Is your mouth watering yet? And you havent seen pictures or a recipe or anything. But the sight of beer along side pork ribs.....toe curling good! And it only gets better. I saw this recipe in Food Network magazine I think. But I added my own stuff and my own twist to it. And it made for a tasty Sunday lunch. Me and Alex like to have a big meal on Sunday between lunch and dinner. That way you get to enjoy the richness of a heavy meal without feeling miserable late at night. This recipe fit the bill! So without further delay.....the recipe!!
Recipe:
4lbs country pork ribs
salt
1-2t hot Hungarian paprika*
1 large onion, sliced
4 medium carrots, sliced
6-8 cloves of garlic, sliced
1 12-oz can/bottle of Ale
1 1/2c chicken broth
2 bay leaves
6 sprigs of thyme
2/3c apple cider vinegar
3T honey
*hot paprika can be found in most stores. And unless you use a lot of it, I wouldnt buy a big bottle of it. Heres a picture of mine.
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
In a large dutch oven (must be a dutch oven to go from stove to oven) add a little drizzle of olive oil to the pan over medium high heat. Once the pan is hot, add the ribs in small batches to the pan. Season with salt and 1/3 of the paprika. Brown on both sides. This should take about 8 minutes per side. Remove ribs from pan and set aside. Repeat with remaining ribs until all the ribs are browned.
If there is no oil in the pan, add a little more oil to the pan and reduce heat to medium. Add your onions, garlic, and carrots. Season with salt and another 1/3 of the paprika. Cook until the onions are browned and the flavors intoxicate your senses! This should take between 10-15 minutes.
Once your onions are cooked, add the Ale. In this instance I specifically looked for Ale rather than Lager. I am not sure what the difference is between the different types (besides color) but I thought I would do it by the recipe this time. I used a Fosters Ale.
Bring mixture to a boil and cook for 5 minutes or until the liquid reduces to about a half.
Add in your chicken stock, bay, thyme, salt and pepper. Once the mixture comes up to boil, add back in your ribs.
*the original recipe called at this point to place in oven uncovered for 1 hour. I was nervous all my liquid would evaporate and leave my meat dry. So I left the lid on my dutch oven and placed in the oven. So whichever way you feel comfortable is how I would do it.
During this slow point I cleaned up and then rough chopped some celery root and baby carrots. Celery root is exactly what it sounds like, the root on the celery we all know. This is a knobby ugly looking root vegetable. Cut all of the brown part off and you are left with a white creamy looking veggie smelling of celery. Treat it like any other root veggie at this point. I rubbed my carrots and celery root in olive oil, salt, and pepper. I roasted for about an hour. I timed it to come out with the rib meat.
Pull your pot out of the oven and onto the stove over medium heat. Mix together the vinegar and honey in a small bowl or cup. Add the mixture to the ribs and bring back up to a boil. Once boiling turn the heat off and place uncovered in the oven for another 15-20 minutes or until the meat is super tender.
Take the ribs out of the liquid and onto a platter.
Pour the rest of the contents of the pot through a strainer.
Reserve the veggie medley for your side dish and put the liquid back in the pot to simmer and reduce by half. Once the sauce is reduced (no more than 10 minutes) pour a little over the ribs to keep them moist and place the rest in a bowl or gravy boat or fat separator.
Take your cooked veggie mixture out of the stainer and carefully stir together with the roasted vegetables. Add a little jus if the veggies look too dry.
Eat with some nice whole grain bread and enjoy your hard work!
Me and Alex were making all kinds of "oohs" and "ahhs" and yummy noises. I am not even sure we really talked during the meal! That is how good it was. Alex made the comment during its cooking process that he never understood the phrase "slap your momma" until this dish. Im pretty sure he was just being silly, but with him you never know! All I know is that we were in heaven. And heavens gonna come to lunch today too! There was enough left to eat today!! Oh yeah!! So if you make this, make plenty becuase you are going to want them all for yourself!
I have received all the answers and am ready to name a winner. But first I will prolong the agony (for those who do not read ahead like I would) and tell you the answers to todays questions.
1. http://www.myspicesage.com/ This is an excellent resource for spices. But the best part is they typically offer a free product of significance with purchases over $20. I have received 10 Madagascar vanilla beans free before. And Spanish superior grade saffron. But on top of their deals they also provide you, no minimum required, to receive a free 1oz sample of any product they have on their website. I assume this is to get you hooked, but still....its fun to try out new stuff like that.
2. Top Chef. I currently own all the seasons out on DVD. I just wish they would put out the first 3 seasons on DVD.
3. Alex's Grandmother. To be fair, she got it from her husbands mother. But it is printed on a cannoli form box. Cool huh?
