Texas Oven Baked Pork Ribs

A chilly winter Sunday evening here for us and I had a hankering for some summer-time food for dinner (really,  just out of ideas and I got these ribs on sale and thought they'd make a great Sunday dinner).

Ingredients:

• 6 pounds baby back pork ribs
• 1 1/2 cups White sugar
• 1/4 cup Salt
• 2 1/2 Tbsp. Ground black pepper
• 3 - 4 Tbsp Sweet paprika
• 1 tsp Cayenne pepper, or to taste
• 2 Tbsp Garlic powder
• 1-2 tsp chili powder

Directions:

1.  Clean the ribs, and trim away any excess fat. In a medium bowl, stir together the sugar, 1/4 cup salt, ground black pepper, paprika, 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper, and garlic powder. Coat ribs liberally with spice mix. Place the ribs a large dish, laying ribs next to each other in the dish. Cover, and refrigerate for at least 8 hours. (Had success with the dry rub marinated for 4 hours.)

2. Remove ribs from the refrigerator. Wrap each rack of ribs in heavy duty foil (2x). Very important to wrap tightly so it doesn't drip while cooking.

3. Preheat oven to 275 degrees F (135 degrees C). Bake uncovered for 3 to 4 hours, or until the ribs are tender and nearly fall apart.  We like the top of the ribs to be a bit crispy so I placed each foil package of ribs on a cookie sheet and opened each foil pack so the ribs were exposed and baked another hour. Serve as is or with your favorite BBQ sauce. We like them both ways (dry or brushed with BBQ sauce).

 Dry Rub Ingredients: 

Sugar, Salt, Pepper, Paprika, Garlic Powder, and Cayenne

Place Dry Rub on Ribs. Wrap in foil and place in fridge for 4 to 8 hours or overnight. Note: They do get messy when they bake in the oven so I like to place foil on the bottom of my baking dish/cookie sheet.

 Ribs out of the oven after 4 hours .. meat is so tender and juicy. yum!

 

 Dinner is served with skillet potatoes (sliced potatoes cooked with a bit of butter, onion, salt & pepper), corn on the cob and grapes. Made for a nice summer-like dinner during the winter!

Give this recipe a try. Real easy to make as long as you have the 4 hours of cook time. :)

Enjoy!

Puff Pancake

 

Ok, it's only been a couple days since I said I was going to start cooking light. Well, a house full of teens for breakfast this morning changed things a bit. But I did serve fruit and low-fat, low-salt bacon for the girls. However the puff pancake with a 1/4 cup of butter brought us over the edge (just a bit - It was shared amongst 6 people, so not too bad).  This was my first time making a puff pancake, and hands down it was a winner! It's kind of like french toast, and it's kind of like pancake.This is a keeper for us.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup milk
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 cup flour
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup butter

Directions:

1. Place butter in a baking dish and pop into a 200C/400F oven.
2. Whisk eggs and add milk, sugar, flour and vanilla extract.
3. Remove baking dish from oven and swirl to coat sides with butter. Pour batter into it and return to oven.
4. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until puffed up and golden. Serve immediately as it will deflate once out of the oven.

Sleepover Breakfast!

Split Pea Soup with Ham

It's the new year and once again I am going to try to eat healthier. As you know, I love to cook so I'm going to work real hard on cooking healthier foods and plan to share some healthy recipes with you.

My family is extremely busy with after school activities, sports, etc. so it can be hard to keep on track with healthy meals during the week. So I'm trying! Tonight we will be having Turkey Sandwiches on Oat Bread, Spinach Salad, and Split Pea Soup. I am pretty sure I'll be the only one eating the soup. Hoping I'm wrong, but we will see. I absolutely LOVE pea soup .. even when I was a kid. My mom usually made it when it was just her and I for dinner. This was on her "soul food" lists of foods that her and I much enjoyed when I was growing up.  She always served her pea soup with red onions. Not sure why, but I had a thing for the 'purple onions' when I was kid - always thought they were 'cool'. So I'm keeping with the tradition. And I'm pretty sure her recipe pretty much goes like this:

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup chopped sweet onions
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 cups medium-diced carrots (2 to 3 carrots)
• 1 lb of ham hock (or leftover ham bone)
• 1 pound dried split green peas
• 8 cups water or chicken stock
• salt & pepper to taste
• sliced or diced red onion for garnish

Directions:

In a 4-quart stockpot on medium heat, saute the onions until the onions are translucent, 10 to 15 minutes. Add the carrots, 1 pound of split peas, and water or chicken stock (I used 8 cups of water and 2 chicken boullion cubes). Add ham bone or ham hock. Bring to a boil, then simmer uncovered for 40 minutes. Skim off the foam while cooking. Remove ham hock (or ham bone) from the soup. Cut the ham off the bone and chop into bite size pieces. Add the chopped ham back to the soup and continue to simmer for another 40 minutes, or until all the peas are soft. I simmer until the peas turn very soft and almost a smooth consistency. Stir frequently to keep the solids from burning on the bottom. Taste for salt and pepper. Serve hot garnished with thinly sliced red onions.

 Enjoy!

