Baby Back Ribs- Slow Cooker Style

For almost three years in college I waited tables at Famous Daves BBQ. It was the closest thing to southern bbq we had in Montana, and it was a poor excuse for it at that. I'm not saying I didn't stuff myself full of bbq chicken, ribs, and cornbread muffins everynight, because I totally did. Until I moved to Mississippi a few years ago, I had no idea what good bbq was supposed to taste like.

I remember we had been driving to Mississippi- 3 days after leaving the only home I'd ever known, having driven almost 2,000 miles in a car alone, scared beyond all belief as to what my life would have in store for me. We stopped in Memphis to meet a friend and walked through the Memphis ghetto searching and searching for Neely's BBQ. It appeared out of nowhere like a beacon of light and I swore angels sang a heavenly song as we received our meals. It was by far the best bbq I've ever had. I knew right then and there that I would love the south, and probably gain 30 lbs (which later I did, it was just in the form of a baby, not just food).

I haven't found excellent BBQ here in Florida...yet. I decided it was beyond time for us to indulge is something that was such a staple for us just a year earlier. I broke down, bought a rack of ribs, and since I'm terrified of our outdoor grill, I found a great recipe for the slow cooker.

Chris loved them. I loved them. Even Alex ate them up. It literally took me back to the meal we had at Neely's so many years ago. Now, they aren't as good at Neely's, but they are the closest thing I've found to them! The best part, honestly, was putting the left overs on a bun the next day and having a delicious bbq sandwich.

I'll just post the link to the ribs. Its from the same southern style cooking website that the no-bean chili is from (which is going to be my go-to site from now on).

My only alteration was for the rub. I added half of a package of Grill Mates Slow & Low Memphis Pit BBQ Rub to the rub in the recipe for some smokey flavor. I used Sweet Baby Rays Original BBQ sauce as my sauce as well.

http://www.deepsouthdish.com/2012/04/slow-cooker-baby-back-ribs.html

Enjoy, ya'll

And I'm Back! With Gumbo!

Ladies-

   I pride myself on giving you simple, easy dishes to complete when you're in a bind or just don't feel like putting in a lot of effort into meals. My recipes never include a lot of ingredients, never take more than an hour, and the results are always tasty- plus you can probably pull most of them off with the ingredients you have in your pantry already!

  This recipe is not one of those recipes. This recipe is for the day when your significant other says "Don't worry babe, I'll make dinner one night this week!" Wait? Your man doesn't say that either? Hmmmm... ok well this recipe is for when you say "Honey, if you don't make me dinner this weekend, you are going to have to take me to the Opera (Ballet, Shoe Shopping, Decoration Shopping, Furniture Shopping, Chick Flick, etc)!" Use whatever venue or activity puts the Fear of God into your man- each one is a little different- and feel free to get creative!

   This recipe is my husbands. He hand-picked it out of a cookbook his father gave us and its his favorite thing to make (and might I say, he knocks it out of the park every single time!) This recipe comes from Paul Prudhomme's Louisiana Kitchen cookbook. We were lucky enough to eat at his restaurant, K Paul's, when we were in NOLA in May- and I'd recommend it to anyone! Make sure you save your husband plenty of time- he will need it to prepare this gourmet masterpiece- it always takes Chris 1.5-2 hours of loving labor to complete it (leave time for the inevitable kitchen mishaps that are sure to happen by letting him loose in the kitchen all by himself!)

Here it is: Chicken and Andouille Smoked Sausage Gumbo by

Chef Paul Prudhomme

as cooked by Chris Protos!

Photo by Kyle Byrd

Ingredients:
* 1 (2-3 lb) chicken, cut up (we use chicken breasts)
* Salt
* Garlic powder
* Ground red pepper (preferably Cayenne)

* 1 cup finely chopped onions
* 1 cup finely chopped green bell peppers
* 3/4 cup finely chopped celery
* 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
* 1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper (again, preferably Cayenne)
* Vegetable oil for deep frying
* 7 cups basic chicken stock
* 1/2 lb andouille sausage or any other good pur smoked pork sausage (kielbasa)
* 1 teaspoon minced garlic
* Enough rice to accommodate the number of people you are feeding - boxed stuff is fine. This gumbo recipe makes about 6 main-dish portions.

To Marinate Chicken:
* Remove excess fat
* Rub a generous amount of salt, garlic powder, and red better on both sides of each piece, covering evenly
* Let stand at room temperature for minutes

To Create Chicken Breading:
* Medium size bowl, combine onions, bell peppers, celery- set aside
* Combine flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder, and 1/2 teaspoon red pepper in a plastic bag.
* Add the chicken pieces and shake until chicken is well coated
* Reserve 1/2 cup of the flour
* In a large heavy skillet, heat 1/ 1/2 inches of oil until very hot. Fry the chicken until crust is brown on both sides and meat is cooked (about 5-8 mins per side). Drain on paper towels
* Pour the hot oil into a measuring cup, leaving as many of the browned particles as possible in the pan
* Return 1/2 cup of hot oil into the pan

To Create the Roux
* Plan pan over high heat with oil. Gradually whisk in 1/2 cup reserved flour.
* Cook, whisking constantly, until the roux is dark red-brown to black, no more than 5 minutes.
* Remove from heat and add veggies, stirring constantly
* Return pan to low heat and cook until veggies are soft, about 5 minutes

