Caramel Pork Ribs and Scalloped Potatoes with Blue Cheese and Roasted Garlic

I made my husband very happy. He said, "this is the best meal we've had in a long time!" That's a compliment, not an insult to the other things I've been cooking. I knew what he meant :)

 

I received two cookbooks for Christmas. This recipe is from my boyfriend's, I mean David Lebovitz. He never fails me.

 

The recipes both take longer than average so it was perfect for one of my winter break days. Or maybe a lazy Sunday in the future. The caramel pork ribs start with a nice carmelized sugar, and then a quick douse in beer and bourbon. Mmmmmm. Throw in a few more ingredients and the ribs and then slow roasted for 2+ hours.

 

I was worried, even though the recipe said to expect this, when the sugar seized up and hardened with the addition of the beer. It ended up fine, of course, just like my boyfriend said. Our house smelled delicious. Who needs bottled BBQ sauce?!

The scalloped potatoes start with some roasted garlic, so that needed to smell up the house for 45 minutes. And then some cream, some mandolined potatoes, and all that layered with chives and crumbled blue cheese. Baked in the oven for a bit more than an hour, alongside the ribs.

 

 

 

 

 

P.S. to my friend Katy. I used Rush River beer. I didn't know which kind of beer DL meant in his recipe so I chose a beer that I wouldn't mind drinking after I used just 3/4 cup of a bottle :) IPA it was and I got to support my Bakko brewers!

 

Here's the top picture again but with no filters. I take the quickest pictures at our dinner table even though I know I should take pictures with better light. I hate to ruin the dinner mood and brighten up the whole joint. I also get embarassed that I take food pictures sometimes. I think Jim knows me by now though :)

 

 

 

We couldn't get over the sauces, on both foods. The sweet caramel with a hint of ginger. Mmmmmmm. And the blue cheese creamy goodness!

 

I think my little sis would say this entire dinner was "slap yo momma" good. I know I should have included a vegetable too but it was a busy day here with three 8 year olds running around (play date) and then with all the extra steps with two new recipes.

 

My little sis also provided the wine for this meal. I looked up BBQ ribs and wine and Google suggested a syrah. Yup, had that! Wine is good food. I felt so grown up today.

 

 

 

Click here for the stolen recipe for David Lebovitz's Caramel Pork Ribs. This blog has awesome pictures of the caramelized sugar, the beer addition, etc.

 

Click here for the stolen recipe for David Lebovitz's Scalloped Potatoes with Blue Cheese and Roasted Garlic.

 

 

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Nectarine Beso

 

We were having Mexican food (enchiladas) for dinner so I thought some tequila would be welcome! This drink is inspired from the recipe link below but I made a few significant changes. I even changed the name!

Here is the basic recipe:

Nectarine Beso

• 4 oz lime juice
• 2 ripe nectarines, cut into chunks
• 1.5 oz tequila
• 1 oz Triple Sec

Blend the nectarines and the lime juice until it is a smooth puree.

In a shaker, add 1 oz. of the nectarine puree to the remaining ingredients with ice. Shake. Strain the drink into a chilled glass and garnish with a nectarine slice.

Isn't it lovely when you have all of the ingredients on hand? I can't keep enough nectarines in this house for my little guy. And thanks to my sis and bro-in-law I have good tequila (yeah, still from Christmas. I am a slow drinker.)

This tastes like a nectarine margarita. Can't beat that!

Click here for the stolen (inspiring) recipe for Nectarine Kiss.

 

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Guinness Beef Stew

We don't really do St. Patrick's Day but we do do Guinness beer and Irish whiskey!

I made this stew the weekend of St. Patrick's Day.

 

It was good. I am still in search of a better stew though. The meat didn't get as tender as I hoped, and I kept needing to put salt in my bowl to give the stew some flavor. Maybe I was just in a foul mood because normally a stew/soup puts me in a good mood! Soup is good food, yo.

I must have been crabby. I didn't even wipe the rim of my bowl for the picture. So messy. Apparently, I wasn't caring about the possible blog picture.

 

I'm sure the stew was fine. I didn't get any complaints from the hubby (he wouldn't dare?)...

Click here for the stolen recipe for Guinness Beef Stew.

 

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Watermelon Margarita

We had so much watermelon that I just HAD TO find a way to use it :)

This recipe was just okay. I will keep looking for a better recipe. We sure didn't complain about a drinky drink.

Click here for the stolen recipe for Watermelon Margaritas.

Am I Irish?

Irish food and desserts invaded the food blogs that I read like a week ago. The bloggers were all getting ready for St. Paddy's Day and making their goodies, with enough time for the rest of us to bookmark and then prepare their recipes.

Originally I was going to make Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes again but I wanted to try something new. So I went with the same idea but in cheesecake form.

The Oreo crumbs are mixed with the Irish Whiskey, the cheesecake is actually two kinds- one with chocolate and Guinness, and the other with Bailey's. So you have three different kinds of booze to make these extra special and boozey.



I also made Milk Chocolate Guinness Ice Cream. This recipe was also circulating around the food blog world, and I was buying Guinness anyway so this ice cream was perfect. I make ice cream in this house and I usually am the one who chips away at it, James only likes plain chocolate and Jim is a fan but he's content with one taste and then moves on. I thought maybe maybe if this ice cream was good that Jim would have more than one serving.


I think he's going to have seconds :)

Click here for the stolen recipe for Irish Car Bomb Cheesecake.

Click here for the stolen recipe for Milk Chocolate Guinness Ice Cream. Originally from the Ice Cream God, David Lebovitz!

White Russian Tiramisu

This has been a favorite of ours for a few years. I found the recipe in a Cooking Light recipe so long ago.

We like our version so much that we don't get tiramisu in restaurants. Ours might not be the most authentic but it has all the flavors we like- cream cheese, a bit of cocoa, and kahlua/coffee soaked ladyfingers. Mmmmm.


The picture might not be the most appetizing but it layers prettily and tastes great.

Click here for the stolen recipe for White Russian Tiramisu.

Candied Cranberry Orange Sangria

Nice weather deserves a cool drink.
Yeah, that's a good reason to make sangria!

I have a Sangria cookbook that I don't use often and I have a lot of cranberries still in the freezer (they last many months) so it seemed like a great opportunity to make this recipe.

There is no stolen recipe online.



Candied Cranberry Orange Sangria
1 1/2 cups whole cranberries
3/4 cup simple syrup (see note below)
1 bottle red wine
2 oranges, cut into half wheels
1/2 cup cranberry juice

In a saucepan, combine the whole cranberries with the simple syrup over low heat. Cook, stirring constantly, until the cranberries soften and the syrup starts to thicken. Remove from the heat and set aside. Let cool. Combine the wine, oranges, and cranberry juice in a large ceramic or glass container. Add the cranberry mixture and stir well. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours. Serve over ice. Garnish with additional orange half wheels.

Note: This simple syrup is made by combining 1 cup hot water and 1 cup sugar, until the sugar dissolves. Let cool.

Serves about 7
Adapted from 101 Sangrias & Pitcher Drinks

I didn't, I couldn't wait four hours. I am enjoying a small glass right now. Yum! I love anything cranberry so I am a bit biased.