World's Best Smoked Ribs. Ever.

I am no barbecue rock star, but this recipe is amazing. I'd accept a pat on the back for it. LOTS of work. LOTS of time invested. But SO WORTH IT. Take my word for it. 

You need: 

3-4 racks of really good spare ribs

For the rub:

1/4 c. dark brown sugar

1/4 c. sea salt

1/4 c. sweet paprika

3 tbsp. ground pepper

1 tbsp. garlic powder

1 tbsp. dried onion flakes

1 tsp. cayenne

For the mop:

1/2 c. apple cider vinegar

1/2 c. water

4 tbsp. yellow mustard

3 tbsp. olive oil

1 tbsp. garlic powder

1 tbsp. chili powder

1 tsp. cayenne

Combine the rub spices thoroughly. In a small bowl, mix the mop ingredients. Slather the meat with a little extra mustard. Apply the rub to the ribs. If you choose not to use the mustard, rub the rub into the meat. Just sprinkle, though. Don't over apply - just put a little on. Fire up one side of the girl to 220 degrees. Put in your wood chips (pre-soaked in water) in a smoker can next to the flame. Close the grill and let the smoke being. Place a pan of hot water under the meat side of the grill. Place the spare ribs on the grill on the opposite side of the dire, bone side down, to begin cooking. Avoid the ribs touching. Close the lid. Check ONLY every 20 minutes or so and then mop each time - lightly and sparingly! These have to cook for about 5-8 hours. Looks for the meat to pull away from the end of the bones and the meat between the bones reads 205 degrees. Eat them and thank me. 

Provencal Zucchini and Swiss Chard Tart

This is a delicious recipe. I have made it numerous times this summer to take advantage of the chard and zucchini ever present in our weekly share. Because the steps are numerous and there is an additional recipe for the pie crust, I'm simply including the link to the NY Times, where I originally found the recipe. Enjoy. It's worth it. 

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/24/health/nutrition/24recipehealth.html?_r=0

Slow-Cooker Beef and Peppers over Polenta

It was freezing this weekend. Autumn rushed in with such fury and coated us in stinging rain and chilly winds. We used the day indoors to clean and organize after the madness of the first week of school. This seemed a perfect recipe for a day such a that - hearty, rich, and ready when we needed to eat. The original recipe called for a side of plain polenta, but I doctored mine up with a little Parmesan cheese and mascarpone cheese. Well, because I can.

You need:

1 14.5 oz. can of whole, peeled tomatoes, crushed
1 lb. assorted bell peppers, sliced
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
2 cloves garlic, chopped
salt and pepper
2 lbs. beef chuck, cut into 2 pieces
1 cup polenta, cooked according to directions
basil leaves, for serving

In the crockpot, combine tomatoes, peppers, onion, oregano, garlic, and 1/2 tsp. each salt and pepper. Season the beef with a little salt and pepper and place on top of the tomato mixture. Cook on low for 7-8 hrs. When the time is up, shred the meet into large chunks. Twenty minutes before the cook time is up, cook the polenta. Serve the polenta topped with the stew and a few leaves of basil.

Lemon Gelato

I seriously made homemade gelato.

I make ice cream all the time. My ice cream maker is one of my favorite appliances. It allows me to get really creative with ice cream flavors. And my family is sweets obsessed.

However, I've never made legitimate gelato. I tried just about every single flavor when M and I went to Italy a few years back. However, the whole "tempering custard" thing always held me back.

Until a recent trip to a local gelato shop in my neighborhood caused me to rethink my fears.

I'm not cheap when it comes to food. I hate food waste, and so I use up every single thing I ever buy (and get really creative with leftovers), but I spend a lot on high quality ingredients. I'm not scared off by $9 a gallon milk because it comes from a small, local creamery where quality is key. I don't cringe at a pound of ground beef that costs me $8.95 because it comes from a slaughterhouse with standards that would put most in the meat business to shame. I put forth a lot of effort researching what goes into our bodies. And it's worth every penny. I've always said that it doesn't matter how much we spend on what goes over our bodies or as roofs over our heads if what goes into our bodies and onto our skin is...pardon the phrase...crap.

