Nicole’s
Oven-Barbecue, Country-Style Pork Ribs
Our daughter, Nicole, makes the best ribs you ever ate! They are so tender they fall right off the bone, and taste
great!
Ingredients:
2-3 lb. Country-style Pork Spareribs
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
Johnny’s Seasoning
Water
Barbecue Sauce
Preheat oven to 325º
Rinse and dry ribs, seasoning well on all sides. Using large, flat, glass
baking dish, spread ribs out on bottom of dish (no rack).
Add 1-cup water, and cover dish tightly with aluminum foil.
Place in center of oven and bake until very, very tender. This will take a couple of hours or more, but watch them
closely so water can be replenished as needed.
When they are near done, allow water and juices to reduce, and when
they are thoroughly done, remove from oven and coat liberally with your
favorite barbecue sauce. Return to oven for an additional 20 minutes or
so. Serve hot. Note:
The secret to great ribs is to cook them “forever” before
putting any sauce on them.
My
Pork Chops Au Jus
These are my favorite pork chops, to differentiate them from Jim’s
favorite pork chops. That’s
because he prefers them dry and burned, and I like them well done but not
burned, and juicy, tender and flavorful instead of dry, tough and
tasteless (he argues they are not tasteless, and I guess he is right. They
have a strong burned flavor). Mine,
on the other hand, taste wonderful, and have a rich, flavorful liquid to
serve over the chops.
Ingredients:
3 Loin Pork Chops
Salt
Pepper
Garlic Powder (fresh garlic gets bitter if burned, so for applications
like this I use garlic powder instead of fresh)
Johnny’s Seasoning
EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil)
Rinse and pat chops dry with paper towels.
Season well on both sides, and brown in oil in hot skillet.
When both sides are brown, add 6 oz. water, reduce heat to simmer,
cover and simmer for 20 minutes. At
the end of that time remove cover and increase heat, reducing liquid in
the skillet to a small amount of rich, dark liquid.
Remove pork chops to platter and pour liquid over.
Yum!
Ham
n' Beans
My mother made this recipe often when I was young, and I’ve been making
it all my adult life. I am
sure it came down through the family before her, for many generations, as
this is the stick-to-your-ribs meal that saw many families through lean
years, and is a staple in the south, served with cornbread and cold
buttermilk. This meal came at
the end of every ham, utilizing the last bit of the meat and bone.
Ingredients:
2 lb. dry pinto beans
4 qts. Water
1 or two whole onions
Salt, about a tbsp.
A Ham Hock, or leftover bone from bone-in ham (if this is not available,
salt pork or bacon will work to flavor the beans, although having some ham
with your beans is much better)
Medium-sized can tomatoes, diced
2 tbsp. sugar
Water
Rinse beans well in colander the night before you plan to have them.
Soak them overnight in large pot of water.
Next day: Drain beans and return to pot, adding the four quarts of
fresh water, salt, onion and your meat for flavoring. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to simmer.
Simmer for approximately 2 hours, checking them often in the last
hour. Add all or some of
tomatoes during last hour, and sugar.
Stir to mix in well, bring back to boil, and again reduce to
simmer.
Bean liquid should begin thickening up this last hour, and if additional
water is going to be needed, you want to do it in small amounts (about 1
C. at a time), and while they have quite a while yet to cook. That means,
check the liquid level after about an hour, and begin adjusting then, if
necessary. I do not cover my
beans, so they do thicken well, and they will need additional water if
cooked uncovered.
When beans are nice and tender and liquid thickened some I turn them off.
Remove the whole onions, mash a few of the beans, just with the
back of a spoon (to further thicken the liquid), remove the ham hock and
return any ham remaining on the bone to the pot, and let them rest a bit,
serving while still hot.
BLT’s, Mexico Style
Ingredients:
1
lb. Bacon, fried crispy and broken up
1 Onion, chopped
1 Clove fresh Garlic, minced
1 sweet Bell Pepper, sliced in strips
1 Tomato, chopped
1 Avocado, sliced in narrow strips
Head Lettuce, sliced in narrow strips
1 small can (4 oz), Diced Green Chilies
Flour Tortillas, large burrito-size
Grated Cheddar Cheese
Sour Cream
Directions:
After frying bacon, remove to cool, then break it up.
In bacon skillet, saute onion and bell pepper in bacon fat.
When onions are translucent, add garlic and chilies to heat.
Transfer to bowl, add bacon, and mix, when done.
Prepare remaining fresh vegetables, serve in small bowls.
Place bacon/onion/pepper mix near center of tortilla in long line;
add veggies, cheese and sour cream. Roll
tortillas up, tucking bottom in on one end, and heat in microwave 30
seconds. Serve immediately
with refried beans and rice.
