Slow cooked ribs, Hasselback potatoes, and Avocado Spinach salad

This was the Mother's Day meal for SO.  Inspiration came from a number of sources. The night before we had fabulous Maui Ribs at our friends' place - they recently came back from Hawaii, and were inspired themselves to serve them up. The got the ribs cross-cut at the local Chinese superstore, marinated them for a long time, and then grilled them. Very tasty. Anyway, we felt like having ribs again.

The second source was our local butcher, which we love. Great quality, and good prices. Often you have to buy things in largish batches, if not Costco size. So we came home with 3 x 2 packs of pork back ribs, meaning 6 full racks in all. They went into the freezer except for 1 two pack.

Finally, the third source (not really inspiration but necessity) was our new bbq. It is not a super high end affair, but is big and shiny, and has lots of burners and features. The problem is, it has a higher output then my last one, so I suspect I don't have the correct diameter of pipe for the natural gas supply. If you put one burner on it looks strong, but put all four on an they look like they are simmering. This would be a bad thing. No more high heat searing (aha! except I have a searing burner, which I haven't tried yet), although I will get a licensed dude to come take a look eventually. ALL this to say, it has forced me to cook things long and slow.  Which of course is perfect for ribs.

Slow cooked ribs

I've always been a bit afraid of ribs. I've tried many ways of cooking and they all turned out horribly. Tried boiling them first (bad idea), baking (not so good), slow cooker (worst idea EVER), and most bbq attempts did not turn out. So I was reticent to proceed.  Which method then?  I never usually have to go further than my "Big Weber book of Grilling", it is pretty awesome. So I pretty much followed their "Kansas City style ribs" recipe. I didn't like the "mop" very much (see here for a difference between "mop" and "baste"), mostly because of the unnecessary celery bits, other than that the ribs turned out awesome. I ended up cooking them almost perfectly for the first time in my life. I was pretty stoked. It was pushing 2.5 hours at around maybe 275 F.  How do you tell if they are done?  Here is an interesting link at the Amazing Ribs website.

Part 2 - I've been noticing these Hasselback potato recipes all over the interweb lately, so I thought I'd wing it and try it.  Now, SO is a potato expert, cooker and eater. So I was unsure about the venture. But I wanted it to be a surprise none-the-less, so I gave it a whirl and it also turned out very nicely.

Hasselback Potatoes, with bacon and cheese

Part 3 - Needed a salad to go with the meat.  I've been really into spinach lately, not sure why. Usually simple sliced mushrooms on top. I've also been into avocado, because of the great taste and health benefits, and because it is gosh darn fun to cut up. I love it when it just pops out of the skin in one whole piece.

Avocado-spinach salad with olives and mini sweet tomatoes

Next Time: I would stick with the rub on the ribs, but maybe try a different baste. I under cooked the potatoes by probably 10 minutes, and it needed a bit more cheese. The salad was fine.

Me: 9/10
SO: 9/10
SSO: 7/10

Slow-cooked ribs, Kansas-City style
These portions worked out perfectly for the three of us, plus two lunches.
This is from Weber's big book of Grilling.
Rub ingredients

• 2 Tb Kosher salt
• 2 Tb Hungarian Paprika
• 1.5 Tb Cumin (maybe a bit less, I found this too much)
• 1 Tb dried Oregano
• 2 tsp Onion Powder
• 1 tsp Garlic Powder
• 1 tsp freshly ground pepper
• 1/2 tsp ground Allspice
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Sauce ingredients
note: I didn't like this sauce much. I would try something else next time, something with garlic, tomatoes intsead of ketchup, maybe some chili flakes, even tabasco, soy, honey, etc. I like the lemon juice though.

• 2 Tb unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup finely diced celery (I wouldn't bother with this next time)
• 3 Tbsp finely diced onion
• 1 C ketchup
• 2 Tb fresh lemon juice
• 2 Tb sugar
• 2 Tb cider vinegar
• 1 Tb Worcestershire
• 1 tsp dry mustard
• freshly ground pepper

Method

1. Start with two racks of pork back ribs. It is important to take the silver skin off. I think this is actualy the most important concept in rib grilling, except for the slow cooking part. Anyway, insert a small sharp knife under the skin near the end of a rack and wiggle it until there is enough room to get your fingers in. 
2. Coat the ribs generously with the rub, and put it in a ziplock in the fridge for a few hours.
3. For the sauce, soften the onion and celery in the butter.  Add the rest of the ingredients, and simmer for 10 minutes. 
4. Before grilling, let the ribs stand for at least half an hour. Grill them on indirect heat; around 1.5 hours for medium, or closer to 2 or 2.5 hours for low.  I ended up grilling for almost 2.5 hours around 275 degrees F. They should pull cleanly off the bone, but should not fall off the bone. Baste during the last 20 minutes, and let them rest for 10 minutes before serving (I cover with tinfoil).

Hasselback Potatoes

Ingredients

• Large baking potatoes
• Parmigiano-Reggiano or similar
• Slices of bacon, cut in quarters
• oil for brushing
• Garlic (optional)
• fresh salt and pepper
• optionally more cheese of your choice for sprinkling on top

Method

1. Put the oven on to 375F.
2. First you must slice the potatoes - there are a couple tricks here. Slice a tiny shaving off the bottom of each potato so it won't roll around. Then, put a couple chopsticks on either side of the long side. When you slice down, the knife will hit the chopsticks and prevent you from slicing all the way through. Works like a charm! Start slicing with your thinnest long knife, probably a carving knife. Make the slices 1/4" at the most in thickness.
3. Rinse the potatoes between the slices to get rid of some of the starch. This will help to keep the layers from sticking to each other. 
4. Lightly brush the oil all around the potato, and between the flaps.
5. Shave up some of the cheese and alternate large shaving pieces with bacon pieces between the flaps.
6. Put garlic slices between some of the flaps if desired.Sprinkle with Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper.
7. Put a cooling rack in a baking tray, and put the potatoes on it. Bake for 50-60 minutes. 
8. If desired, you can also sprinkle with Parmesan or cheddar.

Avocado-Spinach Salad

Ingredients
This isn't really a recipe, just a list of ingredients that turned out to be a really nice salad.

• washed spinach
• these little orange sweet tomatoes
• black olives
• Parmigiano-Reggiano slices, or some other delish cheese
• avocado slices
• oil and balsamic