It has been awhile since I last posted about ribs. I think it was back in September. Well, it’s high time I posted again about them as you can never have too many rib, rub, or barbecue sauce recipes as far as I’m concerned. Besides, it gives me a chance to play with my smoker yet again. Man, I love that thing! While have have gotten quite adept at barbecuing on my Weber kettle grill, life has become so much easier with my smoker. Now, instead of having to babysit my barbecue all day, I can load it up and let it go, checking it once an hour or so. The downside to that is I can’t use barbecuing as an excuse not to do things around the house. It won’t be long before my wife catches on, and the days of “tending the grill” all day, while sucking down copious amounts of beer will be at an end. If she hasn’t already caught on, I’m SOL now, as she reads this blog. Don’t worry though, I’ll find another excuse to waste away the day drinking beer and cocktails (if anyone has any good suggestions for such an excuse let me know).

Of course, if you have read this blog for any amount of time you are well aware of my love affair with all things pork – aka, god’s gift to all mankind. Grilled, roasted, braised, stuffed into sausage casings, cured, and/or smoked, there is nothing that can compare with a piece of well cooked pork. I feel for my friends who, because of religious or other reasons, are forbidden to consume the flesh of the pig. If they only knew what they are missing! While I think this nation as gone a little “bacon crazy” in the last few years, I am fully of the opinion that “everything is better with bacon,” a phrase I have uttered here numerous times, because if pork if delightful by itself, once you pair it with long, slow cooking in a smoke filled chamber it becomes absolutely divine!

In my personal heirarchy of pork, bacon reigns supreme, followed closely by pulled pork – slowly cooked over wood for hours on end. In close third comes ribs, the subject of today’s post. Today I’m just going to focus on a great rub and simple barbecue sauce to go with the ribs. I am going to assume you already know how to barbecue them. If you are not familiar with barbecuing then check out my earlier posts on pulled pork or barbecued ribs and it will walk you through how to barbecue on a kettle style grill. The most important thing when cooking in this style is to use an indirect method of cooking and making sure that your grill doesn’t get too hot. I like to barbecue between 225°F and 250°F. Depending on their size, baby back ribs will take you 2 1/2-3 hours to cook properly. Any shorter length of time and you will end up with dry or tough ribs. Talking about tough ribs, there is a misconception, here in the north, that ribs should be falling off the bone tender. I’ve got news for you, if they are then chances are they are dry, and that’s why so many places in the north end up drenching their ribs in sauce. Properly done ribs should still cling to the bone, yet yield easily when pulled, with just the slightly resistance before coming free.

Let your ribs rest for 2 hours to overnight after applying your rub

Depending on the thickness of your ribs, your should apply your rub anywhere from 2 hours to overnight before you commence cooking. This will help to ensure the development of the “bark,” or crust. As far a sauce goes, many regions of the US consider sauce to sacrilegious, but if you like sauce, like I do, wait until the last 20 30 minutes of cooking before brushing it on. If you brush it on too soon, chances are the sugars in the sauce will end up burning, creating an unpleasant bitter, burnt flavor to your ribs.

Rib Rub
enough for 4 racks of baby back ribs

1 Tbsp. brown sugar
1 Tbsp. granulated sugar
1 Tbsp. salt
1 Tbsp. paprika
1 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. dried thyme, crushed
1/2 tsp. granulated garlic
1/2 tsp. black pepper

Combine all ingredients until well mixed. Place in an air tight container and store for up to 3 weeks. To use, sprinkle liberally on both sides of the ribs and gently rub it in. Allow to rest for at least 2 hours or overnight before cooking.

Bourbon Molasses BBQ Sauce
enough for 4 racks of baby back ribs

1 medium onion, peeled and chopped
1/2 cup bourbon or whiskey
1/4 cup molasses
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1 oz. yellow mustard
3/4 cup ketchup
1 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper

Combine all ingredients in a small sauce pan and simmer over medium heat until onions are tender, about 15 minutes. Blend then cook until thickened and reduced by about 1/3. Brush onto ribs about 20 minutes before ribs are done. Brush again with about 10 minutes. Serve any left on the side for people to add more. Store in the fridge for up to 3 weeks.

