Tag Archives: Sunday Supper Series

Fall-Off-the-Bone Ribs

Posted in Sunday Supper Series by

I am a HUGE ribs fan. We eat them at least once a month in the summer following my dad’s technique for slow braising and then char-grilling. There really isn’t a more flavorful, tender piece of meat in my book.

Luke woke up early on Saturday and picked up two gorgeous racks of pork ribs at the farmer’s market. This is a good 5 lbs of ribs, which embarrassingly enough, we finished between three of us!

I like my ribs spicy, so I made a great rub that added some zing then spread it all over the uncooked ribs.

Here’s the rub recipe adapted from a paleo blog I read:

– 3 Tbsp paprika
– 1 Tbsp onion powder
– 1 Tbsp garlic powder
– 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
– 1/2 tsp cinnamon
– lots of fresh ground pepper
– 2 tblsp olive oil

I put the rubbed ribs in the fridge to let the flavors sit while I made some homemade BBQ sauce. I can’t stand how sweet store-bought BBQ sauce is, so I decided to make a sugar-free sauce myself from a recipe I found on Son of Grok, another paleo blog I follow.

This sauce is super simple and tastes amazing. There’s so much depth and spiciness to it and it has a thick texture to really coat whatever meat you use it with.

To make it, just combine all the ingredients below and simmer for 25 minutes until thick.

Ingredients:
– 1 6oz can tomato paste (preferable organic)
– 1 to 1.5 cups of beef stock (look for low or no salt added)
– 3 Cloves Garlic minced
– .5 of an onion minced
– 2 tablespoons dijon mustard
– 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
– 1 tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)
– 1 teaspoon sea salt
– 2 tablespoons chili powder

Yum! This sauce has quickly become a staple in our fridge. I highly recommend you try it out.

So now that my ribs are rubbed and sauced, I placed them on a 1 inch deep cookie sheet and wrapped them in foil.

Then I baked them in a 325 degree oven for 2 1/2 to 3 hours, until the bones are clearly showing. I love this method of cooking ribs because the meat gets so incredibly tender and the house smells amazing.

To finish them off, Luke fired up the grill to medium/high heat and charred the ribs for 5-7 minutes.

I served the ribs with spicy green beans (cayenne pepper) and sweet potato fries.

This was an AWESOME meal to end the weekend. My mouth it watering just thinking about it!

Cherry Chocolate Ice Cream

Posted in Sunday Supper Series by

This Saturday, Luke and I made our monthly trip to the farmer’s market to pick up some butter, cream, meat, veggies and fruit. I sampled some of these sun-ripened cherries and knew I had to whip something up with them.

They were ridiculously sweet, soft and juicy, all perfect requirements for some out-of-this-world ice cream! It helped that we also picked up some amazingly thick, creamy heavy cream from a local dairy farm.

You really cannot beat fresh farmer’s market produce.

So back to the cherry/chocolate ice cream. This recipe is super simple to make and resulted in what was seriously the best ice cream I’ve ever had.

The only gadgety thing you need is an ice cream maker. If you don’t have one, I suggest you invest in one immediately! Homemade ice cream is worlds better than store bought.

To make this recipe, you will need the following ingredients:

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 1/2 cups pitted ripe sweet cherries (from about 3/4 lb cherries)
  • 3/4 cup milk
  • 1 3/4 cups cream
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 pinch salt
  • 4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped fine

    • Start by pitting your cherries. This can be a bit tricky if you don’t have a cherry pitter, but I used the end of a chop stick instead and it worked well.

    Next, heat up your milk, one cup cream, cherries and sugar in a saucepan over medium heat. Once it starts steaming, lower the heat to low and let it sit for 15 minutes.

    Then run the mixture through a blender to puree together. Pour the mixture into a large bowl and place in the fridge for a couple hours until it’s cooled throughout.

    While the concoction cools, chop up some dark chocolate (I used 85% cacao bars from Trader Joe’s) and about 10 cherries so you’ll have some yummy cherry chunks mixed into the ice cream.

