Oven Baked Ribs and Macaroni Salad

Who made the BBQ Sauce? I made the BBQ Sauce. This was a hit!! It was cool enough today to have the oven on. Two hours at 300˚. But the sauce!!! Yeah, we love Stubbs Original BBQ Sauce and Guy Fieri's Bourbon Brown Sugar Sauce but it is nice to have a house recipe. The recipe comes from the Delish site. I cut the recipe in half, but wish I had made more of that sauce... I am thinking of using the leftover sauce from BBQ Burgers later in the week... We will see...

Oven-Baked Ribs

Ingredients-

FOR THE RIBS

2 lb. baby back ribs

1/2 c. packed brown sugar

2 tsp. kosher salt

1 tbsp. garlic powder 

1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

1/2 tsp. paprika

1/2 tsp. ground mustard

1/4 tsp. cayenne

FOR THE BARBECUE SAUCE

1 1/2 c. ketchup

1 c. packed brown sugar

1/2 c. water

1/4 c. apple cider vinegar

1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce 

1 tbsp. molasses

1 tsp. kosher salt

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1/2 tsp. onion powder

1/4 tsp. ground mustard

1/4 tsp. paprika

Method-

Preheat oven to 300° and line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. 

If your ribs have a thin membrane over the bones on the backside, remove by carefully sliding a knife under membrane and then peel it away. 

In a small bowl stir together brown sugar, salt, garlic powder, pepper, paprika, mustard powder, and cayenne. 

Rub mixture all over ribs and place on prepared baking sheet. Let this marinate for 30 minutes.

Cover with foil and bake until very tender, 2 hours. 

Meanwhile make barbecue sauce: In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine all sauce ingredients together. 

Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and let simmer, stirring occasionally, until thickened, 1 hour.

Turn oven to broil. 

Remove foil from ribs and brush both sides with barbecue sauce. 

Broil until sauce just starts to caramelize, 2 to 4 minutes.

The Macaroni Salad was a requested version of a Pasta Salad. I am glad it was requested because it was really tasty. Just simple Macaroni Salad like what we all grew up eating. The recipe is from the Food Network. I cut this recipe in half and had just enough for the 2 of us for dinner.

American Macaroni Salad

Ingredients-
2 cups dry elbow macaroni, cooked, rinsed, and drained
1/3 cup diced celery
1/4 cup minced red onion, soaked in cold water for 5 minutes, drained
1 tablespoon minced flat-leaf parsley
1/2 cup diced vine-ripened tomato (optional)
1/2 cup prepared mayonnaise
3/4 teaspoon dry mustard
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons cider vinegar
3 tablespoons sour cream
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
Freshly ground black pepper

Method-
In a large bowl, combine the macaroni, celery, onion, parsley and tomato, if using.
In a small bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, mustard, sugar, vinegar, sour cream and salt.
Pour the dressing over the salad and stir to combine.
Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Serve.
Store covered in the refrigerator, for up to 3 days.

And Air Fried Asparagus because I like Air Fried Asparagus! I was looking online and it was suggested to use just olive oil, salt, pepper, and paprika on the asparagus. So that is what I did. I loved it! I was the only one eating it, but I have leftovers for my salad this week.

Preheat the Air Fryer to 400˚. Add the rinsed and cut asparagus to the air fryer. Coat with olive oil, salt, pepper, and paprika. Toss to coat and make sure it is on one layer in the air fryer. 7 minutes, tossing halfway through and that is all there is to it!

Today was a purrfect day for bird watching.

Slow Cooker French Dip

When the chef from your favorite Italian restaurants has a new Pinterest board you take note. Chef Edward Varipapa of Leon's posted on his Pinterest page the recipe for the Ultimate Slow Cooker French Dip. I knew someone in our house would love this for dinner. So I was off to Ferraro's for a Chuck Roast. The only hands-on part of the recipe was searing the meat. Okay, I also had to chop an onion.  6 hours later we had an amazing dinner. Real au jus! You will not want to waste a drop.

Here is the recipe. I cut this in half for the 2 of us and we do have leftovers.
Ingredients-
4-5 pounds chuck roast
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
1 cup beef broth
1 tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce
1 can beer (I used Guinness)
1 yellow onion, diced
6 hoagie rolls
2 tablespoons butter
12 slices Provolone Cheese

Method-
In a large dutch oven, or if you have an aluminum insert for your slow cooker add the canola oil and heat on high.

Add the Kosher salt and pepper to your chuck roast. Brown on both sides aggressively (3-5 minutes on each side). Don’t move the beef before flipping (this lets the meat get a deep crust).

In a slow cooker add the meat, any meat juices from the pan, beef broth, Worcestershire sauce, beer and onions.

Cook on low for 6 hours.

Remove the meat and slice thickly. To assemble, butter your hoagie rolls and toast. Top with provolone cheese. In a small bowl add a cup of the liquid from the slow cooker and dip the sandwich in the bowl.

For the side dish I made a pasta salad. I had some extra cooked pasta that I did not add to Friday night's dinner. Always nice to have some cooked pasta in the fridge. 

Ingredients-
Cooked macaroni
1/2 cup Hellmann's® or Best Foods® Real Mayonnaise
1 Tbsp. vinegar
1 Tbsp. Dijon Mustard
1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. ground black pepper
1 stalk thinly sliced celery
1 thinly sliced carrot
1/2 cup chopped black olives

Method-
Combine Mayonnaise, vinegar, Dijon Mustard, sugar, salt and pepper in large bowl. Stir in macaroni, celery, carrots, and olives. Serve chilled.