I took a little break last week to spend some time with my beautiful girls, family and friends. Even though I did not have enough time to blog, I definitely found time to cook and eat. I will try to find the time to catch up and post some of my recipes and food ventures soon.
In the meantime, please feel free to take a look at some pics from my baby daughter’s birthday.
Ariana’s 5th Birthday Party at the Beach
Even though we celebrated her birthday on Saturday, her real birthday was Monday, 8/30. When I said “Happy Birthday Ariana! You’re 5 today! Can I get a kiss?” She said “Wait, wait, I need to see myself first” Then she came next to me to measure up her height against me. Then disappointed, she said ” But, I don’t feel anything… I don’t feel like I am 5.” I wanted to laugh at what she said… I thought it was sooo cute. Well, it took me a good thirty minutes to convince her that she was really 5. I hope to share this story with her when she’s older.
Here is a photo that my sister-in-law, Isabelle took that I totally love. Isabelle is my husband’s sister, the special aunt in my kids’ life that loves to capture all the special moments on camera. She’s great at taking pics in our family parties. Oh… did I mention she’s great at baking cakes? One of these days, I will have some of her creations displayed.
Here is a pic of my happy dad with his very own baby back ribs. I wanted to make all the men happy at the picnic too.
Grilled Chicken marinated with pineapple juice, lemon, lime, cilantro and sour cream.
Now that you had a chance to see some of the pics, here is what I served at the picnic.
Picnic/Birthday Menu:
Pick me up before BBQ:
- American Coffee
- Labne
- Feta Cheese
- Sliced Tomatoes & Cucumbers
- Columbian Mortodella from Deli
- Basturma from Deli
- Nazuk Pastry from Costco
- Bread
Late Lunch:
- Slow Cooked and Grilled Baby Back Ribs – cooked to perfection! See below for recipe.
- Grilled Chicken
- My mother in law’s Hummus
- Pasta Salad
- Coleslow
- BBQ Red Potatoes – we usually just scrub the potatoes and individually wrap them in foil and grill them.
- My mother in law’s Cheese Boreg
- Hot Dogs just for the kids
After Lunch:
- Assorted fruits
- Chips and Dip
- Armenian Coffee
- Birthday Cake
Perfectly Slow Cooked and Grilled Baby Back Ribs for an Amateur!
Since I am not an expert at grilling or prepping ribs, I had to go to Alton Brown. I used his recipe as a start to my cooking adventure. I modified it a little since I already had Emeril’s Essence on hand.
I also used Sunny Anderson’s method for prepping the ribs before seasoning — by cutting a 1/2-inch slit between the bones on the underside of the rib racks. Her method actally helped tremendously at the picnic. It eliminated the use of knife to cut the ribs later.
Recipe:
Ingredients:
- 9 whole slabs pork baby back ribs
Dry Rub: (no specific measurements were taken — it was more of a little bit of this and a little bit of that)
- Emeril’s Essence
- Maple Sugar
- Old Bay Seasoning
- Salt
Braising Liquid:
- 4 cup white wine
- 8 tablespoons white wine vinegar
- 8 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 4 tablespoon honey
- 8 cloves garlic, pressed
Your choice of BBQ Sauce
Directions:
The day before the picnic:
Preheat oven to 250 degrees.
In a bowl, combine all dry ingredients and mix well. Place each slab of baby back ribs on a piece of heavy-duty aluminum foil, shiny side down. Cut 1/2-inch slits between bones on underside of rib racks.
Sprinkle each side generously with the dry rub. Pat the dry rub into the meat. Refrigerate the ribs for a minimum of 1 hour. In a microwavable container, combine all ingredients for the braising liquid. Microwave on high for 1 minute.
Place the ribs on a baking sheet. Open one end of the foil on each slab and pour half of the braising liquid into each foil packet. Tilt the baking sheet in order to equally distribute the braising liquid. Braise the ribs in the oven for 2 1/2 to 3 hours.
Rerigirate the ribs overnight.
The day of the picnic:
Grill the already cooked ribs and serve them with your favorite BBQ Sauce.
