I love pork ribs! Probably one of my favorite things to BBQ. I am a boiler. My mom boiled her ribs and they were always so good that it's was I have always done too. I tend to get flack from other cooks when I state this and get an ear full about how they lose flavor and I'm ruining the ribs so on and so on. But, anyone I have ever cooked them for has raved about them. Well, today, for the first time ever I did not boil the ribs. I practiced patience and cooked them low and slow in the oven. I used the recipe on allrecipes.com for Sweet & Spicy St. Louis Ribs. I sprinkled the rub all over the ribs (I halved it as my rib was on the smaller side) and wrapped tightly in foil along with a couple tablespoons of beer. I cooked them on 275 for 3 hours. I could smell them cooking and OMG they smelled sooooooo good! I removed them from the oven then I spread them with about a half cup of Sweet Baby Rays with a couple T of Fischer & Wieser Chipotle Raspberry Sauce mixed in and threw them on the grill until there were char marks.
I will admit it. They were fall off the bone tender and soooo flavorful! I loved the taste of the spices from the rub and not just tasting the sauce as I do with mine. Since this takes quite a bit of time to prepare I probably wouldn't be able to make it for a week night dinner but I think I am going to continue experimenting with this method on the weekends. I will admit it, I very much enjoyed these, and..... I think they were better than mine :-)
I am an AllrecipesAllstar Brand Ambassador (a voluntary position) and I’m not compensated for my work with Allrecipes.com. Products received from advertiser are only used for experienced-based reviews my personal blog. The reviews, content and opinions expressed in this blog are all my own.
I was going through all my old pictures and thought there were quite a few there that I could share with you. Here is a one of two identical appetizers trays I made up for a birthday party I did numerous years ago. I love making appetizers! You could say it's my "niche". In my perfect world, I would cater two parties a month and ONLY do appy's!
Well here's what's on the plate:
Ham Rolls - My mother made ham rolls back as far as I can remember. She mixed diced black olives into some softened cream cheese, spread it onto a slice of ham, topped with a green onion spear, refrigerated, sliced and cut. And, even though I am not a pickle fan, and my mom never made them with a pickle, I added them to half instead of the onions because my friends love them too!
Stuffed pepperoncini's - This recipe is from Allrecipes.com and has always been a hit among my friends. They are pretty simple to make and since I platter them slit down, you can't even tell they are stuffed! You can find the recipe HERE
Stuffed Cherry Tomatoes - Cream Cheese, a touch of mayo, chopped green onions, and BACON! I use my little 1/4 tsp. metal spoon to hollow out the tomatoes after slicing a bit of the top off. Sprinkle the inside with a little bit of salt and place them upside down to drain completely, then fill.
Tortilla Rolls - As you can see from a previous post, I just love rolling things in a tortilla! These ones here had a "Mexican" flair to them. Cream Cheese, green chilis, green onions, black olives, red bell pepper and taco seasoning! You can really add anything, but I like the different colors.
Toodaloo!
This month I had the awesome pleasure of working with Reynolds Wrap products. I have used Reynolds Wrap foil and turkey bags as long back as I can remember. I don't remember my mother ever using anything beside Reynolds Wrap while I was growing up. I think it is a trusted name and a product we know will work. Who wants to buy some knock off brand just to find out it's crap, and have to wait 200 feet before we can get our hands on the stuff we know works, right? I was given a box of Non-Stick foil which I had never used in the past (another one of those things where I am afraid to try something new). Now that I think about it, it's also the same reason I order the same menu item every time I go out to eat! Back to the foil. I made two recipes. The first one was Salted Caramel Nut Brittle from Allrecipes.com. SUPER simple to make (4 ingredients + toppings), and very forgiving. I slightly passed up the 290 degree mark by about 15 degrees and who woulda known? It was super yummy! I only plated it about 15 minutes ago, and my boys have already consumed about half of it! So I will take that as a huge thumbs up.
The next recipe was for Fajitas baked in foil also from allrecipes. I threw the meat and all the marinade ingredients into the foil and topped it with my onions and peppers. I didn't see any reason why the ingredients couldn't share a packet. I let it sit in the fridge for a couple hours then placed it in the oven to bake. I cooked it for the time stated as I love my meat medium rare and it was the perfect doneness. I think the meat could have used a little more flavor, but with all the toppings it was super good! I think it would also be great to throw it in on the bbq and let it cook that way. Maybe in the summer when it's too hot to turn on the oven I will give it a try.
