Blackberry Ribs

Note: JLH v1 is back with another guest post! Let’s show him the love he deserves~

A few weeks back Jacquie sent me a link for a Columbia Crest recipe contest. All that was required of participants was to use a Washington State ingredient in a dish that could be paired with one of their wines. I debated between starting with either a Cabernet Sauvignon or a Shiraz since I love red wines, but once I settled on blackberries as the star of the dish, I knew the spiciness of the Shiraz was the way to go.

If you’re curious, the prize is a 3 day/4 night trip for two to New York City (including air fare and hotel accommodations), a dinner at one of Bobby Flay’s restaurants, and a chance to prepare your meal with him. The fact that Bobby’s the sponsor may or may not be a good thing because my recipe is based on a technique out of his Mesa Grill Cookbook. Several months ago I made his Peanut Chipotle Ribs but didn’t write about them and even though they tasted good enough to warrant a post, they weren’t my finest (or last) effort so I decided against it. The baste I made turned out too thick but the cooking technique was great so I applied it to my recipe below, but this time I kept my baste thinner.

My recipe below seems complicated because of the laundry list of ingredients but it’s really just a few sauce fundamentals. Most of my sauces start with the basics - oil, onion, garlic, salt, and pepper - and vary from there depending on what the sauce is for. I knew I was using blackberries and Shiraz for the base, but I wanted to make it a little more rib appropriate; thus the molasses, honey, vinegar, mustard, brown sugar and Worcestershire sauce were next in the pot. If you hadn’t already guessed, those ingredients plus a tomato product make up a standard BBQ sauce. To get the tomato flavor but keep it unique I used sun-dried tomato halves instead of the commonly used ketchup. I considered adding some heat to go along with the sweet and sour of the sauce, but I knew the chili rub would take care of balancing the dish in its entirety.

Btw, I’m hoping that if I win they’ll just give me a helicopter ride to the city as a substitute for air fare and hotel. Heck, they can even throw in another dinner if they want, but mostly I want to throwdown with Bobby Flay, mostly.

Blackberry Ribs (1 lb pork spare ribs)

Chili Rub

Remove the stems from 3 dried ancho chiles, 4 dried guajillo chiles, and 4 dried cascabel chiles. Dice them up and toast in a cast iron skillet over medium/low heat for about 1-2 minutes. Don’t let them burn; the smoke they create is killer on the eyes and lungs. Thrown everything into a spice grinder and presto, you have an au natural chile rub.

**Note: for this recipe, stop there for the chili rub. However, if you have some leftover (and I did) you can make a homemade chili powder. All you have to do is add some dried oregano, cumin and paprika. I don’t add salt or pepper because I prefer to salt/pepper my food as I cook it since different dishes require different amounts. Also, you can add onion and garlic powder if you want but since I usually cook with the fresh versions, I left that out as well. I really don’t know the ratios to be honest, but basically if you combine the cumin/paprika/oregano separately but in equal proportions, it should be about the same amount as all the chili rub. Not sure if that made sense…

Dry Rub

salt
pepper
1 tsp cumin
1-2 tablespoons chile mix (recipe above)

Liberally salt and pepper the ribs all over. Next, rub about 1 tsp of cumin on the top of the ribs. Then rub in a good portion of the chile mix to the top of the rack. You want to get a nice thick coating. You can rub into the bottom too but be sure to sear that side as well (later steps). Cover the ribs and let sit in the fridge for 8 hours or overnight.

Baste

1 tsp olive oil
1/3 bottle Columbia Crest Grand Estates Shiraz
12 oz fresh blackberries
¼ medium red onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tsp kosher salt
1.5 tbsp honey
1 tbsp molasses
1.5 tbsp apple cider vinegar
3 halves of sun-dried tomatoes
1/4 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp yellow mustard
2 tbsp brown sugar

½ cup of Columbia Crest Grand Estates Shiraz
2-3 cups of water
¼ cup of fresh chopped ginger

Heat olive oil over medium high heat in a medium size saucepan. Toss in the red onions and garlic and sweat the onions slightly (do not caramelize). Add 1/3 bottle Columbia Crest Grand Estates Shiraz and the blackberries. Simmer for 10-15 minutes and then mash the blackberries a bit with the back of a wooden spoon. Simmer for about 5-10 minutes longer (make sure the baste doesn’t reduce too much and become thick. It’s a baste, not a paste).

Remove the sauce from the heat and discard about ½ of the blackberries. Add the remaining mixture to a blender and blend until smooth.