Let’s face it, steak is great all year round, but it’s even better in summer when you can get outside and cook it over a live fire. As much as I love some of the more traditional accompaniments to steak; baked potatoes, creamed spinach, salad with blue cheese dressing, etc., I really enjoy some of the lighter meals you can create around steak in the summertime.

This past weekend we made it down to Madison to visit my brother, his wife and their newborn baby. As part of the trip we made sure to stop by the Dane County Farmer’s Market. As usual we picked up more veggies than we really should have, but I guess that’s a good thing as I am trying to eat a little better than I used to. Included in our haul this time were, golden beets, fava beans, red spring onions, baby potatoes, most of which were just larger than a peanut M&M, a number of different lettuces, a couple loaves of bread and, my favorite find of the day, mustard greens. This doesn’t include the pastries we picked up to munch on as we walked the market, which included a pistachio baklava that was to die for!

Now mustard greens might not sound like much to get excited about, but up here, in Wisconsin, it’s hard to find the type of mustard greens that I grew up with and really enjoy. Most of the mustard greens I find around are grown the by Hmong farmers and it is a milder, larger version of the stuff that I really like. The mustard greens I grew up with had smaller leaves that were less thick and slightly ruffled around the edges. Picked early it had a pleasant sharpness to it and just a little bit of a horseradish like heat. Later in summer that heat would take on a nose clearing intensity. My brother and I would find ways to either trick each other into eating, or just plain forcing each other to eat the hottest leaves we could find and would laugh uproariously as the other would suffer through the pain and heat. Ah…..memories.

Early in the summer, mustard greens are still pretty mellow and make a wonderful salad especially when paired with a warm bacon vinaigrette. Used as an accompaniment to a couple of ribeyes, grilled over charcoal and roasted baby potatoes, tossed in butter, garlic, salt and pepper, and you have a great summertime dinner.

Wilted Mustard Greens Salad

1 red spring onion, sliced thinly into rings
3/4 cup flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. black pepper
1 1/2 tsp. chili powder
vegetable oil for frying

1 bunch mustard greens, stems removed and torn into bite sized pieces (about 8 cups)

3 slices bacon, sliced into 1/4 strips, width wise
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
pinch salt
freshly ground black pepper

Fill a small sauce pot with about 3/4″ of oil. Combine the flour, salt, pepper and chili powder and mix well. Add onions and coat well with flour, breaking apart the individual rings. Allow to sit for 5 minutes. When oil is just barely hot enough (a small piece of bread placed in the oil should start to bubble immediately but should take a bit to brown) shake the excess flour off of the onions and place in the oil. Fry just to the point of turning light brown. Remove from oil and drain on paper towel. While onions are cooling fry bacon in a saute pan over medium heat, until brown, crispy and have render most of its fat. Remove bacon and add vinegar to the hot oil. Add the sugar, oil, and salt. Cook until sugar is dissolved. Add freshly ground black pepper to taste. Remove from heat and add half to the mustard greens. Toss to wilt, adding more dressing if necessary. Add the bacon and fried onion rings, toss again and serve immediately.

Feel free to add halved cherry tomatoes, sliced mushrooms, sliced raw onion, or sliced hard boiled eggs to the salad if you so choose.

This vibrant, fresh tasting salad is the perfect accompaniment to any warm weather picnic. It also makes a great change from the standard potato salad and macaroni salad that seems to be present at just about every picnic pitched on American soil.

Couscous used to be hard to find, outside of major cities, but nowadays most large grocery stores, in just about every town, carry at least a variety or two. Do yourself a favor and stay away from the flavored ones. Choose instead, plain couscous. That way you can season and flavor it any way you want.

The recipe also calls for tarragon. While, in general, I prefer fresh herbs over dry, on occasion I do use dried herbs. Tarragon is one of those herbs, though, that I refuse to use in its dried form. I feel its flavor just suffers too much from the drying. Do yourself a favor and use fresh in this recipe.

