Chili Back Ribs: Chili And Baby Back Ribs Equals Delicious

Yes, you have read correctly. Who would think to put two equally delicious foods together to create something SO delicious it has to be called a super food? That's right, we did. It's pretty damn simple, too. We roasted a nice rack of ribs in a real hot oven, then braised them in an easy yet flavourful chili sauce. Basically, we're having a chili party and the ribs are invited.

You Will Need:

- 1 rack of quality pork back ribs
- A few good splashes of olive oil
- 1 large white or yellow onion, chopped
- 1/2 bunch of celery (about 5 stalks), finely chopped
- Can of whole tomatoes
- Can of tomato sauce or pureed tomatoes
- Can of red kidney beans, rinsed, drained, mashed
- A palmful of chili powder (about 2 tablespoons, add more if you want more heat/flavour)
- A palmful of cocoa powder or chocolate chips (semi-sweet or bitter, definitely not milk)
- A few pinches of cumin
- A few pinches of cinnamon
- A palmful of brown sugar
- Several shakes of chipotle hot sauce, or a few spoonfuls of adobe sauce if you got it
- A couple handfuls of frozen corn
- Bunch of fresh cilantro
- Sea salt and ground black pepper

Heat your oven up to 450, meanwhile remove the membrane from the underside of the ribs, and season both sides generously with course sea salt and pepper. Roast in the oven for 45 minutes while you start the chili party.

Over medium heat, warm a large stock pot or dutch oven, and add a few good splashes of olive oil, about half a cup. When the oil has heated up, add the chopped onions and celery. Cook for 5-10 minutes, things should start smelling appetizing.

Once the onions and celery start to cook down a bit and get some colour, drain and reserve the juice from the whole canned tomatoes and add them to the pot. Cook these guys for a few minutes to stoke their flavour, then add the reserved liquids and tomato sauce. Give it a good stir to get everything mingling, then continue to stir in the mashed beans. Now you should proceed to incorporate the chili powder, cumin, cinnamon, and cocoa/chocolate, brown sugar, and hot sauce. Throw a lid on that, turn down the heat and simmer for about 20-30 minutes over low heat, stirring occasionally and scraping all the good shit off the bottom if the pan. Taste and season with salt and pepper.

By now your ribs should be out of the oven, resting up. The outside should be crispy and brown, nice meaty caramelization. Delicious. Cut the ribs into 2-rib portions and stick them in the chili, making sure that they're fully submersed in tasty chili sauce. Throw the lid back on that and continue to simmer for 2 or more hours. When you're almost ready to eat, try to remove the bones, or just serve them up right in there and pick around then. Just be careful as some racks have little nubs of bones in them. Then stir in a couple handfuls of frozen corn, and a handful of fresh chopped cilantro.

Serve up in bowls, with a big dollop of sour cream and a sprinkle of chopped cilantro. I got really dedicated when making this and whipped up some easy corn fritters and cheddar crisps to accompany the meal. I'll have to follow this post up tomorrow with those recipes as they're damn easy to make and very delicious.

Yeah, I know...

We've been slacking, real hard. December was a pretty hectic month, and as you can tell, writing posts got put on the back burner. Also, after crushing out a calendar full of recipes, we were a little pooped. But, we did sell a ton of Movember Calendars though, so thanks everyone for supporting our philanthropic endeavors. While you may have thought we were being lazy (we were), you needn't worry as we were still feeding ourselves and taking some photos along the way. So, look forward to some new posts that will be up real soon like, but in the mean time, check out Epic Meal Time.

These guys are from the city of hopes and dreams, Montreal, and they throw together a pretty entertaining food video. As their name quite obviously displays, they make Epic Meals, and use lots of bacon, which we at D2D quite enjoy. Best enjoyed with a bowl of salad, if you catch my drift...

All I gotta say is, great minds think alike, we got some chili on the stove right now.

