Simplest Ribs Imaginable

The gang here at Dave's Beer is in the middle of the crazy week we call "Frankie's Birthday". Actually on Wednesday, but the partying started on Sunday. Needless to say, we're busy and getting some home-cooked food on the table is challenging.

I've had the hankering for ribs and didn't have time to fire up the grill. So, in anticipation of Tuesday's dinner, I bought some baby backs, gave them a rub down and plopped them in the oven at 10 pm at 225-deg-F and let 'em rip until 6 the next morning. Woke up, wrapped them in foil, walked the dog and let the heavenly smell guide me through the rest of the morning scramble. They looked like this when I wrapped them up.

Tuesday night, I warmed up the foil package at 300-deg-F for a half hour and chopped them apart. They were delicate, moist and nearly perfect. I cooked some greens and served them with some bread (and fresh carrots for Frankie, a staple of hers).

What an awesome midweek treat!

(Sorry Biggles, got to have meat, even if not smoked properly.)

Desperation Chicken with Cashews

Tonight's scheduled dinner was taco salad. Boring. We do it too much. Had this recipe sitting on my desk for weeks and picked it up and realized I had almost everything I needed to make it for tonight. Frankie didn't like it but it was a lightning fast prep and really good. And, it had thinly sliced cucumbers in it! Really interesting twist.

Chicken and Cashews
Quick marinade while chopping other stuff:
rice vinegar, 1/4 C
water, 1/4 C
cornstarch, 2 T
sesame oil, 2 T
soy sauce, 1 T

Mix and plop in thinly sliced boneless chicken breast (3/4 lb I think).
Let marinate about 20 minutes.

Have ready: green onions (bunch, sliced thin), red bell pepper (thin slices), ginger (finely shaved and chopped), garlic (few slivers), mini seedless cucumbers (thinly sliced), cilantro (fresh, chopped, 2 T), toasted cashews (whole, 1/2 C), water.

Ready, set, go ...
Heat pan with sesame oil (2T) and soy oil (1T) and toss in chicken (not quite a stir fry but hot and cook quick). Then add red peppers, ginger, garlic and let mixture cook until the bell pepper is softened a bit. Then toss in nuts, onions, cucumbers and cilantro some water and heat a few minutes. Serve over rice.

After the dish, I read the recipe (I usually memorize the recipe before I get home from work for speed) again and realized I was supposed to have some brown sugar in the marinade. Next time.