The Birthday Boy's Bourbon Country Style Ribs

Tony loves meat.  I mean he really loves meat.  I think if he were pressed to answer,  pork would come first, beef second and then everything else just because. 

I knew for his birthday he would want some meat.  As luck would have it I found some very reasonably priced boneless country style ribs when I was shopping.  Lucky Tony!

I made the marinade the night before and added the meat to it in the morning.  Once we tasted it I realized this marinade would be perfect for just about any meat that is being grilled. 

Can't wait to try it on some pork chops and chicken thighs! And I think this long weekend is just the time to try!

Bourbon Marinaded Country Style Ribs

Ingredients

• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 Tbs molasses
• 2/3 cup bourbon
• 1 cup soy sauce
• 4 cloves garlic
• 3 pounds country style pork ribs

Directions

1.   Combine brown sugar, molasses, bourbon, soy sauce, and garlic in a food processor or blender to mince garlic with other ingredients. Pour over ribs, and marinate for several hours in the refrigerator.
2. Preheat an outdoor grill for medium heat, and lightly oil grate.
3. Place ribs on grate, and cook ribs until cooked to your liking.  When finished, the internal temperature of the ribs should be 160 degrees F (70 degrees C) when taken with a meat thermometer.
   
   
   

 

Grilled Pizza for dinner…

The first time I tried grilling pizza was when we were in Toronto visiting my family.  It was something we had all wanted to try but had just never gotten around to doing it. So out I went and bought some grocery store pizza dough (divide it into 4 servings when you get it home) and some fresh and yummy toppings and into the world of pizza grilling we dove!

Mine was simply olive oil, fresh garlic, mozzarella, fresh tomato and basil…

Our biggest concern was that the dough would drip through the grill plates but it cooks up so quickly that there is no real worry to it.  You need to have your grill heated up to about 350F to crisp it quickly.

The trick, I think, to this is to have all of your toppings ready to go on and to not overload the pizza.  You do need to work fast once the bottom which becomes the top is grilled nice and crispy.  We did individual ones for ease of preparation and they worked perfect.  No problem flipping etc…

The second time we made them was here at home and I used my bread machine pizza dough recipe.  We divided this one into 4 to make 4 individual pizzas for us.  This worked perfectly as well and was a bit easier to stretch and shape then the grocery store one…

This one was topped with garlic and herbed olive oil, mozzarella cheese, tomatoes, fresh basil, oregano and some homemade arugula pesto…simply delicious!

Toronto…the finale

So I told you I had fun when I was away right?  But unless you follow me on Twitter or on Facebook (Judy Chiappini) you may not know what exactly I was up to…

It was a friend of mine’s birthday and he invited me to a party at his house…

We had some dips (roasted red pepper and egg plant)…

Some marinated and grilled shrimp…

Grilled Octopus…

Salads…

(Photo courtesy of Paula @ Dragon’s Kitchen)

(Photo courtesy of Paula @ Dragon’s Kitchen)

Grilled Pork Belly…


Homemade Chicken Gyro’s…

with homemade tzatziki, tomatoes, and onions…

And then came the cake…

You see how lucky I am???  Have you guessed who’s birthday it was yet?

Peter @ Kalofagas had a birthday!!!

and I got to meet Paula @ The Dragon’s Kitchen

And Jasmine @ Confessions of a Cardamom Addict
 
photo courtesy of Paula @ Dragon’s Kitchen

Can you believe how lucky I was to be invited to this Greek feast?  Peter single handedly prepared and served us all night long.  Paula did make the birthday cake and it is by far one of my all time faves…Lemon Meringue Cake!

We were able to meet up with Paula and Peter once again but just for a quick bite to eat after we went to the Science Center to see Harry Potter The Exhibition!  Still a little bit of time with 2 of my favorite bloggers and friends is better than no time at all…

photo courtesy of Paula @ Dragon’s Kitchen

Loved meeting Paula (xoxoxo) and Jasmine and seeing Peter again!!!  Thank you for making this a memorable trip for me and can’t wait to do it all again next year…lamb on a spit right????

Bees, Bees and more Bees!

Who said that there was a shortage of honey bees??? Whoever it was I need to call them and let them know that I found them!!! My house is infested...