Return the sauce to the sauce pan and add the rest of the ingredients up to brown sugar. You can go ahead and preheat the oven to 500 degrees now. Let simmer again for another 5-10 minutes for the flavors to meld then add back to the blender to puree again. It should be thin enough to pour in a steady stream. Mine was the right consistency but if you find yours too thick, add a little water to thin it out for basting.

Cooking Ribs

If you haven’t already, preheat the oven to 500 degrees. Add oil to a roasting pan large enough to fit the entire rack and warm over medium-high heat. Sear the top of the ribs (or each side if you added dry rub to both sides) for about 5 minutes until the crust is nicely browned. Remove the ribs and most of the oil, add in the remaining three ingredients (2-3 cups of water, ½ cup of the Columbia Crest Grand Estates Shiraz and the ginger). Set the roasting rack into the pan and place the ribs on top so they remain above the liquids in the roasting pan. Carefully place the ribs in the oven on the lowest rack (basting before you begin) and then baste every 15 minutes. The ribs should cook in about an hour to an hour and a half. A meat thermometer should register 175 degrees since these are pork ribs.

Take them out when they are done and then let them rest for about 10 minutes. Carve and enjoy!

Memorial Day BBQ at Wider

Trip to Tampa

Finding out about baby!

Auntie Jayce’s Birthday at Nelson’s Grill

Green Eggs and Ham

Or something close to it. This meal was so delicious and praise-worthy that I’m sure Dr. Seuss will forgive us for borrowing the name of his much loved classic.

Picture taken with Nikon D80 with Nikkor 60MM Macro lens and the help of the foodio built for me by the father in law

Jason used our meat grinder on the pork we picked up from IB on Sunday night and turned it into some of the best breakfast sausage I’ve ever eaten. He has graciously offered to provide that recipe here and I would highly suggest you go to your grocery store so you can make this soon now. On second thought maybe you shouldn’t. You’ll never be able to go back to pre-made/pre-cooked/diner sausage ever again!

On Monday night we decided to use the sausage in a hash with some veggies we got on our last trip to the farmer’s market that we have to use up. We didn’t get to go last weekend b/c we were busy doing this.

Making a dish like this is great way to stretch a little bit of meat a long way whether you’re trying to save a buck or your waistline. Jason had made 2 lbs worth of sausage but we couldn’t in good conscience eat all of that meat no matter how much we wanted to. We used 1/2 a pound in this dish and froze the rest. We threw in tons of veggies and 8 oz of meat made enough hash for two dinners and 1 lunch.

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Green Eggs and Ham
serves two for dinner + 1 small lunch the next day

Hash:
8 oz of homemade breakfast sausage
1 tablespoon of olive oil
3/4 lb of whole baby fingerling potatoes (any waxy potato diced would be fine as well)
1 bunch of diced ramps, whites only
4 oz sliced shiitake mushrooms (any kind is fine)
salt and pepper

Ramp gravy:
1 bunch of ramps, greens only
2 cups of milk, at room temperature and divided (1% works fine)
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon flour

4 eggs, cooked anyway you like

Brown sausage in a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Once thoroughly browned, remove the sausage from heat and reserve.

Turn the heat down to medium and add tablespoon of oil. Swirl to cost the pan with the oil and add the whole fingerlings. Quickly toss to coat all the potatoes in oil and sprinkle on kosher salt. Let the potatoes cook for about 15-20 minutes. Yes, the first picture is of hands Jason made out of fingerlings.

Prepare the ramp gravy in the meantime.

Fill a small saucepan halfway with water and salt. Place over high heat and bring to a boil. Throw in the greens of the ramps and let boil for 1 minute. Drain and immediately place ramps in an ice bath so that it retains the bright green color. You can also just be lazy like us and place a bunch of ice cubes on top of the drained ramps and rinse with running cold water. Either way works. Just get the temp down on it fast.

Place the blanched ramps in a blender or food processor along with 1 cup of milk. Blend/puree until very smooth and uniform. If you want to get your gravy super smooth and have a tamis or chinois, you might want to run the puree through it. Jason’s been itching for one b/c he’s the sauce guy in the family and either one of these instruments would get his sauces much smoother than just the blender alone.

In a small saucepan (we used the same one we blanched the greens in) over medium heat, melt the butter and flour together and whisk to create a roux. Cook the roux for about a minute so your gravy won’t have a raw flour taste to it.

Lower the heat and slowly add the remaining cup of milk. Whisk constantly to break up any lumps that may form from the roux. Add the ramp puree and whisk to combine. Let sit over the lowest heat possible while you prepare the rest of the dish.

