Everything But The Squeal

I dig pig.  Of all of the great foods that used to have a face, pork is my all-time favorite. We ordered half a pig a month or so back and , well, it's gone. The pork chops, hams, bacon, sausage and butt; gone. The last cut was this little piggy's ribs. Spare ribs to be specific and we had them tonight.
I was looking for a recipe that would not induce an insulin spike but since usually pork ribs are slathered with sugary barbecue sauce I was faced with somewhat of a challenge. I went with a salt based rub and a braising liquid made with my homemade hard cider- if you don't brew your own cider a store-bought cider is fine.

Cider Braised Spare Ribs

Salt Rub:
  2 Tbs Sea Salt
  1 Tbs Smoked Paprika
  1 Tsp Black Pepper
  1 Tsp Chili Powder
  1/2 Tsp Cayenne Pepper
  1/2 Tsp Dried Thyme
  1/2 Tsp Old Bay

Combine ingredients and rub onto a slab of pork spare ribs. Preheat you oven to 325. Wrap the ribs in foil but leave a spout to pour in the braising liquid.

Braising Liquid:
  1 Cup Hard Cider
  a good squirt of Honey
  A few dashed Worcestershire sauce

Combine the ingredients in a glass bowl and warm for a minute in the microwave to dissolve the honey.  Pour in the braising liquid and seal the foil packet.  Place the ribs on a sheet pan and bake for about 2 hours. When the ribs are done, remove them from the oven as set it to broil.  Peel the foil packet open and slide the ribs under the broiler for a few minutes to add a bit of color. I served them with a nice salad and some steamed broccoli I browned under the broiler along side the ribs.

Jerky Boys

With the weather improving more people are traveling and whether it be by foot or airplane you need to carry provisions. Jerky is compact, lightweight and calorie dense. Commercial made jerky is contains several unpronouncable ingredients so I prefer to make my own. This is my current favorite recipe- kind of a combination of pepper steak and african biltong.

Beef Jerky

3 pounds lean beef sliced thinny with the grain
1 cup low sodium soy sauce
1/4 cup worchestershire sauce
2 cloved garlic smashed

 Combine everything in a zip top bag and marinate overnight- longer is better. Place meat on dehydrator trays and sprinke with fresh ground black pepper and ground coriander. Dry for 6-10 hours depending on you dehydrator and humidity. The jerky should be dry but not brittle.

Baby Sheep Plus Fire Equals Good.

Okay, the soapbox is put away now.

I have been exploring meats I have not cooked often and included amung them is lamb. I have never been a big fan of lamb before but have discovered that cooking it over charcoal to rare is really good! Below is a gyro recipe I put together to use some lamb steaks from my freezer- feel free to use just about any cut of lamb you can get you hands on.

Grilled Lamb Gyros

2 pounds lamb steaks
Sliced tomato
Dice red onion
Large lettuce leave
Crumbled feta cheese
Tzatziki sauce (recipe below)
Olive Oil, Salt and Pepper

Drizzle the lamb with the olive oil, salt and pepper then grill over medium hot charcoal about 2-3 minutes per side (go 5-6 if you want medium rather than rare). Slice the lamb thinnly and divide amung the lettuce leaves. Top with tomato, onion, cheese and tzatziki sauce. You can also brush pita bread with olive oil and grill a few minutes on each side and pile everything on that instead.

Tzatziki Sauce
1/2 large cucumber- grated
1 large clove garlic- minced
2 green onions- sliced
2 cups full fat greek yogurt
1 tbs kosher salt
1 tsp ground cumin.

Mix the cucumber, onions, garlic and salt in a bowl and put it aside fo about 10 minutes. Rinse and squeeze dry the vegatable then combine with the yogurt and cumin.