Simple Barbecue Ribs and a Friend's Departure

The weird thing about when someone dies is how normal life somehow keeps existing around you. For example, on today's to-do list is the usually very enjoyable task of writing my food blog. But it's such an ordinary thing to do, cheery and a bit mundane.

When someone dies, it throws the cheery and the mundane for a loop. How can you keep doing the things that must be done when lives have been changed forever?

Yesterday we got word that my husband's best friend was killed in a motorcycle accident. It's been very sudden, and particularly tragic as his first child is due in May. As a fellow pregnant woman, I simply don't know what I would do.

But I don't want to wax dramatic on here. Partially because I only knew him through my husband's great stories, and we'd only met a few times in real life (though he was a perfect gentleman and friend every time). I feel the real grief of this accident is not mine.

And also this is a food blog, right? You all came here for yummy recipes (and I'm so glad that you come), and it hardly seems the correct venue for tragedy.

Yet tragedy comes, and not mentioning it feels even worse.

But I won't go on. And I will include a simple recipe for barbecue ribs (without the barbecuing, for those of us who don't have grills). But more importantly, I will say this: You will be missed, Josh. So many people loved you and you've left so many memories. Your empty place will be felt for a very long time to come.

Simple Barbecue Ribs (adapted from allrecipes.com)

2 1/2 pounds country style pork ribs (or beef ribs or riblets or whatever)
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 tablespoons salt
1 cup barbeque sauce
Potatoes (3-4, or however many you want), sliced
Onions (same), cut into quarters

Place ribs in a large pot with enough water to cover. Season with garlic powder, black pepper and salt. Bring water to a boil, and cook ribs until tender. This takes about 45 minutes, and they will look gross and grey when they are done. I am normally against boiling meat, but stick with me here, it comes out all right in the end. And save the water for stock - I got a good 3-4 cups of delicious pork stock out of it.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).

Remove ribs from pot, and place them in a 9x13 inch baking dish with sliced potatoes and quartered onions. Pour barbeque sauce over everything, brush with pastry brush for maximum coverage. Cover dish with aluminum foil, and bake in the preheated oven for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, removing 20 minutes before finish to slather with barbecue sauce one more time.

Lentil, Sausage, and Root Vegetable Soup

Geez. I love soup. It is the most perfect food. Digestible, dunkable, and delectable (oo it's inspiring me to be alliterative. That's how you KNOW it's good).





But not just any soup. Spare me your cans of Campbells, your consommes (I'm doing it again...). For me to really enjoy my soup, it needs to be a meal soup - a soup that constitutes dinner in and of itself. There is a word for the kind of soup I like.



That word is HEARTY.



This soup is full of heart. And probably good for your heart, too.



I love working with vegetables. They are a bit difficult to unlock, they are weird and knotty and usually not that great raw. But despite the mystery and occasional disaster, there is a real aesthetic pleasure to working with the pretty things.



And it helps to know that what you're preparing will help your body feel better and not worse, as so many delicious but unhealthy foods do.





This soup is easy. It is quick and reliable to make, with a simmering period of 45 minutes. Of course, as in any vegetable dish, the majority of effort will go into the washing and slicing of the veggies. But even that doesn't take too long, and afterward it's just stir and simmer.





Enjoy your January, everyone. Warm it up a little with some soup.



Lentil and Root Vegetable Soup (this recipe is adapted from one of my favorite food blogs, Canelle et Vanille. Her food is wonderful and her photography is stunning. Do drop in if you get a chance!)

3 Tbs olive oil
2 clove garlic, minced
1 medium onion, diced
2 carrots, peeled and diced
1 celery stalk, diced
1 turnip, diced
2 parsnips, peeled and diced
1 sweet potato, peeled and diced
¼ acorn squash, peeled and diced
1 Tbs tomato paste
1-2 quality sausages, sliced
1 qt chicken stock
2 cups water
1 cup lentils
1 ½ tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 1/2 t thyme

Rinse the lentils and cover them with water. Let them soak for about 4 hours. You can skip this step, but your lentils will be softer if you soak them.

