Double Take: Slow Cooker Barbecue Ribs

Barbecue Ribs, Golden Macaroni and Cheese, and Broccoli

There is something ridiculously satisfying about ribs. And I love to cook them. In Winston-Salem, I learned to grill ribs. In Germany, I learned to oven cook ribs. In Nashville, I've learned my favorite way to make ribs: a slow cooker/broiler combo.

I had issues with flare-ups on the grill, leading to the ribs cooking unevenly. When you cook them in the oven, the temperature is controlled, there are no flare-ups, but you also lack the crispy crunch on the outside of the ribs. Who doesn't like a little char?

You don't really need a cleaver to cut these, but it's fun anyway!

By combining the slow cooker method with a trip under the broiler, these ribs turn out perfect every time! And as long as you like your barbecue sauce, you are good to go! I'm working on finding the right barbecue sauce for our tastes. For this experiment, I used Jack Daniels Original barbecue sauce. Do you have a favorite?

These ribs are delicious served up with Golden Macaroni and Cheese and a green vegetable of choice. I recommend fried okra or green beans. Or collard greens. Or all of the above. Mhmm, green vegetables.

Slow Cooker Barbecue Ribs
adapted from Mmm is for Mommy and America's Test Kitchen Slow Cooker Revolution
serves 2

Ingredients:
Vegetable oil spray 
1½ Tbsp sweet paprika (Hungarian)
1 tbsp light brown sugar, lightly packed 
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper 
1 tsp salt 
1 tsp pepper
2 lbs pork (baby) back ribs - leave the membrane on the ribs to help hold them together
1 cup barbecue sauce (your favorite)

Directions:

1. Spray the inside of the crock pot with the vegetable oil spray. 
2. In a small bowl, mix together paprika, brown sugar, cayenne, salt, and pepper. Rub this mixture all over both sides of your ribs well. Arrange ribs in the slow cooker by standing them up against the wall of the stoneware pot, thicker side down and meaty side against the pot. 
3. Pour barbecue sauce over the ribs, cover and cook for 6-8 hours on low (I did 6 hours and they were perfect).

Six to Eight Hours Later:

1. Very carefully (as they are incredibly tender) remove the ribs to a baking pan which you have lined with foil and put a rack on, bone side up. Set to the side. 
2. Skim any fat that has risen to the top and strain all of the remaining juices from the slow cooker through a mesh strainer into a small saucepan. Bring to boil and allow to simmer and reduce by about a third, approximately 15 minutes. 
3. Put your oven's broiler on to heat up and make sure that there is an oven rack about 10 inches below the broiler element. When the broiler is preheated, brush the ribs with sauce and broil for 3 minutes. Take them out and very carefully flip them over, brush with sauce and broil again, meat side up, for approximately 6 minutes, taking them out every two minutes to baste with more sauce. Serve any remaining sauce on the side with the ribs. 

Yep, that's all the liquid you need.

THOUGHTS:
I had to change up the times a bit because my broiler was extra hot. If your ribs are not getting super charred in two minutes, feel free to up the time to three minutes between batches of sauce. The broiling step really does elevate the ribs. I tried them before broiling so I could let you know if all the extra work is worth it. It is. Indeed, it is. The caramelization of the sauce just gives it that extra umph. They were boring without it. 

VERDICT:
These-are-really-good: 1 vote!
I-like-the-method-but-I'll-keep-looking-for-the-perfect-BBQ-sauce: 1 vote! 

Just a gentle nudge is all it took to pull out the bone. 

To see Tabitha's take on Slow Cooker Ribs, head on over to Double the Garlic! 

Double Take: Almost Bourdain's Mandu (Korean Dumplings)

Dumplings.... one of those things that I don't photograph well.

Dumplings are one of those foods that seem to cross food cultures. Each one has its own version, a different unique spin, and I have yet to come across one I didn’t like. Oh, some of them fail to excite me, that’s true enough, but I don’t actively dislike any of them.

But one thing that really doesn’t excite me about them is making them. There is just something about filling and sealing each dumpling individually that doesn’t get me going. I’m more than happy to eat them (and very happy in the case of samosas and empanadas), but to stand there over a bowl of raw meat filling and sealing and crimping the edges for ages just doesn’t excite me.  

Egg Linguine turned Fettuccine with Italian Sausage and Zucchini Tomato Sauce

Homemade noodles in homemade tomato sauce.

Making pasta for the Daring Cooks challenge gave me the confidence I needed to try it again. And so I did. On a weeknight. When Bender and I were both hungry. Maybe it wasn’t the brightest idea I’ve ever had, but it ended up not being a terrible one. If you only ask me.

I was determined not to over-flour the dough this time. The Pappardelle as so difficult to roll out, and I had such a headache while doing it that it was actually a quite unpleasant experience. The noodles were pretty thick and chewy, not a favorite around here, despite Bender’s comment that they were well made (I’m beginning to think he might have said that in hopes that I wouldn’t make pasta again). Overall, I was okay with the final dish, but not pleased. So I had to make pasta again and make it tasty, right? Silly me, having to prove to myself that I can make something properly.

Double Take: Beef with Spicy Cocoa Gravy

Beef and Pork with Spicy Cocoa Gravy

The way I’ve been cookng lately, you’d think I lived in the Southern hemisphere. But though we are now at the middle of July, it hasn’t quite gotten hot yet. Oh, it’s toasty here this week (if you consider temps in the mid 70s upper 60s to be toasty), but when I woke up on July 1, it was a mere 49°F/9°C. Thus, my oven is still in use and I’m willing to use my stove for lengthy periods of time. Roasting in the kitchen does not cause me to roast, so I’m taking advantage of the cooler than usual weather and using my oven and stove as much as I can.  

