4 posts tagged “oven”

Easiest fall-off-the-bone pork baby-back rib prep ever.

Place 2-6 rib racks on foil-lined baking sheet with at least a small lip.

Pour a cup of BBQ sauce on the ribs.

Optional: pour additional 1/4 cup of Worcestershire sauce on ribs.

Cover ribs with another sheet of foil and seal edges with the lower sheet.

Bake on middle rack of 250 degree (F) oven for 2 hours 30 minutes.

Optional: after removing ribs from oven place meat-side up on charcoal grill (small amount of low-heat embers), baste with additional BBQ sauce, then close lid for 5 minutes.

No pics of this one yet, as ribs were reduced to bones within minutes.

Today was soundtracked for me by Mark Lanegan's "Whiskey for the Holy Ghost".

The wife gets back in from a D.C. business trip in a few hours.

One hour after that, the sitter will be here and we'll be off to a wine group Meetup.

In addition to vino, the wife had a recommendation for Peachy Canyon Paso robles Zinfadel which we'll look for, I'll be taking a tray of feta/beef rolls.

Since I'm all about the easy groove, I picked up a tube of pre-made croissant dough, a package of feta, and a small pouch of dried beef thinly sliced.

Roll out the dough triangles in pairs so that they form rectangles (one triangle inverted to the other).

Fill the long axis center line with crumbled feta, followed by bits of crumbled dried beef.

Roll up the dough into a long cigar shape.

A quick trip in the oven at 350 F for 12-20 minutes (depending on the instructions for your particular brand of refrigerated tube o' croissants) and Bob's your uncle.  (no, really, he is.)

Then cut the rolls into app-size length bites (1/4" to 1/2") and pin them with a toothpick to aid the structural integrity (and to make them look like cute li'l bone fide apps.)

"We got apps!"
-Beautiful Girls

Last night I got down with Tilapia fillets.

The wife was headed out of town for a few days, so I wanted a good send-off dinner.

First step, thaw frozen Tilapia (purchased in a bulk bag but in individual packets.)

Preheat oven to 425 F.

Dredge fillets in a mix of seasoned bread crumbs (I used crushed bits of unused Thanksgiving stuffing mix), and grated Parmesan cheese until well coated.

Sprinkle dried cayenne powder, black pepper, rosemary, and Italian seasonings on top of each.

Bake for twelve minutes on a buttered, foil-lined cookie sheet.

Remove and drizzle lime juice on fillets before serving.

The coating, aside from adding flavor, will protect the fillets from scorching or drying out, keeping them moist and steamy.

I leaned just a tad heavy on the cayenne, hence the moniker, "Fire Fish" for this dish.

I will endeavor to begin sharing my yum-yum discoveries with you.

Today we will review an appetizer, or cocktail finger-food.

This is going to be easy.

What you will need to do this:

Toothpicks.
Round, flat, or square won't matter.  I used flat, because that's what I found in a drawer.

Turkey bacon or any precooked deli sliced meat of your choice.
I mention turkey bacon by name, because it's what I used.  I wouldn't recommend traditional pork bacon.  First off, it's raw out of the package, whereas turkey bacon or deli ham is not.  Hey now, you say, wait a second, what If'n I cook it up m'self there buddy, what do you think of that, huh?  I would then say back to you, that attempting to roll crisply cooked fried bacon is infinitely more fun than pushing a length of cooked spaghetti up a cat's nose, and your welcome to try it anytime, but neither one of those things is going to be as productive as just following my directions.

Sour cream.
You won't need much for this, but I'll include how to use up what's left before it has a chance to turn.

Green onions.
Okay, so, they're always optional, but I used them when I created this, so I'm calling them out.

Cooked white meat chicken portion, seperated.
I didn't include this ingredient, but kind of wished later that I had, so I'm openly repenting here.
Breast or tenderloin won't matter, and you won't need much or maybe you will, depending on how many of these you want to prepare.  This is not a comment on how much you consume.  Unlike my experience at the McDonald's drive through.  All I said was that I wanted 5 double cheeseburgers.  Hey, the wife and kids were with me.  2 for me, 2 for her, and one for the eldest daughter.  The youngest is still on rice cereal and formula.  Not that I'm self-consciously explaining myself to you.  What if I did want all 5 to myself?  What business is it of yours? 
So anyway, they say, "FIVE?" like it's the most unbelievable request they've ever heard. 
Yes, five double cheeseburgers! 
Damn. 
I mean, how do they know I wasn't on a food run for people at the office? 
Or that there might be OTHER people in the car with me. 
Seriously,  5 double cheeseburgers simply cannot be the largest order they've ever seen. 
Reasons supporting my assumption:  I'm in the midwest.  People here are LARGE.

Anyway.

Cheese.
Any kind you desire.  I used mozzarella, for no particular reason than I had a package that was already open.

Directions.

Lay out a piece of meat.  Spread a layer of sour cream on top.  Sprinkle on green onions, chicken, and cheese.
Roll the meat up and pierce diagonally with a toothpick to hold shape.  If using a thin strip, like turkey bacon, roll on a diagonal to produce a thin cigar shape, instead of a thick sticky bun shape.  Repeat as many times as desired.
Microwave for one minute or bake in an oven pan at 350 for 10 minutes.  Let cool, remove toothpicks, and enjoy.