Category: Cooking And Baking

Best Ever Ribs & Potato Salad

7/19/2018

This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase after clicking them, we will be compensated, but there is no additional cost to you. All opinions expressed are our own. Thank you for your support.

Alicia back with another American recipe! This year my family is picking a country from our ancestry and trying to make foods from that country once a week. Then I share the recipes here. This month we're doing American.

When asking my friends they're favorite American foods my husband replied that he thinks "barbecue is the most American flavor." Then a whole bunch of people agreed with him. There's so many different, and delicious, styles of barbecue across the United States, it's impossible (for me) to choose my favorite. Slow cooking the meat makes it fall off the bone tender without drying it out. Unfortunately, we don't have a barbecue that can slow cook our meat, so we have to use our crockpot. But it still results in a very delicious and tasty rack of ribs.

Today's meal is ribs, baked beans, cornbread, and potato salad. A meal suggested to me by my friend Shirley, who lived in Texas for awhile, so I trust her barbecue opinions. I made everything from scratch and it wasn't that intense or difficult despite being a full plate. The sides were delicious and a perfect compliment, especially the potato salad, a recipe which I'll share with you today as well.

Slow Cooker Ribs

These ribs...THESE RIBS! They're so good! Oft requested by friends for gatherings, these ribs do not last long. Leftovers are unheard of. They're so delicious.

The rub for the ribs can be made in advance and kept in a container, ready for every time you want to make some delicious ribs. We always have some made up and sitting in our spice cabinet.

Ideally we would smoke them or cook them on indirect heat on the grill, but since we don't have that option right now, we just do it in the CrockPot. (I love my crockpot!) And lining the crockpot with parchment paper makes clean-up a breeze!

Make these, you will not regret it.

Best Ever Ribs

Best Ever Potato Salad

When I knew we were going to make potato salad, I called my mom. She has always made the best potato salad and I was amazed she hadn't posted it yet. So here it is in all it's glory. The great thing about it is you can customize it to your tastes. I used red and golden potatoes because that's what I had on hand, but russet potatoes work just as well. Sweet or dill pickles, either one is great. I used a dressing that was slightly creamy instead of the regular Italian dressing. I was still so good! Play around according to your tastes and it's always sure to be amazing. I honestly love this stuff.

Although, if you don't like pickles, this may not be the potato salad for you. Otherwise, you can't go wrong.

Best Ever Potato Salad

I didn't want to overwhelm you with recipes so I'll post the baked beans and cornbread another day. Until then, dazzle your family and friends with these recipes.

0 Comments

Amazing Amatriciana

7/3/2018

1 Comment

Alicia here with my last Italian recipe for you all. I'm kind of sad Italy is over because I love the food so much. But I have had a good time making these foods and sharing the recipes with you. I am a bit bummed I didn't get to make pizza, but I probably still will and share it with you. My Basil plant is begging for it.

But for today I have a seriously good recipe, especially if you like a little heat. Amatriciana can poorly be described as spicy spaghetti, but it's much more. Wow your friends and family with this delicious dish.

Amatriciana

Amatriciana is a sauce with cured pork (like pancetta), pecorino, tomatoes, onions, and peppers. Not bell peppers but chili and black pepper.

This sauce has more depth than your regular marinara because of the addition of the pork and more bite because of the pepper. But the flavors marry so well together, each bite is divine. Slightly creamy because of the addition of cheese, the sauce sticks well to the noodles.

Most recipes I found used bucatini, but spaghetti can be substituted. My brother hates bucatini because it is not easy to slurp (it is hollow in the center, like a really long macaroni noodle).

I admit that I didn't have Pecorino, so I used my fresh Parmesan. Sorry Italy. I also didn't have pancetta so I used unsmoked bacon (it is the same cut of meat). But despite all these substitutions, it was still very delicious. My son and husband loved it! I did too! And I thought it was even better the next day as left-overs. (I think it's important to know what makes good leftovers.)

Amatriciana

Try this delicious recipe out please. It's a great alternative to your boring old spaghetti and marinara (which I actually also love). Oh and the spice is barely there, it will not cause you to breath flames. It's not more spicy than a breakfast sausage. So don't let that deter you from trying it out!

1 Comment

Best Lasagna Ever

6/27/2018

0 Comments

Hey Alicia here with another ancestral recipe from Italy. And today's recipe is one that after I tasted it I couldn't stop thinking about. It was so good, I ate it from breakfast and lunch the next day (super healthy, I know). This lasagna was really that good. Thinking of it right now I'm tempted to go make it again.

Best Lasagna Ever

This lasagna is fairly simple and adapted from a recipe I found on Walks of Italy. It doesn't have a ton of cheese. It's swapped out with a delectable béchamel sauce, seasoned with a bit of nutmeg, salt, and pepper. Don't skip the nutmeg because it just adds this wonderful depth to the lasagna that makes it addicting. The ragu is stewed for an hour or more and the flavors develop making it so wonderful. And the freshly grated parmesan sprinkled on top is the perfect ending for this dish. If you wish you can add parmesan in the other layers, I didn't and I found it to be perfect. But make sure you use fresh grated parmesan because the Kraft stuff just won't cut it.

I made this in a 9x13 dish but if you make it in a smaller dish you could do more than 3 layers.