But I draw the line at $6.00 for a 1/2c. of gelato, especially when I find out that the quality of the eggs and cream is no different than what a large scale producer of ice cream is using. What the heck is it about gelato that makes it so expensive? Is it the cream? Is it the number of eggs? Is it its fancy Italian name that makes suburbanites pay money because it looks like something they just have to have?

Only one way to find out.

Farm to Family Table had a lemon gelato recipe hidden in its blog, and since lemon is our family favorite, I decided to give it a try. The recipe below is AMAZING. A. MAZ. ING.

And I also decided to see if it was really worth the price of $6.00 for a half cup. See below the recipe if you are so inclined.

You need:
2/3 c. lemon juice (about 3-4 lemons, depending upon size)
Lemon peel from 3 lemons
6 egg yolks (save the whites for an omelette!)
1 1/4 c. heavy cream
2 1/2 c. half and half
1 1/4 c. sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract


Cut the peel from three lemons that have been washed and dried well. Be sure to wash and dry off any juice that might have squeezed out onto the peel so it doesn't curdle the milk. Place in a small bowl. In a mixing bowl, add the egg yolks. Whisk in the heavy cream. In a medium pot, heat the sugar and the half and half over medium heat. Add the lemon peel. Stir until the sugar is dissolved. Remove from the heat. Temper the egg yolk/cream mixture by pouring in a small amount of the warm sugar mixture, whisking constantly. Then gradually add the egg yolk mixture into the warm sugar mixture. Return to medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens and coats the back of the spoon. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla. Remove the lemon peels and refrigerate overnight. Once cool and ready to add to the ice cream maker, stir in the lemon juice. Add to the ice cream maker and mix according to the machine's instructions. If you want to impress someone and serve this for dessert, don't toss out those three to four lemons you squeezed for juice. Instead, scoop out the flesh and serve the gelato in the lemons. Fancy, right?


 Addendum: the cost of making gelato with really good quality ingredients - by me


Lemons (bag of 6 for $1.99) - $1.00
Egg Yolks (local farm, $3.79/dozen) - $1.90
Heavy Cream (local creamery, $5.00/pint) - $2.75
Half and Half (local creamery, $5.00/qt) - $2.75
Sugar (organic, unbleached, cane, $6.00/3 lbs) - $1.35ish
Vanilla (Madagascar, pure, $4.99/4 oz.) - $.10 (to be generous)

= $9.85 for a half gallon, which is equal to 16 1/2 c. servings, which means each 1/2 c, serving, made with very high quality ingredients purchased in small quantity (and not in bulk like most retailers), costs me SIXTY-TWO CENTS. 

I'm in the wrong business. 

Avocado Quinoa Bowl with Ricotta, Mint and Egg

Tuesdays, for as long as I can remember, have been Taco Tuesdays. And we've tried all sorts of recipes that fit into the "taco-ish" category - enchiladas, tostadas, taco pies, etc. However, even those recipes are getting old. And kind of unhealthy. I've started to feel like Taco Tuesday became Trashy Tuesday, our excuse to eat one cheesy, fat-laden meal a week under the guise of "celebration." 

Not that I mind those days. I would fight someone to the death for an amazing chimichanga. There's a place for that kind of decadence, but I knew there had to be a better way to savor the flavors of Taco Tuesday while opening our family up to new flavors and ingredients. 

This is another Farm to Family Table recipe, which borrows the flavors of cumin, onion, avocado, and a "rice-like substitute" (I have to call quinoa "round rice" to get my son to try it), into a very healthy dish. It's absurdly easy to put together, and it is both filling and light on the digestion (thank you, quinoa). 

