I clearly have no regard for my arteries or cholesterol after I cooked and then devoured this meal I am going to share with you, but sometimes it's really nice to indulge and treat yourself to the finer things in life....like truffle oil.
So with that being said I will walk you through our decadent Wednesday night dinner with 3 delicious components....First being the Bacon Roasted Brussel Sprouts.
This recipe is super easy, and would be a great pairing with ANY meat dish....
I used thick cut bacon (about 3 strips) and cooked them in a frying pan halfway...you don't want to cook them completely, just about half done, remove from pan and let cool on a plate - DON'T put them on paper towels like you normally would to drain off the oil, you want the oils! In addition, save the oil in the pan for a trick with the ribs that I will explain later!
Once cooled, dice up the bacon. With your brussels, just give them a rough chop and put in a Pyrex dish...add the bacon, a sprinkle of paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, and toss. If you feel it still needs a little more oil in it, you can add a touch of Olive Oil, but as it cooks in the oven, more oils from the bacon will come out.
Cook at 375 degrees for at least 35 minutes, taking out of the oven every 10 minutes to toss and make sure that all leafs are being cooked evenly. Depending on how al dente you like your brussels, you can leave them in the oven as long as you like, but 35 minutes is a great jump off point (it's enough time to cook the bitterness out of the brussels and to really incorporate that bacon flavor).
Above are the brussels PRE-cooking, below is the gorgeous bacon roasted photo....YUM!
Pressure Cooked Pork Ribs
So as I mentioned in previous posts, I acquired my new pressure cooker, Barry (yes I name all my kitchen appliances and I felt we needed to add a Barry to the group). My first experiment with Barry was with a Whole Chicken which came out fantastically, so obviously I was on a kick to try every form of meat via pressure cooker. So I decided it was time to take our traditional Bojo Ribs that we traditionally slow cook (see this post for our slow cooked version) and test them out in the polar opposite kitchen appliance from a slower cooker: a pressure cooker.
First I rubbed in our special Bojo Rib blend (which those who attended our wedding were lucky to get as a favor...it's that damn good). I can't tell you the exact recipe, but it contains Brown Sugar, Basil, Garlic Powder, Paprika and a few other special ingredients. You can either make your own rub or there are some amazing brands in the stores.... I like this Kansas City Rub, and the Rib Rub from Williams-Sonoma.
So as I said in the Brussel Sprout recipe, I wanted you to save that bacon fat in the pan for something in this recipe...well here it goes. Heat up the fat left in the pan, and once hot quickly brown both sides of you ribs just to get a little golden crust on it (about 1-2 minutes per side). This will help seal in the flavor when pressure cooking and adds a nice crisp to the outside.
Now it's time to Pressure Cook! Below is my little Barry, looking all shiny and new! In the cooker, add a few cups of chicken stock (it depends on how much liquid your pressure cooker requires, but I probably used about 2 cups). I then added a splash of Apple Cidar Vinegar, just for that nice bite that I love in most Southern BBQ sauces. I put the ribs in, sealed the top and cooked for 24 minutes on high pressure (I used about 2 lbs of pork ribs).
And out they came, tender, juicy and full of flavor. I will say one thing...the texture is completely different on ribs when you pressure cook them, then when you slow cook. Slow cooking is a lot moister where as pressure cooking is still fall off the bone, but the meat is a tad bit tougher. Next time I will probably try the ribs for less time in the pressure cooker and see if that changes the texture at all. But don't get me wrong, they were still fantastic!! I like to serve mine with Stubb's BBQ Sauce. Another method you can use is once you remove the ribs from the pressure cooker, put them on a baking sheet, pour your favorite BBQ Sauce on top and cook for a few minutes in a 400 degree oven.
Now last but not least.....my favorite....Truffle French Fries.....
To me a potato can do no wrong, no matter what form you put it in, but then, when you couple that with Truffle Oil....I could die happy on the spot. These are simple to make, you can make them in super large quantities if you're serving a lot of people, and they taste like something you'd get in a ritzy NYC steakhouse....just let the truffles do the work.
For the Fries, I like to leave the skin on the potatoes, mainly because I hate peeling potatoes but also because I love that crunch that the skin provides. I cut mine into thick fries, about 15 fries per large Russet Potato (just make sure for the most part that they're even in size so they cook evenly).
Once cut, place in a large bowl and drizzle Truffle Olive Oil on top. You don't need to use a lot because the flavor of truffle oil is extremely strong. Sprinkle some pepper and salt (if you're feeling really saucy, you can use truffle salt - helllooooo decadence!) and toss it all together so each fry is evenly coated.
I place the potato wedges on a greased baking sheet (just spray lightly with cooking spray to avoid any sticking). Bake in a 375 degree oven for 15 minutes, take out and flip over, cook for another 15 minutes, do this once more but put in for about 10 minutes, and the potatoes should be completely cooked through and nice and tender. Keep an eye on the potatoes because depending on how thick you cut them, or how hot your oven is, you don't want them to burn.
I serve mine with my own homemade sauce which I just realized I never named.....hmm....
SaziSauce!
SaziSauce - A mixture of Low Fat Mayo, some ketchup, Greek yogurt and a sprinkling of garlic powder. I love it on french fries!!
I love setting a nice dinner table for us every night....it makes things special and it's a great time to talk about our days and spend time together.
Hi Yoshi!!
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