Slow Cooked Chipotle Country Ribs

Nope. This is not a traditional New Englandy-type dish, but what can I say? We’re living in a global society and this is the world wide interweb, after all.

Start with ribs that have good marbling. As the fats melt away, the ribs transform into tender nuggets of falling-apart goodness. Chipotle peppers and cider stew together with the ribs, creating a smoky, piquant and mildly sweet sauce. Browning the ribs after slow cooking forms a nice crisp crust.

Since country ribs are not the leanest source of protein, I decided to even out the decadence by serving it with nutrient-rich roasted carrots and simple steamed quinoa.

Slow Cooked Chipotle Country Ribs - serves 4 – 6

2.5 – 3 lbs boneless pork country ribs
2 T canola oil
1 dried chipotle pepper, seeds removed and diced
1 t granulated garlic
1/4 C tomato paste
3 T brown sugar
2 T Worcestershire sauce
2 T apple cider vinegar
1 C apple cider

Heat oil in a small saucepan over medium. Add garlic and chipotles and allow to soften for 1 minute. Add the vinegar, tomato paste and Worcestershire sauce, and stir until combined, forming a paste. Stir in the brown sugar and cider. Allow to simmer lightly for 5 minutes.

Arrange country ribs in the slow cooker. Pour sauce over the ribs, adjusting to be sure they are all coated and covered.

Set the slow cooker to low and cook 6 hours.

Spoon off any excess fat. Using tongs, remove the ribs from the slow cooker, allowing excess sauce to drip off. Set the ribs aside. Increase slow cooker temperature to high and allow the sauce to cook an additional 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat a griddle to medium high. Arrange the ribs on the griddle and brown on both sides to form a crisp crust, about 5 minutes each side.

Serve with the sauce on the side or drizzled over the top.

Ingredient origins: Hormone Free Country Ribs – These guys came from the supermarket, so I know not where they came from. Shopping in a hurry before the storm. But they are hormone free, vegetarian fed (which means cornfed, but you can’t win ‘em all); Canola oil – California; Dried Chipotle pepper – New Mexico; Granulated garlic – California; Tomato Paste – Italy; Brown Sugar – Florida; Worcestershire sauce – California; Apple cider vinegar – Vermont; Apple Cider – Maine.

Greek Style Cod Soup

This week’s Community Supported Fishery catch was cod. We currently have a freezer full of fish cakes and we’ve roasted quite a few fish whole since signing up for the CSF. So I decided to set Wayback Machine to 2006 and go over to my trusty recipe box for ideas. I had worked on this recipe for a while before settling on the right proportion of ingredients.

As you know, soups and stews are great in cold weather. While the traditional players this time of year can be rich and heavy, Greek Style Cod Soup is light, nutritious and satisfying. Seasoned simply with salt, pepper and parsley, the flavor of the fish is allowed to stand on it own.

Greek Style Cod Soup – serves 4- 6

2 quarts water
1 t sea salt
1/2 C olive oil
1/2 C freshly chopped parsley
2 carrots, chopped
2 tomatoes, diced, or 1 1/2 C cherry or grape tomatoes
1/2 yellow onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, sliced
1 large russet potato, peeled and diced
3/4 C white rice
3 lb cod fillets, cut into large 3 – 5″ pieces
sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Bring water to a boil in a large stockpot. Add vegetables, rice, oil and half of the parsley. Bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer, covered for 10 minutes.

Add cod, cover and simmer gently for 20 minutes. It’s important to check on it occasionally be sure the simmer does not become a rapid boil or the fish could fall apart.

Remove from heat, season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve garnished with the remaining parsley.

Ingredient origins: Sea salt – Maine; Olive oil – Italy; Organic parsley – Rhode Island; Organic carrots – California; Tomatoes – Mexico; Onion – California; Potato – unknown; Rice – California; Cod – Atlanic Ocean right outside our door.

Scrambled Tofu

I’ve always said that brunch is the most important meal of the week. While I am a big fan of eggs (Total understatement. I’m egg’s no.1 fan. Egg has stopped answering my phone calls. Legal action has been taken. It’s gotten messy.) and could probably go for a nice scramble any morning, I’m also woefully aware that one egg contains 60 – 80% of the recommended daily maximum intake of cholesterol, so just think of how two eggs a day could add up. Yikes.

Scrambled tofu is a good way to have a satisfying, protein-rich, eggy-type breakfast without the pesky fat and cholesterol. Turmeric lends a nice yellow hue to the tofu as it cooks and is said to be a powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agent. Onions add flavor, texture and vitamins, and smoked paprika adds a smoky flavor.

*Note that this recipe yields one generous serving or two modest servings.

Scrambled Tofu – serves 1 – 2

1/2 yellow or white onion, diced
1 T + 1 t olive oil
7 – 8 ounces of extra firm tofu (about half of a typical package of tofu)
1/4 t turmeric
1/4 t smoked paprika
2 T soy sauce
salt and pepper to taste

Heat olive oil over medium heat in a small skillet. Add onion and sauté until softened and lightly browned.

Meanwhile, press tofu between two cutting boards to remove any excess water. Cube the tofu and loosely mash with a fork in a small mixing bowl. Toss in turmeric, smoked paprika, soy sauce and second teaspoon of olive oil, salt and pepper until well combined.

Add tofu mixture to the onions in the skillet. Cook 5 – 7 minutes until the turmeric yellows and the tofu is heated through, flipping occasionally. Drizzle with a little olive oil, if desired.

Serve hot alone or with toast.

Ingredient origins – Tofu – New York; Olive oil – Italy, Onion – New Hampshire; Turmeric – unknown; Smoked paprika – Spain

Lactose-Free Shortbread Cookies

Shortbread is a minimalist. Containing only three ingredients: butter, flour and sugar, simple is what shortbread is all about. In fact, Simple would be Shortbread’s middle name, if it wasn’t mononymous already. That’s how minimalist shortbread is.

I made these the other day for a friend who avoids butter. Instead, I used Earth Balance, and they came out great. The final product had a nice buttery flavor and a rich texture.

Dairy-Free Shortbread Cookies – makes about 18 cookies

1 1/4 C All purpose flour
1/2 C Earth Balance
1/3 + 1/4C granulated sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine flour and and the first 1/3 C of sugar in a medium bowl. Cut Earth Balance into the flour mixture until blended. Using a rounded tablespoon, scoop dough onto cookie sheet.

Using the underside of a rounded teaspoon, make little indentations (this helps hold the sugar in the next step).

Sprinkle with the remaining 1/4 C of granulated sugar.

Bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes until golden brown.