Famous Quote:
Pork Fat Rules!
-----Chef
Emeril LaGasse
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Baked Ham and “Milk” Gravy
Four years ago we discovered a new type of ham that was delicious.
It was a spiral-sliced, honey-glazed ham we had for Christmas.
We had eight for dinner that day, and we decimated that ham.
I make gravy for ham with milk, as my grandmother and mother before
me, and the honey glaze on this ham smelled so sweet that I was concerned
as to how the gravy would taste. I
thought it might spoil it. Well…
it did not do any such thing. In
fact, we had one guest who, when there was no ham left, and no potatoes
left to pour it over, was eating gravy alone, it tasted so good!
Ham:
We bake ham in a large flat Pyrex dish
just as directed on the meat package, and it is important to cover this
type of ham with foil, as instructed. Because it is sliced thin, it will
dry out while baking if you neglect this step (this is the voice of
experience talking). When baking ham I use a meat thermometer, and
once the ham has reached the required temperature I remove it from the
oven.
Gravy:
After removing the ham I then scrape all the juices and bits and pieces of
drippings into a large saucepan that I heat on top of the stove.
DON’T try to heat these on top of the stove in Pyrex, the
dish will break! When the juices are hot, gradually add flour until
it is thick and bubbly, but is still a bit moist.
I’m sure there must be a formula for this, but I don’t know it.
Once it has bubbled for about a minute, slowly add about a cup of
milk, whisking rapidly. I use
whole milk for this, and since I’ve never used anything but whole milk,
I’m not sure what else you could use.
Add more milk in small amounts, letting the gravy heat to a boil
with each addition before adding more, so you can see how thick it will
get. You cannot tell until it
boils for at least 30 seconds or so, how thick it will be.
When it reaches the desired thickness, season sparingly with salt
and pepper, tasting until you have the seasoning right, and it is ready.
This is a wonderful, rich “milk” gravy, a staple of the south,
and undoubtedly handed down through our family for many generations.
Quick Stuffed Pork Chops
My husband, Jim, really loves pork chops!
He came up with this recipe to enjoy them another way, and it is
fast, and simple, as well as delicious.
Ingredients:
4 Loin Pork Chops
2 tbsp. oil
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
Johnny’s Seasoning to taste
1 box Stovetop Stuffing, Turkey-style
Prepare pork chops by rinsing, drying with paper towel, and then seasoning
well with all seasonings. Heat
oil in skillet to med-hot, and brown pork chops.
Add a bit of water and continue to cook for another 15 minutes or
so, depending on thickness of chops.
They should be almost cooked through.
Prepare stuffing according to
package directions. We prefer
the turkey because the seasoning is milder than the other types, but any
can be used. Remove chops to
a shallow baking dish, placing them so they are almost touching one
another, and pile the stuffing on top, using all of it.
Place under heated broiler for 15-min. or until stuffing just
begins to turn crusty on top, and serve while hot.
This
is good!
My
Baked Pork n' Beans
Another recipe
I've been making so long I've forgotten where the original recipe came
from. I have been asked to make these for every summer family dinner
for many years, and they are delicious, and great for potlucks. At
home, I often add hot dogs or sweet sausage links cut into 1-in. pcs. the
last 15 min. of baking.
Ingredients:
1 large can Hunts Pork n’ Beans (31 oz.)
1 C. packed brown sugar
½ C catsup
2-3 slices bacon
Preheat oven to 400º
After pouring off some of the liquid in the can of beans, empty into glass
baking dish. A flat one works
best for these cooking times. A deep one will require a bit longer baking
time to reduce the liquid. Add brown sugar and catsup, stir to mix well
and top with raw bacon slices. Bake
for 45 minutes. Is
that simple, or what?
Jim’s
“Yummy” Pork Chops
This is now one of Jim's favorite ways to have pork chops, and is his
own recipe.
2 Loin Pork Chops
1 lg. Red Onion, sliced in ¼” thick slices
Cooking Oil
Johnny’s Seasoning
Garlic Powder
1 C. Flour for dredging
1 C. Water
Directions:
Place oil to cover ¼” deep in large, deep-sided skillet with cover,
such as a chicken fryer. Heat
to med-high heat. While
skillet heats, rinse and dry chops, season and then dredge (or coat) with
flour on plate. Shake chops
to remove excess flour and place carefully in pan.
Brown chops well, turning to brown both sides.
Remove chops to drain on paper towel and reduce heat to low.
Line bottom of skillet with whole onion slices.
Place chops on top of onion, increase heat until chops begin to
cook again. Add water, cover
skillet, and reduce heat to slow simmer (at 3 on our electric range).
Simmer, covered, for 30 minutes.
When done remove to platter, placing onion slices atop chops.
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