Kohlrabi Slaw from my Birthday

         Kohlrabi Slaw

• 2 cups chopped cabbage
• 4 kohlrabi bulbs, peeled and grated
• 2 stalks celery, sliced thin
• 2 carrots, sliced thin
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh onion
• 1/3 cup white sugar

• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon celery seed
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 4 1/2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Directions
  
  
  1. Toss the cabbage, kohlrabi, celery, carrot, and onion together in a large bowl.
  2. Whisk the sugar, salt, pepper, celery seed, mayonnaise, and vinegar together in a separate bowl until smooth; pour over the cabbage mixture and stir to coat evenly. Chill in refrigerator 1 hour before serving.

Cornbread from my Birthday

                   Cornbread


1 cup milk
1/4 cup butter or 1/4 cup margarine, melted
1 large egg
1 1/4 cups yellow cornmeal or 1 1/4 cups white cornmeal or 1 1/4 cups blue cornmeal
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
Directions:

1
Heat oven to 400³F.
2
Grease bottom and side or round pan, 9x1 1/2 inches, or square pan, 8x8x2 inches, with shortening.
3
Beat milk, butter and egg in large bowl with hand beater or wire whisk.
4
Stir in remaining ingredients all at once just until flour is moistened (batter will be lumpy).
5
Pour into pan.
6
Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
7
Serve warm if desired.

Memphis-Style Ribs from my Birthday

                 Memphis-Style Ribs



Grilling Method
Indirect grilling

Advance preparation
4 to 8 hours for marinating the ribs

Special equipment
1 1/2 cups wood chips or chunks (preferably hickory), soaked for 1 hour in cold water to cover and drained

For the ribs and rub
3 racks baby back pork ribs (about 7 pounds), or 2 racks pork spareribs (6 to 8 pounds total)
1/4 cup sweet paprika
4 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
4 1/2 teaspoons dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons celery salt
1 1/2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 1/2 teaspoons dry mustard
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin

For the mop sauce (optional)
2 cups cider vinegar
1/2 cup yellow (ballpark) mustard
2 teaspoons salt

1. Prepare the ribs and rub: Remove the thin, papery skin from the back of each rack of ribs by pulling it off in a sheet with your fingers, using the corner of a kitchen towel to gain a secure grip, or with pliers.

2. Combine the paprika, black pepper, brown sugar, salt, celery salt, cayenne, garlic powder, dry mustard, and cumin in a small bowl and whisk to mix. Rub two thirds of this mixture over the ribs on both sides, then transfer the ribs to a roasting pan. Cover and let cure, in the refrigerator, for 4 to 8 hours.

3. Prepare the mop sauce (if using): Mix together the cider vinegar, mustard, and salt in a bowl and set aside.

4. Set up the grill for indirect grilling and place a large drip pan in the center.

If using a gas grill, place all of the wood chips in the smoker box and preheat the grill to high; when smoke appears, reduce the heat to medium.

If using a charcoal grill, preheat it to medium.

5. When ready to cook, if using a charcoal grill, toss the wood chips on the coals. Brush and oil the grill grate. Arrange the ribs on the hot grate over the drip pan. Cover the grill and smoke cook the ribs for 1 hour.

6. When the ribs have cooked for an hour, uncover the grill and brush the ribs with the mop sauce (if using). Re-cover the grill and continue cooking the ribs until tender and almost done, 1/4 to 1/2 hour longer for baby back ribs, 1/2 to 1 hour longer for spareribs. The ribs are done when the meat is very tender and has shrunk back from the ends of the bones. If using a charcoal grill, you'll need to add 10 to 12 fresh coals to each side after 1 hour. Fifteen minutes before the ribs are done, season them with the remaining rub, sprinkling it on.

7. To serve, cut the racks in half or, for a plate-burying effect, just leave them whole.

13th Birthday Dinner

     When you turned 13, did you have a special meal?. If you didn't, I highly recommend that you designate one night when you can make your dream meal. That's what I got to do for my 13 birthday,(which was on a Saturday night thankfully). My dream meal is the following: BBQ Pork Spare Ribs, Corn Bread, Coleslaw, Mac N'Cheese, and an Oreo Ice Cream Pie to top it off. That is the exact menu I had for my 13th birthday. I wanted to design the menu to be as Southernly as possible. What  also made the birthday dinner spectacular was having family in town from New Jersey. Even my older cousin was able to join us. Having the family in town made it a really special celebration that I will remember for a very long time.
      When I decided to have BBQ Ribs for my birthday I wanted to make them the best. For me to accomplish that we absolutely had to get the ribs from Clancey's. Then we had to find a recipe that was simple but would make the ribs heavenly. We were looking for a recipe that had a rub and sauce recipe. We found a recipe that met those two requirements. The rub was so simple . In the long run we ended up using our favorite BBQ Sauce to baste the ribs. It was a great combination. When the ribs came out of the oven, we had a scrumptious gravy for dipping the Corn Bread. This added numerous flavors to the bite.
       The Oreo Ice Cream Pie at the end of the meal made every single stomach in the room feel glorious. My aunt said, "Before having this Ice Cream Cake I did not like Oreo Ice Cream. But now I love it". By the way, the cake was from the best Ice Cream Creamery in Minneapolis, Sebastian Joe's. This was a great way to end such a memorable night. 


Note:The link to Sebastian Joe's and Clancey's Meat and Fish will be included at the end of the post
               The recipe's for the Kohlrabi Salad, BBQ Ribs, and the Cornbread will each have it's separate post.



 http://sebastianjoesicecream.com
http://www.clanceysmeats.com

The Oreo Ice Cream Pie

The Mac N'Cheese

The BBQ Ribs

Early Thanksgiving

      Recently our family was invited to a early Thanksgiving Dinner. It was a windy Friday night. Having a Thanksgiving meal 2 weeks before Thanksgiving(November 28) boosted my excitement for when we are going to host Thanksgiving this year.
      The meal was constructed of a 23 pound Turkey, Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Roasted Vegetables, Sweet Potato Puree, stuffing, and a very craveable gravy. If you wanted to get the perfect plate it would consist of a little of everything.  If you wanted a perfect bite it would be a small bite of everything. There might be so much that you couldn't fit it into your mouth.

The turkey was baked golden brown. The bird was so big that the dark meat occupied one serving plate and the white meat occupied another. At the end of the meal there was still half a plate of each.

For dessert there was a variety of choices. All of the desserts were brought home from Patisserie 46. This bakery is the real deal. The choices looked so good that you had to try everything that was on the table. I wish I could've done that. I had the opportunity to try the small Apple Pie and the Dark Chocolate Brownie with a Raspberry on top. The outside of the Brownie was covered with a small wall of Dark Chocolate. There were five layers to the Brownie. Every layer was Chocolate except for the top one, which was a combination of Raspberry seeds and a Chocolate sauce. 

There were also a few more desserts that I wanted to try. One of them was a small cupcake with a circle of Raspberries around the bottom. On top of the Raspberries there was a vanilla frosting with crushed nuts sprinkled around. Each of the desserts was presented beautifully. Each and every one looked like a masterpiece on the plates. 

This meal was truly outstanding. But what made it exceptional was the family and friends around the table. Just like Thanksgiving.