Sticky Baby Back BBQ Ribs

Costco is one of my favourite places to shop at (well, okay, most of my favourite shopping places revolve around food and groceries). I remember watching a documentary about Costco and how they source for only popular or quality that are tried and tested by them, and they carry a limited number of brands for each product line. This makes it easier for the consumer when deciding which brand to choose (as too many brands may confuse the consumer who might end up not buying anything!).

I saw a couple of brands for BBQ sauce and decided on Sweet Baby Ray's (after all, there's only a fifty-fifty chance I bought the wrong one!) mainly because the label stated "Award-winning", dotted with four red stars (not only my kids love stars on their homework, I have an affinity for stars too when it comes to food and product reviews). The other brand had some Japanese sounding name to it which I can't remember, plus there was a mad picture of a Japanese guy on it. My, my, my.... these ribs were possibly one of the best I've had, and almost as good as Tony Roma's. I highly recommend this, especially the sauce which turns lovely and sticky after a few minutes under the grill. It's easy to prepare, and easy clean-up afterwards too!

Sticky Barbecue Ribs
Adapted from Food.com

Ingredients

1.8kg (4 lbs) American-style pork ribs (get meaty ones, not too lean or bony)
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp smoked paprika
1 tbsp garlic powder
1 tsp salt
1-2 cups Sweet Baby Ray's Barbecue sauce

Method

Preheat oven to 160C (300F).

Mix together the sugar and spices to make a dry rub. Apply rub to ribs on all sides.

Lay ribs on two layers of foil, shiny side out. Lay a layer of foil on top of ribs and roll and crimp edges tightly, edges facing up to seal.

Place on baking tray and bake for 3-4 hours or until meat is tender and starting to shrink away from the ends of the bone. Remove from oven. Heat the broiler or oven grill.

Remove ribs from the foil, and place on a clean layer of foil on a metal rack or pan, bony side up. Brush on some BBQ sauce. Grill for 3-4 minutes until sauce is cooked on and bubbly.
Turn ribs over and brush on more sauce and grill again until sauce is bubbly and caramelized (this makes it sticky and finger-licking good!). Serve immediately.

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Malaysian Satay Recipe

 

Mention the word "satay" and I am instantly reminded of my childhood years and years ago, how the Malay Satay Man would peddle his mobile satay stall on his bicycle in my neighbourhood, tooting his horn. Sometimes, I could even smell the aroma from my house, even though he could be grilling his satay down the road. I would get all excited at the prospect of having satay for dinner, and run to the window to see if I could detect any "smoke" signals in the sky. He made one of the best satays in town, and the fact that he peddled his stall around the neighbourhood meant that we could walk up to him with empty plates and bowls waiting to be filled with freshly made satay. Those were the simple things in life back then, though coming from a foodie family, food was and is a big deal, as to most Malaysians of course.

Malaysian Satay is such a luxury item in Sydney. I don't think I've ever ordered satay here before, not when I know it costs multiple times less back in Malaysia. Thai style satay is quite common here, although I'm not a fan of it as they are often presented as a single long piece of chicken breast meat on a bamboo skewer, grilled (and often a tad dry) and served with a sweet peanut sauce which tastes like peanut butter mixed with loads of palm sugar. I guess my tastebuds are more accustomed to savoury and spicy Malaysian cuisine, rather than the sweet side of Thai food.

Anyway, I digress. I had to make satay at home from scratch, and it's pretty simple really. Serve it with cucumbers and ketupat (compressed rice) for a complete meal.

Malaysian Satay Recipe

1kg (2 lbs) chicken thigh fillet or beef scotch fillet steak
Vegetable oil and a stick of lemongrass for basting

Marinade (finely blended into a paste):
150g shallots
4 cloves garlic
1 inch ginger
2-3 lemongrass (white part only), sliced
1 tbsp ground coriander
2 tsp ground fennel
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tbsp ground turmeric
3/4 cup white sugar
2 tsp salt

Condiments:
1 red onion, sliced/cubed
Cucumbers, sliced into wedges
Ketupat (compressed rice cakes) - see here for recipe

You will need about 40-50 bamboo skewers (or less if they are long skewers), soaked in water for  a few hours.

