BBQ RIBS (or "barby-yaki")

Even though it's only the middle of July--should be just the middle of summer, the kids here in AZ go back to school the first part of August! Whaaaaat? Seems like that's a gypped summer to me! There should still be at least another month of swimming, late nights and BBQs. I love BBQs.  Just the word makes me excited! Especially by the pool with watermelon and kids running everywhere. 

These pork ribs are so delicious and always have turned out "fall off the bone" for me. I helped cook for our church's girls camp and we did these ribs for one of our meals this year. When we were purchasing the ribs at Sam's Club,the clerk suggested we use Yoshidas Gourmet Sauce mixed with BBQ sauce.  He called it "barby-yaki".   I was a little skeptical that the girls might not be that fond of them--ribs sort of seem like "guy" food, you know. Well, was I EVER wrong. There was not even a sliver left! Those girls ate every single one and wanted more. I felt bad we ran out--and we had at least 3 ribs for each girl!  They are easy but take a little planning ahead.

BBQ RIBS

Ingredients – Or use your favorite rub

4 lbs pork ribs 

3/4 cup light brown sugar

1 teaspoon hickory smoke salt(I have just used regular sea salt)

1 tablespoon paprika

1 tablespoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon ground red chile pepper (optional--I use)

Mix all rub ingredients together and set aside

Heat your BBQ grill to low and grill the bare rib slab for 6-7 minutes on each side. This is just to give them the BBQ flavor.

Preheat oven to 300.  Remove from grill and let cool a bit--so you can handle with your hands. When ribs are cool enough to handle rub the mixed rub ingredients well, all over the ribs.  Wrap loosely in foil and place on a baking sheet. Bake for approximately 3 hours.  Check ribs to make sure they are tender but not mushy.  Remove from oven and let cool a bit.

Cut ribs into serving sized portions of 2-3 ribs. Arrange on a broiler pan and brush with a mixture of:

2 cups favorite BBQ Sauce (Sweet Baby Ray's is our favorite)

1 cup Yoshida Gourmet Sauce (teriyaki--original flavor--Sam's Club or Costco or even grocery has now)

 Broil on high for one or two minutes until sauce is cook and bubbly and begins to carmelize.  Turn the ribs over and brush additional sauce and do the same. Be generous with the sauce before you broil.  Save extra for adding later.

Dr. Pepper Pulled Pork

I admit, I'm a total Dr. Pepper addict, so when I came across this recipe (found at Crockin' Girls) I knew it had to be good!  It definitely did not disappoint and what is even better is I didn't have to heat up my kitchen because you  make it in your crock pot. :)

Ingredients

• 1 Bone-in Pork Shoulder
• Seasonings for pork (Season salt, garlic powder, pepper etc)
• 3/4 Cup BBQ Sauce
• 1 Can Dr. Pepper

Directions

1. Step One

   Season the pork (the night before or the day of) and place it in the slow-cooker. I used Lawry's Season salt, pepper, dried onion flakes, cayenne pepper & some minced garlic.

2. Step Two

   Then add the BBQ sauce and soda, and turn the heat to low.

3. Step Three

   Let it cook for about eight hours, or until you return home.

4. Step Four

   Shred it with two forks, remove any skin/bone/gross bits, and let the remaining meat soak up all the sauce.

I served it with homemade rolls and veggies with ranch.  Hawaiian sweet rolls would be really good too.

 

Julia Child's White Sandwich Bread

I had this genius idea that I wanted to start making my own bread instead of buying it from the store, but the trick was finding a really good/easy recipe that I could make every week.  After SEVERAL failed attempts at some recipes, I tried making this recipe (which I found over at Dinner With Julie) and it was super easy and super yummy.  The first time I made it, we noticed that it was really missing something....it needed more sugar, so the next time I made it, I added 4 TBS and it was perfect.  So now, I guess you can say that we are homemade bread snobs. :)

Julia Child’s White Sandwich Bread

2 1/2 cups warm water
1 Tbsp. active dry yeast
4-5 Tbsp. sugar
7 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. salt
1/4 cup butter, softened

Pour 1/2 cup of the water into a bowl (preferably that of a stand mixer) and stir in the yeast and sugar. Let sit for 5 minutes, unit foamy. (If the yeast doesn’t do anything, toss it out and buy fresh yeast.)

