Guest Food
We had the wife's family here for the past four days. While
working up the menus I decided to step up the coffee for them,
and
bought a 12 ounce bag of Seattle's
Finest because it was, at $9.79,
the cheapest premium blend Giant carried..
God help me. I'm not a coffee
snob, and we've been happy with Wal-Mart coffee—I buy it by the case,
home delivered—but that there Seattle coffee is so noticeably better
that I can't go
home again. The
good news is that WalMart
sells it for $6 the bag delivered. I
ordered 6 bags (and some paper towels) so there was no tax or
freight. What the hell, we only use one ounce of coffee a
day (8 cups), so one bag will last—let's call it two weeks—so six bags
will
last—lets call it 3 months. Just 40¢ a day. Piece of
cake.
On
the topic of
guest food, I made spare ribs Saturday. Remember that oven
pulled pork recipe?
Well I prepared my 4 slabs of ribs the same
exact way. Brined, slathered, rubbed and baked in foil
sealed pans. The only concession I made
for the lighter mass was
to bake @ 275° for about 45 minutes, then @300° for about 45 minutes,
and then 325° for one hour. But wait! When I took the foil
off and
tasted the sauce all I could taste was pepper! WTF? Maye I
screwed up
the dry rub? I rubbed a handful of brown sugar on each slab and
let
them crust up for an hour at 275° (while watching to make sure the
sugar
didn't burn). For about the last 10 minutes I turned the heat up
to
500°.
I anticipated that the whole lot would be a bust, but no! In
fact, they were hands-down the best ribs I've ever made, maybe ever
had!-and that was the table's consensus too. I mean,
perfect. Not
quite falling off the bone, and firm enough that when you bit into them
the bite mark remained. A sign of perfection.
FWIW, I also made this
recipe
for pork and bean. Result was much better than I
anticipated. Quite
wonderful in fact, despite using only about 12 ounces of
pork roast
that I had in the freezer.
Damn I miss Saturday Terp basketball.
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What?! No coleslaw? For Shame.
ReplyDeleteI'll try you recipe for the ribs Sounds good.
Awk - I used Don's slaw - sorry for the forget
ReplyDeleteGlad you liked your ribs. But for me, I want ribs untouched by Honkey hands. Just like at Penny's Rib Shack. I've had the very best, and I know no one else's will ever come close. I don't even look anymore.
ReplyDeleteNever heard of doing ribs like that. You must have some kind of magic!
ReplyDeleteWe finally gave up the Seattle's Best and Star Bucks in favor of -yes not a typo- Folgers Black Silk 27.8 oz @ $8.98 online, $8.94 store shelf. No kidding delicious. (.32 pr oz)
We just had a long power outage. High winds and snow most of the morning. I hope we don't have another later tonight, it's going to be cold again
ReplyDeleteHey Juice. My Son-in-Law loves Starbucks (I can't stand it) but I brewed him some Foldger's French Roast and he says it's the best he's tasted.
Rodger, I always use Spanish Smoked Paprika for BBQ Sauces. I don't believe you indicated what type you use.
+1 on the Black Silk, Juice. We started using it a couple years ago, and I like it just as well as anything else on the market up here. I usually wait until it gets under $9 a can and buy two or three.
ReplyDeletePvtCdr(SS) MichigammeDave
The original America Test Kitchen recipe (linked) indicates 2 TBSP of Spanish smoked paprika. I love the stuff-- have to watch myself lest I put it in everything. BTW, if you add it to Jimmy Dean type breakfast sausage it tastes like chorizo.
ReplyDeleteI was in Ethiopia a few years ago. I could tell you coffee stories for an hour. All I can say is it ruined me for life. Nothing can ever compare. But then they invented it. BTW IMHO Starbucks takes those beautiful beans from the Sidamo region where I was and roasts the crap out of them. Pity.
ReplyDelete"they were hands-down the best ribs I've ever made, maybe ever had!"
ReplyDeleteMore proof that everything tastes better with the inlaws.
My 2 cents..
ReplyDeleteCoffee:
I got one of the most life changing Christmas presents from my daughter this year - a coffee grinder. Pour the beans in, grind, put in the coffee maker. Dramatically deeper, fuller tasting coffee. Now i'm a coffee snob... Pre-ground coffee is just a pale imitation... might as well be drinking instant...
Ribs:
The very first thing I smoked when I resurrected my electric smoker in the fall. With apologies to your worship, for me, that is the only way to do ribs.
Re Coffee again if I may, In Ethiopia they have a coffee break, very ceremonial, three times a day. I was in an office building in Awasa when they took the second break around noon. Two ladies brought in a small coal fired cooker. While they heated the water over the fire they took green coffee beans and roasted them in a pan over the same coals. They also took a hot piece of coal and put it in a censor and burned frankincense. When the beans were finished roasting, while still warm,they ground them in a stone mortar and pestle. Then they cooked popcorn in the coffee pan. The mingling of aromas of coffee, incense, and even the coal filled the room. The ground coffee is pour in the water carafe, a very long-necked ceramic vessel with a large bulbous body and let it steep over the coals. It was then served to us with a little milk and sugar. The morning coffee is straight up noon has a little milk and sugar and the coffee at about 4:00 pm is about half milk with some sugar. They typically only drink one cup of about 6 or maybe 8 ounces each time. I had two cups at breakfast and basically flew through the morning. But unlike starbucks et al the coffee does not taste burnt, bitter or acid. It is the most unbelievably bold, rich yet smooth coffee imaginable.
ReplyDelete5
I AM a coffee snob, and a tea snob too. Easily affordable vices that are actually good for you. When I lived in New Haven, hands down the best coffee was Willoughby's. The owners actually went around the world meeting plantation owners, sampling, and getting the best beans and leaves personally and selling them to us for much much less. You can buy from them online. Since bought out by a bigger company, just for the owner experience and contacts, the same people are still traveling around the world buying. I don't have any relation except as a customer/fan.
ReplyDeletewilloughbyscoffee.com
I get 8 o'clock Roasters Italian Roast whole beans delivered monthly from Amazon. Price varies a bit from month to month, but it's been under $20.00 for four 11.5 ounce bags, much less tha at Weis or Giant.
ReplyDelete