right) and "Josh", in unfavorable lighting conditions.  Ally was staying at the same hotel as I was. Josh and I just "met" via Facebook.

This year's event ended at our farewell brunch at 9:00am, this morning.  By now, I'm sure that there are a multitude of food bloggers who have already posted their photos of all the food and San Francisco sightseeing and shopping that happened this weekend. Of course, I took lots of pictures!  How can any food blogger bypass a food buffet, and not want to take photos?  When Tyler Florence made a surprise appearance of our Taste Pavilion, the food paparazzi line grew long in no time at all!

I've already had the opportunity to meet Tyler Florence, and so my life is complete. Plus, I knew I'd see him at Saturday night's Gala Dinner. So,  I just stood in the background and took this shot. I have no idea who this lovely young woman is, but I can understand why she's smiling.


I've been trying to decided exactly how I want to share my weekend experience with you readers.  Do you want to hear all of the details? (There aren't any sordid ones, I can assure you, as my husband joined me, at my hotel,  to attend a local Geneology Conference.)  I didn't want to write a post that just shows all the fabulous food we enjoyed.  I mean, is that fair, when you couldn't be here?  Instead, I'm going to try and share with you what I learned at the Foodbuzz Blogger Festival.  I met a lot of Blogging "Royalty", and learned a lot more about photography, social media do's and don'ts and a bit about Adobe Lightroom. 

I had never been to the cocktail lounge on the 36th floor of the Grand Hyatt Hotel.

This was just after 5:00pm on Friday, and the "Golden Hour" lighting was a spectacular sight to see!

Several buses transported a very large group of food bloggers (I think there were 350) to the Terra Gallery for a Welcome Reception, sponsored by Sabra.  Sabra makes hummus, salsas, guacamole, veggie dips and vegetarian sides. 

In true Foodbuzz style, Sabra provided a beautiful spread of finger foods.  I've never been a big fan of  hummus, for some strange reason.  But, honestly, I liked these spreads.  NOTE: Sabra is not paying me to say this! 

Drinks were generous-- wine, beer and cocktails.  The room was loud, but I sure had fun meeting new food bloggers.  An hour later, we were ushered upstairs for a buffet dinner and dessert bar.

Perfectly seared scallops with a celery puree. They were tender and my favorite.

Small tastings from the comfort food bar: brown sugar chicken, meatloaf and red mashed potatoes and mac 'n cheese.

The dessert bar offerings.  This is Josh's plate.  I didn't want to stand in the long line for macaron  desserts.

I nabbed a Pomegranate and Kumquat dessert.  It was "interesting".  I'll leave it at that. We headed back home, on the bus, after 9pm.  After a few glasses of wine, it was lights out until our morning sessions.

I've taken a lot of photos, and collected a stack of business cards. I need a little time to sort through all of this, plus editing photos does take time.  I'm tired, and I have a 5am wakeup call for work.  I'm thankful for daylight's savings time, except that my brain thinks it's bedtime right now-- just a little after 8pm. 

I was delighted to see Julie, from Willow Bird Baking.  She's wins "Miss Congeniality" as she has such a lovely North Carolina charm about her.  I love her blog!

After a few exchanged tweets, Joanne of "Eats Well With Others" and I finally connected.  So glad to finally meet you, Joanne!  I've been reading her blog for quite some time. She makes great recipes, but her writing is so "Carrie Bradshaw".  Coincidentally, Joanne is from New York. 

When I do post Part II, I will try to summarize what I learned in the classroom sessions.  If you are wishing you could be a part of this, next year, you can!  Food bloggers who are Featured Publishers are always invited to this event.  If you have a food blog, and want to be a part of this, here's how you can sign up here.

With that said, I'm going to say good night for now.  Sampling food, dining with food bloggers and watching Tyler Florence giving an entertaining food demo right before my eyes is very hard work.  It's tough, but I someone has to do it.

Ah, my nice big king-sized bed that I share with my husband and cat....

Good night!

Headed to the Foodbuzz Festival 2011 in San Francisco

Today, I'm headed to San Francisco to attend my second Foodbuzz Festival.  The event looks like I'm going to be well-fed, and I'm taking classes on photography and food blogging tips.  I could use as much help as I can get! I hope to meet some new friends, and to reconnect with a few I met last year.

Yesterday, I spent my lunch hour at the Pacific Grove Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary.  I work in Pacific Grove, ("Butterfly Town").  This year, the Monarchs are here in very high numbers. I'm always amazed how the fourth generation of the butterflies I saw last year, migrates 2500 miles!  They are beautiful, indeed.

