Barbequed baby back ribs

Admittedly, we've fallen behind here at (Never) Too Many Cooks. Summer, vacations, back-to-school—I know I speak for all of our contributors when I say that life seems to get in the way a lot these days. I, for one, have fallen back on a lot of family favorite recipes in recent weeks, many of which you can find in this blog's archives.

That said, we had an amazing dinner with friends Friday night. None of which I actually cooked. But because my friends are so cool and because they love this blog, because it really takes little more than a camera and a recipe to create a post... we have baby back ribs. Awesomely delicious and easy to prepare baby back ribs.

Here's what you need:

A rack of ribs (my friend regularly purchases hers at Costco, though it's likely any grocery store or butcher shop can fill your order)
Barbeque sauce (you can make your own, or use a store-bought brand)
salt/pepper

Using a sharp meat knife, cut the rack into smaller sections of about 3-4 ribs each, season with salt and pepper, brush with a generous amount of barbeque sauce and wrap in tin foil. Repeat until all the ribs are seasoned and wrapped. Place the foil packets in a large roasting pan and cook at 250 degrees for 3 hours.

Remove the ribs from the oven, and unwrap the foil packets. Discard the drippings and any sauce left in the foil.

At this stage, the ribs are basically cooked, but it's important to finish the process on the grill. You need to give them just enough time to heat through and carmelize on the outside. Be sure to slather on more barbeque sauce (feel free to be generous here), then cook for 15 minutes over a hot fire, turning frequently.

I'm not kidding. It's really that easy. Not only were these ribs tender and flavorful, but because they were pre-cooked in the oven, all the grease and fat was left behind in the foil packets.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say these ribs are kid-friendly. We had three boys at the table under 10 years old and two of them were literally covered in sauce. My son, unfortunately, was the lone holdout. Though he was reluctant to try, he did, declaring after two bites that it wasn't for him.

Maybe next time. But really, who cares? More for the rest of us.

Farewell to summer dinner (with grilled veggie kebobs and garlic bread with fresh tomato and mozzarella)

My in-laws visited us this weekend and I wanted to make a "farewell to summer" dinner using some local produce.  So on Saturday, Betty and I took my mother-in-law to a nearby farm where I bought corn on the cob, zucchini, yellow squash, an onion, mushrooms, red potatoes, tomatoes, and fresh mozzarella.  All would find their way into that evening's dinner.

I wanted to make veggie kebobs on the grill and submitting this recipe seems like cheating here because my friend and fellow cook Kristen already posted a similar dish back in May.  (See her post Grilled chicken shish kebob.)

Grilled Vegetable Kebobs

I didn't really measure anything with this one.  Basically, I used two zucchini and two yellow squash, approximately a pound of small red potatoes, half of an Empire sweet onion, and approximately a dozen (maybe less) white mushrooms. 

I boiled the potatoes for 10 minutes while cutting the onion, squash, zucchini and mushrooms into chunks and marinating it for about 20 minutes with Italian dressing.  (I threw the potatoes - some of which I kept whole, others which I halved or quartered - in during the last 10 minutes of marination.)

I didn't measure the amount of dressing either, but if I had to do this again, which is very possible, I would cut down the amount of dressing I used. (Nobody said anything, but I thought the kebobs were slighty too tangy.)

Then I threaded the vegetables onto metal skewers.  (Even when I soak the bamboo skewers, they tend to catch on fire.  I spent most of my summer looking for metal skewers and finally found them at a different farm, also nearby.)

The Husband grilled the kebobs for about 10 minutes, turning once.  This made 8 kebobs.

Along with this, we grilled hot dogs (for the kids and in-laws) and veggie burgers for us. I also boiled corn on the cob. Finally, I changed my mind from preparing a caprese salad and instead enhanced some store-bought garlic bread by adding slices of fresh mozzarella and fresh tomato.

I left one side of the garlic bread plain because several folks at our table aren't fans of tomatoes.  Cooked it in the oven for 7 minutes and then let it cool, cutting each of the sides into smaller pieces and arranging on a serving platter.  (No pictures of that ... they disappeared too quickly.)

Dessert was a selection of homemade ice creams from another nearby farm - vanilla, chocolate, peach, and coffee. 

All in all, a delicious ending to a wonderful summer.

Grilled pork chops with brown sugar marinade

I don't buy pork chops very often. But I've been inspired by marinades this grilling season, and so I recently decided to give this cut of meat another chance. Pork chops are often too dry for my taste (unlike the pork tenderloin, which I love).

I've never marinated pork chops before, but it makes sense. Marinades improve less than stellar cuts of meat, tenderizing and flavoring—all good. And this marinade is so incredibly simple, chances are you already have the ingredients on hand.

Here's what you need:

1 cup of soy sauce
1/2 cup of water
6 tablespoons of brown sugar
2 tablespoons crushed, dried rosemary (though fresh would be equally good)
6 bone-in center cut pork chops

This makes a lot of marinade, so if you are cooking anywhere from 4-10 chops, you should have more than enough.

Whisk together the marinade ingredients and pour about 3/4 of it over the pork chops. I put mine in a large Ziploc bag because it's the easiest way to get the job done.

Marinate in the refrigerator for at least three hours (longer is even better). Set the remaining marinade aside.

When you are ready, fire up the grill. Shake the excess marinade off the chops and place them over the fire. My chops weren't very thick, maybe 1/2 inch, and cooked quickly, about 5 minutes per side. Use the reserved marinade to baste the pork while it cooks.

The pork was moist, tender and extremely flavorful, and we all agreed this recipe is worth adding in to the regular rotation—my son especially enjoyed it, grabbing bites off his plate faster than I could cut it.

I added the leftover meat to a garden salad with dried cranberries and feta cheese the next night. Two great meals; one delicious marinade! Win-win!!

Grilled chicken shish kebob

 This is a super easy meal to make on the grill—just right for a warm summer night. The hardest part is the prep work, and even that is truly not hard. I like to use boneless chicken breasts with onions and sweet peppers (in every color I can find!!), but you could add mushrooms or tomatoes, or even omit the vegetables completely to suit your taste.

I buy the boneless breasts whole, then cut them to size myself. The only trick is making sure the kebobs are evenly sized so they cook through at the same time. I also marinate the chicken in olive oil, vinegar and spices.

Here's what you need for the marinade:
1/2 cup of olive oil
1/4 cup of white wine or champagne vinegar (I use Trader Joe's orange muscat champagne vinegar)
Salt, pepper, rosemary and thyme to taste.

Whisk the marinade ingredients together, then pour over the chicken. Marinate for at least 2 hours.

I typically marinate meats in large Ziploc bags. It's easy and the clean up is a snap. I don't marinate the vegetables simply because I like my vegies on the crisp side, and I also like to taste my vegetables, especially when they are in season and loaded with their own delicious flavor.

I failed to mention that you also need some good metal skewers. A dozen is a nice amount to have on hand. You can also use the wooden skewers they sell at the grocery store, but honestly, I never have figured out how to use those without setting them on fire. The metal are inexpensive, easy to use and best of all, you will always have them.

Okay. When you are ready to cook, simply skewer the meat and vegetables, alternating so that each skewer has a little bit of everything. You can layer your meat and vegies in a pattern or not, whatever makes you happy.

Grill for a total of about 10 minutes. Our grill has one setting: Fire. For reasons I don't understand, we cannot adjust the temperature, but it doesn't matter, it works. If you like a little less charring on the edges, you might want to set your grill to a medium-high or medium temperature depending on how it cooks.

We've already had this meal twice in the last three weeks. I serve it with rice and either a green vegetable or a salad. Enjoy! It's fast becoming a family favorite.