At this point, the potatoes should be fork tender. Smash the potatoes with a meat mallet or potato masher to break open the skin and flatten the potatoes slightly. This will add to the surface area touching the heat which will contribute to getting the potatoes crispier. Crispy = yummy.

Add the whites of the ramps as well as the shiitake and toss everything together. If you used a cast iron skillet, you can turn the heat off. The residual heat from the cast iron skillet should cook the ramps and mushrooms perfectly if you keep stirring. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Plate the hash and spoon the ramp gravy over top.

Jason made sunny side up eggs for us to put over top of the plated hash but scrambled, poached, over easy, etc… would work also. Top eggs with plenty of gravy. I didn’t take a picture of that part simply b/c it wasn’t as pretty after the second topping of gravy.

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This dish was by far one of the best breakfast dishes we have ever made. From the ramp gravy to Jason’s homemade sausage, every element of the dish complemented amazingly well. I was a bit apprehensive that the ramp gravy would have a bite to it like but the blanching process mellowed it out and the resulting gravy was subtly sweet. This played out perfectly with the homemade sausage that was both sweet due to the pure maple syrup and salty at the same time.

The dish took us about 45 minutes to make and was well worth every minute and effort we put in. We are so proud of this dish that we plan on serving it at the next (and first) brunch gathering we have. Anybody wanna join us?

Homemade Breakfast Sausage

Another post from our wonderful guest writer, JLH v1!

When Jacquie and I got married we had tons of gift certificates from generous friends and family to many different stores. Now, as I’m sure you can gather from this blog, we had no choice but to spend the credit on foodstuffs. Fortunately, Jacquie let me get a few things I wanted too – a waffle iron, a mini deep fryer, and a meat grinder with sausage making attachment. I have been grinding meat for my burgers since day one and though I have yet to use the stuffing tube, I have finally completed the grey area between those two and made breakfast sausage.

Surprisingly, sausage is simple to make – it’s pork and spices. That’s it. After doing a little research I decided that breakfast sausage was the only one for me. There are of course tons of different sausages out there but I love breakfast sausage the best, or maybe it’s tied with chorizo. That might be the first one I encase. In any case, Jacquie will link to the awesome breakfast-dinner in a separate post so here is my recipe for breakfast sausage.

1 lb pork chops*
1 lb pork butt*
2 tbsp maple syrup (the purer the better)
2 tsp ground sage
2 tsp kosher salt salt
2 tsp white pepper (all the recipes I saw suggested black pepper, but I like white pepper better)
½ tsp marjoram
1 tbsp brown sugar
pinch of cloves

I froze the pork then defrosted it most of the way so when I chopped it up they were more like ice cubes. That actually turned out to be a good strategy because as I ground it up, it didn’t get too warm (though my hands did get very cold). Anywho, I ground the pork, mixed in the herbs all at once, then ground it again. Covered it all with some plastic wrap and let it refrigerate overnight.

By the way, the * is to note that next time I would mix in a fattier cut of meat or throw in some pure pork lard. Even though the flavor was spot on to any respectable breakfast sausage, it turned out a bit drier than I like.

Ramp pizza

I must confess that I do not make my own pizza dough. It’s not because I haven’t heard of Peter Reinhart’s much-praised dough or am just too lazy (well not 100% because of that at least). I haven’t given it much thought because fresh pizza dough is so readily available to me at Iavarone Bros, which I’ve given love to in the past.

IB makes their dough fresh and freezes them in plastic bags just waiting to be taken home by pizza-lovers like me. Their dough is a dream to work with once thawed and it produces a pizza with the taste and consistency as those my local pizzeria. It’s what I would strive to make mine like so why not just focus on all of the yummy toppings and leave the dough to the experts?

That is exactly what I do and for $1.50 a bag, I keep a few stocked in my freezer so I can pull one out before I leave for work in the morning when I feel a pizza craving coming on. I prepare the toppings when I get home and a fresh “gourmet” pizza will be ready for us within an hour.

