Baby Back Ribs - Smithfields

It's been years since I've cooked with charcoal. Ever since living in a condominium, cooking with charcoal is prohibited on the patio due to regulations and fire codes. I was able to brush up on that this weekend at my brother's and boy was it easy and fun.

I went to pick up some Smithfield Baby Back ribs from Walmart. They are hand trimmed and had a good fat ratio which is important so it doesn't dry out. I've learned that Smithfield Ribs doesn't contain and added hormones or steroids which is appreciated.

I've decided to make an Asian 5 spice rub with a simple hoisin glaze. I've honestly used this recipe many times before on pork belly in the oven, so I was extremely excited to try it on the grill. It was really hot today (Sunday), but luckily, the only time that was really spent in the sun was throwing these babies on.

The recipe is simple

• 1 package of Smithfield Baby Back Ribs 
• 2 Tablespoon shaoxing wine
• 1 Tablespoon 5 spice
• 1 Tablespoon Himalayan Pink Salt
• 1 Teaspoon white pepper

Glaze:

• 1/3 cup Hoisin Sauce
• 2/3 cup of Honey

The pork is first patted dry. The shaoxing wine is then rubbed all over before combining the dried ingredients to be rubbed all over. The glaze is then mixed together in a bowl taking 2 tablespoons of it to rub all over the ribs. I let the rack rest for 2 hours room temp before throwing it on the grill.

Once the charcoal turned semi white with the flames gone, I threw down the ribs to get a crust before closing up the vents to lower the temperature. The ribs were then cooked for an hour.

You can of course cook them for much longer, low and slow, but they were fine. Since there was a good amount of fat on these racks, it kept them nice and juicy without drying out. At this point, I left the lid off and started to glaze the pork with the remaining hoisin sauce. This will set for another 5 minutes flipping occasionally before removing off the grill. You want to keep an eye on them because the sugar will cause the ribs to burn.

The ribs were topped off with sesame seeds and green onions.

Chopped up for easy finger licking enjoyment.

The ribs were definitely affordable at under $10 a rack. SO convenient since they were hand trimmed already and juicy so I don't need to worry about brining or cooking for a few hours.

I know these are only sold at Walmart, but make sure your Walmart has a meat section. 

Enjoy!

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Bacon Jam Burger with Garlic Aioli

I've heard of bacon jams almost around the same time I discovered chocolate covered bacon. Bacon is everywhere and I haven't met one person that denies it making all food that much better. Even it's own fat can make a dish delicious. Bacon is also extremely common, now, to be used on not only savory dishes, but sweets. I discovered the existence of "The Bacon Jams" a few weeks ago and was in total dilemma on what to make. But, it wasn't long before I decided to make a Bacon Jam Burger with homemade Garlic Aioli sauce.

I went to the butcher and requested some chuck meat be grounded up for my recipe. I didn't want to use the pre-ground meat packaged and ready to go. I find a weird taste in those. I'm not sure why, but I am always pleased with ground chuck.

This burger was pretty amazing and the bacon jam stuff is so addicting that it made the burger utterly umami. (See below for video or click HERE).

Beef patty
1 pound of ground chuck meat.
Salt and Pepper, olive oil

Grilled onions
1 white onion diced not too small.
Bread: sesame bun

Garlic Aioli:
1/2 cup of mayonnaise
5 cloves of garlic grated
1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt
3 cracks of black pepper (optional)
Mix and let rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

The ground beef is just lightly compacted until the shape is perfectly formed to the side of your liking. I learned the trick to press slightly to create a small well. This will plump back up as it cooks, and normally my indicator to flip the burger. I don't season the meat when mixing, only on top and bottom.

The white onions are cooked in the same pan as the beef. Season lightly with salt and pepper and let it cook until it starts getting caramelized.

The bread is lightly toasted. After this, start building your burger to your liking. Some garlic aioli, bacon jam, burger patty, grilled onions, tomato, avocado and arugula for your own gourmet burger at home!

Thank you,

Daisy

Seafood Sundays

I've decided to have a seafood feast during a Sunday afternoon. There are times that life gets so fast pace, we take for granted all that our home provides. It not just a place for shelter and rest, but it's also a place of gathering together sharing unforgettable memories. I've been wanting to do this for so long. Just buy tons of seafood, cook them up, drink tons of wine, and have cigars by the balcony with a glass of Hibiki 17.

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I got these lovely Pacific oysters from the Asian market at 89 cents each. I wanted to get these, because they bake extremely well which is what I wanted to do with them. I just give them a quick scrub to remove any dirt and lay them to drain in a basket. I covered the counter with butcher block before shucking these bad boys to make clean up hassle free (totally recommended).

For my seafood feast, I made some compound butter the night before. Just 2 sticks of butter (8oz) set at room temperature so it can soften. I minced up a whole bunch of garlic and parsley to mix into the butter followed with salt to taste. I rolled this back up in saran wrap and left it in the fridge overnight for the flavors to marry. I used this to bake with my oysters and to cook into my black mussels.

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Sliced baguette with olive oil for mussels.

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Shrimp seasoned with salt and pepper

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These were the black mussels. In the same pan where the shrimp was cooking, I added a big pad of my compound butter to deglaze the pan. Mussels are added along with a lot more compound butter (trust me, it's good). When everything is started to get all bubbly and beautiful, I poured in about 1/2-3/4 cup of white wine. Season the broth to taste as you go. The crostini will be used to dip into this sauce.

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The beautiful seafood platter. Oysters had a heaping teaspoon of compound butter. Lay a foil on top of the tray and bake on the top rack at 400 for about 20 minutes.

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My brother and his fiance prepped some Geoduck Sashimi

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Mussels topped with parsley.

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The 2 wines paired for the seafood. Stag's Leap has a more complex, dry, flavor - a bit herbaceous with hits of apple/pear. The Groth was sweeter and smoother with stronger notes of apple/pear. These 2 were great pairings, and I honestly recommend you trying both of these Sauvignon Blancs to figure out which one you liked the most. I say, it really depends on your mood.

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There were a total of 6 of us. Everything went to plan and ended with some comforting flavors such as coconut pineapple with berries.

Our night day didn't end there. We decided to head over to Costco to pick up some steaks for dinner. Cooked that up with some asparagus and guzzled on some red wine... and the boys went out to get more cigars.. OH and we had a coffee cake for dinner.

That's all we did I promise. So.. on that note, I recommend all of you to visit your butcher and the man at the seafood market. Grab fun ingredients. Doesn't have to be fancy. Keep it simple, but get an abundance of seafood because the satisfaction it comes with it is unforgettable.

Grilled Chicken Salad

I was, and still am, very into fennel. I didn't always appreciate the flavors though, but when I had it again somewhere that prepared it well, I fell in love almost instantly. 

I made a simple grilled chicken summer plate because I was trying to find simple party dishes where people could pick at. 

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It's really simple. I just seasoned the chicken with my favorite Lawry's garlic salt and cracked black pepper. I sliced the zucchini and salted them to draw out the water, dab it dry with a paper towel, then season lightly with salt and pepper. The fennel I just sliced and roasted with olive oil, salt and pepper at 450 till tender and brown. I also grilled some onions just because I had some. 

That's it! super simple, but tons of flavor. And if you like, grab your favorite caesar dressing and drizzle on top.. everywhere. I like the the super garlicky - anchovy flavored ones. With extra cracked black pepper on top. One of my favorite go tos and takes NO time.