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.

Sage Brined Poached Chicken Breast

While boneless skinless chicken breast can sometimes be dull and dry, this recipe is not. Brining meat helps to soften the muscle tissue and leads to a more tender and moist texture.

As the chicken soaks in brine, the dried sage reconstitutes, infusing the water and lending a subtle flavor to the chicken. The olive oil also imparts its flavor on the chicken, in addition to keeping the meat from drying out as it cooks. Meanwhile, the salt remaining on the meat from the brine seasons the cooking liquid.

Sage Brined Chicken Breast – serves 2 – 4

2 – 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
4 C water
1/4 C fine sea salt
2 T dried sage
1/2 C chicken stock
1/4 C olive oil

In a small mixing bowl (or the marinating dish you’re about to use – it’s your kitchen, not mine), dissolve the salt in the and water and stir in thyme. Place boneless skinless chicken breasts in a shallow baking dish and pour the brine over the chicken. Refrigerate for 1 hour.

Heat oil and stock in a deep skillet with a lid over medium-high heat. Remove chicken from brine and place directly into pan (normally I’d say rinse it off first, but in this case, the brined meat is being cooked in a liquid, so the salt will dissolve as it cooks and saves you seasoning it later). Cover and poach for 5 minutes. Flip the meat, cover and cook another 5 minutes. Remove the lid and cook an additional few minutes until the temperature reaches 160 degrees.

Serve with vegetables and a nice whole grain like brown rice or quinoa (which technically isn’t a whole grain, just FYI). Drizzle with the juices and olive oil from the pan.

Ingredient Origins: Chicken – New Jersey; Sea Salt – Maine; Sage – Unknown; Chicken Stock – Colorado; Olive Oil – Italy

Easy Rustic Northern Shrimp

We had our first pick-up of shrimp from our fish share this week. A five pound bag of these little fellas, freshly plucked from the ocean only hours before. Very exciting!

This recipe is basic but delicious. The shrimp are cooked whole and peeled at the table. It’s not necessary to devein because of their small size. Tender and sweet, they don’t need much additional flavor, but the wine and seasonings lend zing and complement the sweetness.

Easy Rustic Northern Shrimp - Serves 2 – 4

2.5 lb North Atlantic Shrimp
1 1/2 C dry white wine
3 C water
2 T Old Bay seasoning

Rinse shrimp, removing any roe and long tentacles. (Note: The roe is actually edible! We tried a tiny bit on crackers just as you might any caviar. It was mild and sweet.)

Bring water, wine and seasoning to a boil in a large stockpot. Add shrimp, bring back to a boil. Lower heat and simmer 3 minutes. Turn off heat and let sit an additional 3 minutes. The shrimp will continue to cook during this time.

Remove shrimp from stock, reserving some liquid.

Serve in shallow bowls with a half cup of liquid and crusty bread for dipping. To eat: twist the head off (be sure to enjoy the glorious liquid from the head!), peel the shell off like a jacket and enjoy.

Ingredient origins: North Atlantic Shrimp – the waters right outside our door; Wine – California; Seasoning – Maryland

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

Coconut Curry Brownies (that happen to be Lactose Free)

This idea came to mind the other day when I was trying to think of what to do with some leftover Thai curry paste. We’d had our fill of savory-spicy applications, so I thought using it in something sweet might be interesting. Chocolate takes on spice very well and coconut goes nicely with curry and chocolate, so I decided to develop a brownie recipe using all three.

I also decided to cocofy it, thereby unendairying it. I just made up those words, but what I mean is that in this recipe, typical dairy based baking ingredients are replaced with coconut milk and coconut oil. I chose to do this in order to achieve the rich coconut flavor that complements chocolate so well. The fact that it’s lactose free is a happy and delicious accident.

These turned out to be dense and moist, with a decadent coconut flavor and a mild finish of curry spice. If you’re not into spice in your brownies, you may omit the curry paste. I suppose.

Lactose-Free Coconut Curry Brownies – yields 2-3 dozen, depending on the size of the brownies and the brownie pan.

1 C unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 C coconut oil, softened
1 can (14 ounces) coconut milk, full fat recommended
1 t Thai red curry paste
2 eggs
1 1/2 C sugar
1 C flour
1 C unsweetened, shredded coconut

In a large bowl, combine the coconut oil, cocoa and coconut milk, carefully folding the cocoa powder in before stirring (this will prevent a cocoa powder sandstorm when you use the electric beater in the next step).

With an electric beater set to medium beat until smooth. Add the sugar, eggs, curry paste and flour, beating on medium until combined. Stir in shredded coconut.

Pour into a greased, 10 x 13 inch rectangular brownie pan or 9 x 9 inch square brownie pan for higher brownies Bake at 350 degrees for 18-25 minutes for the rectangular pan, or 25-30 minutes for the square pan, until a wooden toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Remove from oven and allow to cool on a rack for at least one hour before cutting into squares.

Ingredient Origins (this time they’re not so local, but at least they’re still keeping with the minimally processed, less than five ingredients, requirement): Equal Exchange cocoa powder – Dominican Republic, by way of the Netherlands, Organic coconut oil – Colombia, Coconut Milk – Thailand, Cage-free organic eggs – New Hampshire, Sugar – unknown, Flour – Vermont, Shredded coconut – Oregon.