I knew that once we brought home the delicate ramps from the farmer’s market, they were destined to be a topping on pizza. I didn’t want to overpower the flavor of the ramps by using heavy flavors like red sauce or pepperoni so I opted for a white pie and used prosciutto to add a delicate saltiness.
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Ramp and Ricotta Pizza

serves two for lunch if you also have a salad alongside

1 prepared pizza dough (I try to flip mine around to make it as round as possible but I wasn’t patient enough to let the dough come to room temperature on Sunday so it was harder to make into a circle. I gave up and made it rectangular instead. It came out to be a perfectly respectable thin crust 18×8 pizza.)
1 cup of fresh whole-milk ricotta mixed with 8-10 cloves of garlic confit
4 ounces of fresh mozzarella, thiny sliced or shredded (I used smoked mozz because I love the flavor of it)
2 ounces of prosciutto
1 bunch of ramps, whites and greens chopped, with a handful of the greens reserved
fresh cracked black pepper
extra-virgin olive oil
handful of basil

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees with an oven rack on the lowest shelf. Set a pizza stone/upside down baking sheet on the rack to heat along with the oven.

Drizzle olive oil on another baking sheet that your pizza can fit on. Place the prepared pizza dough on the pan and start assembling the pizza.

Generously and evenly spread - washed fingers are the best tool for this - the ricotta/garlic mixture onto the dough and go almost to the edge. Since there’s nothing really liquidy going onto the dough, you don’t have to worry too much about any leaking that could happen over the edges.

Then distribute the smoked mozz ramps, and slices of prosciutto over the pizza. Finish by drizzling on some olive oil and sprinkling some fresh black pepper over the whole thing.

Place the pan that the pizza’s been assembled on directly onto the pizza stone/baking sheet that’s been heating in the oven. Bake for 10 minutes and then slide the pizza directly onto the pizza stone/bottom baking sheet to crisp up the bottom. At this point, sprinkle the reserved ramps on top. That way you get two layers of ramp flavor: really cooked and just slightly cooked.

Bake for another 5-10 minutes depending on how toasted you like your pizza/toppings. Take out of the oven and tear basil leaves over the whole thing. Let it rest for a few minutes if you can resist and then slice and enjoy!

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The sky’s the limit when it comes to toppings when you make pizza in the comfort of your own home. Nobody will judge you if you make them w/ anchovies

After having been preparing pizza obsessively for almost a year, I have some bits of advice on how to make a successful pizza at home.

• If you are making a red sauce, make sure that it is reduced to beyond what would be appropriate for pasta. This is so that it won’t release too much water as the pizza cooks in the oven.
• Be sparing with the toppings.
• It’s best to use toppings that are already fully cooked. Meats and vegetables release water as they cook so if you put them on raw, it won’t be a good scene.
• Make sure all ingredients are at room temperature so everything heats up evenly. This way you won’t have cheese that isn’t melted yet while your crust is nicely browned.
• Get a good pizza cutter/wheel so the cheese/topping won’t drag as you cut your pizza

Wildwood Bourbons

Today’s post is from our guest writer, the original JLH!:

I usually don’t feel the need to add onto Jacquie’s restaurant reviews, partly because we discuss most of the stuff over dinner and partly because I proof her postings so I subtly inject my comments that way. This time however, if I had injected my comments into her latest review it would have been far too obvious because Jacquie cares little about alcohol.

As she mentioned briefly, Jacquie ordered a mint julep and it was by far one of the best I’ve had. Mint Juleps are simple in practice -

1. Prepare a mint simple syrup the night before by boiling 1 cup of water and 1.5 cups of sugar together until the sugar dissolves. Throw in about 15-20 sprigs of mint and let it chill in the refrigerator overnight so the syrup is infused with mint flavor.
2. When preparing the drink, add a few mint leaves to a rocks glass (or stainless steel cup if you’re authentic), add a quick splash of bourbon and then muddle. Add a large handful of crushed ice, and then add a 2:1 ratio of bourbon to simple syrup until the glass is filled. A traditional garnish of fresh mint sprig is optional.

- but delicate in execution. If you think it’s easy you can try one of Wildwood’s and then compare it to mine, which for some reason turns out to taste just like bourbon over ice with a little mint flavor. It’s going to take much more practice for me to get it right.

So anyway, the mint julep at Wildwood was surprisingly delicious. As for the rest of the bourbons, well, the list was excellent. I hate saying that one bourbon is better than another, or pick a favorite, mostly because bourbons are not meant to be created equal.

If I was pushed to pick a favorite though, I’d say that Maker’s Mark is it because of it’s versatility in my drinking world. Maker’s Mark is excellent served neat, with Coke, or in a Manhattan, which are my three favorite drinks. I would go so far to say that a Manhattan with something other than Maker’s is not a Manhattan. Side note: Babbo has the best Manhattan in the city – I enjoyed it so much that I called them for the recipe and served their version on my wedding day.

