Tonight’s dinner was BBQ-ish ribs with Wonder Bread and mustard pickles.
I’ve had this slab of ribs in my freezer for god knows how long. Actually, I doubt even god knows. Or maybe she’d rather not know. “Ignorance is bliss” - one of god’s most famous sayings.
Anyway, after the cookbook shoot, I inherited a lot of random proteins, and I needed to make space in my freezer. So I can proudly say I’ve finally eliminated the ribs, although now I’ve somehow ended up with an entire corned beef. Corned beef will be the ribs of 2023. The future is bright!
I also defrosted a quart of something I had labeled “adobo broth,” which I imagine was just beef broth with some adobo-esque spices and ingredients added to it. In one of those aluminum baking dishes I was also excited to get rid of (fall cleaning! it’s a thing), I salted the ribs and then poured the adobo broth over them. I covered them tightly with foil and threw them in a 350F oven for 2 hours.
No offense to anyone who is impressed by tender ribs, but literally all you have to do to get tender ribs is cook them long enough. These freezer fossils were tender as heck, so I took the foil that was covering them, and spread it across a baking sheet, removed the ribs from all their liquid, and brushed them down with a mix of Omsom lemongrass BBQ sauce (love their products), some traditional BBQ sauce, and a bit of soy sauce.
Slather with the sauce, stick it under a low broil. Or a 500F oven for like 10 minutes. It’s really that easy. I need to start making more ribs.
A pretty common ingredient in my kitchen that you might be surprised by is Wonder Bread. Not all the time, but a good chunk of the time. Like a 70% chunk. When you need it, nothing else hits the spot. And luckily it stays good (“stays good”) for nearly weeks. Tonight, there was a need.
And to honor classic Texas BBQ (what a perfect state, amirite?), I made some mustardy pickles by microwaving white vinegar, sugar, salt, and chili flakes together until it was warm and all dissolved, then mixing in some yellow mustard, garlic powder, black pepper, and a big handful of sliced cucumbers. I threw it in the fridge to pickle for the last hour of the ribs, and they were really vinegary (will add in some water and a bit more sugar tomorrow/eventually), but still great.
During dinner we listened to an album called “See How It Feels” by The Brubeck-LaVerne Trio. I found it at a thrift store today for $5 and bought it as a surprise for John because he loves Dave Brubeck, and this trio is his two sons Dan and Chris, and then another guy named Andy LaVerne, who is very prolific and very good at piano.
We were so into the album that I would trail off and abandon my own sentences to listen to the music. “The gift that keeps on giving” - I’m sure John thought.
I then googled to see 1) if they were still alive and 2) if they are, are they touring? Turns out, they’re performing at Lincoln Center on Monday night, and I just bought tickets. Isn’t life amazing?
We ate the ribs and pickles on the Wonder Bread with a squirt of mayo. Did I just make us McRibs for dinner? I’ve actually never tried one. McD’s wants me to believe that I’ve missed my chance forever, but you know they just say that to get people more excited when it inevitably comes back. Jesus does the same thing on Easter every year. McRibs should be the new Easter Food. Why has no one thought of this.