In a large pot, heat the olive oil. Add the garlic, onion, carrot and celery and cook them for about 5 minutes. Don’t caramelize them, just sweat them.

Add the tomato paste, sausage and rest of vegetable and cook them for another 2 minutes. Add the chicken stock, water, thyme, lentils, pepper and salt. Stir and bring this to a boil.

Reduce heat to a simmer, cover the pot and let the lentils cook for about 45 minutes until tender. Adjust seasoning to your taste and serve with your favorite bread, cheese toast or plain.

Roasted Marrow Bones

You know, I've done a lot of traveling in my time. And I've really enjoyed it. Especially the food - sampling food from all over the world is probably the most fun I've had in my life so far.



But I am now experiencing an odd drawback of that travel. When this baby gets cravings, this baby gets some WEIRD, foreign-y cravings!



Kim chi, carne asada with the perfect salsa roja (not so strange perhaps, but devilish hard to get in the whitewashed northwest), pad thai loaded with lime (me at the restaurant this week, wanting to yell at the little Thai girl running the place: you don't have LIMES? have you ever even BEEN TO THAILAND??).



And now, bone marrow.



I first had bone marrow in Mexico, on something like a dare. We were all gathered around eating delicious, fresh barbacoa (I always picture the making of barbacoa involving a group of Mexicans sneaking up on an unsuspecting sheep and pushing it into a pit) pulled and piled on hot corn tortillas with yes, that perfect salsa roja. And there were bones in the mix of meat. And sticking out of the bones was an intriguing whitish material.



Of course, staying with the family we were staying with, I couldn't take notice of something without them insisting I eat it (and a lot of it!). So I tried it.



And it was GREAT. Thick, a consistency not too different from butter, with a mild, mellow taste that spreads over the tongue.



Now Americans rarely eat the stuff, for whatever reason. We're picky (some would say wasteful) fellows. But in other parts of the world, bone marrow is a delicacy. Something special, particularly recommended, they told me, for pregnant women. It is fatty, yes, but it is also very nutritious and great brain food. Some scientists even trace the rise of intelligent humanoids to the rise of bone marrow in the diet!



Anyways, long story short, this week I had a dream where I was hungrily munching sheeps' bones, and they were so delicious in the dream that I woke up with marrow on the brain. Surprisingly I didn't have to go too far to find some good, thick marrow bones, either. I think most grocery stores have them, although they might sell them as "soup bones." Which they are great for, as well. I boiled mine for a fantastic broth after scooping out the marrow.



And after I ate it, spread on a nice ciabatta from the bakery I haven't visited in weeks, I felt so ridiculously good. Almost like my old, pre-pregnant self. And I've felt good since then. Could it be the marrow?

Roasted marrowbones. (taken from The Hungry Mouse)

4 center-cut beef or veal marrow bones, about 3 inches long (mine were about 5 inches long, so I roasted them a little longer)
kosher salt
Thick slices of crusty bread, toasted

Place marrowbones in a pan with a lip to catch the drippings. Roast in 450 degree oven about 20 minutes, or until no longer pink inside. Spread marrow over toasted bread, top with salt and pepper to taste.

These are also nice, I've read, with a small parsley salad on top. I didn't have parsley on hand, but if you are interested click on the link above.

Serves about 4

Hunter's Hare (or chicken, or whatever)

Geez, my blog update is late this week. Wanna know why?



I'm totally pregnant.



Yay! Woo! It's so great, and I'm really excited! I'm due in July! Everyone else thinks its a girl but you know what? I think it's a boy. But you know what else?



This has LAID me OUT! I am sick, let me tell you. All food other than top ramen looks and smells disgusting to me right now. Making food, looking at pictures of food I've made, talking about food, all of it makes me need to lie down for just a minute.



Sad, isn't it? Tragic, even? Poetic? I know.



