BBQ Ribs

Hi! Hi! Hi! I am SO excited to be back on the blog--for real this time! We finally got all moved in to our new place and I went searching today in the depths of some unopened boxes (relegated to the basement) to find the cord to my camera. I was ecstatic when I finally found it. So do I have internet you ask? Yes and no. We closed on the house on Dec. 23rd and are still working on getting internet installed. I know--ludicrous, right? But luckily one of my kind neighbors is letting me use their unsecured wireless ("letting" being a very broad term....). I've asked any that we meet if they are that kind neighbor and I've yet to find the person to thank. Supposedly the internet people were coming out today (and yesterday and the day before that). I'm not holding my breath....but in the meantime I just had to post something.

I have many recipes to catch up on. The only bad thing is that as I was going through a couple months worth of pictures I can't remember exactly where some of the recipes came from. But that's obviously my problem and not yours. But here is one BBQ recipe that you HAVE to try. It is now my official "go to" recipe for BBQ sauce. I will never go back to just using the bottled version from the store again. And this is super easy to make! I tweaked the recipe and so I'll just post my adaptation. Enjoy! Did I already say how excited I am to be back into the foodie world?

BBQ Spareribs adapted from "The Essential Mormon Cookbook"

5 pounds country spareribs (meaty)
1 onion, chopped
2 T butter
1 1/4 C ketchup
1 C packed brown sugar
2 T Worcestershire sauce
1 C barbecue sauce

To make sauce, saute onion in butter until tender. Combine sauteed onion with remaining ingredients and pour over ribs in crock pot. If you like lots of sauce, double the sauce ingredients (but I found this amount perfectly adequate). Bake in crockpot for 6-7 hours. Would be amazing with chicken, too.

Oven Baked Pork Chops

Today I was wanting a quick, easy, delicious dinner. So despite the name being "oven baked", you can still put these in the crockpot instead of the oven if you'd like. They have a great flavor and my husband said at least six times tonight, "These are SO good. They have the best flavor". I'm all about meals where you have most of the ingredients on hand and this is one of those.

Oven Baked Pork Chops

4 lean pork chops

3 T soy sauce

1/4 C sliced mushrooms (opt...I HATE mushrooms, so we don't do that at our house...but my mom loves them in it)

1/2 tsp pepper

1 T Worcestershire sauce

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 medium onion, sliced

1/2 tsp garlic salt

1/2 tsp parsley

Place pork chops in baking dish (for oven) or crockpot. Lay onion slices (I like to chop mine instead...it's just a matter of preference) over pork chops. Pour soup and then rest of ingredients over pork chops. Cook on low in crock pot for 5-6 hours or in oven on 350 for 1 hour.

Something new to do with pork chops

We tried this recipe tonight and really liked it! It was super easy to make. It tasted even better after it had sat for a few minutes after I'd served it--the juices and flavors melded more. We thought it tasted like it came from a restaurant--Bret said like it had come from a nice steak house. Yum! I got this recipe from "The Best of Cooking Light; Everyday Favorites"--I'm loving this new recipe book.

Buttermilk-Brined Pork Chops

2 C fat-free buttermilk

2 T kosher salt

2 T sugar

1 T grated lemon rind

1 tsp chopped fresh rosemary

1 tsp chopped fresh sage (I didn't use fresh)

4 (6oz) pork chops

2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Cooking spray

1. Combine first 6 ingredients in a large ziploc plastic bag; shake well to dissolve salt and sugar. Add pork to bag; seale and refrigerate at least 8 hours or overnight, turning bag occasionally.

2. Remove pork from bag; discard buttermilk mixture. Pat pork dry with a paper towel. Sprinkle pork with pepper.

3. Heat a large nonstick grill pan over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add pork chops; cook about 3 1/2 minutes on each side or until desired degree of doneness.

Calories: 183 Fat: 7.2 Figer: 0.3g