4. I accepted any answere that pertained to homemade stock. Heres the reason. I thought in one of my blogs I had stated the key to a good broth soup. But when I looked back, after writing and posting the Day 5, I put asterisks and stated it was a secret ingredient. But if it ever comes up.........lemon zest......shhhhhh our little secret!!
So heres how the scores stacked up
1st: Eddy 18pts
2nd: Veronica 16pts
3rd: Ashley 14pts
4th: Bobbie 13pts
So Eddy is the winner!! Congratulations! I will be sending Bertolli your address and they will be sending out your free kit. I hope you enjoy it like I am going to enjoy mine!
I want to personally thank you guys for playing. It kinda strokes my ego a little bit to think that yall would care enough about me to play this silly little game for a small giveaway. It shows you care. And I do not want yall to think it goes unnoticed. I just hope one day I can return the favor by stoking your ego someday!
So a big suprise came in the mail today. Well I suppose its not really a suprise if you know its coming, but I got in my Bertolli kit like the one yall are playing for. I was super excited!! The ladle is made by Crate and Barrel and has a reinforced and sturdy handle while being suprisingly light. So I love it!! And the coupons are for free frozen soup meals. It was suprisingly quick to get here too. So it should come to the winner quick.
Are you getting excited? Are you nervous? Well here are the standings so far:
1st Eddy 14pts
2nd Bobbie 12pts
3rd Ashley 10pts
4th Veronica* 9pts
5th Melinda* 6pts
*these people have a pass and will be submitting their answers late.
So here we are on the final day of the contest. I hope that everyone has had at least a smidgeon of fun during this process. I have thoroughly enjoyed this, but then again I am in the position of the giver and the one in charge. And thats always fun! So today's questions are going to focus on me. And yes it is a little egotistical, but hey that's life. lol! I thought about asking questions based on me because it might help broaden the gap between the leaders. And since there may be people playing that do not know me as well as my husband or immediate family I am only asking things that can be found throughout my blog. It's only fair that way. So here's to hoping for a great sprint to the end!! If all the answers are in before the deadline then I will go ahead and announce the winner. If not then I shall do it on Saturday morning.
1. I frequent an online spice site for most of my spice needs; what is the name of that site?
2. What TV show is my favorite, culinary wise?
3. There are lots of cannoli recipes out there but I have only ever used one recipe. Where did I get that recipe?
4. What is the key to a good broth only type soup?
Well there you have it. Questions are over and now it is your turn to take the baton and finish the race. May the best person win!!
I will not be posting the answers to yesterdays questions today. Two people playing were detained in other matters and could not answer, so I am allowing them to submit their answers to me later. And for that reason I will not post the answers. But I believe the ones who did answer, I sent you a private message to let you know how many you got and what the correct answers were. But heres how the scores shape up
Tied for first: Veronica and Bobbie 9pts
Tied for 3rd: Eddy* and Ashley 7pts
5th Melinda* 6 pts
*these two will be submitting their answers later
It looks like I stumped you pretty good yesterday. Sometimes it is hard for me to realize that not everyone loves food like I love food. And even if they do love food, they do not follow it as enthusiatically as I do. Ah the price you pay when you have a passion!
So what would a Bertolli giveaway be without questions on Italian food? And I LOVE Italian food. Pasta, sauces, tiramisu, braised meat in red wine, braciole, its all delicious!! And I think I have an aptitude for it too. So why not do questions on something Im pretty good at?
1. Who is considered to be the Queen of Italian cuisine in America (it is not the obvious answer)?
2. Meatballs seem to be a staple in the Italian genre of food. But where did they originate?
3. When using tomatoes in sauces what is the best kind to use?
4. Name 3 common dried beans in Italian cooking.
5. What is the name of the popular Italian festival in America, most notably NYC?
So good luck to all and I hope that you are enjoying this as much as I am!
So yesterdays questions were kind of easy I see! Well its gonna take a smartie to get these right! The answers were elbow, fusilli/rotini, bucatini, farfalle/bowtie, gemelli. I accepted both rotini and fusilli because you couldnt determine length from the picture and thats what differentiates the two. So heres our standings!
1st Veronica 8pts
tied for 2nd Bobbie and Eddy 7 pts
4th Melinda 6pts
5th Ashley 5pts
Its a close race so this may break someone away or may break your all! HAHA!!