So this is the last thing I made before being hit in the head with this last week. It's called Hunter's Hare, and it was the autumn-iest looking recipe in the autumn section of my book. FYI it says you can use chicken too, which, not knowing where to come by a hare (at least not a cookable one...the zoo?), I did.



Since this it's been all ramen and corn chips dunked in cottage cheese. Apparently baby loves all the bad habits I thought I shook after high school. I knew this would happen.


And it was really good, and really filling, and really autumnal and nice. I just didn't eat anymore of it the day after I made it because I guess baby doesn't like Hunter's Chicken. I served it with simple brown rice because I didn't have bread at hand (the bakery was closed!), but I think it would be better with bread. Sourdough is still and always my reigning favorite.



It was really yummy, especially the big chunks of mushrooms (cut extra large so picky husband could fish them out easily) and fresh peppers.



I hope you make this, and I hope you enjoy it! Because you should. And hopefully I'll be back on the horse this coming week. Now that I have a grip on the things I can eat (chicken is not one of them right now), my baking and cooking activities should continue.



What a relief, right? 'Cause, knocked out right before Thanksgiving? Now that would be tragic.

Hunter's Hare
adapted from Nancy V. Bennett

1 rabbit (or hare) cut into sections (you may use chicken breasts, thighs, and/or drumsticks)
olive oil
1 c mushrooms (wild or portabello), sliced
1/2 c flour
1 onion, cut into slices
1 red pepper, cut into slices
1 c white wine
1 c chicken stock or water (i didn't have any wine so i used 2 c chicken stock; it was good, but it would be tasty with wine)
2 T flour
2 T sour cream (I used plain yogurt)

Dredge the rabbit sections in flour. In a large frying pan or Dutch oven, add some olive oil and brown the rabbit. Then add the onions and mushrooms and cook for a minute or two. Add the wine and enough chicken stock to cover the food. Bring to a boil, thn reduce heat and cover. Simmer for an hour.

Combine the flour with sour cream. Stir into the dish to thicken sauce. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve with a nice crusty bread.

Now I'm going to go lie down again.
:)

At the Fisherman's Market

Been a bit of a rough week. Just moved, unemployed, still no callbacks or interviews for jobs. Spent some time on campus this week speaking with professors in programs I'd like to attend, and was informed that I was not qualified and should not apply. Sigh. Another humanities orphan spat out of academia.

So basically I am locking mysef in my room this weekend to blog and dream of dinner parties and better times.

With all this spare time, I am going to start writing food and restaurant reviews. Because I don't just eat what I make. I eat what other people make too. And sometimes that is better. And, although Eugene has been less than professionally welcoming (haaa), they do have a lovely array of small, quality restaurants.

So! This week we went to the Fisherman's Market, and with its fresh, tasty, plentiful and well-priced food there is no better restaurant to lift the spirit.



Now I just moved from Utah, where most seafood is grey and old. So when Justin found the Fisherman's Market advertising fresh-caught seafood in the local newspaper, we just had to go.



We were not disappointed. They have everything. Salmon. Tuna. Cod. Mahi-mahi. Tilapia. Clams. Calamari. Scallops. Fresh. Canned(their own brand). Caviar. Octopus. Everything.



And everything passed the fresh test, from the clear-eyed albacore on ice to the live crabs trying to crawl out of their tank and, true to metaphor, pulling each other back in.



I love making eye contact with my food.



We had the fish and chips. Justin had the cod and I had the albacore. The cod was tender, white, and flaky. The albacore had a stronger, meatier flavor. They came with coleslaw and two choices of innovative tartar sauce (our favorite was the spicy cajun tartar sauce).



The only disappointment was that, for a fish and chips shop, it was a pretty American affair. The fish came with tartar sauce (although malt vinegar was available). The 'chips' were criss-cut fries, not real chips. And the side was coleslaw, not mushy peas.

But all of those things are just a matter of taste. Tartar sauce is delicious, after all, so unless you are an anglo fih and chips purist, there is really nothing to complain about.



Mmmmmmm fish.