Dinner Party Part 2

Joshua was in charge of the ribs & they were KILLER! 
Now I don't like meat very much and under almost no circumstances will I eat it off of a bone. BUT ribs are my one exception. Not sure why I can handle it but my uneasiness with meat on a bone doesn't stick when it comes to ribs- and boy am I glad.

 the 2 pictures below are the total amount of ribs 

we had not the same ones picture twice! SO many

Balsamic Glazed Ribs:
The balsamic glaze allowed them to be really well seasoned without overwhelming the meat flavor and they didn't drip all down your fingers. They also had a little kick to them which I loved! If ribs weren't so expensive I'd make this a regular!!!

for marinade:
8 cloves garlic
1 tsp + 1 tbs salt
1 tsp pepper
2 tbs rosemary; chopped
2 tbs dark brown sugar; packed
2 tbs balsamic vinegar
1 tbs cayenne (use 1 tsp if you'd like them mild instead of a medium spicy)
8 lbs baby back pork ribs
1 cup water

for glaze:
2 cups liquid from ribs
1 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar; packed

we used 2 foil roasting pans to make them in

1    mash garlic and 1 tsp salt into a paste
2    stir in rosemary, brown sugar, vinegar, cayenne, 1 tbs salt, pepper
3    rub all over the ribs, place in roasting pans and cover tightly with foil
4    let marinate in fridge overnight
5    preheat oven 425 degrees F
6    pour 1/2 cup water into each roasting pan and make sure the foil is covering
      them tightly
7    roast for 1 1/2 hours
8    remove from roasting pan and transfer ribs to a hot grill
9    grill ribs on each side for about 5-6 minutes each side
10  meanwhile get 2 cups of liquid from the roasting pans and place in saucepan
11  add in remaining glaze ingredients and bring to a boil for about 15 minutes
      (it should reduce to about 1 cup)
12  brush glaze over top of both sides of the ribs
 and eat your heart out, so so good!

Orange scented brioche rhubarb tart:
MMMM this was good. The brioche was soft and flavorful and the bronw sugar labne cooked with the rhubarb was divine! Awesome summery dessert

brown sugar labne:
21 oz. plain greek yogurt
3/4 cup brown sugar

1   place a cheesecloth over a fine metal mesh sieve and place over a small bowl
2    layer 1/3 of yogurt then 1/4 cup brown sugar, repeat with remaining yogurt and sugar
3    tightly wrap with plastic wrap and place in fridge overnight


brioche dough:
1/3 cup milk
1 tsp active dry yeast
1/4 cup brown sugar
zest from 1 orange
juice from 1/2 orange
10 tbs butter; cut into slices, room tempuraure
2 1/3 cups whole wheat flour

rhubarb filling:
4 cups rhubarb; sliced
1/2 cup water
3/4 cup sugar

1     bring milk to a lukewarm temperature in a saucepan
2     mix milk and yeast in a bowl and let sit until foamy (5-7 minutes)
3     in a food processor mix butter; brown sugar, 1/2 of the orange zest, orange juice until combined
       (will look curdled)
4     add yeast mixture and pulse until combined
5     then add flour to a bowl and beat in the mixture from the food processor
6     form into a bowl, place back in bowl, cover with a towel, and let it rise for 1 hour
7     place rhubarb, water, and sugar in a saucepan and bring to a boil
8     cover the pan and simmer until rhubarb is soft, about 5-7 minutes
9     remove from heat and strain rhubarb, saving liquid
10   preheat oven to 350 degrees F
11   on a baking sheet covered in wax paper roll out the dough into about a 10" circle
12   place about 1/2 brown sugar labne into center and smooth around leaving about a 1" border
12   place rhubarb inside
13   top with remaining orange zest and bake for 20-25 minutes
14   when done top with a dollop of labne and some of the reserved rhubarb liquid
   

Dinner Party Part 1

I like a party, I especially like to get to be the one planning & cooking for a party. Little did our friends know us inviting them over for dinner meant trying out all the summery recipes I've been storing up and making them endure place cards, courses, stripey straws and candlelit logs.