The Lost Bread

Stale bread sucks, but French toast is delicious. The other day I made use of an on-the-verge-of-stale baguette by whipping up some delicious French toast. It's such a simple and delicious way to start the day, even if it is almost lunch time. Also, it has lots of wiggle room for creativity; it can be sweet or savoury, you can use any type of bread, you can stuff the bread, you can top the finished product, or just keep things classically simple.

This reminded me though of a message Dave had sent to Daniel and I in the pre-blog days when we just waxed the poetic about food amongst each other. So I did some digging through my inbox and came across this little piece of writing:

Inspired by the latest GQ "what the fuck is wrong with men in America" - style editorial, I've decided to opine on some food verbiage. Equally inspired by my late grandmother, who was as hardcore of a 20th century middle-class francophone woman could be, this literary piece discusses the improper use of the word "french" in recipes.

I was having a lazy Sunday today, a rare occasion as of late. Given a semi-fresh baguette, my first inclination was to make some so-called "french toast". I recall the inspiring woman, in her late eighties, telling one of those stories in which the end moral was how hard life was (without the least hint of bitterness). The example she used that particular day was how she did not comprehend the common "french toast" nomenclature, and had rather been accustomed to calling it "pain perdu" (lost bread).

Lost bread simply implied that what we today call "french toast" was a means of turning not-so-fresh bread into something delicious. 

My first question is how the hell did she ever need to put this recipe to use? In a house with 9 kids, I can't see much ever going bad.

Second, how did the "french" term slip itself into today's (english) wording? Is it an implication that fracophones are more ghetto? creative? or dedicated to deliciousness? Either way, I'll accept the answer to that question as a compliment.

Just a few years ago, our neighbors from the South tranformed the wording for what had been coined "french fries" to freedom fries in an attempt to ban all things french, following France's reluctance to enter the War. Well we all saw how that turned out. Good move, take a potato dunked in liquid heart attack formula and put it as the poster boy for your country's (failed) attempt to control the world's oil supply (pun intended?). 

Thus, I digress. "French toast" is an excellent example of transforming something deemed as lost to the uncreative mind into a staple passed around a family table of eleven and ultimately influencing me, one of the 44 direct offspring of this wonderful hardcore lady. 

I personally keep my "french toast" fairly simple. Aside from eggs and milk, I slip in some cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla. I make plenty of mix and turn the remaining unabsorbed deliciousness into some scrambled eggs. And finally, drench that shit in some maple sizzurp. Not to have at least 2 cans of that maple goodness on hand at all times is pretty much the equivalent to beating up a priest in Quebec.

Feel free to swap french toast recipes boys.

Rock on grand-maman,

David Alexandre Dalbec Marr, CHP

Some valuable insight into the meaning of French toast, no doubt. Dave has a great formula for a simple and delicious "Pain Perdu", and it is usually how I rock my French toast, too. I could go on about how to make French toast filled with cream cheese and jam, or nutella, or whatever, but lets stick to the basics.

You Will Need:

- Loaf of Not-so-fresh bread, cut into slices

- Couple of eggs

- Splash of milk

- A few pinches of cinnamon and nutmeg

- Splash of pure vanilla extract

- Butter

- Maple Syrup, 100% pure and fuckin' Canadian, eh!

In a shallow bowl or dish, crack in the eggs, add a splash of milk, vanilla and a sprinkle of nutmeg and cinnamon. Get the breakfast party started by beating everything together into a golden hued bath of goodness.

Get some butter melting in a pan over medium heat, and start dipping your bread slices into the egg bath. Flip them over and make sure the bread is well soaked in the egg. Sprinkle a little bit of cinnamon and nutmeg on the soaked bread for extra flavour and then fry the bread in the butter until one side is golden brown, then flip.

Once all your French toast is cooked, pile it up on a plate real sexy-like. While the pan is still hot toss in a pinch of cinnamon and nutmeg and let that enjoy the heat for a few seconds. Pour the maple syrup directly into the pan and swirl it around to incorporate all the spices while it bubbles away profusely. Then drizzle that warm, fragrant, sweet sweet tree nectar of the gods on top of that golden stack of rejuvenated bread.

