Ribs, Ribs, Ribs

If you read my blog, you know that I’ve made ribs before and shared my recipe..but this time I tried something completely different and it is worthy of a second ribs post within 6 months.

Our local coop has a great  selection of fresh meats from Alberta, the last time we went shopping these beautiful pork side ribs were on sale and we had to pick some up.  We had decided that since we just bought a house (OMG!! Yay!!), that we really need to save some money to buy all of the stuff we need to move in and we should eat at home as much as we can from now until our possession October 1st.

I prepped the slow cooker the night before by cutting up the ribs into pieces as it is easier to set them into the slow cooker that way and because I know they will be fall apart delicious at the end and it will be impossible to take them out if I don’t!  I layer them in the slow cooker making sure to season each layer as I am doing it.  I started with garlic powder, we bought this awesome garlic mill in the US while we were visiting for the state fair, Red Robin seasoning salt, onion powder and pepper.  I then poured in 3/4 of a bottle of Bullseye Chicken & Rib BBQ sauce, a few dashes of worchestershire sauce and 3/4 of a 591 ml bottle of Pepsi and watered it down a bit as well.  We left it to sit overnight in the fridge to soak up all of the flavour.

The next morning when I got up to go to work, I set it to low and forgot about it before I went through the door.  When I came back in the door 10 hours later, the house smelled amazing!  Matt cooked some rice to go with the ribs and dinner ( and lunch for the next day) was served!

I could NOT believe how well the Pepsi flavour came thorough!  I am already looking forward to trying this again with Root Beer because I think the flavours would be absolutely amazing!  I recommend doing this the next time you get a hankering for ribs!

Enjoy!

Booker’s BBQ Grill & Crab Shack

 Saturday night was our monthly BTD dinner, and this month it was Melissa’s pick.  Melissa chose Booker’s, which was great because I have wanted to try it since we moved here.  She made a reservation through Open Table which is super easy and convenient.

For this dinner, we were missing Judy, 😦 sad times.  The girls got some appys, I did not but I did get to try a little of everything.  Sarah ordered the crab cakes which were so flavourful and had a little spice to them.  Leah and Jessica shared the deep fried pickles, I’m not sure I’ve had bad ones anywhere! Melissa ordered the smoked chicken wings, which strangely enough tasted like sausage which Jessica pointed out.

For dinner, I ordered the Rib Steak Sandwich and fries.  I was actually surprised that they ask how you want it cooked, medium it is! It was FANTASTIC.  I couldn’t eat the whole sandwich, lucky for Matt who got to experience a little of everything with the doggy bag I brought home haha.  The Cajun mayo and crispy onions really made the sandwich and it was served with a deep fried pickle on top!  I tried some of Jessica’s jalapeno mac n cheese which was really good, just the slightest hint of jalapeno though, so not super hot if that’s what you are looking for and I had some of her ribs as well which were excellent!  Leah ordered the brisket dinner, so I got to try a piece and it was amazing, it had a nice crust on the outside! Melissa had the roast chicken but I had already had a wing so I didn’t ask to try.

 I saw Cherry Cheesecake in a Jar and I knew instantly that I was having dessert.  It was AMAZING!  It was Atlantic style cheesecake and it was the best cheesecake I’ve had in Calgary (other than my own :P).

The parking situation was ok, unfortunately for us it was raining and then that turned into snow while we were inside, so just a short walk to the back of the building was a cold and wet one.

Overall, it had a great atmosphere and I would love to go again.

It’s BBQ Season!

Today, I was driving to pick Matt up from work and realized what a beautiful day it was, +13 and sunny skies at 5:30 pm.  We had planned originally to come home and cook fish which we already have but I just couldn’t resist the urge to BBQ in this beautiful weather.

On the way home, we decided to stop off at the local Coop and visit the meat department and get a beautiful striploin from the butcher there.  I’m not going to lie, grilling is a blue job in a lot of households but not ours.  I am a master griller and it’s hard for me to give that job up!

Mmmm…look at this chunk of meat!

We decided that we would only get 1 steak as we usually only eat half anyways and then end up taking the rest for lunch but I’m having pizza for lunch tomorrow (thanks work!), so we only need to worry about dinner today.  We chose to do loaded baked potatoes and macaroni salad for sides.  If it were a weekend, and we had more time, I would have probably either actually baked the potatoes or actually made the salad BUT since it was already 7pm, the more shortcuts we could take, the better.

I cooked the potatoes in the microwave. Hey, that’s gotta be ok, there is a setting on the microwave for it! While they were cooking, I seasoned the steak with garlic powder, onion powder and Red Robin seasoning (man, I really need an endorsement deal for this!) on both sides.  When the potatoes were done, I took them out, cut them down the center and put butter and lots of cheese inside both and seasoned with the same seasonings as the steak and wrapped them in tin foil to throw on the BBQ while the steak cooked to melt the cheese, mmmm…cheese.

I went outside to put the steak and potatoes on the BBQ while my husband cooked up some bacon to use as bacon bits on the baked potatoes.  I have become a masker crosshatch marker as of late, so I use my skills whenever possible!  We like to eat our steak around the medium/medium rare mark and I basically nailed it tonight.  I always make sure to render the fat on the steak as well by turning it on it’s side for a minute or two to make it more delicious.

I took the steak and potatoes off, went inside to dress the potatoes and scoop some macaroni salad onto my plate and dinner was served!

Delicious!

The steak was seasoned very well, I could have almost used a little more salt but it was fantastic.  We topped our cheesy potatoes with sour cream and the bacon bits made by Matt and our meal was complete!