Italian Neapolitan Cookies aka Venetians

 

As some of you know, I hosted a Christmas Cookie Exchange last week. We had a great time!! As I get the recipes from my friends I will post them here on Punkie Pie's blog. First up we have these delightful Italian Neapolitan Cookies. There are also known as Venetians. They are delicious! My friend says they are some what labor intensive and they need to be made ahead and store in the frig overnight. I do think I will give them a try. Maybe for Easter .. Thinking I could replace the chocolate layer with white chocolate.

Ingredients:

• 1 can (8 oz) almond paste
• 1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) butter, softened
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 4 eggs, separated
• 1 tsp almond extract
• 3 cups sifted all-purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 10 drops liquid green food coloring
• 8 drops liquid red food coloring
• 1 jar (12 oz) apricot preserves
• 2 1/2 squares (1 oz each) semisweet chocolate

 Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat three 13x9x2-inch pans with nonstick cooking spray; line with waxed apper, allowing paper to come up the short ends; spray paper.Break up almond paste in large bowl.Add butter, sugar, egg yolks and almond extract. Beat with electric mixer until light and fluffy, 5 minutes.
2. Beat in flour and salt.
3. With a clean beater, beat egg whites with electric mixer until stiff peaks form. Fold into almond mixture until well blended.
4. Divid mixture into three equal portions. Add green food coloring to one portion and red food coloring to another, leaving the last portion yello. Separately spread each colored portion into prepared pans.
5. Bake in preheated 350 degree oven 15 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Immediately remove the cakes from pans, using the waxed paper overhang.
6. Heat apricot preserves in small saucepan, strain through sieve. Place green cake layer on jelly-roll pan. Spread half of the warm preserves over layer to edges; slide yellow layer on top; spread with remaining apricot preserves; slide pink layer, right side up, onto yellow layer.
7. Cover with plastic wrap; weight down with large wooden cutting board or heavy plate. Place in refrigerator overnight.
8. Melt chocolate in double boiler over hot water. Trim edges off cake. Spread melted chocolate to edges of cake; let dry 10 minutes or until hardened. Cut into 1-inch squares.

Additional Notes:

• Be sure to use a clean beater when  mixing egg whites.
• Use enough Apricot preserves between layers to make them stick together, too much and they will slide.
• I place a heavy book on them in the frig.
• I melt 1 & 1/2 bags semi-sweet chocolate chips for top layer.
• Be sure to cut while chocolate is warm or, with a warm knife or it will crack.
• Store in closed containers ~ They freeze well!

Enjoy!

Candy Cane Breadsticks

These Candy Cane Breadsticks were a big hit with my hungry kids while waiting for Christmas Eve dinner to be served. Easy to make and quite tasty if I do say so myself.

Ingredients:

• 1 can Pillsbury Bread Sticks
• 32 slices pepperoni
• 1 tablespoon butter, melted 
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder 
• 1 teaspoon dried parsley
• 1 Tbsp Parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
2. In a small bowl, mix melted butter, garlic powder, dried parsley and Parmesan cheese. Set aside.
3. On a flat surface lay out 8 breadsticks (there should be 16 in a tube of Pillsbury breadsticks)
4. Lay 4 slices of pepperoni on each of the 8 breadsticks
Take the remaining 8 breadsticks and place one on each of the breadsticks and pepperoni (like a sandwich - one breadstick, 4 slices of pepperoni, 1 breadstick)
5. Twist each of the 8 the breadstick 'sandwiches' into a swirl pattern then form into a candy cane shape.
6. Place the candy cane breadsticks onto a baking sheet.
7. Brush each candy cane with melted butter mixture.
8. Bake 10-12 minutes or until golden.

Enjoy!

Cheesy Shrimp Dip

I am a huge fan of dips, especially at the holidays. I found this Cheesy Shrimp Dip recipe from Paula Deen website. Oh my gosh! It is amazing! My guests ate every bit of it. 

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup butter
• 2/3 cup chopped red bell pepper
• 1 pound medium fresh shrimp, peeled, deveined, and coarsely chopped
• 1/3 cup sliced green onions
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 cup shredded Parmesan
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• Pinch salt
• Pinch cracked black pepper
• Assorted crackers, for serving

* Note: Use more mayo & sour cream to stretch out the amount of dip.

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a medium skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the red bell
pepper and cook for 3 minutes. Stir in the shrimp and green onions and
cook until the shrimp are pink and firm, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in the
sour cream, cheeses, and mayonnaise. Add the salt and pepper, to taste.
Spoon the mixture into a 2-quart baking dish. Bake until lightly browned
and bubbly, 30 to 35 minutes. Serve with assorted crackers.

Enjoy!

Sugar & Spice - And Everything Nice!

Nothing says Christmas more than sugar & spice. These soft molasses crinkle cookies say it all - Merry Christmas. This recipe has been handed down from my husband's side of the family. You have to make them, not only are they delicious they will also make your house smell AMAZING when they are baking.

Ready For Santa!

Mix:
3/4 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup molasses

Sift Together:
2 cup flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp ground cloves
3/4 tsp ginger

Directions:
Mix thoroughly, form into balls the size of walnuts. Place about 2" apart on greased baking sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes in moderate oven (350 degrees). Sprinkle sugar on cookies while warm.

 

Merry Christmas!!