Mediterranean Couscous Salad

1 box (15 oz.) couscous
2 cups water
3/4 cup + 2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 lemon juiced + 1 1/2 Tbsp. zest finely minced and reserved
1 1/2 Tbsp. fresh tarragon, minced
1 clove garlic minced
1/2 medium onion, minced
1 1/4 cups sundried tomatoes, re-hydrated and chopped
salt
freshly ground black pepper

To prepare couscous, bring water, a pinch of salt and 2 Tbsp. of olive oil to a boil. Pour in couscous, remove from heat, cover and allow to sit for 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork then chill. In a large bowl combine lemon juice, zest, remaining olive oil, garlic, onion, tarragon and sundried tomatoes. Stir to combine then add the chilled couscous, breaking up any lumps as you mix it up. Season with salt and pepper. Allow to sit at least 2 hours or overnight. Taste and adjust seasoning by adding more salt, pepper or lemon juice. If the couscous seems too dry drizzle with more extra virgin olive oil.

Okay, so this post has nothing to do with food so if that is all you are interested in then come back later and I’ll have a new recipe up. But for those of you intrigued by the title of my post, here’s the scoop. Starting on July 1st, I have my first gallery showing of my art work. Granted, it is only at the gallery of the local public library, but I am excited nonetheless! Yes, besides a full time job, helping to raise a daughter and 2 two dogs, and write a blog, I also dabble in digital art. While some of my work is playing with photo manipulation what I really enjoy doing is working with fractal programs to create images that are somewhat minimalist in nature and yet infinitely complex.

In preparation of my show, I have put up a simple site that showcases some of my work. If you are interested you can check it out here at digitaldreamsbypm.wordpress.com. Take a minute to check out the galleries and tell me what you think!

I came to a conclusion this weekend. I am terrible at keeping friends. It’s not that I am a mean or vile person. I am very personable and make friends quite easily, but I am terrible at keeping long term friendships alive. I have moved around alot in my life, both somewhat as a kid and more so as an adult and I have come to the realization that I tend to close out chapters of my life, when I move, to the point of letting old friendships fade away. You psychologist types out there would probably tell me that I do this to protect myself from the pain of leaving friends and loved ones behind as I move on with my life, and you’d probably be right. It’s a coping mechanism that has suited me well, in the short term, but I am now realizing that, in the long run, it wasn’t such a great thing.

So what has brought about this epiphany? Well, this weekend we got together with a couple of my old friends from culinary school, who are now married to each other. It was a fun time, hanging out, at the park, grilling out for Father’s Day, and enjoying the company of old friends, but as conversation turned to others we went to school with I realized I had pretty much lost touch with everyone and only knew about their lives by what they posted on Facebook. I then realized that it was the same with many other chapters in my life. I had made many wonderful friends, but, with a few exceptions, had allowed all those relationships to fade away.

Thanks to Facebook, I now have the chance to try and reestablish some of those friendships, but I wonder if that is even possible. I’m not the same person I was years ago and neither are they. We’ve had so many years to grow in different directions I wonder if there would even be any common ground any more. But even more importantly, I hope I have learned my lesson, and will not follow the same path as I have in the past.

But enough of my maudlin, introspective mood. That’s not what you came here for. You can to check out the new dishes I have created and the recipes I have come up with. Well, the next few posts will revolve around some of the food I prepared for our Father’s Day picnic/cook out.

These skewers that I am sharing with you today are pretty simple but require a little work the night before which leaves you with more time the day you are preparing them. Make sure, if you are using bamboo skewers that you start soaking them the night before you plan on cooking. If you don’t they will go up in flames and your skewers will fall part during cooking which is a pain!

Onion Balsamic Glaze
1 onion, large
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1/2 cup water
1 cup balsamic vinegar
1 cup granulated sugar

Peel and slice the onion. Place in a sauce pot along with the oil and saute until just starting to brown. Add the water and cook until almost all of the water has evaporated. Add the vinegar and sugar and cook until reduced by half. Remove from heat, allow to cool slightly then blend until almost smooth. Chill.