I know it's a bit much and Joshua pointed out when I was knee deep in boiling rhubarb that I may have tried too much this time, but I still loved doing it! And next time I'll probably bite off more than I can chew again, I'm that girl. But luckily Joshua is the worlds best assistant and we pulled it off!

 

And man o man it was tasty!!

We had:

stone fruit sangria
grilled sweet potato fries with cilantro-lime dressing
watermelon cucumber gazpacho
black pepper foccacia bread
balsamic glazed ribs
orange scented brioche rhubarb tart

it was like summer in my mouth all evening and luckily the weather help up its end and stayed sunny and warmish.

Stone Fruit Sangria:

stone fruit puree:
1 nectarine
1 apricot
1 peach
(puree together, also can be made 2 days ahead of time and stored in airtight container)
1 bottle dry rose
1 bottle dry red
1/2 cup campari
2 tbs lime juice
3 plums; sliced
3 nectarines; sliced
3-4 apricots; sliced

1   pour wines, fruit puree, campari and lime juice in large serving container
2   top with fruit slices
3   store in fridge overnight
4   serve cold

 

Grilled Sweet Potato Fries with Cilantro-Lime Dressing:
O man these truly were great and a great thing to make while the rest of dinner is still cooking. We hung out outside drinking sangria and beer while we grilled them and while the sun was still out. Then you jsut finish grilling them in batches and snack away

4 lbs sweet potatoes
1/4 cup lime juice
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup fresh cilantro; chopped


1   put sweet potatoes in a large pot and cover with cold water
2   put over high heat and add in about 1 tsp salt
3   bring to boil and then down to a simmer for 15-20 minutes
4   once the are easily pierced through with a knife remove from heat and place in a
      bath of cold ice water to stop their cooking
5   peel the potatoes and cut into fry size pieces (sixth to eighths)
6   place on grill for about 6-10 minutes over medium-low heat, flip them over halfway through
7   make dressing by whisking together all the ingredients
8   remove fries from grill and top with dressing

 

Watermelon Cucumber Gazpacho:
This was beyond good! Gazpacho isn't something everyone has tried (essentially cold soup) This is a really great one to start people out with it has a light flavor that is very smooth with a great hint of the savory veggies all mixed in. Highly recommend making this!

5 cups watermelon; diced
1 jalapeno; minced
1 small red onion; diced
1 green pepper; seeded and diced
1 small yellow pepper; seeded and diced
1 cucumber; peeled and diced
3-4 stalks of celery; diced
fresh mint
heavy whipping cream

1   puree 4 cups of watermelon and transfer to large bowl
2   puree vegetables with the remaining 1 cup of watermelon unitl very well liquified
3   add to pureed watermelon, mix well
4   cover with plastic wrap and let chill in fridge for at least1 and up to 4 hours
5   serve with fresh mint, chopped and a dab of cream

Grilled Wedge Salad

I have always thought wedge salads sounded fancy, but they always seem to be topped with blue cheese -ick. When my friend Michael was here he mentioned a grilled salad. I knew that was  how I wanted to venture into this.

So I got a nice size romaine lettuce from the farmer's market and went for it. Wowza it was really tasty. Hubs doesn't like thinking of salads as meals but he was really a fan of this one and suggested we do it again soon. The flavors we ended up using all went together really deliciously! The smokey grilled flavor really brought this to life!

salad:
1 large head of romaine lettuce, pull off any wilting leaves and chop of the top inch of it
1 zucchini; halved
1 avocado; halved

feta for topping

for dressing:

4 tbs oil

2 tsp balsamic vinegar

1 1/2 tsp djon mustard
few grinds of salt and pepper

1   heat up the grill and lightly brush the cut portion of the zucchini with oil

2   place the zucchini and avocado, cut side down, on the grill

3   then mix together the dressing ingredients and brush onto the outside of the romaine and drizzle some inside it as well, use about 1/2 of what you made

4   once the zucchini and avocado are pretty warm move them to a less hot place on the grill and put on the whole head of romaine

5   grill it for about 3 minutes on each side, the tips should start to blacken

6   once it's almost done remove the zucchini and avocado, slice the avocado

7   then cut the romaine in half lenghtwise (or hotdog is the way my art teacher always described it)

8   serve with avocado slices, feta, and more dressing on top and then cut away looking all fancy with your wedge salad :)