We arrived home from vacation last Wednesday and I found a whole pile of dead bees in front of my doors that lead from my bedroom to my pool. In my crazy state of exhausted I did a quick "hmmm" and vacuumed them up! Didn't give them too much thought but everyday I seemed to be sweeping up some dead bees. I never saw them alive and have been really too busy to care too much about them. Then Sunday night there was one buzzing around my bed.

Well that was enough for me. I called my pest control service and they arrived within and hour (when you have a daughter who is allergic to fire ants and bees are an unknown they rush). Apparently I have a hive in the concrete wall right behind my bed???!!! WTF and why my house????

At least now I have no more bees coming in but I am sure there is a great big gooey glob of honey comb and a bunch of dead to dieing bees behind my bed...

Unfortunately in my delicate state I did not get any pictures of any of this but this video shows the crisis issue...



Dinner last night was a simple on off marinated grilled chicken and grilled beans.


For the chicken marinade I just used up a bunch of vinaigrette salad dressing bottles that have been cluttering up my fridge. Now that I make all of our dressings these have just been sitting there. I marinated the chicken for about 3 hours in the fridge.

For the beans I used my grill pan. First I blanched the beans then tossed them in sesame oil, peanut oil, soy sauce, garlic powder and salt and pepper. I threw some mushrooms in as well.

This made for a quick delicious meal for another busy evening!

As Always...

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

My savory potato salad screw up!

Grilled Potatoes

The other night when I was making the stuffed grape leaves I saw that I had a bunch of potatoes that were sprouting eyes. I figured that I had better get hem used up. I also new that I had some beans so I originally had been looking for some inspiration in the way of a potato and bean salad. But when I decided on a nice easy light vinaigrette and got my beans out I realized this was not to be!! Those beans stunk...Enorma got those!

I finally decided on Potato salad with a vinaigrette dressing. Would have been really good to but I undercooked the potatoes???!!! Too many things going on at once. It wouldn't have been so bad but I didn't even notice it until I tasted it after I had it all dressed and ready to go in the fridge!!! I figured I could microwave it and then chill it again but that still sounded like a lot of work. I was grilling the goat cheese stuffed chicken anyway so I decided to add a bit more oil to the potatoes and put them in an aluminum foil packet and finish cooking them on the grill.

They actually turned out incredible and I would not hesitate to do this again. The nest time I might just microwave them and then do the dressing and then grill them. I have other ways that I grill my potatoes but this turned out very well with the vinegar adding something else to it! Here is how the recipe will go:

Grilled Potatoes

1-1/2 lbs potatoes, cooked and chopped into 1 inch cubes
2 + 2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp white wine vinegar
1 tsp chopped fresh parsley
1 tsp chopped fresh oregano
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp dried summer savory
1/2 tsp ground pepper
1/4 tsp powdered mustard

Directions:

• Bake the potatoes in the microwave until done. Allow to cool until you can handle them well enough to cut them into 1 inch cubes.
• In a separate bowl mix together the first 2 Tbsp of olive oil, vinegar, parsley, oregano, garlic, savory, pepper and mustard.
• Add the dressing to the potato pieces and allow to soak in at room temperature.
• Prepare aluminum foil packet and oil the bottom with the remaining 2 Tbsp of olive oil. Add the potatoes and cook on the grill for about 10 minutes turning once during the cooking time.

These would be great served as a side dish to just about anything. I was thinking that you could even add cherry tomatoes to cook with it on the grill. This could be a very versatile dish with a bit of creativity!

As Always...

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

It works...It really, really works!

Dinner!

Last night was the new William-Sonoma grill pan's inaugural run. We filled that puppy so full of fresh veggies that I thought there was no way that they would all last in there! This pan was really great. Crammed full of stuff and still able to stir without anything falling out. All of the begetables cooked evenly and trust me it was full.

The vegetables are not local (big sigh)...virtually nothing is growing here anymore at all. Even the tomatoes are small and blemished. So sad. I am having to eat organic's from California. Better than nothing I guess!

We had chopped up eggplant, zucchini, onion, summer squash, red pepper, banana pepper, garlic cloves and mushrooms. They were lightly seasoned with salt and pepper, some paprika, and garlic powder. This pan is a keeper!!!

Doesn't that look great over rice with some soy sauce on top???

As Always...

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com