Spare Ribs with Dry Rub

Oh man... this one, I messed this one up just a bit.

1 lb and a half of spare ribs
dry rub made of:
4 tsp of chipotle chili pepper powder
2 tsp of red curry powder
2 tsp of garlic powder
2 tsp of sea salt
a bunch of fresh grounded pepper



I used a lot of rub for this one because I'm not using bbq sauce and I haven't made ribs before. I just didn't know better. I mixed all the rub together and spread it all over the ribs. I then wrapped the ribs in lots of foil, completely wrapped tight. I threw it back in the fridge til the next day. This is more because of time constraint and my busy schedule then cooking reason.

Next day I threw the thing in the oven at 300 degrees for 2 and a half hour. Google said 2 hours to make it tender 4 hours to make it melt. 2.5 hours later, I opened the foil and raise the temp to 350. Random internet recipe said to do this as well.
I looked at the rib and realized I might have mess this up. The rub is on so thick, it's caking on the rib.



Half hour of heat later, I finally pulled out. tee hee.



I figure maybe I can just scrape the rub off. No such luck, if I scrape it, the whole layer of rub comes off. Then all I would have plain ribs.

So I taste some, not bad. A bit spicy, but I like that and I'm hungry. I was able to pull the bones right off of the meat. I like that, but maybe a little more tender would be even better. I kept eating. At some point I realized I am going to die of a high blood pressure from the sodium. This is so salty, so much spices. I didn't get to finish it. I'm still drinking water right now, maybe some beer will flush the salt out of me.

Next time, cut the rub amount by at least half. Follow the actual internet recipe instead of trying to make my own rub, at least try it that way first before I get experimental. Up the cooking time to about 3 full hours.

I think I need a grill too. I can't have an outdoor one in my little condo though. Are those indoor drills any good? Do they really get hot enough? Time for some research.

-a

Oyster Omelet

My mom gave me a bunch of oyster. They are good, pretty large ones and I got a bunch. More oyster dishes to come. Thanks mom!

Tonight, I made oyster omelet. I've had it at some restaurant before and I liked it, plus it sounds simple enough. Problem was I didn't pay attention to what else goes in it. Oh well, I'll just have to wing it.. again.

3 eggs
6 medium size oysters.
1 stem of green onion
1 chunk of ginger (not as much as shown int he picture)
oil
salt and pepper


First, I made a salsa-like thing with the green onion and ginger. I chopped it all up very fine and tossed it in oil over high heat in a pan for a few minutes. This is a salsa-like thing that goes good with chicken in Chinese dishes, and since I'm not making chicken... I don't know...



Then I rinsed the defrosted oysters, mom said to use water with some corn syrup instead of just water. OK, will do and did.

Break and scramble the eggs, then add some salt and pepper for taste. Throw the egg in a pan sprayed with non-stick canola oil and fry away. Standard omelet procedure, throw everything on top, fold, and flip. Unfortunately, my omelet folding skill is not up to par. It got a little sloppy. An oyster even escaped.



I topped it with some oyster sauce, because it goes well with the green onion-ginger mix. It tasted good, but I used too much oyster sauce, but after I pushed them off to the side the omelet was delicious. Good stuff, the "salsa" actually went really well with the oyster. Not very much food, I should have made more, like 9 oysters and maybe one more egg. Plus I need to learn how to fold an omelet better.

-a

Breaded Pork Chops

Breaded Pork Chops. Sounds easy enough. Lets do this!

Pork Chops
Egg Whites
Bread Crumbs
Generic Pork Seasoning (yeah what? I'm still a newbie)
Rice for a side
non-stick canola spray



Rinse the pork chops, pat them dry. Dip them in egg white and cover with bread crumb and pork seasoning mix. Put them on a dish sprayed with non-stick oil. Despite the egg white. the bread crumb won't stay on that well. Anyone got tips on what to do to make breading stay on better (without deep frying) send them over.



Bake the pork chops for about 35 min at 375, flip them at about 20. The first flip was no problem at all. The breading stayed on the pork. When it was done, the other side stayed with the plate. I was not happy.



