Finger Licking Good!

Hands down one of my favorite things to eat is RIBS! There are so many different sizes, cooking methods and flavors to please every palate. Living in Austin has allowed me to experience the best of the best when it comes to BBQ ribs. Whether you like the big St. Louis style with a dry rub or the baby back smeared in sauce, ribs are the ultimate comfort food meat.

Kenny Oballo (my godson's dad) makes the best dry rub large ribs I've ever had. He puts the dry rub on them and grills them for the better part of the day- dry, low & slow is his rib motto! My other favorite place for ribs in Texas is Salt Lick. Their dry ribs paired with the haberno BBQ sauce is to die for- and I've been known to eat a few pounds of that meat myself.

If I'm making ribs at home- they are usually pan seared then cooked in a slow cooker or oven for 6 hours smothered in a BBQ sauce, onion and beer. The result is a tender meat that falls right off the bone. Save the leftover sauce in the crock pot or baking dish to make a gravy or pasta sauce with. The sauce will have little pieces of rib meat that have fallen off while cooking, making the sauce irresistible.

My ribs starting to cook in the crock pot!

Care's Ribs
-1-2 racks pork baby back ribs
-1 large white or sweet onion
-5 cloves garlic minced
-1 beer (corona, mgd, miller lite, etc)
-2 Tb red wine vinegar
-rub for ribs (salt and pepper is great, or any meat rub)
-1-2 bottles BBQ sauce of your choice (I used Chiptole bacon sauce from Cost Plus last night)

Start by patting your ribs dry with paper towell. Slice the ribs into 3-4 sections per rack. Cut down the side of bone and they should pull apart easily (you'll have about 2-3 bones in each section). Rub the ribs with your meat rub or salt and pepper.
Get your crock pot ready (or oven on at 350). Preheat on low setting (cook 6-8 hours) or high (cook 4-6 hours).
Add chopped onion, garlic, beer, vinegar and half the BBQ sauce. Mix all together.
Heat a skillet on medium with a little bit of olive oil.
Brown the ribs on both sides for 1-2 min a piece until they are light brown.
Place the ribs in the crock pot or baking dish and make sure to cover with sauce mixture.
Pour more BBQ sauce over the top and let them start cooking. Every 30-60 min turn the ribs so they are getting covered in the sauce (cover dish with foil if using the oven).
Once the meat is tender and pulling away from the bone- dig in and enjoy!

Spicy Mexican Red Beans and Rice

Whenever I get rice and beans at a restaurant my first instinct is to mix them together, add some salsa and dig in. Its a natural combination of flavors that is a perfect side to my favorite Mexican dishes like enchiladas, tacos and tamales. Tonight I wanted to cook some fresh tamales from Josie in Pearsall, TX (a frequent blog reader) and thought rice and beans would be the perfect compliment. I placed the tamales on a grill pan on medium heat with a bit of olive oil and let them brown and crisp up. The insides ended up warm with a roasted flavor. Using ingredients I had in the pantry I created my own version of red beans and rice with a spicy Mexican kick. As always, use what you have and adapt to your taste but below are the ingredients I used!

1 cup uncooked white or brown rice (and water according to package instructions)
1 can Rotel
1 can kidney beans
1 can pork and beans
1 tablespoon Sriracha
1 tablespoon chiptole Tabasco
Salt, pepper, cumin, red pepper flakes, garlic powder (all to taste)

Add all ingredients to rice cooker or pot on stove top until rice is tender and liquid is absorbed. Pair with you favorite meat, taco or tamale!