To Create the Gumbo
* Place the stock into a 5 1/2 quart saucepan or large dutch oven, bring to boil.
* Add the roux mixture to the boiling stock, stirring until it dissolves.
* Reduce heat to a simmer and stir in sausage and minced garlic.
* Simmer uncovered for about 45 minutes, stirring often towards the end of cooking time. (Be sure to start your rice during this time as well!)
* While the gumbo is simmering, dice the chicken and stir the chicken in
* Adjust the seasoning with salt or pepper if needed and serve immediately over rice

This recipe does pack a little punch- add more cayenne if you want it super spicey! We like it to where we just break a small sweat! It is worth every minute of cooking time- I promise :)  So now that you are feeling adventurous- go! Go- tell your husband he's cooking this weekend :)

Guest Blogger: Jaren Rabe

When Kelsey asked me to be a guest blogger I was so excited because:
 1.) I have always wanted my 15 minutes of fame and
 2.) I love to cook!

Unfortunately, a lot of the recipes I try changing to be my own end up being mediocre so I never make them again. This recipe, my fans, is not one of those. Yes, I called you guys my fans because you will be once you make this dish. It is just a little spicy, uses fresh ingredients and tastes amazing.

Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Cilantro Rice

Roasted Pork Tenderloins

(This is based off of a recipe by Alton Brown. I changed some
ingredients/measurements and the method used to cook it.)

2 whole pork tenderloins, approximately 2 lbs)
2 limes, zest finely grated
3/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
1/2 cup honey (the bottle shaped like a bear is usually the best choice)
1 tablespoon kosher salt
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 can of chipotle chile peppers in adobo sauce
Chopped fresh cilantro leaves

Directions (Exactly as I did.)
Trim the pork tenderloins of any excess fat and silver skin. I've
never worked with pork tenderloin that wasn't already prepped for me
so this was super nasty and hard for me to do. The "silver skin" is
the worst part. Wash your hands 4 times after doing this and sanitize
counter twice because raw meat is gross and could poison your family.

Zest the limes. Make sure you zest the top layer of your thumb off
while doing so. The tears, skin and blood add to the experience and
flavor.

Place the zest, lime juice, honey, salt, adobe peppers and minced
garlic in a bowl and stir until honey is not in big globs on the
bottom anymore. Pour the entire marinade mixture into a 1-gallon
resealable bag. Add the pork tenderloin to the bag and seal, removing
as much air as possible and place the bag into another resealable bag
and then place that bag into a bowl and place it in your fridge. The
double bagging + bowl means no raw meat contamination inside your
fridge which could also potentially poison your family. Marinate in
the refrigerator for 6 to 24 hours, rotating the bag halfway through
the time.

When it is about an hour away from being ready to cook, start the rice!

Cilantro Rice

(This recipe is based off of a recipe by Aida Mollenkamp. I also
changed some things, so I am giving you my version.)

Ingredients:
About 2 cups packed cilantro leaves (I used 2 "bunches" from the store.)
3 medium garlic cloves, minced
1 medium serrano chile, halved lengthwise and seeded
3 1/3 cups free range chicken broth (free range because it makes you
feel better about killing chickens.)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 minced yellow onion (medium sized)
2 cups jasmine rice
1 tablespoon kosher salt

Combine cilantro (I cut off most of the stems but don't worry about
having them in there), garlic, chile, and 2 cups broth in a blender
and process until smooth; set aside.
Be careful not to get the serrano chile juice onto your zested thumb.
If you happen to get some in there anyways, do not put your hands over
your face in pain because then your eyes and thumb will be on fire.
But I digress.

Heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. When it
shimmers, add onion and cook until softened, about 2 minutes. Add rice
and salt stir to coat in oil and cook until rice becomes opaque, about
2 minutes.

After the rice is opaque, dump everything + the rest of the chicken
broth into a rice cooker and push "white rice" button. If you do not
have a rice cooker, this is what Aida tells you to do:
Carefully pour the cilantro mixture and the remaining 1 1/3 cups broth
into the rice and stir to combine. Bring mixture to a boil then reduce
heat to low so rice is at a simmer. Cover and cook until rice is
tender, about 15 minutes. Turn off heat and let rice rest covered for
5 minutes.

If you are awesome and have a rice cooker like me, just walk away and
get the pork out of the fridge while your rice cooks itself. Preheat
your oven to 350 degrees. Put both tenderloins and all the marinade
into a casserole dish and place in preheated oven for 35 minutes.
Check it after 35 minutes and if it does not register 140 on a meat
thermometer or look done when you cut into it, put it back in for 10
more minutes. After it is done, cut it into slices and let it sit in
the marinade and soak it up while you stir up the cilantro rice.
Garnish the pork with the fresh cilantro before serving and add a side
of black beans if you are feeling up to it.

My husband said it was his favorite meal of all time so I took a
picture of his plate to capture the moment. I didn't realize I would
writing the blog on this recipe so I apologize for the crappy phone
picture. Trust me, it tastes WAY better than this picture looks!

Editors Note: Jaren, it looks delicious! Shush your mouth!