Guava Basted Spare Ribs #TuesdayTip

I love ribs! They are one of my favorite foods. I also love guava, usually as a jelly or paste. Not so much as a fresh fruit. This spare rib recipe calls for a dry rub the night before, a slow bake in the oven, and basting with the guava jelly once you’ve got the ribs on the grill. I hope you enjoy it.

Ingredients

For the Dry Rub
(FYI – This will make enough rub for more than one day depending on how many ribs you are making)

2 cups brown sugar
1/4 cup onion powder*
1/8 cup garlic powder*
1/8 cup chili powder
1/8 cup paprika
1 tbsp salt
1 tbsp black pepper

*Please be sure you are using powder and not onion salt or garlic salt!

Whisk together all of the above.

For the Guava Basting Sauce

One 17 ounce jar Guava Jelly (look for it in the Ethnic/Spanish aisle)
2 shots Worcestershire sauce

If you’d like a little kick and smokiness in your baste, add a spoon of Korean Gochujang sauce (available at Korean/Asian markets) or a some more paprika with a shot of Tabasco.

Cooking Directions

Rub your ribs with the dry rub, both top and bottom. Let sit overnight preferably to allow those flavors to work into the meat.

In the morning, drain off all the juice from the night before and place the ribs in a baking pan. Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 325 for about an hour.

While you are doing that, please guava jelly basting mix in pan and melt jelly at low heat.

Once you remove the ribs from the oven, place on a grill at low and baste with the guava jelly mixture. Start with basting the top, flip in about 10 minutes and baste the bottom. Continue flipping and basting for about another thirty minutes. Cut and serve the ribs! I usually love some cole slaw on the side for mine.

Image by RitaE on Pixabay

April 11, 2017

Corn on the Cob with Chile Lime Butter #TuesdayTip

The warm weather has me already dreaming of BBQs on the Jersey Shore. What goes better than BBQ than corn on the cob, but making perfect corn can be tough. Overcook it and it’s too mushy. Timing is everything, but here’s a cooking tip for you and a delicious butter for you to try!

“Boiling” the Corn

The secret to boiling the corn is not to boil it! Yep, you read that right. Bring 4 quarts of water to a boil for up to 6 ears of corn. DO NOT ADD SALT! Once the water has come to a boil, shut off the heat, add 4 to 6 year of corn, cover, and let sit. For 4 ears, let sit for 10 minutes. For 6 years, let sit for 15 minutes. After that the corn is done and will keep for up to 30 minutes without being overdone.

Chile Lime Butter

Melt one stick of unsalted butter. Add 2 tsp chile powder and 1 tsp salt. Heat the mixture for about 2 minutes to release the flavors from the chile powder. Add the juice of one lime and about 1 tsp lime zest. You can also add black pepper (I do not like black pepper hence why I omit it!). For a spicier version, add a little hot sauce or cayenne pepper to the mix!

Serve over the corn when you are ready to eat.

Corn on the Cob with Chile Lime Butter

January 16, 2015April 28, 2021

Egg Creams & Business Trips

Sorry for being silent, but I was away on business and it was impossible to blog. The trip went nicely. Business accomplished, delicious Kansas City BBQ tasted and even more awesome, I got to visit with some friends! Of course my little kitten Slate was not happy to see me go and wanted to sneak away with me!

While I was away the topic of egg creams came up. Egg creams are a Brooklyn tradition and include neither eggs nor cream and are quite easy to make! Where does the name “egg cream” come from? Theories abound that it is because fountain sodas of that time sometimes had eggs and cream or that the name is a bastardization of either French or Yiddish words. Regardless, it’s a tasty treat.

Ingredients

1/2 cup 2% or Whole Milk (skim or 1% do not foam enough)
2 tablespoons Chocolate Syrup (Fox’s U-Bet is the most commonly used in Brooklyn)
Seltzer

Directions

Some people will tell you to put the milk in the glass and then add the seltzer, stir and add the chocolate after.

I think it’s more fun to put the chocolate in the bottom of the glass, add the milk and then pour in the seltzer while stirring. What you’ll get is a foamy chocolatey soda that’s lighter than an ice cream soda.

My family used to have a Cuban variation of the egg cream that involves putting about 2-3 tablespoons of condensed (not evaporated) milk in a glass and then adding a cola while stirring. Very tasty also, but very very sweet!

I hope you all have a fabulous weekend! See you Monday!

Thanks to Jason Perlow for releasing these photos into the public domain.

January 27, 2009August 18, 2009

Corn Salsa

corn I got tired of the same old same old that we’d been eating and decided to try something different last Saturday — Pulled Pork. I have a dry rub recipe that I use on my ribs and brisket and slathered that on some pork loins, slipped them into the oven to cook for some time and then pulled apart that tender pork and added some more rub and KC Masterpiece BBQ Sauce (the tastiest so far in my book).

The problem was, what to eat with the pulled pork sandwiches? I decided on a simple corn salsa. In the summer I’d probably roast fresh corn on the BBQ, but this time I had to rely on some frozen corn and the other ingredients in my fridge and pantry. So here goes my recipe for a simple corn salsa, a bright side dish to any spicy or sweet meal.

CORN SALSA

4 cups cooked corn
1 cup finely chopped onions (red make a nice color variation if you have them)
1/2 cup chopped pimentos
2 cup chopped tomatoes
1 16 oz can black beans
fresh parsley or cilantro if you have (if not dried will work)
Salt and pepper to taste
Oil and pepper to taste.

Just mix all of the above in a bowl and let it marinate for about an your. Like your salsa spicier? Add a shot or two of Tabasco or Cholula sauce or even better, some chopped jalapenos. For more color variation, chop avocado and add it to the mix.

Hope you enjoyed this Tuesday’s Tip!