Ribs!

I'm still learning to grill, but I am very proud of my ribs. They're awesome. And I'm going to share the recipe. My beloved's been working out a lot and eating really well, and on Saturday he said, "can we have ribs? Please? Pleaaase?" So we took a break from the quinoa and grilled chicken and got some pork spare ribs.

Here's what you need:

2 racks St-Louis cut pork spareribs (2 to 3 pounds each)

For the rub:

1/2 cups brown sugar

1 tbs chili powder

1/2 tsp cumin

1 tbs. garlic powder

1 tbs onion powder

1/2 tbs smoked paprika

1 tbs kosher salt

1 tbs of your favorite mustard

1/4 cup canola oil

mix the sugar, oil, and mustard together and rub it on the ribs. then rub them with the dry ingredients. They will look like this: 

Let it sit for an hour while you make the sauce. Now, you can make your own sauce, or you can buy it. I made it, but I'm particular:

2 cups ketchup

1/4 cup water

1/2 cup cider vinegar

1/2 cup apple cider

1/4 cup honey

1 tbs Worcestershire sauce

1 tbs soy sauce

1/2 cup dark brown sugar

8 tbs melted butter

1 tablespoon sweet paprika

1 tablespoon chili powder

2 cloves garlic, minced

Whisk it all together and simmer over medium heat (about 20 minutes). Please adjust the sauce to your taste--if you want it sweeter, add more brown sugar or honey. If you want it spicy, add chili powder. Honestly, you cannot screw it up. 

After you heat the grill (you can use a smoker or smoke pouch, if you want. I used a smoke pouch with applewood chips) place the ribs meat side up on the grill and maintain a 250 degree (approximately) temp. Mop the ribs every 30 minutes with some apple cider/vinegar mixed together. Grill for 3 hours. Remove them, then brush with sauce and wrap them in foil and grill for another 2 hours, brushing with sauce every 30 minutes.

Uncover the ribs, toss the foil, and grill for another 30 minutes or so, or until you can slide a dull knife into the meat very easily. Remove them, sauce them again, and let them sit until your friends can't stand it anymore!

Sesame Bread

Saturday morning, my beloved wanders into the living room while I'm reading something mindless on Reddit and sipping a molten hot cup of coffee.
 "Can you bake something today?" he asks, rubbing his eyes and stretching.
"What do you want?"
"You haven't made bread in a while."
"You're right! I haven't, that could be fun! What kind?"
"I don't know. Something with sesame."
 And, lucky for both of us, I happened to have half a bag of Indian Black Sesame seeds that I bought from Penzey's a few months back in order to make bagels. So I made some bread!

 
 Here's the recipe. It's really simple, and I love it.
 4 cups Bread flour
 2 teaspoons instant yeast
 1/2 cup sourdough starter
2 teaspoons salt
1 tbs sugar
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 and 1/4 cups warm water (100 degrees)
 3-4 tbs sesame seeds

 Just add the yeast, oil, salt and sugar to the water, stir and let sit until it foams. Stir in the 1/2 cup of starter and then start working in the flour. You can knead by hand, but I used my dough hook on my kitchen aid mixer. I added some of the sesame seeds while kneading to make sure some got inside. Knead until you've made a smooth, elastic dough. Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl, turn to coat, cover, and allow it to rise for 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Gently deflate the dough, and then form either one big loaf (as I did) or divide into two equal pieces and roll into logs. over the braid and allow it to rise for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, until it's almost doubled in size. Beat an egg white and brush the top of the bread, then sprinkle on the rest of the sesame seeds. Bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes.