Nigella’s Bourbon-glazed Ribs

I now know why Nigella Lawson is such a hit with men. She uses minimum ingredients in her recipes which are not too involved. She is not a trained chef. And her promiscuous cooking technique is just an added bonus.

So turn to page 82 of Nigella Christmas: Food, Family, Friends, Festivities for this seductively simple recipe of Bourbon-glazed Ribs. But if you don’t have that book, count me as your BFF. I made these out-of-the-world succulent ribs on Sunday. For one they were my first time making ribs at home, and also that my husband who is not too fond of them pigged out on pork ribs! I guess its hard for a man to resist something which comes with the tag of N-I-G-E-L-L-A.

Ingredients for Nigella’s Bourbon-glazed Ribs are:

(I have kept her ingredients as they were but changed the measurements)

1.5 kg pork spareribs
1 cup Bourbon
3 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
3-4 tablespoons tomato ketchup
Half cup + 1 tablespoon dark brown sugar

Place the ribs in a large pan or plastic zip lock bag and pour all the ingredients over them to form a marinade. I marinated my ribs for 48 hours, refrigerating all the time.

After two days, remove the ribs from the marinade and place in a shallow baking dish, lined with aluminum foil for easy cleanup after.

Preheat the oven to 350°F (Nigella says 425). I cooked the ribs for 1 hour 15 minutes, turning them over halfway through cooking.

At the one hour mark of cooking the ribs, pour the marinade into a saucepan and boil on low-medium heat to reduce it to almost half. The marinade will start looking glossy and thick. It takes about 10 minutes.

Plate the ribs and pour the bourbon sauce on them. I served some steamed broccoli and potato wedges as sides for our Bourbon-glazed Ribs.

Stir Fried Pork Noodles with a Dash of Chili Oil

This one is going to be a quick post. Quick enough to let you know that I just threw everything in my wok and made dinner out of pork strips, handful of veggies and flavored them with Chili oil, and called it Stir Fried Pork Noodles with a dash of Chili Oil.

I have thus concluded that the safest way for me to eat “Chinese” now is at home. And read and re-read the labels of all the sauces and ingredients I am using. Till my mind’s eye does a Ctrl F on “Monosodium glutamate” and can find nothing!

I get all spooked out by the thought that a lot of these sauces used in Chinese/Asian cooking have Ajinomoto. From what used to be once-a-week of Chinese, I have punctuated it to no-Chinese-outside for the next few months. The last couple of months that I have eaten Chinese, I have found myself in embarrassing situations where I have gone on egging the restaurant people or my hosts with a nagging, “Does it have MSG in it?”

Each time I see a nodding yes, my heart sinks and I leave the food untouched.

But this quick stir fry was not left untouched. In fact the leftovers were smacked clean too the next day for lunch.

I marinated these pork strips in some corn starch, black pepper, rice vinegar, and low-sodium soy sauce. They were later stir fried separately in very little canola oil.

Pretty much any greens can be used to stir fry in Chinese cooking.

I used some red onions, sliced button mushrooms, snap peas, julienned carrots, and green bell pepper.

All the cooking was done with the chili oil, once I started tossing my vegetables in. Oh, and I did add some minced garlic to infuse more flavor to my noodles.
You can use regular Egg Noodles for this recipe. Boil, strain and add to the veggies and meat. Stir fry on high heat.

Serve hot, straight from the wok! You can add chopped green chilies soaked in vinegar to add more flavor.

Make It Tonight

I am always looking out for ideas and inspirations for dinner. Most nights I have what is proverbially a chef’s block.

Yesterday’s dinner was about quickly putting a meal together with some inspirations peeping out from the fridge (remember those black olives and the remaining couscous?) and some fresh white mushrooms and pork tenderloin.

After a rain-drenched afternoon, the idea of a hot soup was all too comforting and the soup of the evening ended up in a bowl of Cream of Mushroom Soup, actually my first time in making a mushroom soup. Nothing fancy, just some unsalted butter melted in a pan and the chopped red onion sautéed in it. Adding flour little by little, so as not to form clumps and then tossing in all that freshly chopped mushrooms. A simple seasoning of salt and pepper and some drizzle of heavy cream. Isn't that the most easy thing to do and under 20 minutes – prep to cook time!
Did you know in Chinese culture its okay to slurp your soup? So curl your stiff upper lip and s-l-u-rrrrrrrr-p.

Oil has always been a cause of worry for everyone whether its deep water or dietary. I have had many anxious moments each time I have wiped off oily fingers from biting on to that chicken or fish finger. Well, this variation of “fingers” made with some lean pork tenderloin may just quell your calorie-intake worries.

Cut thin strips of any meat that you choose – fish, chicken or pork work best. Dust them with corn starch and sprinkle some salt and pepper.

Dip them in an egg batter and roll them in bread crumbs. This is where you don’t turn them into unhealthy chunks of meat. We throw them in the oven at 350 °C with TWO teaspoons oil drizzled over them and bake each side till they turn golden brown. It usually takes about 20-25 minutes.

I made a yogurty version of the mustard-honey dip to go with the Pork Fingers.

Mix together plain yogurt, honey and old style wholegrain mustard. Enliven the taste of your Pork Fingers with this sweet-tangy dip!

 
After a soup and a starter, I went ahead and did a room-temperature couscous salad with pomegranate, broiled corn kernels, garden greens and that one leftover sprig of basil.   This is the freshest a Moroccan-inspired Couscous Salad can get. Toss everything together in a large bowl with the already cooked couscous, throw in a handful of very finely chopped red onion, some garden greens, kalamata olives, torn basil leaves and some freshly squeezed lemon juice. Add EVOO, salt and white pepper. Serve.

Some things in life are simple. And it never hurts if its this easy.

So what’s your meal plan for tonight?