I made rice for a side.



It tasted like pork chops, don't know what to say. A bit dry though, maybe I over cooked it. Damn you random googled recipe, 35 minutes my ass. Over all not that exciting. Anyone got tips on how to make some special pork chops, send me a good recipe. I need some sleep..

-a

Lobster Tail

This one is a total impulse buy. I was a bit hung over and I went to the groceries store and saw lobster tail on sale. It was like half the regular price. So all of the sudden I wanted lobster tails. I don't know anything about cooking lobster, but I didn't care. I googled it and found a basic recipe and I lazied it up a bit and simplified it a bit. Th lobster tails are previously frozen and was on ice when I bought it. I was suppose to defrost it but it was an impulse buy so I want it NOW. I just rinse it with water, it didn't feel that cold and it was flexible so I figure it was ready to go.



2 lobster tails
olive oil
sea salt
pepper
a clove of garlic minced
a bit of rosemary leaves

I start off by chopping the tail in half lengthwise. Then basically throw everything on top of the meat. I was still a bit hung over and didn't feel like doing things perfect. I used a lot of oil, the recipe said to do that.



Preheated the oven to 400 degrees and baked them for 10 minutes.



The lobster tail was good, totally hit the spot. The meat was a bit tough, but I bought it frozen so I kinda expected that. Not enough oil, I should have had some oil on the side to dip. I was still happy with it. Next time though, I will try to fancy it up a bit. Put a little more planning in it, maybe try white sauce and cheese.

I gotta stop with the impulse buys. Even though it was on sale, it was still more expensive for a semi-meal then I should be spending. It wasn't really that much food.

-a

Abalone

I didn't cook this, it was a gift. This is abalone. It may be ugly but this is a super Chinese delicacy. This piece, about 2 inches by 1 inch by 1.5 inches cost probably over 20 bucks, maybe more, maybe a lot more. Abalone is no joke, and I get to eat it. I've had abalone before but not one this big. It was good, doesn't taste like any other thing I ever tasted, but good. A bit chewy but in a good way. Personally I'd never buy it, too expensive, but when it's a gift, hells yea.

-a

Seared Ahi Tuna

Tonight I made seared ahi tuna. I haven't cooked fish in a loooong time mostly because I'm not that good at it. I can't rely on the meat's natural flavoring; it takes seasoning and stuff. There is only one way to get better and tuna steak was on sale at the grocery store. This is my chance.

*WARNING* This dish is not for the faint of heart, it is served rare. I am only going to seared the outside of the steak. Well done equals dry as hell fish. I don't like dry as hell fish.

Yesterday, I started out marinading the tuna steak in soy sauce, a little sea salt, and crushed rosemary. I don't know the first thing about cooking fish so I decided to use whatever. Rosemary was my whatever. I marinaded the fish for like 30 hours. This will come into play later.



After marinading, I rub dijon mustard and fresh grounded pepper on the fish. I heated olive oil on high medium heat, let it get hot for this one before putting the fish in. Seared the thing about 2 or 3 minutes on each side. I also steamed some asparagus as a side. Again I didn't measure anything, I just winged it.



It came out pretty good. Doneness-wise it was just the way I wanted. Seared outside rare inside.

Flavor-wise, it was good too. The rosemary and mustard goes good together, with the soy sauce the thing tasted almost like red meat. No fishy taste at all, even though it was rare. One problem though, it was too salty. I think I over-marinaded it. Next time I got to cut down the marinading time to like 1 hour. And add more sides, maybe rice, I'm still a bit hungry.

I will definitely try this one again. I think with a little adjustment this will be pretty damn good.

-a

Jerked Chicken with Red Bean Rice

This dish is inspired by something I saw at the Taste of Chicago. I didn't try it there, but it looks easy enough that I can try to make it.



I googled jerked chicken and found out it's pretty hard to make, so I bought pre-mixed jerk spice and used that. I also used pre-packaged red bean rice, because they're good and I'm lazy.