Method:

1. Cut the meat into 1 inch x 2 inch slices, about 1/4 inch thick. Combine with marinade and mix well. Add 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil and mix through. Leave to marinate in the fridge for at least 2 hours or overnight.
2. Thread the pieces of meat onto the bamboo skewers (about 3-4 pieces each) and set aside on a plate.
3. For basting the satay, take the lemongrass and smash the white part until it's "frayed" like a brush.
4. Grill the satay sticks over a barbecue, using the lemongrass "brush" to baste the satay with vegetable oil.
5. Serve with peanut sauce and condiments.

Satay sauce / Peanut sauce Recipe

500g raw unsalted peanuts, skinless
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 tbsp tamarind pulp, soaked in 1 cup hot water to extract the juice
2-3 cups water, plus extra
150g gula Melaka (dark brown palm sugar), chopped
4 tbsp dark brown sugar
1 tsp salt or to taste

Spice paste (finely blended into a paste):
100g shallots
4 clove garlic
2-3 stalks lemongrass, white part only, chopped
15-20 long dried chillies, deseeded, soaked in a hot water overnight and chopped (discard the water)
1 inch galangal

Method:

1. Dry fry the peanuts in a large wok, without any oil, until the peanuts are lightly browned and fragrant. Remove and set aside to cool.
2. Pound/grind/blend the peanuts until almost smooth but with some coarse bits still visible, depending on whether you like it smooth or chunky I guess. Set aside.
3. Heat up the 1/2 cup oil in a medium sized pot. Add the blended spice paste and fry until the chilli oil starts to separate from the paste. Add the tamarind juice, gula Melaka and water and bring to a boil and simmer for 10-20 minutes.
4. Add the ground peanuts and stir to mix well. Bring to a boil, then add salt and brown sugar to taste. Add more water if it's too thick. Sauce will thicken as it cools.
5. Turn off heat and set the sauce aside until the oil rises to the top. Serve warm with satay and ketupat (rice cakes).

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Lamb Kofta Kebab

 

In my previous post, I wrote about my first time dining at a Lebanese (or Middle-eastern) restaurant, Al Aseel. I had ordered the "Mixed Plate", comprising an array of dips and a three types of grilled meats on skewers - chicken, lamb and kafta. I wasn't a fan of the chicken as I found it a little dry. The lamb was not bad, but my favourite was the kafta.

 

Kofta generally refers to savoury balls of ground meat (or vegetables, potatoes, lentils etc) mixed with spices, herbs or other ingredients. In Lebanese cuisine, it's called kafta and is usually made with ground beef, allspice, parsley and onions. I decided to make a lamb kofta kebab instead by placing the lamb mince on skewers and then grilling them on the barbecue. You can use either beef, lamb or a combination of both.

You may serve this with some Lebanese bread (or any flatbread), hummus and tahini sauce with tabouli as a salad.  I also made some beef kebabs which is simply taking some good quality beef steaks (I used scotch fillet), cut into chunky cubes and skewered with alternating onions (or use bell peppers). Brush with oil and season with salt and pepper before grilling them on the barbecue. Serve together with the bread, dips and salad.

 

Lamb Kofta Recipe

Ingredients

500g lamb mince
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 tbsp chopped coriander
1 1/2 tbsp chopped parsley
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (or substitute with chilli powder), or more to taste

Vegetable oil for brushing
6 metal skewers

Method

In a large bowl, combine all ingredients (except oil) and mix well using your hands until it becomes pasty and sticks together. Refrigerate for an hour until firm. This makes it easier to skewer the meat without it falling apart.

Take a handful of the mixture and "mould" it onto the metal skewer to form a long sausage-shape. Try to do this in one go and not move the mixture around the skewer too much. Otherwise it might not stick onto the skewer properly. Repeat until you finish the mixture.

Prepare a barbeque grill. Brush some oil over the lamb skewers and place them on the grill. Cook, turning occasionally until it's charred outside. Once cooked, transfer onto a serving plate. Serve immediately with pita bread, dips and tabouli.

reade more... Résuméabuiyad