If your interested in trying either of these recipes, and I suggest you do, here are the links
Salted Caramel Nut Brittle
Easy Flank Steak Fajitas
Hi all! This month I had the opportunity to work on a Mazola Oil campaign. I was given a bottle of Mazola Corn Oil, which to be honest with you I have never tried before. Since I grew up on good ol' veggie oil, I find myself venturing away from other oils for fear that they would taste different. I was totally willing to give it a try and am glad I had the chance, since I know I probably would have never done it on my own.
The first thing I made with my new oil were these yummy cookies. Peanut Butter, Chocolate AND oatmeal! How could they not be good! I followed the recipe almost to the T except I did my fork marks with my fork dipped in flour instead of sugar, as other said they were enough sweet without it. We loved these cookies straight from the oven as they were warm and soft. They are a pretty crunchy firm cookie once they cooled. I took the majority of them to work and left them on the break table. Sometime between 8 am and my lunch they managed to all be eaten! '
Since then, I have used my corn oil numerous times with excellent results. If you haven't given corn oil a try, I highly suggest you do. I mean come on, it's made from CORN! You can find the cookie recipe HERE
4 more day until Halloween, and 4 more days until I need to produce a bunch of food for my kids and their friends at a party we are having! My kids are not little. They range in age from 19 to 28 but do love to get together and also love to eat my food! When they asked if we could have party I was all for it. I really like their friends and love having everyone over for any occasion.
I made a suggestion that everyone bring an appetizer to share. This way I wouldn't spend my entire time in the kitchen. Well, I think there was a vote, and the kids friends all would rather give me money because they want ME to cook! So, because it's quite a compliment, and because I'm a sucker for these kids. I agreed! Here is what I have so far on my menu board. It may change as it usually does a bit at the last minute, but so far this is what I am going with. Oh, and that guy up there, he was dinner last night. Just trying to get myself into the spirt of the season!
I had a teachers meeting to attend on Friday and since I knew a couple other teachers were bringing food to share, I jumped on the chance to make this little beauty, Morning Delight Quiche. I have always been a huge fan of quiche. I love it with bacon, I love it with ham, I love it with sausage, throw in a veggie or two or three, I love them all! I picked this particular recipe here because it called for sun-dried tomatoes which happen to be one of my all time favorite things.
This recipe used shredded potatoes in place of a crust which also makes it gluten free! I followed the recipe almost to the T, but did add a smidgen more salt and a bit of sauteed onions. I really really loved this dish as did my co-workers. I love the sweetness the tomatoes added and the ratio of meats and cheeses to the liquid was perfect. I would highly recommend this. I really thought I would miss the crust but I didn't at all, I think I almost preferred the potatoes. Luckily there was one slice left over that I nuked for 60 seconds the next morning, and I got to enjoy it all over again!!
Keep Calm and Cook On!!!
I am an AllrecipesAllstar Brand Ambassador (a voluntary position) and I’m not compensated for my work with Allrecipes.com. Products received from advertiser are only used for experienced-based reviews my personal blog. The reviews, content and opinions expressed in this blog are all my own.
I'm sure at some point everyone has tried those yummy little ham sandwiches on the sweet Hawaiian rolls with a rich buttery sauce poured over the top. I love them and have brought them too many potlucks and parties. Well this month while working with Johnsonville I was trying to think of something I could make and replace the original meat with my sausage. After looking for weeks I kept going back to these little sandwiches over and over again. I finally decided to give them a try. I followed the original recipe and spread my onion chive cream cheese on the bottom of the rolls then topped with the cooked drained Italian sausage.
I added sliced cheese (I used a bruschetta jack). I also added some carmelized onions, then poured the butter, worcestershire sauce, dried onion, and Parmesan cheese mixture over the top. We let them sit in the fridge for about and hour then baked for 20 minutes. We let them cool slightly before digging in to them. Everyone really enjoyed them. My granddaughter called me the "best cook ever" after tasting hers, which makes a grandma feel good. Another thing I love about these sandwiches is they freeze well. Once cooled I put two into a ziplock sandwich bag and freeze. To eat I just pop one in my lunch bag in the morning and by lunch I zap it for about 30 seconds and it's just as good as it was before frozen. Here is the original recipe that I use if you're interested in trying them Sassy Tailgate Sandwiches.
I hope you get a chance to make them!
Karen
I am an AllrecipesAllstar Brand Ambassador (a voluntary position) and I’m not compensated for my work with Allrecipes.com. Products received from advertiser are only used for experienced-based reviews my personal blog. The reviews, content and opinions expressed in this blog are all my own.
