I like to trim my spare ribs down to what is called a St. Louis Style Rib. By cutting pork spare ribs down to St. Louis style you get a more uniform rack of ribs. St. Louis style ribs make cooking and serving them much easier. More St. Louis style ribs fit on the smoker and they are easier to tell when done.
St. Louis style ribs are prepared by removing the cartilage from the “top” of each rib rack. If you go to a BBQ restaurant and order “rib tips” this is where they’ve come from. Some meat processors sell these “rib tips” by the case. It can be an economical way to serve ribs to large groups.
When you trim lots of racks of ribs you end up with quite a few freezer bags full of trimmings. One of the most common questions asked on BBQ forums is “what do you do with your rib trimmings? There’s a lot of different techniques/recipes for rib trimmings. Here’s one of the ways we utilize rib trimmings at are house. (Click each picture to enlarge.)
Place all your rib trimmings in the crockpot.
Add a can of green enchilada sauce and cook until tender
Shred the pork. Make sure you discard all fat and cartilage
Continue reading Rib Trimmings = Awesome Taco Salads
A week or so ago I publicized a smoker giveaway over at Nibble Me This. If you didn’t win Chris’ contest you have a second chance to win a 30 inch electric smoker from Masterbuilt.
Here’s how to enter:
Stop by the Masterbuilt Recipe site and pick out your favorite recipe.
Once you’ve picked out your recipe come back to this post and leave a comment on which is your favorite recipe and why you’d like to win the smoker. (Comments are held in moderation for appropriateness before release)
You may enter one per day until September 15th. The winner will announced on September 16th.
Here’s a little information from Masterbuilt on this great little unit:
Viewing window and internal light
Push-button digital time temperature & time control panel
Thermostat controlled temperature
Chrome-coated smoking racks
Convenient side wood-chip loader
Removable drip pan and rear-mounted grease pan
Mrs. Grail recently purchased a 1/2 gallon of Boysenberry syrup for our food storage. We’ll never use that much syrup so I figured it might be a good idea to try and figure out how to combine the syrup with BBQ. But how? That’s the question.
So, I’m going to have a contest. Leave your best idea or recipe in the comment section below for how I should use the syrup. Remember this is all about BBQ and/or grilling so the idea or recipe must include something being cooked on one of my smokers or grills.
On September 1st I’ll pick and winner. The winner will receive a McCormick Grill Mates Flavor Kit. The kit includes everything you see below:
Ingredients
- 1 pound dried pinto beans
- 1 12 oz jar of salsa (brand and heat level of your choice)
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon ground pepper
- 1 tablespoon “Johnny’s Au Jus Sauce”
- 2 tablespoons bacon drippings
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 1/2 pound smoked sausage, diced
Directions
Sort and rinse the beans thoroughly. Place beans in a bowl. Puree the salsa in a food processor or blender and add it to the beans. Add water to the bowls so the beans are just covered. Let the beans soak overnight. For the first couple of hours watch the beans and add just enough water to the bowl to keep the beans covered with liquid. The idea is to let the beans soak up as much of the salsa flavoring as possible.
The next morning put the beans in a dutch oven and add all the seasonings. Saute the onions in the bacon drippings and add them to the bean mixture. Toss in the sausage and cook the beans on low to medium heat until tender.
NOTE: Depending on the exact heat and flavor you want you can use “hot” salsa or include your chile of choice, finely chopped.
My good friend, Chris, over at Nibble Me This is giving away a Masterbuilt Electric Smoker. Check out his blog and sign up for a chance to win. If you’ve ever wanted to give cold smoking a try this is a great way to start.
The Masterbuilt Electric Digital Smoker is a great fit for most people who like BBQ but are intimidated about the thought of firing up a big smoker. If you can use an oven you can use this smoker, it’s electronically controlled with a digital keypad.
While you’re there take a look at all the great recipes and cooking tips he has on the site. Nibble Me This is a great source for some fantastic smoking and grilling ideas.
I made a trip to Seattle recently which included a stop at Pikes Public Market. There are so many amazing foods to try Pikes. This trip I picked up some Pappardelles Chipotle Fettucine. Pappardelles one of the premier makers of artisanal pastas. They make over 100 different handcrafted dried pastas and raviolis. One of the great aspects of Pappardelles pasta is they take great pride in their product and only distribute through certified farmer’s markets and mail order from their own site (www.pappardellespasta.com).
When I purchased the pasta I had no idea what I was going to make with it. But I knew when I saw and tasted this pasta that I had to come up with something. In addition to the protein I wasn’t quite sure what sauce to serve with it. After some thought I decided to go towards a more Mexican style dish. I picked up a couple of Tomatillos and a bunch of cilantro. What I came up with is a Tomatillo Chipotle Cream Sauce served with a grass-fed chicken I purchased at local farmer’s market.
Continue reading Dirty Chicken with Tomatillo Cilantro Cream Sauce on Chipotle Pasta
