PODCAST! A BBQ to Start the Season

We’re all getting anxious, aren’t we – for SUM~ SUM ~SUMMERTIME! But it’s still just a little bit too cold to hang out on the deck with your beverage of choice while dinner cooks on the grill. In fact, it’s downright COLD at night!

So here’s a recipe that will taste like summer, stick to your ribs and warm up the house, all at the same time.

This is my father’s recipe and I’ve adapted it for a braise. We like ours on pasta, but it’s absolutely GREAT over potatoes, either mashed, steamed, boiled or baked.




BRAISED BBQ BEEF SHORT RIBS

6-8 lb. Beef Short Ribs
Flour to coat
1 lg. Yellow Onion, chopped
2 Carrots, scraped and chopped
2 Celery stalks, chopped
2 Tb. Tomato Paste
1 15 oz. can of Whole Tomatoes with juice
1 C freshly-squeezed Lemon Juice (you can leave the seeds in) (about 4 Lemons)
Zest of 2 Lemons
1 C Brown Sugar
1 ½ C Ketchup
1 Tb. Dry Yellow Mustard
¾ tsp. Ground Cloves
1 ½ tsp. Allspice
6-12 chopped Chipotle Peppers in Adobo Sauce or any other spicy flavor you like
4 C Beef Broth
12 sprigs Fresh Thyme

Optional additions: 2 lg. Bay Leaf, 6 Whole Peppercorns, 6-8 stalks Fresh Parsley

Preheat oven to 350. Chop veggies, zest and juice lemons. Flour ribs. In a hot Dutch oven, add olive oil and brown ribs on all 6 sides. Remove to a bowl. When all the ribs are browned, add the onion, carrot and celery and sauté on medium-low heat for about 10 minutes. Add tomato paste and brown for about 2 minutes. Now add all the rest, except for the ribs.

Turn the heat to high, and mix all ingredients well. Put the ribs back into the pot. If they’re not completely covered with broth mixture you can either add more broth, tomatoes or plan to turn the ribs after they cook for 1.5 hrs.

When the pot begins to boil, cover it and put it into the oven for 3 hours. If it goes longer, say 30 min or so, you’ll be fine. After 3 hours, take the pot out of the oven and carefully remove all the ribs to a bowl. Cover with foil while you finish the dish.

Strain out all the broth ingredients into another pan and place it over high heat. Bring it to a rolling boil and allow it to reduce by at least 1/3. You can test it with a spoon to see if it’s reached a gravy-like consistency or not. When it’s ready, pour it over the ribs and pour the extra in a gravy boat.

Serve over potatoes or pasta, think of summer, and keep your house snug!

MAKE AHEAD:

You can make this ahead of time. Follow the recipe up to and including cooking the ribs in the oven for 2 hours. Then remove from the oven, cool completely and put in the fridge overnight. The next day you can scrape off a lot of the fat that will have solidified on top, put back in a 350 oven for 2 hours more.

Find the TCF Ingredients for this Podcast on sale here (And Don't Forget the Kitchen Toyz!)

*F|Beef Broth 32oz, Each	3.79
	*F|Beef Short Ribs, Pound	3.99
	*F|Brown Sugar 1.5 lbs, Each	4.79
	*F|Carrots Baby Peeled, Pound	1.49
	*F|Carrots, Pound	.99
	*F|Celery, Each	1.49
	*F|Extra Virgin Olive Oil 12.7oz, Each	12.29
	*F|Flour 5lbs.	5.95
	*F|Ketchup 24oz, Each	4.29
	*F|Lemons, Each	.49
	*F|Onion Red, Pound	.99
	*F|Onion Yellow, Pound	.69
	*F|Potatoes-Idaho, Pound	.89
	*F|Potatoes-Red Small, Pound	.99
	*F|Potatoes-Yukon Gold, Pound	1.29
	*F|Thyme, Bunch	1.79
	*F|Tomato Paste 6oz, Each	1.99
	*F|Tomatoes Peeled 14.5 oz, Each	2.59

Podcast!! Marinated Roasted Chicken and Spinach Salad

Ohhhh...! I LOVE roasted chicken! But if you marinate it first, you've really got me. This is such an easy dinner. Marinate a Cornish Hen or chicken pieces in olive oil, lemon, herbs and spices in the morning (or even the night before) and while it's baking at dinnertime, put together one of the most decadent Spinach Salads evah!


Remember that Tony has put many of the items I'm using on sale on our Picky Produce Page and every week he's adding more and more of the "Kitchen Toyz" that I use all the time on that same page.

I really could not live without my squeeze bottle for olive oil. It really lets me control how much I'm using and makes measuring a snap! So watch the video and make a plan to order the items shown, make a great dinner and GET FREE SHIPPING TO BOOT!

Here is the recipe:

Marinated Chicken

1 Chicken cut in pieces - or 1 Cornish Hen cut in half - or any mixture of cut pieces of Chicken with skin on the bone, totaling 6-8 pieces
1 C Olive Oil
Zest and Juice of one Lemon (go ahead and leave the seeds in!)
1 lg. clove Garlic, minced
2-3 sprigs fresh Rosemary(or about 1 Tb. dried)
1 Tb. Salt
Freshly ground Pepper

Mix the marinating ingredients in a zip top bag until the salt dissolves. Add the washed and dried chicken. Close, toss well and marinate all day or overnight in the fridge. To bake, preheat oven to 450. Shake off all the marinade from the chicken pieces and place on a rack over a baking pan. Bake 20 min. Reduce heat to 375 and bake for 30-40 min more -- more time if you have big pieces, less time if the pieces are small. A half of a Cornish Hen will take 40 minutes more to bake. Allow to rest for 10 minutes after removing from the oven.

Old School Spinach Salad

1 - 2 bunches fresh Spinach, washed and dried with center veins removed
12 strips Bacon fried until crispy, drained and cooled
4 eggs, hard boiled
1 Shallot
1/4 C Olive Oil
6-8 White Mushrooms, cleaned and sliced thinly (optional)

Dressing:

2 cloves Garlic, minced
1 tsp. Dijon Mustard
2 tsp. Sugar
6 Tb. fresh Lemon Juice (remove the seeds)
2 tsp. Salt
freshly ground Pepper

Mix the dressing ingredients and allow to sit for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare the Spinach, Bacon, Eggs and Mushrooms. Tear the Spinach into bite sized pieces in a serving bowl. Keep cold.

When Bacon grease has cooled a little, pour off all but 2 Tb. Chop the Shallot, and add Olive Oil. Begin to cook the Shallot, but not a lot. As soon as the Shallot begins to cook, add the dressing and mix well until heated through on medium heat.

Pour the dressing on the Spinach to wilt it. Add the Bacon and toss. Slice the eggs on top.

NOW CHECK OUT THE SALE ITEMS:

*E|Bacon, Pound	6.99
	*E|Cleaned Baby Spinach, Each	2.99
	*E|Cornish Hen, Each	5.99
	*E|Cut-Up Chicken, Pound	5.49
	*E|Extra Virgin Olive Oil 12.7oz., Each	12.29
	*E|Garlic, Bulb	.69
	*E|Kosher Salt, Each	2.79
	*E|Large Eggs, Dozen	3.69
	*E|Lemon, Each	.59
	*E|Rosemary, Each	1.49
	*E|Shallot, Pound	4.99
	*E|Spinach, Bunch	1.99
	*E|Whole Chicken 2-3 Lbs Pound	3.79

It's SOOOoooo Easy! And Delicious, Too!!