There are lots of famous chefs out there these days. Some in the public eye that are known worldwide. For example there is Rachel Ray, Paula Deen, Sandra Lee, etc. Most of these people are seen daily on the Food Network. But there are others that are not on Food Network and are known in the chef world, Eric Ripert, Thomas Keller, Wylie Dufresne, etc. Then there are some that are known because they were innovators like Julia Child. I love a range of these chefs and their styles of cooking. I love others that are not completely on everyone's spectrum like Rick Bayless who is the authority on Mexican cuisine in America. Then theres Hubert Keller who has a background in French food but owns the famous Burger Bar in Las Vegas. There is Anthony Bourdain with his quirky sense of humor and demeanor on his show on the Travel Channel. Roy Yamaguchi and his Hawaiian/Asian style food (BTW I have eaten at one of his restaurants and did not leave unhappy!!) But my all time favorite person has to be Jacques Pepin. I adore this 75 year old Frenchman. So todays questions will center on some of the chefs that are famous in their own rite and adored by me. Everyone has their favorites so feel free to let me know who your favorites are! Oh and I do not expect you to forgo using a search engine on these. I designed them specifically with that in mind!!
1. What are Jacques Pepin's prized culinary possessions?
2. Anthony Bourdain in one of his books endorses the best Chef's knife. Name that knife brand.
3. According to Roy Yamaguchi there is a culinary landmark in the city of Honolulu that still exists today. Name that landmark.
4. Julia Child was hot stuff when her book hit shelves but before she was "Julia Child" she wasn't a good cook and ate rather typical American style meals. She states at least 3 typical Sunday meals growing up in California. Give me one of those Sunday meals (mostly looking for the protein/meat).
5. Wylie Dufresne may be relatively unknown to most of you. He is a chef in the realm of molecular gastronomy. There was a discussion among Wylie and a few other chefs on the topic of ingredient driven food. According to others this means taking 3-4 really good ingredients and doing as little as possible to them. Wylie calls this something else. What does he call this?
Well it looks like there are only 4 people playing so every point counts! Hope everyone enjoyed day one. I realized I made a mistake in working on #1 which resulted in the next two questions getting wrong. I amended the question and gave you a chance to re-do your answer. However, only one person came up with the one I was looking for. The current spokesperson is Fabio Viviani and he was on Top Chef. His foundation is Firenze4Kids. Everyone got Fransesco Bertolli and he started in Lucca, Italy. The 5 herbs some people got them all and some people missed just one. They were Basil. mint, parsley, chives, and dill. Not my favorites, but they didnt ask me now did they?? So heres how everyone stands.
1st: Bobbie 4pts
2nd: Veronica 3pts
tied for 3rd: Melinda and Eddy 2pts
There is still plenty of time for scores to change so keep the faith!! I had hoped for some more people to join in our little games, but it is what it is. So if yall are still up for it, I will continue on with our game!!
Todays center on pasta! I adore pasta in all shapes and sizes. I do not think I have met a pasta I did not like. I could eat it every day in fact. And I know you might say I would get tired of pasta all the time, but no I genuinely think I could do it. But man what kind of weight would I gain?? So don't dare me to....ok? Lol! Well pasta is easier to do when you see pictures, so today you shall look at pictures and identify them. This also makes it a little harder to google! That's right.....I am conniving!! On that note...here we go!
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So here we are, day one. And I wanted to go back over the format of the week. I will be giving a couple of questions per day on a particular subject. I thought it would help to spread out the scores a little more with mutliple questions rather than one a day. These questions will be harder than you would expect due to the fact it is a google kind of world. Each question right will be counted as one point. I will do my best to keep a running tally of who is playing and their scores. I have also decided to accept answers on facebook. If you do not have a google account and do not want to create a google account just to play some little contest, then you can always post on facebook. I will post this blog every day on facebook. I will accept answers for the days questions until midnight Central time. The person with the most points at the end of the week will be the winner of the Bertolli giveaway. Bertolli was kind enough to give me one as well, although it has not come in the mail yet. When it comes I am going to try the meals and post a review on my blog. Figured I could give some love to Bertolli! This giveaway in case you have forgotten is:
-stainless steel soup ladle
-4 tasting coupons for the new frozen soup line
What better way to kick off the week contest than to start with the company who is providing the gift, Bertolli.
In case you are curious about learning more about Bertolli you can click here. So without further delay, here we go! Good luck to all!!
1. Who is the spokesperson for the Bertolli company?
** It has come to my attention that there are multiple people that could fill this answer. I am looking for the most current spokesperson**
2. What famous show was this spokesperson on?
3. What foundation is this person setting up?
4. Who was the original founder/owner of the Bertolli company?
5. Where was this person originally from (city, country)?
6. According to Bertolli there are five herbs every chef loves, what are the five herbs?
Good luck to everyone playing!! Hope we have a fun week of food!!