Enjoy with a hot cup of coffee and relish in the delicious simplicity. 

NOTE:

Daniel offered up a great suggestion with his version of French Toast, by incorporating some orange juice instead of milk and some zest from the rind. "The bitter/sour combination really sets it off and provides a delicate balance that makes you want to take more bites."

Movember Calendar

You may be wondering what's with the lack of posts lately. Thinking we're slackers. Maybe even not so dedicated after all...

We've been hustling harder than ever actually. A few weeks ago, we hosted a dinner with some close friends and began our efforts of raising awareness and money for Movember. We've compiled a calender with all these new "would be posts", most of which can't be viewed on our blog. A few of Justin's best pieces have made a return, but for the most part, it's all fresh.

The calendar is selling for the low price of $20 (but higher donations are accepted). All proceeds are directed towards Movember. We received our first 100 calenders this evening and have already sold quite a few. We're looking to go back to print next week for more.

The calendar has everything you would expect from a Dedicated to Deliciousness piece of work.

To get your hands on one and donate to a good cause, send us an email to dedicatedtodeliciousness@gmail.com. Or post on the D2D facebook page. Or privately message us. Or send a courier pigeon if your old school. Shit I'll give you a free calendar if you courier pigeon me.

Also feel free to check out our D2D Movember page if you wish to simply donate: http://ca.movember.com/mospace/574006/

The Gratest Potato

With the end of November within sight, the holidays are just around the bend. I figure, we at Dedicated to Deliciousness should start posting some recipes that will inspire some awesome holiday feasts. So here is a very simple recipe that requires few ingredients, and has a tasty outcome. A slight twist to a Swiss Rösti, sweet potatoes are used instead of a regular spud, but you could definitely use either. The sweet potato increases the nutritious factor though, and definitely ups the delicious factor, as well. 

The addictive quality of food increases significantly when it is shredded, grated, pulled, shaved, julienned, minced, crumbled, whatever. It's a fact. These methods expose more surface are to the taste buds than, say, simply biting into a chunk of the food. It also makes it look more interesting too.

You will need:
2 Large sweet potatoes, grated
2 Eggs, beaten
2 cup Cheddar cheese, grated
1 Medium Onion, very thinly sliced, julienned or if you have a food processor, grated
Couple springs of fresh rosemary
Sour cream or mayonaisse
Splash of vegetable oil

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. While that heats up, squeeze as much liquid as you can out of the grated sweet potatoes. Use your hands working in batches or throw the whole load into a clean kitchen towel and press the liquid out, using the towel as a strainer. Then toss the strained potatoes in a large mixing bowl, followed by the onion, and half of the cheese. Add some finely chopped rosemary for a little something extra if you're into that. Then slowly pour in the beaten eggs as you mix everything together with yours hands.

Splash some oil in a deep baking pan or dish and grease it up with a brush or paper towel. Dump the whole mixture right in the pan and spread around evenly, but try not to compress the potatoes too much. Throw it in the oven for 15-20 minutes, pull it out, sprinkle the remaining cheese on top and continue to cook for another 10-15 minutes, until it is golden brown and the edges are crispy.

Cut into squares and garnish with a dollop or sour cream, or mayonaisse if you want a heavier flavour, and a small sprig of rosemary. Makes for a great side dish or a course by itself. 

Inhale.

The Pull of Pork

There is no denying that pork is an incredible and delicious variety of meat. Not only is it delicious, but it is relatively inexpensive and you can create so many tasty meals with it. It isn't very difficult or laborious to cook up some drool-worthy, melt in your mouth meat with a cheap chunk of pork. Using a tough cut like the shoulder, also called pork butt (don't worry, there are no asses involved), or a picnic roast, you can achieve some soft, succulent meat that falls apart from the mere poke of a fork. Some might protest the method of cooking I used, claiming that the only way to make pulled pork is by smoking it, but lets get real here. It's the middle of fall, and its fucking cold in the country. Fact. So, instead of having to go outside to change the wood chips in the smoker I don't have in my city apartment, I achieved delicious meaty goodness in the comfort of my overly warm home. By simply braising the pork shoulder in beer for a few hours, I created a tender piece of tasty that pretty much fell apart from looking at it real hard. That tender.