Add the rest of the water and 3 1/2 cups of the flour. Stir until well blended. Add the rest of the flour, the salt and butter and stir with the dough hook (or by hand) until well combined and shaggy.

Continue to knead (I let the dough hook go for about 8 minutes, poking it down once in awhile) until it’s smooth and elastic. You could do this by hand, too. If you used the dough hook, turn the dough out onto the countertop and knead a few times to make sure it’s evenly smooth.

Shape it into a ball and put it back into the bowl. Cover with a tea towel and let it sit for 1 – 1 1/2 hours, until it’s doubled in size.

Butter two 4″x8″ loaf pans. Punch the dough down (love that part!) and pat each piece into a rectangle that’s about 9″x12″ – or a bit bigger than a standard piece of paper.

Starting at a short end, fold it in thirds, like a letter. Place seam side down in the loaf pans, tucking the ends in. Cover with the tea towel again and leave them for an hour, until they puff right up out of the pan.

Preheat the oven to 375°F and put the rack in the middle of the oven. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until the loaves are honey brown. Immediately turn the loaves out of their pans and onto a rack to cool.

Makes 2 loaves.

Starbucks Banana Walnut Bread

I had some bananas sitting on my counter that just kept getting more ripe by the day and I finally got around to making some banana bread.  I went looking on Pinterest to find a yummy new recipe and I think I found one that I will keep making over and over.  I found the recipe on Heidi Bakes and the struesel center she uses is beyond amazing.  I don't think I'll ever make banana bread without it!

Starbucks Banana Walnut Bread

• 3 ripe bananas, peeled and mashed
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons buttermilk or milk
• 1 cup chopped walnuts

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees and grease one loaf pan
2. Mix sugar, oil, egg, vanilla, buttermilk, and bananas in a mixing bowl. Combine completely.
3. Add in flour, soda, and salt, and 1/2 cup of the walnuts.
4. Pour into the pan, sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup walnuts over the top of the batter slightly pressing in the walnuts.
5. Bake for 45 to 60 minutes. Use a tester to check if it is cooked internally.
6. Cool and remove from the pan.

Struesel Layer
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
(these are approximate amounts. add more or less struesel, depending on your taste)

Mix together & sprinkle the mixture over a thin layer of batter in a prepared loaf pan. Cover with additional batter and bake.

The best homemade ice cream. Ever.

Whenever we get together with Bo's family, it is always mandatory that my brother in law make his famous homemade ice cream.  Nothing beats homemade ice cream, but this recipe takes it to a whole new level.  You will seriously be the talk of the party if you make this for your next get together. :)

For 1 gallon of ice cream:

3 cups milk
2 cups sugar
1 large box instant vanilla pudding
1 tsp vanilla
1 quart 1/2 & 1/2
1 pint heavy whipping cream

Mix all together and then add what ever flavoring you are wanting to make (i.e. 4 bananas & walnuts or 1 1/2 cartons of frozen sweetened strawberries. We also love the mint oreos!)

Pack ice around the canister and add rock salt to the ice and let the machine work its magic.

Enjoy!!

MEXICAN STREET CORN

It's summer and that means BBQ time--and here in AZ that means 100+ temps--today 115, no joke!! However, we endure this heat so we can brag about our weather from Oct-May.  No shoveling or sliding off the roads!

This is a great variation to the normal corn-on-the cob and can be done on the grill or in the oven under the broiler.  You can even boil the corn first if you don't want to grill it, then just slather on the mixture.  Delicious either way. My daughter-in-law found this recipe and it reminded me of the street corn I ate as I grew up as a child (in Mexico).  I know there are lots of you who don't like mayonnaise so there is an option to use Mexican "crema". You can buy it in most grocery stores--it's a slightly sweeter version of sour cream.  Also, the Mexican "cotija" cheese is sometimes hard to find--it's crumbly and salty, thus you can use feta or goat. I use goat--it's a little milder.  