Beef and Mushroom Skewers with Onion Balsamic Glaze
makes 16 skewers-serves 6-8
3 pounds sirloin roast, trimmed of all fat and silver skin
24 cremini mushrooms, large
2 Tbsp. fresh rosemary, minced
5 cloves garlic, peeled, sliced and lightly crushed
1/4 cup olive oil
freshly ground black pepper
salt
Onion Balsamic Glaze
16 skewers (I use bamboo, but if you have metal skewers they can be used also)

Cut beef into cubes approximately 1-1 1/2″ square. You should end up with about 48 cubes. Place beef, rosemary, garlic, and olive oil in a zip lock bag. Sprinkle with black pepper to taste and close bag. Gently massage bag to evenly distribute oil and seasonings over beef. Place in fridge and marinate overnight. Soak skewers, overnight, in water.

The following day, cut mushrooms in half. Make skewers using 3 pieces of beef and 3 mushroom halves, starting with a mushroom half and alternating with the beef. The mushrooms will have a tendency to split apart when being skewered. To avoid this press them gently, but firmly down on the skewer while roating the skewer. This will prevent most of the mushrooms from splitting. Season with salt and more pepper, if desired and grill over medium high heat, trying to keep the bottom, exposed, part of the skewer from sitting directly over the coals.

Grill for 3-4 minutes then flip the skewers over to cook the other side. After 3-4 minutes longer brush with glaze and cook 2-3 minutes longer. Longer than that and the sugar in the glaze will have a tendency to burn. If you like your meat a little more done, cook longer before adding the glaze. When done remove from grill and allow to rest for about 5 minutes before serving.

Once again life seems to have gotten in the way of blogging. I was gone the better part of last week for 3 days of training, for work and while I wasn’t able to get online and blog, let alone cook, it was a good time and very informative. An added plus was 3 nights of having a bed to myself!! No dogs hogging the space, no wife trying to pile up the covers on top of me, and no kid trying to sneak into bed then taking up 3/4′s of it by sleeping perpendicular to the way one is supposed to sleep. Sorry honey, I missed you, but it was glorious having a bed to myself!!!

Then, after I got back, my brother’s wife went into labor. After a long weekend in the hospital she finally gave birth to a beautiful little girl. We are so happy for them and my daughter is thrilled to have a little cousin. So thrilled, in fact, that when we went to see them, in the hospital, she was very disappointed that the baby wasn’t coming back home with us!

Needless to say, the last few weeks have been pretty busy, but that doesn’t excuse my lack of writing, so I will try to get back to something more regular, once again.

With summertime upon us, I often find myself sipping on Margaritas and other tropical, adult beverages. And of course, when sipping numerous adult beverages, it is inevitable that the munchies set in. One of my favorite ways to curb that appetite is tortilla chips and guacamole.

Guacamole is so easy to make I don’t know why anyone buys that heinous stuff that comes prepackaged. It is always so tart due to all the citric acid they have to use to keep it green, and it seems to have the consistency of baby food. It doesn’t even come close to the “real thing.” Good guacamole should be chunky, with a good citrus zip from lime juice, but it still should be well balanced and all the flavors should come through individually.

This is the recipe I use that has wowed friends, family and restaurant guests for years.

Guacamole

4 avocados
1/2 medium onion
2 medium tomatoes
1-2 jalapenos*
1/4 bunch cilantro, leaves only
1-1 1/2 limes
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
salt
pepper

Finally dice the onion. Core the tomato and cut in half width wise. Gently squeeze the tomato to remove all the seeds and watery pulp, then finely dice. Seed and mince the jalapenos. Finally chop the cilantro. Cut the lime in half and squeeze the juice of 1 half into a bowl. Combine with the rest of the chopped ingredients. Cut the avocados in half and remove the pit. The easiest and cleanest way to dice an avocado is to leave the flesh in the skin and cut it in the skin. To do this, make 4 slices, the length of the avocado, through the flesh just until the knife encounters the skin. Turn the avocado 90 degrees and repeat.

Now just take a spoon, slip it just under the skin and scoop out the flesh into the bowl. Add the cumin, a little salt and pepper, and mix just until everything comes together and the avocado is just starting to break up, holding it all together. Taste the guacamole and adjust the seasoning and add more lime juice, if necessary. You need enough lime juice to help keep the guacamole from oxidizing and turning brown and to help elevate all the flavors, but the lime juice shouldn’t overpower the other flavors.

To store the guacamole, place a piece of plastic wrap directly on the guacamole and push it down to remove as much air as possible. This will help to slow down the oxidization process by limiting the amount of air that comes into contact with it.