You will need:

- 3-4 pound pork shoulder/butt/picnic roast (will make about 6-8 servings)

- Paprika

- Chili powder

- Fresh ground black pepper

- Sea Salt or kosher (haha kosher salt and pork...)

- Dry mustard powder

- Garlic powder

- Onion powder

- A few bottles of Red or Dark Ale

- Vegetable oil

- Cider vinegar

- Worcestershire sauce

- Hot sauce 

- Bread-like vessel or tortilla wraps

- Coleslaw

First, rinse that pork shoulder and pat it dry with some paper towels. Then in a bowl combine all your dry spices with a fork. Then rub that flavour all over that pork. Rub it real good.

In a rather large pot or pan over medium-high heat, pour in a respectable glug or two of vegetable oil. If you have a dutch oven (heavy pot with tight fitting lid), you can use this for the whole cooking process. Once the oil is heated, get your pork in their and give it a good browning all over. This step is key in achieving optimal deliciousness.

Once that pork is all browned up, place it in an appropriately sized, deep oven safe dish or pan. If you have the luxury of a dutch oven, then just keep it in there. Pour a beer or two in the pan, then tightly seal the top with aluminum foil, or throw the lid on the pot. Now stick that sucker in an oven pre-heated somewhere around 250-300 degrees for 4-6 hours. Check on it at the 4 hour mark, and if its tender and can be pulled apart with a fork, its done. If not, leave it in longer, you really can't over cook this.

Once that pork is tender and falling apart, remove it from the oven and set it aside. Pour the liquid in a sauce pan if you need to, and get that shit rocking over a medium heat. You want to reduce the liquids by simmering away the water in it. This will make for a more bad ass flavour. When that sauce is simmering away, add a few splashes of cider vinegar, Worcestershire sauce and hot sauce. You can even add a bit of pre-made BBQ sauce if you feel the need. While the sauce continues to simmer, get to forks and start shredding that pork by inserting the utensils and pulling them away from each other. Shred it to your desired shreddedness, then toss all the meat into that sauce you've been reducing. Keep it cooking for a few more minutes, or until you just can't wait any longer.

Serve that pork up on some nice buns, or in a wrap with some coleslaw on top, some pickles and some sort of potatoey goodness. Now you might ask yourself, gosh darn, why does this taste so delicious? Well, slow cooking does that by melting the fat and turning it into FLAVOUR! Also, pulling the pork apart exposes more surface area that will come in contact with your tongue, much like how shredded cheese is tastier than biting a chunk of the block. 

Note: In the coleslaw I added some fresh cilantro to mix things up a little bit, and it worked really well. If you like cilantro, definitely give it a try.

Mo-Dedicated

Fall brings on some interesting behaviours from curious characters. Gearing up for winter, people embrace the transition to a new season in their life, or they resist it and shelter themselves until they accept it, or some combination of both.

Either way, the behaviours are usually accompanied by good food and facial hair.

D2D will be participating in Movember.
We are grateful to be surrounded by such wonderful like-minded friends that are helping us with various efforts along the way.

Movember is now a massive cause, raising awareness and funds to fight prostate cancer. It's also a great month for all the ladies that just can't get enough of the essence of manliness.
At Movember, we're all about being manly and staying alive mostly, which entails eating good. Yep, I said eating good.

We're working hard on a calendar that will be available for purchase at month end. Details are on the way, but you can count on some delicious recipes and dirty moustache pictures. All proceeds will go to Movember.

Calendars are important so that you don't wind up like Guy on the couch. This one is also important because it will be funny, charitable and teaches you how to eat good.

Please check out Movember's website, and the Dedicated to Deliciousness page for more details.
And check in every once in a while for delicious recipes and updates on the calendar.

May we live in health for many seasons to come...

- Dave