Slow Cooker Short Ribs with Pasta and Fried Zucchini Salad

Today I was out with my sister, fabric shopping. I wanted dinner pretty much done by the time I got home. Slower cooker BBQ Ribs to the rescue!

I removed the membrane from the back of the ribs and rubbed them with a blend of Paprika, Ground Mustard powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper. Into the crockpot and poured 1 1/2 cups of BBQ Sauce. Our house favorite is Stubbs Original. Set it on low for 8 to 9 hours. 

After that remove the ribs from the crockpot and brush the with more Stubbs BBQ sauce. Put them under the broiler for 3-5 minutes until the BBQ sauce starts to bubble and carmelize. 

The pasta salad was made when I got home from shopping. My sister gave me some green beans and I used them in a new recipe I was trying from Yotam Ottolenghi's cookbook, Plenty.

I  used the green beans in place of the edamame.

Ingredients-

1/3 cup sunflower oil


1 medium zucchini cut in 1/4 inch slices (slightly diagonal)


3/4 tbsp red wine vinegar


3/4  cup edamame beans (frozen), or fresh green beans


1 cups basil leaves, coarsely chopped


2tbsp parsley leaves


2 1/2 tbsp olive oil


4 oz pasta (penne or strozzapreti)

Zest of 12 lemon

3/4 tbsps capers


4 oz buffalo mozzarella, torn into chunks

Method-

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.

While you’re waiting, in a medium saucepan or skillet, heat sunflower oil over medium-high heat. 

Fry zucchini slices in batches for about 3 to 4 minutes, flipping once, until golden on both sides. 

Drain in a colander, shaking with a couple pinches of salt, then transfer to a large bowl and pour vinegar on top. Set aside.

In the hot water, cook edamame for 3 minutes, frozen peas for 3 to 4 minutes, or fresh peas for 1 to 2 minutes (to taste). Drain and run cool water over until lukewarm. Set aside to dry. 

Leave pot boiling, then cook pasta until al dente in it. Drain and rinse under cold water.

Combine half of the basil and all of the parsley and olive oil in a food processor or blender. Blend until smooth, then season with salt and pepper.

Transfer pasta back to the empty pot. Add fried zucchini and any juices, basil-parsley oil, edamame or peas, lemon zest, capers, and mozzarella. 

Stir gently together, then season generously with salt and pepper. 

Right before you serve it, stir in remaining basil leaves

 

HOMEMADE CHOCOLATE CREAM PIE

Yes, I am yelling. Yes, I finally made my absolute favorite summer dessert that my Mom always made. Chocolate Cream Pie. My Mom would pre-bake a pie crust and I would hope that she would fill it with her homemade pudding and then top it with whipped cream.

As much as I loved this pie I had never made it. Until now. I found this recipe on the blog written by someone that I wished was my next-door neighbor. What's Cookin Italian Style Classic Chocolate Cream Pie. I followed the recipe for the pudding and the pie. Honestly, this was quite good.

I used my usual pie crust recipe and the What's Cookin Italian Style chocolate pudding recipe.
Wow, homemade pudding!!

And dinner was good too!  Delmonico Steaks with Greek Pasta Salad, recipe from MyRecipes.com. The steaks were grilled perfectly.

Blueberries were on sale a Bishops so -
Blueberry Scones with Lemon Glaze for breakfast. Texture - perfect. Flavors- Perfecto!!!!

The scone recipe was a variation of a Tyler Florence recipe. I liked the idea of square scones.

Ingredients-

Blueberry Scones:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons sugar

5 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold, cut in chunks

1 cup fresh blueberries

1/2 cup Greek Yogurt

1/2 cup Milk

Lemon Glaze:

2 tbsp  cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

1/2 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted

1 lemon, zest finely grated

Method-
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Sift together the dry ingredients; the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Using 2 forks or a
pastry blender, cut in the butter to coat the pieces with the flour. The mixture should look like
coarse crumbs. Fold the blueberries into the batter. Take care not to mash or bruise the
blueberries because their strong color will bleed into the dough. Make a well in the center and
pour in the yogurt and milk. Fold everything together just to incorporate; do not overwork the
dough.

Press the dough out on a lightly floured surface into a rectangle about 12 by 3 by 1 1/4 inches.
Cut the rectangle in 1/2 then cut the pieces in 1/2 again, giving you 4 (3-inch) squares. Cut the squares in 1/2 on a diagonal to give you the classic triangle shape. Place the scones on an
ungreased cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and brush the tops with a little milk.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until beautiful and brown. Let the scones cool a bit before you apply
the glaze.

Mix the lemon juice with the confectioners' until dissolved. Whisk in the lemon zest. Then
drizzle the glaze over the top of the scones. Let it set a minute before serving.

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.

Pasta Salad with Roasted Tomatoes

 

Happy 4th of July! Today we went to a party at my sister's house. My nephew Nicholas and his family were there and so was one of my niece Cindy and her family. Lots of fun with the kids and lots of good food.

I brought over the Pasta Salad. I found this recipe on Smitten Kitchen. It was a hit!

From Smitten Kitchen, Pasta Salad with Roasted Tomatoes  (Serves 8)

Ingredients-

Roasted tomatoes
4 cups (about 680 grams) grape tomatoes
Olive oil
Salt

Oregano dressing
1 big clove or 2 small cloves garlic
1 1/2 tablespoons dried oregano
1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt, plus more to taste
Freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons lemon juice
3 tablespoons red or white wine vinegar
1/3 cup olive oil

1 pound (455 grams) dried pasta, cooked until 1 to 2 minutes before doneness and drained
6 ounces (170 grams) crumbled salty cheese, such as ricotta salata, feta, queso fresco
1/2 cup (70 grams) pine nuts, well-toasted and cooled
1/2 cup (70 grams) pitted and rough-chopped olives of your choice
Salt and pepper
Handful fresh basil leaves, roughly chopped

Method- 
Roast tomatoes: Heat oven to 300°F. Cover 1 to 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat. Cut each small tomato in half lengthwise and arrange cut side up in a single layer on prepared sheets. Drizzle lightly with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Bake in oven for approximately 90 minutes, until somewhat shriveled and dry to the touch, but not fully dehydrated. Set aside until needed, letting them cool. (Note, if you pine nuts are not yet toasted, you can place them in the oven for the last 10 minutes, shaking them once or twice for even coloring. Let cool as well before using.)

Make dressing: Roughly chop the garlic on a cutting board, then add oregano, salt and a few grinds of black pepper. Mince the mixture with your knife until it’s a grainy herb paste. Transfer to a small bowl, whisk in lemon juice and vinegar, then slowly drizzle in oil, whisking the whole time. Taste and adjust as needed; you might need more salt or vinegar. You want a strongly flavored dressing that won’t get lost in that big bowl of ingredients.

Assemble salad: In a giant bowl, place drained pasta, roasted tomatoes, cheese, pine nuts and olives and toss gently to combine. Add dressing to taste, along with any extra salt and pepper needed. Finish with basil. Salad can be eaten right away, but will keep in the fridge up to 3 days. This is also perfect for picnics and potlucks, as it can handle being out in the sun without going south.