But Maker’s obviously isn’t the best on the market – in fact I love Hirsch and Pappy much more in regards purely to flavor – but you’ll be paying 3x as much for these upper echelon bourbons. Regarding Wildwood’s selection, I was impressed because:

• It had a few things I love (i.e. Hirsch, Pappy and Four Roses) giving it my stamp of approval
• It didn’t list Jack Daniels under the bourbons
• Most importantly, it had selections I had never heard of, which is a rare but excellent happenstance

At this particular dinner I chose to try the Parker Heritage, which turned out to be a whole new bourbon experience. Honestly, I can’t begin to properly review bourbons with my limited knowledge, but I can say that the Parker’s Heritage isn’t for the faint of heart. I would never introduce someone to bourbons using this one, but for someone that enjoys scotches or bourbons or even finer rums, I would tell them to try it. It turns out that not only is this limited edition, but it’s cask strength, which gives it the extra umph that I respect.

By the way, that extra “umph” is why I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it to newbies. It’s an intense combination of flavors that may be a bit much – the best I can liken it too is shoving tons of dark chocolate in your mouth. Not because the bourbon was chocolaty, but because as wonderful as choclate is, shoving mounds of it your mouth is a sensory overload and can be too much for novices. For the record, I love that sensory overload.

Anyhow, I’d suggest using Jacquie’s excellent recommendation for the BBQ and foodstuffs, but if you want my opinion on which bourbon to order, just leave a comment and I’ll get back to you.

And now I leave you with a picture of the mint julep I made while watching the Kentucky Derby, in none other than a fleur de lis rocks glass.

Union Square Greenmarket

As most of you crazy people who follow my blog know, we have been a Grand Army Plaza (GAP) Greenmarket family for a while now. However, after we got a speeding ticket on the Jackie Robinson (which has an unreasonable speed limit of 40 mph), we decided to try out the Union Square (USQ) Greenmarket this past weekend. We had strolled through it before and knew that there were more vendors and variety than at GAP but for some reason, just always stuck to Brooklyn

However after the ease with which we got to the market as well as the bounty we were greeted with, I can safely say we’ve been converted. Bye bye Brooklyn, hello NYC.*

Follow me on a tour of some of the things we bought and saw –

The short seasoned and much foodie-coveted ramps were available in excess when we got to the market at 9:30. I spotted at least three stands selling these yummy wild leeks. Naturally I bought from the stand that had Batali-Bastianich establishment stickers on their sign. I use them the next day on top of a wonderful pizza which I’ll share with you all in another post.

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The mushroom stall at USQ is a lot more “professional” looking than at GAP and surprisingly less expensive as well. I was disappointed they didn’t have any maitake but we picked up some beautiful shiitake and creminis.

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We stopped by the tuber/onion stand and picked up some Jerusalem artichokes (aka sunchokes), which I love to order off of menus but have never attempted to make myself. We also couldn’t resist the cute red cipollini onions which are destined to be braised and dressed with syrupy reduced balsamic vinegar. Yes, I stick to reusable canvas/cloth totes and avoid using plastic or even paper bags as much as possible. This is why you can quite frequently find me doing a juggling/balancing act at the market.

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Random pretty potted cacti and flowers. There are TONS of plant/flower vendors at this market. I’m looking forward to picking something up from one next week.

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MmMMm… I have an obsession/infatuation with fresh herbs. Look at that sea of basil and forest of rosemary. I can smell them in my head

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Jason lives for farm fresh eggs and we loved that we could pick out our own here. Can’t beat interactivity

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This is me waiting in line to pick up some hydroponic tomatoes. We’re really looking forward for the heirloom and summer tomatoes to come into season. We missed the entire season last year as a consequence of a silly little thing called our wedding. Well no excuses this year! I’m ready and waiting!

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We didn’t pick up cookies from here but Jason had to take a picture of the sign anyway. They also have an apple cider donut vendor but to be honest, the offerings didn’t look as appetizing as those sold at GAP.

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Here’s me with my super organized money skills buying milk from Ronnybrook Farms. The first time you buy a bottle of milk it’s $3.00 but when you bring back the empty glass, it’s $2.00. Quite a bargain!

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Some pretty pink rhubarb which irrationally intimidates me. Maybe I’ll pick some up next time to attempt a rhubarb pie. Maybe.

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* At this point, I want to take a minute and point out some irony. I used to live not two steps from Union Square during college and never once thought about going to the Greenmarket. Then I lived on the UES which is a quick express train ride down to Union Square and STILL never went to the Greenmarket. Now I live a B&T ride away and look forward to going back as soon as I leave. Well better late than never I guess…

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