Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Last Night's Menu: BBQ Ribs with a Balsamic- Fig Sauce


I took 1 slab of Beef Ribs and started by washing and generously coat them with sea salt and Black pepper then, set them aside.

I whipped up a delicious sauce...Oooooh my, I definitely out did myself with this sauce. Hope you enjoy it as much as me and my girls did!

In a food processor combine the following:

1/2 cup molasses
1/4 cup "Bone Suckin Sauce"....this is the name of the BBQ sauce
1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
healthy splash of Balsamic Vinaigrette
3 cloves garlic
2 TBSP Crushed red peppers
2 TBSP grd Black pepper
2-3 TBSP sea salt
1 TBSP Accent
2 TBSP sesame seeds
2 dried figs ( chop em up then add to the processor...makes it easier to blend)

Take a large pan heat on HIGH, add some E.V.O.O then pan sear the ribs. Next place them on a cookie rack on top of a baking sheet...this will drain all the juices and fat and make them nice and crisp! Pour some of that delicious BBQ sauce just made all over the ribs. Then, take a brush and evenly coat the ribs. Cover with foil toss em in the oven to bake at 250 degrees for 3 hrs. YUMMMMMMMMMMMY!!...outside will be nice and crisp as the inside is so so tender. Use the left over sauce for dipping!



For a Side Dish:

Sauteed Spinach w/ Balsamic Apricot, Figs, Raisins and Pine Nuts
So easy.

Cut up and combine the following ingredients in a bowl with 1/2 cup of Balsamic Vinaigrette: let soak for 30 min.

1 hand Full dried Apricots
1 hand Full dried Figs
1 hand full of Raisins (no need to chop)

In a large saute pan heat on HIGH add E.V.O.O, add 3 crushed cloves of garlic then add 2 bags of spinach (spinach reduces down to half) and saute, add sea salt and black pepper. Once the spinach has reduced/wilted turn the heat to MED, add the dried fruit mixture (drain the excess balsamic first) add roasted Pine Nuts let all the ingredients cook together for a few minutes. Serve with shaved Parmigiana on top! Enjoy!

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Last nights dinner....Garlic Herb Baked Chicken with Vegetables

The girls and I wanted something just a bit lighter and ooooooh, not so middle-eastern...although, middle-eastern is our FAV! Soooo, here it is....Lemon-Garlic Herb Baked Chicken with Vegetables.

We started with a 1.5lb AMISH chicken, wash the bird in cold water, salt and squeeze 2 lemons over the entire bird.Then,lightly flour the bird (this gets all the slime and stench of the chicken.) Rinse the chicken once more.

Add 2-4 TBSP of the following: Salt, Black Pepper, Tarragon, Crushed Rosemary,and Thyme.

1/4 cup Olive Oil (i love Extra Virgin Olive Oil)
2 Lemons

Combine all the above and coat the chicken with (don't be shy)

Next, Raise,Peel and cut (byes cut= a cut on an angle) the following vegetables

Green beans, potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, celery, onions and mushrooms.

Place the Veggies in a deep tray and add the herbs and spices as above. Also, add 2 TBSP of ginger and vanilla. Mix all the ingredients very well together. Then, place the Chicken over the vegetables and cover with foil.

Bake it at 350 degrees for about an 1-1.5 hours. The last 5-10 mins turn the broiler on HIGH to brown the chicken.

Once its done. Plate the Chicken on a pretty platter surround with the vegetables. chop up some parsley and sparkle over the chicken!

Enjoy!!

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

What to do with Turkey left overs??

My girls are very bored with the Turkey left overs....Hmmmm,what to do? Well,if you're like me....I over did it with the 18 pounder!! So, I have over 10 lbs off this bird left and we've been eating it everyday since Saturday....BoooOoRing. I decided to bag up small portions of turkey by having one bag all dark meat, a second bag of mixed meat and so on...I tossed em into the freeze.

Hanna says,"Mommy, I'm HuuUuNgry"
For Lunch today I decided to use the Turkey in place of chicken.I made:

Potatoes on a Prayer...(Translation from Arabic to English) 30 mins.
This is a dish my mother made with chicken/turkey for me and my 5 siblings growing up. She was single mom raising 5 kids....nothing went to waste in our house.This is dish is one of my favorites!

I placed a large pot on the stove top and filled it 1/2 full of water I added 1 TBSP chicken base to it, bring to a boil. Then, reduce to Med-High heat, cut up 1 Turkey Breast ( or 2 Chicken Breasts....however,we are working with left overs.)a little salt, black pepper, cumin, curry, of course ACCENT....my fav.. add to the pot.
Peel and medium dice 2 large potatoes then deep fry them.Drain the grease from the potatoes ( I line a plate with paper towel to soak up all the excess grease.)Add the potatoes to the Pot.
Wash,peel and chop (small slices) 1 chive (you may use any type of onion u have laying around...if you are using a small onion only use 1/4 of it and just dice it up.)..this happens to be what I have laying around. Add to the pot.
Take a small saute pan on HIGH and add some olive oil to it,let the oil heat up in the pan then add 2-3 smashed cloves of garlic to it. Just flash fry the garlic cloves....just enough to bring out the flavor, DON'T BURN EM! (you'll know they are ready once you smell the garlic...yum!)takes just a few seconds if the pan is hot. Pour the garlic and oil right over the pot with everything else.let it simmer for a few seconds.
Finally, grab a plate put some rice in it and pour a couple of scoops of the Turkey and Potatoes on top then sprinkle chopped parsley on top and a squeeze of lemon. There you have it..."Potatoes on a Prayer"

I hope you enjoy this dish as much as me and my girls!

If you would have a questions...just ask!

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