I was in awe of the butterfly clusters. So were the tourists from all over the world, who came to see these famous butterflies.

...and I live in this area.  I'm so thankful for that.

I'm sure I'll be taking hundreds of photos of the venues at the Foodbuzz Festival. Oh. Tyler Florence will be the celebrity chef at the Saturday night dinner.  To know me, is to know I'm a huge fan of his. If you're curious, you can view the schedule and menus of what we're being served here.

I'll be posting after Sunday.  I need to pack expandable pants.  I'm fine with that.

Cheers!

Mawa Kachori (Puffed Pastry) Chef Manjula

Mawa Kachori is an exotic dessert. This is a delicacy from state of Rajasthan. Rajasthan is known for their rich food and culture. Pastry filled with aromatic mixture of mawa and nuts makes a very festive dessert.

This recipe will make 18 Kachories.

Ingredients:

Crust

• 1cup all-purpose flour (maida, plain flour)
• 2 tablespoons clarified butter (ghee)
• Approx. 1/2 cup of lukewarm water as needed

Filling

• 1/2 cup heavy cream or whipping cream
• 1 cup milk powder
• 1/4 cup mixed nuts (almonds, pistachios coarsely ground)
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed cardamom
• 3 tablespoon sugar

Note: If you are using mawa use ¾ cup of mawa instead cream and powder

Oil to fry

Syrup

• 1cup sugar
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/8 teaspoon crushed cardamom
• Few strands of saffron

Method

Crust

• Mix flour, and clarified butter in a bowl, making firm soft adding water slowly as needed. Knead the dough until the dough becomes soft and pliable.
• Set the dough aside and cover it with a damp cloth. Let the dough sit for at least ten minutes.

Syrup

Boil the sugar and water on medium heat, as sugar comes to boil add saffron, and cardamom on medium heat until syrup is about one thread or 220 degrees (Fahrenheit) on a candy thermometer. Set aside.

Filling

• Mix the cream and milk powder in a frying pan. Cook on medium heat until it becomes consistency of soft dough, this should take about 3-4 minutes. Stir continuously so the mixture does not burn on the bottom of the pan. This mixture is known mava.
• Next add nuts mixture, sugar, and cardamom powder to mawa. Mix together well and cook for about 2 more minutes until mixture is consistency of soft dough. Keep aside.
• After cooling, the mixture will become drier but still should be lightly moist.

Making Kachories

• Knead the dough for a minute.
• Divide the dough into about 18 equal parts.
• Roll each ball into about 2-inch diameter.
• Take one of the rolled dough in your palm and place about 1 tablespoon of filling in the center. Pull the edges of the dough to wrap the filling. Proceed to make all 30 balls.
• Let the filled balls sit for 3 to 4 minutes before pressing.
• In the frying pan heat the oil on medium high, frying pan should have about 1-1/2 inches of oil.
• Set the filled balls on a clean and dry surface with the seam facing up. Using the base of your palm, slowly flatten them into about 3 inches circle.
• To check if oil is ready put a little piece of dough in the oil. It should sizzle, and come up slowly.
• Slowly drop the Kachories in the oil, do not over crowd the kachories in frying pan, fry them on medium heat.
•  After they are puff, slowly turn them over.
• It will take about 5-6 minutes to fry. Fry until golden-brown on all sides.
• If the kachories are fried on high heat, they will get soft and will not be crispy.

Serving

• Just before serving drizzle the kachori with about 2 tablespoons of hot syrup. Garnish them with left over filling or sliced pistachios.
• Kachories can also be served without syrup.

Banana Puri (Kela Ke Puri) Chef Manjula

Banana Puries are delicious fried Indian puffed bread. Puries have richness of banana flavor enhanced with cardamom. Banana Puries are good for festive occasions and holidays. These can be served for breakfast or as a snack. Puries are especially good for picnic or to take for travel.

This recipe will make about 40.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup ripe mashed banana (about 8” long banana)

1/2 cup sugar

1 tablespoon melted ghee or butter

1/8 teaspoon crushed cardamom powder

Pinch of salt

3 tablespoons coarsely ground almonds about 18 almonds

Approx ¾ cup whole-wheat flour

Approx ¾ cup all purpose flour

Oil to fry

Method

Peel and mash the banana, add the sugar, almond, butter, salt and cardamom mix it well.