6 ears of fresh, sweet corn, shucked and silk removed
1 T. olive oil
1/2 c. mayonnaise or Mexican crema
1/2 cube softened butter (1/4 c.)
2 T. minced fresh cilantro--I use more
1 oz. of crumbled feta, goat or Mexican cotija cheese
1 T. fresh lime juice
1/2 clove fresh garlic, minced very fine
1 t. mild red chili powder

If grilling the corn, place on your outdoor grill and cook just until done and lightly browned.  If broiling in oven, place rack 5 inches from top broiler and coat all the ears of corn lightly with the 1 T. olive oil.  Broil for 10 minutes, turn and broil for 10 minutes more, just until beginning to lightly brown.  If boiling corn, add to boiling water for 5 minutes and remove.  

Mix mayo (or crema) softened butter, cilantro, cheese, lime juice, garlic and chili powder together in a bowl.  I actually pulsed all this in a food processor for just a few minutes.  Brush onto hot corn with a pastry brush.  Serve with extra lime wedges if you like.  So delicious!! 

STRAWBERRY MANGO JAM

I have more than one obsession in life and mangoes are one of them. I could eat them on anything --well almost, I think. Strawberry mango is a great combination.  This recipe makes 8 half pints or 4 pints. I find that making jam in smaller batches works better than trying to make a lot at once. I have never had great success trying to do too much at a time.

I used fresh strawberries, but you can use frozen (unsweetened) if you don't have fresh. Just let them thaw--and use the juice. 

I like the smaller champagne variety mango the best. They are sweeter and less stringy. You can also use frozen mango if you don't have fresh. I went to a local "farmer's market" type store today for strawberries (3# for $1) and they happened to have these mangoes 5/$1. I was so excited and went a little crazy with buying strawberries and mangoes. Then I had to come home and take care of all of it.  It was just right ripe and wasn't waiting until tomorrow.  

INGREDIENTS and UTENSILS

Large pan big enough to hold 6 half pint jars or 4 pint jars
  (This will be filled with water and jars submerged and heated to almost boiling to sterilize them)
Small saucepan
Canning rings for jars
Canning lids for jars
Tongs for removing hot jars
Clean, wet cloth for wiping rims of jars after filling
Large dutch oven size pan for cooking jam

Place clean jars in large pan and fill with water enough to cover jars. Place on stove and bring to just almost boiling--heat the water slowly to prevent jars from breaking. Keep the water at just a simmer while you cook your jam.

Place clean rings and canning lids in small saucepan and bring to a simmer--turning down heat after water simmers.  The hot water will soften the red rubber seal that will seal the jam for storage. Keep lids and rings also at a simmer while fruit is cooking.

You're now ready to cook your fruit.

To large pan big enough to hold 5.5 cups pureed fruit and 5.5 cups of sugar add:

2 cups mashed mango (I pulse in food processor leaving small chunks)
2.5 cups mashed strawberry (same as above)
*Note:  If you are using frozen fruit, thaw first and mash, blend or process the same, using juice.

Add 1 1/3 boxes of Sure Jell (1/3 box is 5 teaspoons--random, I know)

Stir well to dissolve Sure Jell and bring fruit and Sure Jell to a boil.  Immediately add 5.5 cups of sugar and stir well to dissolve the sugar.  Bring back to a good boil and cook for one minute.  Remove from heat and let cool for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.  There will be some foam at the top of the jam.  That's OK--as it cools a little and you stir it, it will incorporate.  

After 5 minutes cooling time, remove one jar from hot water at a time and fill with hot jam, filling only to the ring threads. I use a 1/4  cup measuring cup for the smaller 1/2 pint jars.  Wipe the top and edges of the jar with the clean wet cloth.  Make sure tops of jars are clean as they won't seal if they aren't. This will cause spoilage. 

Remove a canning lid from hot water with tongs, place on top of jar and place ring on jar as well.  Screw tightly, using wet cloth in your hands to prevent burning.  Set aside to cool.  Repeat until all jars are filled.

Like I said before, this recipe makes 4 pints or 8 half pints.

Let jars sit until cool.  You will hear the "ping" of each jar as they cool and seal themselves.  There is no need to "cold-pack" this jam, as you have sterilized the jars, rings and lids in the very hot water.  No need for refrigeration if stored in a cool dark place.  Refrigerate after opening.  

Whew--long post and happy jamming!!