1.6 lb of chicken thigh (thigh because it like them more than breast, i'm a leg man)
lots of jerk spice, I probably used about 2-3 tbsp maybe more
some olive oil
a box of red bean rice
not pictured is lots of tabasco and louisiana hot sauce. I wanted some heat.



First, I chopped up the chicken to bite size. Then I added the jerk and the oil and hot sauces. I played with the chicken like play-doh. Yes, I used my hands, because that's love. After it's all nice and mixed. I threw it in the oven at 350 for 45 min.

The red bean rice, I just followed the directions on the box. half hour of water, oil and rice later that was ready.

Everything came out looking delish.





Then, the taste test. The jerk taste wasn't very strong, and I used a lot of it. The hot sauce was barely noticeable. Overall, it tasted more like chicken than jerk. Not necessary a bad thing, I like chicken but I was expecting more. With the red bean rice, the red bean rice kind of overwhelms the jerk taste. Again, not necessary bad but it didn't meet expectation. Overall it tasted good, I just expected more kick, nothing a little hot sauce couldn't fix. This actually gave me the opportunity to choose which hot sauce to use. I like Srachi, it's the best hot sauce ever. Since I have enough for a couple meals, I can try Srachi with this and other hot sauce next time.

This is an easy to make meal that is pretty good. I'll definitely try this again. Next time I'll do more research and see how to bring out the jerk taste more.

-a

Lamb Shank

I usually don't eat this well, but I want the blog to be interesting.
Yesterday I made lamb shank. I found a recipe on Google and kinda followed it. I made lamb shanks before so I have some ideas on what I should be doing. I changed it up a bit this time.

2 Lamb shanks
some rosemary
some curry powder
4 cups of beef broth
salt and pepper
an onion
several carrots
a couple cloves of garlic



I put the lamb shanks, the beef broth, garlic, and the spices in a dutch oven and bring it to a boil. I didn't measure anything really, I just haphazardly threw the spices in. After it boiled, I put it in the oven at 325 degrees. After the 2 hour mark I cut the onion and carrots and dump that in. I made a pack of whole grain rice as a side.



I continue to cook the whole thing for another hour (3 total) then it's done. The recipe said 3 hours, I think I left it in too long though.



Ok, this time around it wasn't as good as the last time. The meat is suppose to be falling off the bone tender and it is, but too much. It is a bit soggy; I cooked it too long. Taste-wise, it is good, maybe a bit salty but the rice offset that. Next time I have to watch the clock and not overcook it. Next time I might throw in some more ingredients too, maybe some peas or something.

-a

Rib roast

Yesterday I made a 4.75 lb rib roast because I want to be done with cooking for the next few days. I like cooking meat, they are much easier than vegetables because they have natural flavoring to them and I don't have to do much as far as seasoning goes. Eventually, hopefully I'll learn to cook vegetables better.

This roast will last me a few days. I googled "rib roast" and found several recipes that are all the same. Just add salt and pepper and nothing else. AWESOME, this is easy too. The differences between the recipes are all about how long and what temperature to cook it. I decided on low and slow. I went to Paulina Meat Market for the rib roast, it is expensive. 4.75 lb cost me 68 bucks. This is like 5 meals of prime rib, at least. So it's ok.

4.75 lbs rib roast, (bone chopped off but tied back on)
fresh grounded black pepper (lots)
sea salt (lots).
Last minute addition of 1 clove of garlic and a splash of olive oil.


I rubbed the salt and pepper on the meat and let it sit in room temperature for a while. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Yes, 200. I'm suppose to let it sit for a while to let the middle warm a bit to make cooking the thing more even.


I threw the meat in the oven for about 4-5 hours. Cooked it til the middle reaches 120 degrees for rare. Last minute I decided to add a clove of garlic and a splash of oil for the juice. i don't know why.


Five hours later I pulled it out and let it rest for a few minutes before carving. I need a new knife. I butchered the meat (ha). and teared an ugly piece out and it wasn't bad at all. Alost the entire meat is pink rare. It is tender, juicy, delicious.



That was the most bang for the effort (not necessary for the bucks). Lots of good steaks for barely any work. Good shit.

-a