Add whole-wheat flour and all-purpose flour to the banana mix and make a firm and smooth dough. Keep it aside for about 2 hours.

Grease the fingers and knead the dough for a minute and divide in four equal parts.

Roll them into 8” diameter and cut them in about 2” diameter, using a cookie cutter.

Heat the oil in a frying pan on medium heat. To check the heat if oil is ready put one piece of dough in oil, dough should sizzle and come up slowly.

Fry the puries few at a time don’t over crowd the frying pan. Puries will puff and fry them till they are dark brown from all around. It will take about 2 minutes to fry every batch.

Take them out over paper towel so it can absorb the extra oil.

Puries are ready.

Notes:This is good recipe for vegan by replacing the butter with oil. Puries can be served hot or eaten at room temperature. Banana Puries can be stored for a week; you don’t need to refrigerate them.

Gulab Jamun by Rida Aftab

Recipe of Gulab Jamun by Rida Aftab in Tarka on Masala Tv.

Chicken Breast with Walnut Aillade and Tomato Jam & Polenta

In my last post, I shared how I made a Savory Tomato Jam.  The recipe for  Chicken Breasts with a Walnut Aillade comes from "Two Fat Ladies".   If you've never watched their show, it's quite interesting. I've caught a few episodes on the Cooking Channel, and their British humor is quite entertaining.  So, what is an aillade sauce?  It's a garlic sauce. I loved the simplicity of the sauce, that is the star of this show.  I thought this would be a perfect work night dinner-- and it was.  Within the last minutes of making this dish, I was inspired to top the chicken off with some tomato jam.  It was a great idea, my husband said. He loved the whole dish. 

Whole foods had a  terrific sale on free-range boneless chicken breasts, so I stocked up and froze a few packages. I thawed the chicken, in the fridge,  the night before.  The chicken is marinated in plain yogurt with fresh lemon juice-- for about 30 minutes.

I usually keep a container of Fage Greek Yogurt on hand. I love how thick it is, and the non-fat version is excellent. But, any kind of plain yogurt will work.

 

I whisked in the juice of one fresh lemon.

I seasoned the chicken with just salt and pepper and set them into the yogurt and lemon juice...

These marinated for about 30 minutes, so the sauce can be made, next.

The sauce is very simple to make. (A food processor plays a helpful role). We begin with two ounces of fresh garlic.  (I used two large cloves.)  I always keep shelled walnuts in the freezer-- grab a large handful, or about 2 1/2 ounces. Add about one Tablespoon of water, and grind the walnuts. Season the ground walnuts with some salt...

...add some pepper...

You need about 1/2 cup of walnut oil.  This oil is a bit pricey (I found mine at Whole Foods).  You could use olive oil, though.  I think it would be a good substitute.

While the processor is running, slowly add the walnut oil until you have a thick sauce-- almost like mayonnaise.

Add a handful of chopped fresh parsley, and there you go!  Set the sauce aside...

I decided to warm about one cup of tomato jam.

Heat some oil in a pan, and pan fry the chicken on each side to sear.

NOTE: I forgot to wipe off the excess yogurt. Had I done so, I would have gotten a nicer sear. Ah, well.

Spoon over the aillade (walnut sauce) and cook over low heat until chicken is done (just a few minutes more).

I'm on a polenta kick, as of late.   I make mine with chicken stock, Parmesan cheese and sometimes a little mascarpone cheese or either heavy cream or half and half.   At first, I thought I'd make mashed potatoes, but the polenta called my name.  So, there's the final dish.  I think it took about thirty minutes to make.

  I think the tomato jam adds such a beautiful color. Don't you?

VERDICT:  The sauce is excellent. It has a lot of garlic, and I actually cut back on the recommended about in the original recipe.  So, be forewarned.  (I've stored the remaining sauce in an air-tight container.)   I think the sauce would be excellent on fish.  I also think it would be delicious on pasta, too. I like marinating chicken in yogurt, as I think it tenderizes the meat.  The lemon flavor was a bit strong, I thought, so I think I'd add half the amount of lemon juice-- I even think lime juice would be a nice substitute.   I loved the different textures in each bite-- the creamy polenta, tender chicken and then the chunky bite of tomato jam.  Wow!  My husband raved about this dinner, and yes, I would make this again. It's super fast, and if you love garlic, you will love this recipe.  It's actually quite healthy. (Well, maybe the polenta is a stretch, if there's mascarpone or heavy cream in it!)

Here's a printable recipe.