BAM! a Rub

OK, there ARE a massive amount of spices, but trust me, it is great on any meat of choice. Feel free to eliminate any spice that you do not care for. It will become your custom-made rub.

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 2 tablespoons sweet paprika
• 1 tablespoon coriander
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon salt (I use Kosher)
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano leaves
• 2 teaspoons cumin
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon cayenne
• 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

Directions:

Place on the spices in a food processor and whirl away. Store in an air-tight glass container in a cool, dry area.

I just got turned on to a spice shop on Broadway in Boulder, Savory Spice Shop. As my existing spices expire, I have been purchasing at Savory. You can buy in small quantities, to insure you are using fresh spices and the staff is VERY knowledgable.  Park in the garage on Pine, just west of the shop. They will stamp your ticket for free parking!

Baby Back Ribs

This recipe originated from a former neighbor. Could not be easier. One may use whatever dry rub suits your fancy. The rub I used, BAM, from Emeril; cannot be beat. Do not be intimidated by the length of spices in the rub, it is worth it! You will have left-over rub to use at a later date.

Directions:

• 1 package baby back ribs ( I buy mine at Whole Foods)
• BAM seasoning (see the following post)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350-degrees.

 Dry off any excess blood on both sides of the rib slab with a paper towel.

Use a double layer of heavy duty aluminum foil to fit your slab of ribs, leaving enough extra foil to fold over the top and ends securely to form a sealed package. Before sealing up; rub both sides of the ribs with your dry rub of choice. I like a fairly heavy coating. Seal up top and ends. This maybe done several hours before baking and placed in the refrigerator.

Place the ribs on a cookie sheet and bake for 1 1/2 hours. Once out of the oven, allow to rest for another 30 minutes, before taking out of the foil. Be careful when unfolding foil;  as ribs will be sitting in the drippings. I do this in my sink for ease of clean-up.

Finish the ribs either on the grill or under the broiler to brown up the top.

Slice and serve with your favorite BBQ sauce. We like Stubbs Original! I also love dipping into Anne's Naturals Dijon mustard.

The cooked ribs freeze nicely...

Spiced Potato Wedges

This recipe was inspired by, MY DARLING LEMON THYME, spiced potato wedges on Pinterest. I included both Yukon Gold potatoes and Garnet yams. I served the potatoes with Baby Back Ribs (2/28/13) and Easy Baked Jalapeno Poppers (2/28/13).

Ingredients:

• 2 large Yukon Gold potatoes
• 2 large Garnet yams
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 small lemon, cut into 4 wedges
• 2 dried bay leaves
• 1/2 teaspoons sweet paprika
• 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400-degrees.

After washing potatoes, place in a large pan, cover with cold water and bring to a boil. Boil potatoes for 15 minutes. Drain potatoes and allow to cool. Peel potatoes and cut into large wedges.

Transfer the potato wedges to a baking pan and toss with the olive oil to coat. Add the lemon wedges and bay leaves.

Combine the paprika, oregano, thyme and cumin and sprinkle evenly over potatoes. Salt and pepper to taste.

Place in the preheated oven for 30 minutes until golden brown on edges, turning the potato wedges after 15 minutes.

Remove the lemon and bay leaves before serving.

Basil, Chevre & Lemon Stuffed Chicken

I can be passionate about a lot of things, but cooking has to be in my top 3. This dish was inspired by ONCE a month mom. I am a huge believer you never throw food away; I tweaked this recipe so I accomplished using what I had available in the refrigerator.

Rob and I joined a wine club as a result of a trip to the Russian River Valley. The white wine I used  was DeLoach 2009 Hawk Hill Chardonnay. This is mentioned simply to remember the wine, not that we are wine experts! Of course, any white wine worth drinking will do in this dish; however, a great glass of wine with dinner was quite enjoyable.

I LOVE goat cheese, so most of my recipes with cheese will reflect this and our local, Haystack Mountain goat cheese, is by far superior.  Any cheese of your imagination would work as a substitute. Boursin cheese comes to mind.

An array of grains could be used instead of the gluten-free pasta; rice, orzo, quinoa. Please check out www.pappardellespasta.com, for delicious hand-crafted pastas.

As far as the sauce, one may increase proportions accordingly if you enjoy a saucier version. Fresh, minced garlic maybe a nice addition as well?

Next time add a garnish of toasted pine nuts?

Note to self: Once chicken is cooked; remove the lemon and cut chicken up into bite-size pieces. This allows for max soak-up of the delicious sauce. To richen; a dollup of Boursin cheese melted would be lovely.

Ingredients:

• 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 4 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
• 4 ounces Haystack Mountain chevre
• 1 large lemon
• 1 tablespoons grape seed oil
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 cup white wine or equal amount apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 2 cup Pappardelle's gluten-free Lemon Parsley large trumpet pasta
• 4 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
• 2 tablespoon butter
• salt and pepper to taste

Direction:

Under cold water, rinse and pat dry chicken breasts. Cut a pocket into the top of each breast.

Combine the chevre and chopped basil. Slice the lemon and cut the slices in half. Fill each chicken breast pocket with the cheese mixture and lemon slices; dividing each evenly between the 4 chicken breasts. Secure the stuffed pockets with wooden toothpicks. Salt and pepper to taste.

Add the grape seed oil and olive oil to a large skillet and heat on medium high. Saute the chicken about 3 minutes on each side until golden brown. Add the chicken broth and white wine to the skillet, cover with a lid, and simmer on low heat for about 30 minutes until the chicken is cooked through. No need to turn the chicken.

While chicken is simmering boil the pasta according to package directions and drain. Add the parmesan cheese and butter to the cooked pasta. Cover to keep warm.

Serve the chicken over the pasta with sauce drizzled over the top.