*If you like your guacamole with more kick don’t add more jalapeno or the pepper flavor will overpower. Instead choose a hotter pepper such as a Serrano, or use jalapenos and add a bit of ground cayenne to bump up the heat.

I have been blogging for just over a year now and I realized that I have not done a great job in promoting Wisconsin products, which is unfortunate as Wisconsin produces a lot of great food. Of course everyone thinks of cheese when they think of Wisconsin, and rightfully so. We produce much of the cheese found in grocery stores across the US. Most of this cheese is of the relatively bland, supermarket, let’s appeal to everyone, variety, but Wisconsin also produces lots of world class cheese, produced in small batches by farmers and cheesemakers whose whole philosophy revolves around the adage of quality of quanity. In fact, one of my favorite blue cheeses in the world is produced here in Wisconsin, in an Amish community where the cows, that make the milk for the cheese, are hand milked, twice daily.

Wisconsin also takes its pork seriously. We are a state that loves bacon, ham and sausages. A number of years ago, long before I moved to Wisconsin, I was introduced to Nueske’s Applewood Smoked Bacon and it was love at first taste. This was way back when bacon was still “taboo,” and those of us uttering the phrase, “Everything is better with bacon” were looked upon as nutcases, to say the least, or as heretics. The pro-pork movement hadn’t yet made its backlash against the “remove all fats from your diet” mentality of 1990′s.

Having been raised on supermarket bacon, I was blown away by the depth of flavor the Nueske’s bacon possessed and I was quickly won over. Since then Nueske’s has been the bacon by which I have judged all others. That was until a few months ago.

My wife, in her job as an area manager for a cleaning company, picked up a few accounts in Wautoma, WI. She was then told by a colleague that she needed to check out Stoneridge Meat and Country Market. On that first trip my wife picked up a number of items but it was the bacon that took me by storm. Thickly sliced, this smoky, salty, slightly sweet bacon has quickly replaced Nueske’s as my bacon of choice.

Since she only gets out to Wautoma every few weeks, she makes sure she takes along a cooler and we stock up on their bacon. There are three varieties that we buy, the Pit Smoked bacon, the Hickory Smoked bacon and the Pepper Bacon. They might have a few more styles but these are the ones we usually get.

The bacon comes sliced nice and thick, between 1/8-1/4″ thick, and has a wonderful smokiness that supermarket bacon just never quite achieves. While salty, like any good bacon, Stoneridge bacons have a nice sweetness that compliments that saltiness, making it very easy to overindulge. This also presents the only downside to this bacon. Due to its thickness and slight sweetness, this bacon is easy to burn, if not closely watched. But cook it over medium heat and watch closely and you will be rewarded with a little bit of hog heaven brought to you by the folks in Wisconsin!!

If interested you can also find them online at Stoneridge Country and Meat Market. They do have online ordering, though I don’t believe bacon is on there. It would be worth a call though to see if they will ship some to you. Or if you know someone headed up this way, make sure they stop and pick some up!

The last couple of weeks, here in Wisconsin, have been unseasonably warm. We hope for days in the 70′s in May, though often it only gets into the 60′s, but the last week or two has seen temperatures in the upper 80′s and even lower 90′s. Looking for ways to cool off I decided to make a few drinks based on rhubarb, seeing as I have a huge patch of the stuff just begging to get used up.

Rhubarb has the same tart quality that makes citrus fruits such wonderfully refreshing drinks when the weather gets hot. Unfortunately it doesn’t contain much sweetness so the first thing I needed to do was create a syrup with the rhubarb to sue as a base for any drinks I made. After doing some experimenting I decided on pairing the rhubarb with sugar and lime to form the syrup from which I would then create a couple of drinks.

For the alcoholic version I wanted to create I decided to use rum as the liquor. After numerous experiments and tastings (oh, the sacrifices I make for this blog) it was determined that standard white rum worked best. While, generally, I am more of a fan of gold or dark rums, I found that these rums had too much character that tended to overpower the taste of the rhubarb. Rhubarb may be quite tart, but its flavor profile is rather delicate and can easily be overwhelmed by other strong flavors.

