Rain, Rain, Go Away and Pork Loin

It's raining today. AGAIN.

It has been raining for weeks now. 

Everyday, rain.

Oh, the sun comes out for a little while. Just to tease everyone into thinking the rain is over but within a few minutes or an hour... rain.

Today it's just solid rain though. Not even a tease of sunshine. 

Just so you know how bad the rain is making me feel, I have no idea what I'm going to cook today. Really - not a clue. 

I have some lovely cage-free, free range chicken in the freezer. ho-hum

I have a beautiful pasture fed pork loin already defrosted. sigh...

I'm just not feeling the love. 

Usually a rainy day sets me to baking bread, simmering some stock to make soap, braising or roasting something wonderful, but this constant barrage of rain is just making me want to, well, it's making me want to do nothing. 

No inspiration. Nothing. 

Anyone else feel this way about the weather? 

Anyone out there have any suggestions for a beautiful, already defrosted, 2 pound, pasture fed, pork loin? 

Blah. And to top off the rain, I have to go to the dentist today.

Maybe I'll just go back to bed for awhile. 

Organizing and Slow Cooked Baby Back Ribs

Today is one of those cloudy, gloomy days when the sky just can't decide whether to rain or not. Holly Bear and I got misted on this morning while running in the Secret Park - but that was the extent of any rainfall. I wish it would JUST POUR! I haven't watered the garden for the last 5 days in anticipation of rain and I'm a bit rusty when it comes to a rain dance. 

The other reason I'm hoping for rain is that a rainy day is the perfect time for me to organize the inside of my house. Sunny days find me outside in the one of the "patches" (vegetable, perennial, herb or annual) which means the inside goes totally untended. 

I'm going to start with the coffee table that has absolutely no room for coffee. See the picture? Photo Album that needs to be updated (yes I keep a "baby" album of Holly Bear - they grow up so fast, don't they?) cooking magazines, Reader's Digest, TV Guide, unfinished glass of wine from last night (how did that happen?), the most recent book I'm reading, the best husband in the world's last few months of Scientific America, a book on German Shepherds, People (my trash reading) hand cream, etc... kind of reminds me of my purse. Anyway, today, I organize. I also slow cook. Rainy days are perfect days to fill the house with the teasing aroma of something good in the oven. Today that aroma is Baby Back Ribs My Way. Read on:

Baby Back Ribs My Way: (feeds four normal people or two rib lovers)

1 rack of baby back ribs (about 3 pounds)

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

Preheat oven to 275 degrees F. Take ribs out of refrigerator 30 minutes prior to first cooking cycle. Pat brown sugar into tops of ribs. Place on rack in roasting pan. Pour water and apple cider vinegar in bottom of roasting pan. Cover tightly with aluminum foil. Place in oven on bottom rack. Bake for 4 hours. 

After 4 hours, Preheat Grill to HIGH. 

Take ribs out of pan, discard juices in bottom of pan. Grill ribs for 4-5 minutes per side, basting with your favorite BBQ sauce. We like Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ Sauce. I'm pretty sure there is crack cocaine in it because my family is addicted to this stuff. 

Serve with creamy cole slaw and hot corn bread. The ribs would also be excellent with the Missing Sibling Salad from yesterday's post.

Corn Bread: makes sixteen 2 inch squares

When you take the ribs out of the oven, crank the oven up to 425 degrees. 

Butter a 8 inch pan.

3/4 cup yellow cornmeal

1 cup flour

1/3 cup sugar

3 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup milk

1 egg, beaten

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Mix the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Add the milk, egg and oil and mix quickly with a few quick flicks of your spoon or whisk. Spoon into pan and bake for about 20 minutes. Corn bread will be puffed and golden on top. Cool slightly, slice and serve. 

Variations: to the batter, add

Add a few sliced jalapeno peppers

Add a handful sliced, sun dried tomatoes

Add a teaspoon of red pepper flakes

Add a few strips crumbled bacon

Add 1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Two Days To WWW - and Tenderloin

These are the women of WWW. Women's Wine Weekend (notice there is no H in Wine).

That's me, the first on the right

It's two days until we convene and commence to, well, whatever we want.

Today I am going to buy the beef tenderloin and this is how I'm going to make it for WWW Saturday Dinner:

Roasted Beef Tenderloin with Rosemary, Chocolate and Wine Sauce

1 (2 to 5 pound) beef tenderloin
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
4 teaspoons olive oil
½ cup chopped shallots
1 carrot, finely chopped
1 stalk celery, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
2 cups dry red wine plus more for drinking (duh)
2 cups beef broth
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 bay leaf
1 sprig fresh thyme
1 sprig fresh rosemary
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Tenderloin:

Take meat out of refrigerator 1 hour before roasting. Season meat with salt and pepper. Heat 2 teaspoons olive oil over medium-high heat. Add meat and sear until well browned on all sides.

Transfer the meat to a rack set on a baking sheet. Roast until desired doneness (140 – medium rare, 150 – medium). Take meat out of oven 6 degrees below desired temperature. Tent. Residual cooking will bring to desired temperature. Let rest AT LEAST 15 minutes before carving.

Sauce:

Heat remaining 2 teaspoons of oil in large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the shallots, carrot and celery and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, cook for 2 more minutes. Add the wine and broth and stir in tomato paste, bay leaf, rosemary and thyme. Bring to a boil. Reduce and simmer until reduced by half (about 30 minutes) Strain through a fine mesh strainer. Discard solids. Return sauce to pan, whisk in cocoa. Season to taste with salt & pepper. Serve on the side with the sliced tenderloin.

Tomorrow: All the sides.

Rainy Day Monday Roast Chicken

It's a rainy day here in the Northeast. The kind of day that promises spring is just around the corner. Gentle misty kind of rain, overcast. I've got laundry to fold and other household chores but first I want to begin the first step of making my family's favorite comfort food. Crisp skin and succulent meat - hint of winter and the lemony scent of spring. 

Nothing warms and brightens my kitchen more than the scent and sound of a lemony, herb infused chicken roasting away in my oven. I'm going to start first by taking my thawed 4 pound roaster, drying it thoroughly (very important) and rubbing it inside and out with a combination of:

Kosher Salt

Zest of one Lemon (save the zested lemon, we'll use later)

Fresh Chopped Rosemary

I'm even going to tuck some of this under the skin, between the breast meat and skin.

That's it for now. I place my little bird on a cookie sheet and put it in the downstairs refrigerator UNCOVERED. 

more later...