Ribs! Pop-up Dinner

We have been having a pork-a-thon. Fabulous pork dinners at Mozza and Palate. To continue the theme we decided to make baby back ribs.

We purchased 5 racks at MaCall’s Meat and Fish to smoke in the egg. I came up with a clever idea to evenly smoked the ribs. I created wedges out of aluminum foil to separate the ribs and keep them standing on edge.

We made Chinese-Style Baby Back Ribs with Ginger-Scallion Sauce from License to Grill by: Chris Schlesinger and John Willoughby. You can find the recipe in our blog of: June 21, 2008. Click the date to get the recipe. These were great ribs, moist, smokey and tender.

We started with a tomato salad. We used the recipe for Green and Red Tomato Salad with Russian Dressing from New Classic Family Dinners by Mark Peel. I just love this salad. It can be found in our blog of July 4, 2010. Click the date to get the recipe.

Cathy found a recipe for Ginger-Scallion Fried Rice from License to Grill Chris Schlesinger & John Willoughby. The rice was delicious, we will make it again.

For desert we had Ice-Cream with Cherry Sauce and Darryl Chocolate Cookies.

Billy stopped by and was joined by Kevin for this impromptu neighborhood pork dinner.

Ginger-Scallion Fried Rice

License to Grill

Chris Schlesinger & John Willoughby

SERVES4

This simple (and eggless) version of classic fried rice is flavorful but still plain enough to serve with many different types of grilled food. A full bunch of scallions might seem like a lot to use with this amount of rice, but try it and you may find a new appreciation for this pungent and slightly sweet member of the onion family.

Timing is important on the rice—you want to make sure it is dry but not burned, because cooking it until dry helps create those separated grains for which fried rice is known. It also helps if, after the rice is cooked, you put a tea towel over the pan and fit the lid on over the tea towel before you set the rice aside to sit for a few minutes. The towel absorbs a lot of the moisture that would otherwise keep the rice grains together.

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

3 tablespoons minced ginger 1 tablespoon minced garlic

l cup rice

1 3/4 cups water

¼ cup sesame oil

1/2 red bell pepper, seeded and diced large

½ green bell pepper, seeded and diced large

6 medium mushrooms, trimmed, cleaned, and thinly sliced

1 bunch scallions (white and green parts), thinly sliced

¼ cup soy sauce

Salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste

1. In a medium saucepan, heat the vegetable oil over medium heat until hot but not smoking. Add the ginger and garlic and saute, stirring occasionally, for i min­utes. Add the rice and saute, stirring occasionally, for 3 minutes. Add the water, cover, reduce the heat to low, and cook until the water is absorbed and the rice is tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside for a few minutes.

2. In a large saute pan, heat the sesame oil over medium heat until hot but not smoking. Add the bell peppers and mushrooms and saute, stirring occasionally, for 2 minutes. Add the cooked rice and saute for a few minutes to heat through, stirring occasionally. Add the scallions and soy sauce and stir until thoroughly mixed. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve.