Thai Style Ribs

It’s getting closer and closer to BBQing season, but for those of us unlucky enough not to have a backyard or patio grill, I found a crock pot recipe for fall-off-the-bone ribs that will make your mouth water. And they really do fall off the bone, and then melt in your mouth because they’re that tender. The Thai style marinade incorporates fresh ingredients like cilantro, garlic, and ginger to produce a sweet and tangy sauce. Garnishing the ribs with lime zest rounds out and accentuates the flavours for a finger-licking-good meal. 

Thai Style Ribs, A La Crock Pot

You Will Need:

A crock pot, duh. This recipe is for a 6-quart slow cooker.

2-3 Racks of Pork  back ribs, cut in half or thirds to fit into your crock pot
1 can thawed and undiluted Pinapple-Apple-Orange juice from concentrate (I used Tropicana but Welches is good too)
3/4 cup Light Soy Sauce
1/4 cup Peanut butter
1/4 cup Chopped fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons Fresh ginger, minced
1 Garlic clove, minced
1 Lime, quartered to squirt over the ribs before eating.
optional: 1-2 Thai red chilis if you like to get spicy

What You Do:

1) To make the marinade combine and whisk together the juice, soy sauce, peanut butter, cilantro, ginger, garlic, and Thai chilis if you’re using them. Pour the marinade over your ribs, seal ribs in an air tight container and let stand in the fridge for 8 hours. 8 HOURS?! Yes, 8 hours. I did mine over night. The longer you wait, the better they taste.

2) If you don’t have a crock pot, cook your ribs on the BBQ, or in the oven, or however you want. Whatever.

3) Place ribs into your crock pot and discard remaining marinade. I found that leaning some against the sides of the bowl gives it charred edges, like you cooked it on the BBQ. 

4) Cook on high for 1 hour, then on low for 5. Don’t open the lid, just enjoy the sweet aromas wafting through your house.

5) Garnish your ribs with a few squirts of lime. This really brings together the flavours, and can’t be left out. 

Who needs a BBQ when you have a magical crock pot? Seriously, Happy Eating.

Ghanaian Peanut Soup

So, I’ve been having a love affair with peanut butter. Like Franks Red Hot Sauce, I’ve been putting that S#%@ on everything.

The soup is hearty and filling but not overly rich.The chicken stock and mashed potatoes evened out the peanut butter’s thickness and kept it from being too decadent ( if there is such a thing). I really enjoyed it, especially the hint of ginger! Oh, and the chicken was sooo tender!

Rice was the perfect side dish, it balanced out the spice and thickness, and the naan was good for sopping up the sauce. It wasn’t nearly spicy enough for me or Phil, so we added the chili pepper flakes to our bowls. Next time I make it I’ll add more spice during the cooking process.

There are quiet a few steps for making this but don’t let that scare you off!! It’s actually very easy to make, and once you’ve read over the steps you’ll see this can be made in 30 minutes.

The original recipe is from Kayotic Kitchen, and I encourage you to check out the beautiful photos she’s take. She has a lot of the step-by-step photos which made it easy to figure out what to do next. My kitchen has horrible lighting so I don’t take as many “making of” photos. Happy Eating!

adapted from Kayotic Kitchen

You Will Need:

1 large boneless skinless chicken breast
1 medium onion
1 chili pepper
1 clove of garlic
1 tbsp oil
1/2 tsp fresh ginger
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 cup mashed potatoes
1/2 cup sieved tomatoes
2 cups chicken stock
2 tbps sugar
1/2 tsp chili powder
1 tbsp parsley
1 green onion
salt to taste** ( The original recipe calls for 2 tbsp salt, which seems like a lot.  I used 1/4 tsp but use your own taste preferences)

What You Do:

Chop the onion and finely chop half of the chili pepper ( you’ll use the other half for garnish, so cut the chili pepper in small rings). I like spicy food so I made sure to put all the chili flakes into the sauce.

Chop the chicken breast into cubes and set aside.

Heat 1 tbsp oil in a large pot. Add onions and sauté on medium until slightly translucent, about 3 minutes. Add the chili pepper and crushed garlic (I used a garlic press, Kayotic Kitchen grated it) and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Finally, add you ginger and let ingredients cook another few minutes.

Next, add the 1/2 cup peanut butter, stirring it around a little to help it melt. When melted, add the mashed potatoes and sieved tomatoes. Stir until ingredients form a paste.

Slowly add your chicken stock, whisking as you go. Whisk until mixture is smooth and creamy.

Add 2 tbsp sugar, 1/2 tsp chili powder,  1/2 – 1 tbsp fresh parsley, and salt/pepper to taste.

Add chicken cubes and bring the pot to a boil. Turn the heat down to low and let it simmer for 15 -20 minutes or until chicken is tender and fully cooked.

Garnish with chili pepper, green onion, and fresh parsley (cilantro works well too). Voila!

Garlic Humus with Spicy Thai Chili

Spicy garlic and Thai cili humus

Mmm, Mmm, Humus! A staple in our fridge, im getting closer to mastering my recipe. My boyfriend loves spicy food so I diced up a whole Thai chili, it was really spicy! I don’t have a food processor so I boiled the chickpeas to soften them, then mashed them with a potato masher while adding water and olive oil to create the consistency I wanted. 20 minutes in I remember the magic bullet and tossed the mixture in with a bit of water et…voila! Creamy humus, the first time I made it without clumps!

 

The Recipe:

1 can chickpeas

2 cloves minced garlic

2 tbsp olive oil

2  1/2 tbsp lemon juice

1 Thai chili finely diced

Salt and pepper to taste

I steadily added water while mashing the chickpeas to get a creamy texture. I still think my recipe is missing something… maybe onion powder? Or canola oil instead of olive oil… I’ll have to keep working on it. Suggestions?