So Long Summer

I know that we haven't posted at all this summer, or this year for that matter, but I figured I'd post some photos of the cooking and feasting extravaganzas we've had this summer. I hope you enjoy the photos as much as we enjoyed eating all this great stuff!

I only wish I would have taken more photos this summer. Johnnycakes has become a barbecue master while I continue to eat and experiment with whatever comes to mind.

Backyard BBQ - B-MORE Style

I have a secret desire to be a true Southern cook but I don't know how likely that is. First of all, I am from Baltimore. True, I do reside south of the Mason-Dixon but I don't think Baltimore conjures up that Southern imagery of Live Oak trees, southern style mansions, and fried chicken and biscuits. Secondly, a lot of southern fare takes a lot of time to make and I am short on time lately.

That being said, I still enjoy eating southern style cuisine and cooking it with Johnnycakes when we can. Tonight, we made delicious ribs! We are sort of on a kick now that football season has started of making something yummy to enjoy at game time. Last week, we made these insanely good hot wings thanks to an episode of BBQ University with Steve Raichlen.

Thanks to Nick's Backfire brand of Baltimore barbecue seasonings, sauces and side items, we whipped up some tasty spare ribs.

I bought a big slab (may 4 lbs.?) of pork spare ribs and brought them home for Johnnycakes to manhandle. The prep was pretty simple, really. We patted them down w/ Nick's "Da Rub" which is a blend of southwest bbq seasonings and olive oil. We let the ribs soak up the flavors for about an hour before putting them on the grill.

Johnnycakes used an "indirect" cooking method to use a Raichlen bbq term. This means that he didn't sit the ribs right on the flame. Instead he placed them in the back of the grill away from the flame. We let them cook for about three hours. We basted them with good old fashioned Kraft barbecue sauce the last half hour of cooking.

We served these juicy, extra fatty ribs up with some extra bbq sauce, homemade mashed potatoes and cabbage. This southern style meal was super fattening and super good!

Next week I want to make fried chicken! Let's see if that actually happens.

Something Simple

A busy schedule necessitated something simple for dinner. I have found that just because it's simple doesn't mean dinner has to lack in flavor.

I am a new convert to boneless chicken thighs! They pack twice as much flavor as a boring old chicken breast. Plus, they tend to be smaller which makes portion control much easier. I "rubbed" the chicken in Rudy's Rub. Has anyone ever heard of this? It was given to us by a friend who got it in San Antonio. The branding says it's the "worst" barbecue in Texas or something to that effect. We thought it was pretty damn good because of the natural blend of traditional barbecue seasonings. We also mixed in some honey to add some sweetness.

Tonight also marked a milestone for Butters! I "manned" the grilled solo. I have never actually used our grill alone before. In fact, I have had trouble even turning it on in the past. Johnnycakes had to run an errand so I was left to my own devices. I think I may have cooked the meat too quickly on too high of heat but overall everything turned out. The meat really held on to a lot of it's own juices and was very tender.

We rounded out the dinner w/ traditional southern mixed greens in butter and a mini baked potato topped with sour cream.

Despite it's simplicity, tonight's dinner was relatively healthy and had a lot of flavor. Johnnycakes raved about it when he got home and I enjoyed it myself. Sometimes it's best to keep things uncomplicated.