MEMORIAL WEEKEND RIBS!

Hope everyone is having a safe and enjoyable Memorial Day Weekend. My celebration began Saturday with a day at the lake with my sisters and brothers-in-law. Our captain introduced us to his special southern ribs and boy howdy were they ever good. They were so tender there was no meat left on the bone and they simply fell off into your mouth!

His secret, well, don’t tell him I shared it with you:

Begin by salting and peppering the ribs. Then sprinkle generously with garlic powder. Cover all that with McCormick’s Grill Mates® Pork Rub.

Lay those babies on a very hot grill and sear them on each side. Don’t leave them on any longer than it takes to blacken each side. Remove them and place in an aluminum turkey roasting pan. Pour in water up to about half way on the stack of ribs and turn the heat on your grill down to a simmering temperature. Leave them on the grill for about 2 to 2.5 hours. There is no need to turn them because the steam will cook them through.

Continue to party all the time the ribs are simmering and then remove the pan of ribs, cover with foil and let them sit for another hour or so. Continue partying…

When everyone is ready to eat, take the ribs out of the pan and put them back on a hot grill and baste them generously with your favorite BBQ sauce! You may want to place extra on the table.

Place enough fresh corn-on-the-cob in a plastic bag with a little water into the microwave and cook for about 10 minutes or until done to taste.

Open a fresh can of good ol’ pork 'n' beans, butter and salt the corn, place on a table and stand back. If you stay in the way you may get trampled or stabbed with a fork!

Happy Memorial Day!

T-BONE STEAK & SWEET POTATO

My wife and I celebrated my 60th birthday tonight with steak, pork chops, and sweet potatoes. We spent the evening on the screened porch watching the baby geese trains (daddy, babies, and momma playing follow the leader) slowly making their way around the lake. Very peaceful evening and I would not have wanted to be anywhere else in the world.

My wife turns 60 Sunday, so the party will continue on the houseboat with our family all weekend. Tomorrow we will treat ourselves to seafood at Bonefish!

The T-Bone was smothered in Cajun blackened seasoning and the sweet potato was covered in butter and brown sugar. My wife baked her chops in the oven very slowly, but my steak was the best!

I enjoyed a couple of Bass Ale's while toking an Ashton. What more could a guy ask for on his birthday?

Thank ye Lord!

ROASTED GARLIC SHRIMP PASTA

In a large pot, cook your favorite pasta in well salted water with a drop of olive oil, drain and set aside. This pot will be used to mix the following ingredients.

Remove the tails from a bag of either frozen or fresh medium sized shrimp or rinse thoroughly. Set aside.

PREPARE THE VEGETABLES
- Chop up half a large onion (small pieces)
- Chop up half a yellow and half an orange bell pepper (medium strips)
- Chop up several dried tomatoes and dried red peppers (small strips)

In a large skillet bring olive oil and minced garlic to a sizzle over high heat. Dump in the dried tomatoes and peppers. Sprinkle the mixture with hot sauce, crushed red pepper, salt, and crushed black pepper. Cook until the dried ingredients soften.


Dump in the shrimp and cook until they are either cooked or heated through. Then dump the raw vegetables on top of the shrimp and cook until tender enough to eat – do not over cook.

When cooked dump back into the pot with the pasta, salt once again to taste and either squeeze in fresh parsley.

Pour a jar of Cheesy Ragu’ Roasted Garlic Parmesan sauce.

Mix over low heat until all the ingredients are hot.

Tonight’s libation was Glenlivet over ice! It was a birthday present to myself – Happy 60th!

IT’S STRAWBERRY TIME IN TENNESSEE

Made a road trip to Dayton, Tennessee last week and brought back fresh strawberries that were straight out of the field. As a matter of fact, you could see the illegal…I mean migrant workers working in the field across the highway. Can’t get much fresher!

The Crust

- Crush 3 dozen Vanilla wafers
- Add ½ cup chopped pecans
- Blend with ½ stick margarine or butter
- Form in a glass pie plate (suitable for the oven) with spoon
- Bake 30 minutes @ 300F

The Filling

- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup water
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 4 tablespoons strawberry gelatin

Combine first 3 ingredients and boil until clear and thick, then add gelatin.

Cool the mixture then add 4 cups of fresh strawberries (sample a few while you work).

Finally, pour everything into the crust/shell and chill in the refrigerator. Serve with a heaping spoon of Cool Whip!

Ummmmy!

CHICKEN FAJITAS

Begin by cutting up the vegetables:
- Two of either a orange, yellow, or red bell pepper
- Two to three medium sweet onions and place them in a bowl.

Sprinkle olive oil over the mixture, add a package of McCormick’s Fajitas Seasoning Mix over the vegetables and set aside.

Rinse off about 10 or 12 frozen Tyson chicken tenderloins and place in a hot skillet of olive oil, garlic, and your favorite hot sauce (I used Ring of Fire http://www.gourmetmikes.com/rinoffirorha.html). Lightly salt and pepper the tenderloins – flipping them as one side browns to lightly season the other. Remember the fajita seasoning is salty so don’t over do it.

When both sides are blackened, remove from the skillet and cut into ¼” strips. Dump the cooked chicken back into the hot skillet and dump the vegetable mixture on top of the chicken. On medium hot heat cook the mixture until the vegetables are limp and hot.

Serve on flour or corn fajita wraps prepared with sour cream and shredded Mexican cheese. For added flavor, add a spoon of Harry & David’s Pepper and Onion Sauce (http://www.harryanddavid.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ProductDisplay?category_sel=275&superitem=13707). This sauce is wonderfully sweet!

Oh yeah, I forgot, embellish yourself with a Flying Dog “Old Scratch” and a Bass Ale while enjoying the opportunity to cook something great. Enjoy!