Of course, poor Tabitha is not enjoying such cool temperatures. Oops. But maybe it’s okay since she has air conditioning and I don’t?

Double Take: Mexican Pulled Pork (Carnitas)

We were too busy eating our burritos to take pictures of them...
so you get pictures of my leftovers! 

I have been salivating over several recipes for carnitas for quite some time now. For some reason, I tend to frequent blogs that have recipes for carnitas. Maybe my love for Mexican food draws me to the blogs? When I was making my list of blog recipes I wanted to try, I came up with no less than three carnitas recipes. I decided we couldn’t make all three, so I added two to the list. But you see, apparently Tabitha had been mesmerized by the carnitas as well. She had also seen an episode of America’s Test Kitchen and had gotten the recipe. We settled on America’s Test Kitchen and were off!

Double Take: Hoisin Pork Tenderloin

Hoisin Pork Tenderloin with Roasted Asparagus

What’s hoisin you ask? I have a friend who calls it “High Sin” because it’s so good that it must be sinful. It is delicious, if a bit sweet. It’s similar to a thick barbeque sauce, but it definitely has an Asian flair. I’m fairly certain hoisin sauce is available in most grocery stores these days, but it’s almost always cheaper (as much as ½ price) at Asian grocery stores. Never been to an Asian grocery store? I highly recommend checking them out. You’ll be amazed at what you can find there!

Daring Cooks Challenge: Confit and Cassoulet

Our January 2011 Daring Cooks Challenge comes from Jenni of The Gingered Whisk and Lisa from Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drives. They have challenged the Daring Cooks to learn how to make a confit and use it within the traditional French dish of Cassoulet. They have chosen a traditional recipe from Anthony Bourdain and Michael Ruhlman.

Double Take: Pork Scaloppine

We’ve been a bit sporadic lately, but I’m sure you understand. The Christmas season was busy and I was out of the kitchen for almost two whole weeks. I actually have had a hard time readjusting to cooking every day. Go figure. Maybe it’s the short days? Maybe December’s weather just really got me down? (Seriously folks,
we went ~30 days with temperatures never reaching freezing.) Maybe it was coming back to cold Germany after 10 days in warm, sunny Italy? (Okay, so Venice was more like Germany is currently: cold and rainy, but the weather in Rome was spectacular.)

Double Take: Tuscan Pork Chops

I’m always on the lookout for a new pork chop recipe because, well, pork chops, when cooked properly, can be very tasty. It’s easy enough to sprinkle them with salt, pepper, and garlic powder and grill or sauté them, but occasionally I like to change things up a bit.

When Tabitha suggested this recipe for Tuscan Pork Chops (p. 314), I had my doubts. I had put it on the list of “I will eat it, but Bender* will not.” But it was time to make something from that list since we hadn’t yet. The reasons Bender would eat it: balsamic vinegar and capers. If there is one thing that Bender doesn’t like, it’s vinegar… which means he also doesn’t like anything that has been pickled… like, say, capers. I checked to see if the recipe was online, and nicely, it was AND it had several reviews. I checked out what others had said and came to one conclusion: I could not use 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar and expect Bender to like it. But I did notice that several people had suggested subbing your favorite wine. I agreed to make the recipe provided I could make such a substitution. Of course, Tabitha’s always happy to allow substitutions, so we decided to make this recipe.

Double Take: Margarita Pork Tenderloin

Margarita Pork Tenderloin (p 254) was one of the first recipes Hubby noticed in the all-new ultimate Southern Living Cookbook, but we've only just now gotten around to making it. Sorry, Hubby!

Notice I mention my jalapeño was still good, I didn't say it was still green!

Daring Cooks Challenge: Nut Butters

When I saw the new challenge for this month, I wasn't quite sure how to react. The idea of making a nut butter has always been intriguing to me, but Hubby is not a huge fan of nut butters, so I wasn't sure how easily I'd be able to pull off the taste. But then I realized a holiday was near. And holidays means parties. Parties mean food. Plenty of food... which means I can make whatever I want on the side as long as Hubby has enough food. And oh boy, I went to town on this challenge.

The July 2010 Daring Cooks’ Challenge was hosted by Margie of More Please and Natashya of Living in the Kitchen with Puppies. They chose to challenge Daring Cooks to make their own nut butter from scratch, and use the nut butter in a recipe. Their sources include Better with Nut Butter by Cooking Light Magazine, Asian Noodles by Nina Simonds, and Food Network online.

Daring Cooks Challenge: Brunswick Stew

Blog Checking Lines- The 2010 April Daring Cooks challenge was hosted by Wolf of Wolf’s Den. She chose to challenge Daring Cooks to make Brunswick Stew. Wolf chose recipes for her challenge from The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook by Matt Lee and Ted Lee, and from the Callaway, Virginia Ruritan Club.

Imagine my surprise when I saw this month's challenge. Brunswick Stew. Oh wow, where do I begin. A southerner myself, I'm no stranger Brunswick Stew, but it's never really done it for me. I've asked Hubby about his feelings on Brunswick Stew in the past, and he's never seemed thrilled by it either. So I was nervous about telling him what I had to make this month. And I was nervous about whether or not I would like it. 

Double Take: Stuffed Pork Chops

Tabitha gave Hubby a list of six items she wanted to make from The all-new ultimate Southern Living Cookbook. I handed him the cookbook, opened to the first recipe on the list: Stuffed Pork Chops on page 313. He looked at the ingredients, said "Sure," and went back to watching Star Trek Deep Space Nine. So Tabitha and I made plans to make them, and here we are, with the second recipe in our Intercontinental Cooking Event.