The recipe below served two adults, one hungry nine year old, and a picky three year old. If you have heartier eaters, increase the quinoa and fry another couple of eggs. And one more thing - about the greens - I originally found this recipe when I was trying to find something to make with the beet greens and chard still frozen in the deep freeze from last summer's veggie share. It was only after I'd printed it that I realized it, too, might help solve the taco conundrum. However, use whatever greens you'd like or have on hand. Spinach will most certainly work, as will kale or even baby lettuces or salad herb mixes. 

You need:

1 c. quinoa

1/2 tsp. salt (plus more to taste)

4 oz. beet greens, roughly chopped

4 oz. rainbow chard, roughly chopped

3 tbsp. olive oil (plus more for sauteing and drizzling)

1 tbsp. lemon juice

1/2 tsp. cumin

10-12 mint leaves, cut into ribbons

1 tbsp. chopped chives

1 sliced avocado

crumbled ricotta

4 eggs, fried or poached

chive flowers, for those of you who like to garnish fancy, fancy

Rinse the quinoa in cold water. Bring 2 cups of water to boil in a saucepan. Add 1/2 tsp. salt and the quinoa. Bring to a boil for about 30 minutes until cooked and the kernels have popped open. Remove from heat and set aside.  In a saute pan, saute the greens with a drizzle of olive oil until just wilted. Add to the quinoa. In a small bowl, combine the lemon juice, 3 tbsp. olive oil, cumin, and salt and pepper to taste. Pour over the quinoa and greens. Toss in the mint and chives. Top with avocado slices, ricotta, and eggs. Drizzle with a tiny bit of olive oil and fresh ground pepper (and those flowers if you want to dazzle!)

Chocolate Pudding

We are doing our very best to make this a fun and special week. It's been an incredibly bizarre school year, and, to top it all off, the kids and I have different Spring breaks. Eek! So, I'm doing all I can to make after school time lots of fun - trips to the playground, games of catch in the back yard, and, of course, exciting and delightful treats for dinner and dessert.

Last night, I used up our colored Easter eggs by making these pretty darn cute egg chicks, with a side of peas and some leftover rolls from my mother in law. But we ate early and finished early, and the kids were hoping for a fun dessert. Let me say that pudding is one of our favorite desserts, but I have no patience or interest in the artificially concocted puddings you pick up at the grocery store, so I've been trying to find an easy recipe that works. This one definitely fits the bill. It was very easy to make. The original recipe calls for all ingredients to be at room temperature, but since I decided at the last minute to make the dish, I simply tempered the egg yolks with a little of the heated cream mixture before adding them into the pot.


You need:

2 tbsp. cornstarch
1 tbsp. cocoa powder
2/3 c. sugar
pinch of salt
1 c. heavy cream or half and half
3 egg yolks, at room temperature (save the whites for an omelette in the morning!)
2 c. whole milk, at room temperature
4 oz. semi sweet chocolate chips
2 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 tbsp. vanilla
whipped cream for topping (optional)


In a medium saucepan, whisk the first four ingredients over medium-high heat. Whisk in the cream, then egg yolks, then milk. Bring to a simmer, whisking constantly. Once it starts to thicken, add the chocolate chips. Reduce heat, still whisking, and then add the butter and vanilla. Once the pudding is fairly thick (and remember that it will continue to thicken as it cools), turn off the heat and place into individual serving dishes. Serve warm, at room temperature, or cool in the fridge.

(makes eight 2/3c. servings)

Maple Pumpkin Muffins

It's Maple Season (or at least we hope it's coming with all this snow still hanging around)! That means we'll be spending the month of March trying out new recipes with syrup. We decided to start things off with a Saturday morning treat - Maple Pumpkin muffins. I had half a can of pumpkin in the freezer from the fall so we had all of the fixings for these great muffins. And they didn't disappoint!


You need:
1 1/2 c. flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. canned, pureed pumpkin
3/4 c. maple syrup
1/4 c. canola or coconut oil
1 egg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix dry ingredients in a bowl. Mix wet ingredients in another bowl. Fold dry ingredients into wet ingredients. Scoop into buttered muffin tins and bake for 25-30 minutes.