    Remove the liquid from the fridge and add the remaining 3/4 cup cream. Pour it into your ice cream maker (make sure you DON’T add the chocolate and cherry chunks at this point. That comes later.) and let it run for 25 minutes.

    Your ice cream will be very hard to resist at this point, so you’re best to not even taste it!

    It should be soft so you can easily scoop it into an air tight container. Fold the chocolate and cherry chunks into the ice cream and place it in the freezer for 1-2 hours.

    When you’re ready to dig in, let it thaw for 5-10 minutes so it’s easily scoop-able. Then just enjoy the awesomeness that is cherry/chocolate ice cream!

    Roasted Chicken & Goat Cheese

    Posted in Sunday Supper Series by

    Last night Luke and I were craving some goat cheese. If you haven’t eaten this type of cheese before, you are missing out! I’ve had friends who were picky eaters try it and fall in love with it’s savory taste and soft texture.

    Typically I’ll stuff chicken breasts with it and top them off with a basil leaf, but for some reason a breast of chicken didn’t appeal to me. I decided to use a whole rotisserie chicken from the grocery store. This is really my favorite way to eat this meat because it’s so tender, juicy and flavorful. Plus you get a ton of food with no hassle.

    IMG_0123[1]

    Luke beat me with the better half of the wish-bone!

    IMG_0122[1]

    I seasoned the chicken with a little oregano and heated it up in olive oil. Then I added some organic (5 grams of sugar or less too) marinara sauce and ample bits of fresh goats cheese.

    IMG_0124[1]

    I baked it for about 10 minutes at 325 until the goat cheese was soft and the marinara was bubbling. We paired ours with red cabbage sautéed in a lot of butter and sea salt.

    IMG_0125[1]

    This is a SUPER easy preparation of chicken that was incredibly flavorful. It would be perfect for any busy weeknight.

    IMG_0126[1]

    I hope you all have a great week! I’ll be posted about some fabulous weddings I recently attended later this week. :)

    Lamb Loin Chops and Spaghetti Squash

    Posted in Sunday Supper Series by

    We recently bought a Groupon for $20 for $40 of groceries at Fox & Obel, and decided to use it on some really good cuts of meat. We landed on the lamb loin chops, which certainly did not disappoint.

    I did a really simple preparation of the lamb using ingredients we had around the apartment starting with a garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper “rub.”

    IMG_0595

    I then seared the lamb in some olive oil for two minutes on each side, until the outside was brown and charred. After setting the meat aside to rest, I added some more olive oil, minced garlic and onions – making sure to scrape the bottom of the pan to get up any of the left behind fat.

    IMG_0597

    Once the onions were cooked, I added a bit more olive oil, water and a pinch of flour to thicken up the sauce. Then I returned the chops to the pan, coverd and simmered on low heat for 30-40 minutes.

    While the meat was cooking, I worked on the spaghetti squash. If you haven’t seen this vegetable before, it’s usually found in the produce section near the other squash. Here’s what is looks like…

    IMG_0593

    IMG_0592

    Cooking spaghetti squash is really simple. Just cut it in half and cook (with the inside part on the greased pan) for 40 minutes. Once cooled, take a fork and scrape the inside of the squash so you get “spaghetti.”

    IMG_0599

    The shredded squash tastes surprisingly a LOT like real pasta. With just 42 calories per cup it is so much healthier than spaghetti. You can cook the squash with any sauce, toppings or seasonings you like. I chose crispy pancetta, butter and plain old S&P.

    I had to include one food-porn shot of the pancetta cooking. YUMMMM

    IMG_0601

    The results were perfectly tender, juicy lamb and “al dente” spaghetti squash with lots of savory, salty pancetta. I only wish there was more meat on the lamb! I could have eated it all night.

    IMG_0602
    IMG_0604

    I think I found my favorite vegetable…spaghetti squash is awesome! Have you guys tried it before?