Rhubarb Lime Syrup
2 pounds rhubarb, cut into chunks
1 1/4 cups sugar
3 cups water
1/2 cup fresh lime juice

Combine rhubarb, sugar, and water in a nonreactive sauce pan, bring to a boil and allow to simmer for 10 minutes or until the rhubarb starts to fall apart. Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature. Strain liquid into a pitcher and add the lime juice. Chill until ready to use.

Rhubarb Spritzer – nonalcoholic

4 oz. rhubarb syrup
seltzer water

Fill a glass with ice. Add rhubarb syrup and top with seltzer water. Give a quick stir and garnish with a lime wedge.

Rhubarb Rum Cocktail

3 oz. rhubarb syrup
2 oz. Bacardi rum
1/2 oz. grenadine (preferably homemade)
seltzer water

Fill a Collins glass with ice. Add the syrup, rum and grenadine. Stir to combine. Top with seltzer water and garnish with a lime wheel.

I hate coming back to work after a fun holiday weekend. Work seems like such a let down after enjoying that time with family and friends but, unfortunately, this blog isn’t making me rich so for now I need to continue with my day job. One of the things I do enjoy about my job though is the drive to work. I have a 45 minute commute to work each day. Some people think that that is too long of a drive and it must bore me to death. It’s quite the opposite in fact. I love the drive. In the morning it gives me a chance to wake up and organize my day while at night, it gives me a chance to unwind after a stressful day. There’s no one there constantly needing something from me, calling my name, or asking me questions. It’s just me, the radio and the road.

The drive, itself, is nice though in winter it can get a little scary with blowing snow and icy patches, but in general its a beautiful drive through some of Wisconsin’s richest dairy land. The landscape is ever changing and each season brings with it its own beauty, from the lush green of summer, to the vibrant colors of fall, to the stark black and white palette of winter. Even after 1 1/2 years there is something new or different to see each day.

This recipe today is a recipe I have used many times in the past in all sorts of restaurants, from fine dining to sports bars. The bourbon in this marinade pairs especially well with pork, though chicken works well also.

Bourbon Mustard Marinated Pork Chops

1/2 cup bourbon
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup spicy brown mustard (most any kind of mustard will work)
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1 oz. Worcestershire sauce
1 splash hot sauce
2 green onions, chopped
8 boneless pork chops (loin chops) 3/4-1″ thick (use thinner chops if you want to use them for sandwiches like I did)

Combine all ingredients, except pork chops, in a large, 1 gallon zip lock bag and mix until sugar is dissolved. Add pork chops, seal and allow to marinate overnight. Prepare your grill for direct grilling over medium high heat. Remove chops from marinade and lightly blot dry. Season with a little salt and pepper and grill to desired doneness. I usually like my pork just slightly pink in the center so cook to about 150°F. Make sure to flip often as the sugar in the marinade has a tendency to burn. It should take about about 8-10 minutes to cook.

Well, I survived another successful tailgate. This was the second annual Men’s Day Out tailgate. Last year it was me, my father, and my father-in-law. This year my brother joined us for the fun. I have to admit, I wasn’t as ambitious this year as I was last year, with the menu. Time just kind of seemed to slip by and next thing I knew it, it was Saturday and I hadn’t started any prep for Sunday’s game. This year’s menu was:

Beverages
PBR (Pabst Blue Ribbon)
Rhubarb Refreshers (a mix of homemade rhubarb syrup, rums and seltzer)

Food
Chips with Horseradish Dip
Black Bean and Jicama Salad
Macaroni Salad (store bought-I feel so ashamed!!!!)
Bourbon Mustard Marinated Boneless Pork Chops
Onion Buns
Watermelon

Being in store for a hot, sunny day I didn’t want to go overboard on the food and just have tons left over. Just enough to keep us full and satisfied so that we wouldn’t have to spend too much money on the outrageously priced food in the stadium.

Despite having to watch the Brewer’s lose yet again, for which my father-in-law seemed quite happy (he’s a Cubs fan so any time the Brewer’s lose he’s happy!), the 4 of us had a great day watching baseball, drinking a few beer and enjoying the afternoon.

I’ll try to get a few of the recipes up in the next day or so. Hope everyone had a safe and enjoyable holiday weekend!!!!