Oven-baked sweet and spicy spare ribs

As I was talking to my mom on the phone the other day, she said, “Oh, I forgot to tell you. D (my brother) decided to become a vegetarian”. The phone almost fell from my hand and I began laughing. She had to repeat that statement at least six times before I finally believed her. D a vegetarian? Whaaat?? D who when we were growing up used to steal the pork chops from my plate? D whose portion of kokkinisto (Greek veal stew cooked in tomato sauce) was at least half a kilo?? I never saw that coming, to say the least.

So, to get on his nerves, as a proper sister should do, and tempt him, even though I doubt he will be tempted, he’s a strong-willed person, I’m posting these spare ribs in his honor.

But besides my brother, there’s you, and since the holidays are upon us, I’d like to share this recipe for spare ribs with you as well as my view on holiday dinners. When you reach the point where you have been cooking Christmas and New Year’s dinners for family, friends and loved ones for some years, you get bored with the same kinds of dishes. Sure, turkey is great, a big ham is excellent, but there are so many meat dishes you can choose to cook apart from those that are, well, boring.

Spare ribs. They may be messy to eat, you may need to use your hands (who am I kidding, you’ll most definitely need to use your hands), and you may have to steal the last piece from your fellow diners, but you will be rewarded with happy people enjoying a fulfilling meal that’s absolutely delicious and holiday-worthy. And, you will not be too tired after preparing it, cause it is so very easy. It only needs fifteen minutes of your time.

You prepare the spice and sugar rub, you rub it all over the ribs, wrap them in foil and bake them in the oven for three and a half hours. When they’re ready, you pour the juices in a small pan, add some vinegar and reduce a bit to create a thick-ish sauce that you pour over the caramelized, sweet and spicy, smoky and hot spare ribs. They are pure sin, with the tender, juicy, falling off the bone meat that melts in the mouth, and the spicy and slightly acidic sauce that balances the sweetness.

They are ideal for those occasions, holidays or not, that you want to share with your closest friends and family, those who don’t mind eating with their hands, those who won’t look you the wrong way when you reach for the beer bottle with greasy hands. In a nutshell, the people we all should be spending our holidays with.

PS 1: Thank you to everyone for your kind wishes on my last post. Your support means a lot!

PS 2: I have nothing against vegetarians. I hope they have nothing against me either.

Oven-baked sweet and spicy spare ribs
Slightly adapted from The New York Times

Serve them with thinly-cut (matchstick) fried potatoes (like the ones in the photos), or roast potatoes, a big green salad or slaw to give freshness to the meal and to balance the sweetness, spiciness and richness of the pork.
We love heat in our ribs but if you can’t stand the heat of chilli, add a little less.

Yield: more than enough for 4

Ingredients
1.7 – 2 kg spare ribs

for the rub
200 g (about 1 cup) soft dark brown sugar
2 Tbsp chilli powder (add 1 Tbsp if you can’t handle very spicy flavors)
2 tsp pimentón de la Vera, dulce (Spanish sweet smoked paprika), (add regular sweet paprika if you can’t find pimentón)
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp sea salt
½ tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp ground cloves

for the sauce
the juices from the cooked spare ribs
1 Tbsp red wine vinegar

Special equipment: large baking pan, aluminum foil, baking paper


Preparation
Rinse the spare ribs and pat them dry with kitchen paper. They should fit in one large baking pan in one layer. I buy two long slabs and they fit in my somewhat small oven in one layer perfectly. If yours don’t, cut them into two slabs.

Preheat your oven to 150°C.

In a medium bowl, add all the ingredients for the rub and mix with a fork or whisk to blend.

Take two large pieces of aluminum foil (large enough to fold around the spare ribs) and lay each one on your kitchen counter. Sprinkle some of the rub mixture along the center of each piece of foil and place a slab of spare ribs (meat-side down) on each aluminum foil piece, on top of the rub. Sprinkle each slab with the rest of the rub and rub it well on all sides with your hands.

Keeping the ribs meat-side down, fold the foil to create two tightly sealed packets. Be careful not to tear the foil or make any small holes.

Line your baking pan with baking paper and place the packets on the baking pan, one next to the other, making sure the seal of the foil faces upwards otherwise juices may run out. The reason you add baking paper to the baking pan is because sometimes juices may run out, causing the aluminum foil to stick to the pan thus making it hard to remove the packet from the pan without tearing the foil and losing the juices.

Place on the middle rack of your preheated oven and bake the ribs for 3½ hours, turning the pan front to back halfway through.
They are ready when a fork easily penetrates the meat.

Remove the pan from the oven. Unfold carefully each packet and pour the accumulated juices into a small saucepan. Fold the foil again to keep spare ribs warm.

Place the saucepan over medium heat and stir in vinegar. Simmer the sauce until it reduces by a third, being careful not to over-reduce it to the point that it becomes syrupy and too sticky.

Serve the spare ribs on a large platter, whole or portioned, with the sauce on the side so that everyone can add as much or as little as they want on top.

Enjoy!

Five years (and a few days) and a special dessert

Every year, around this time, I buy chestnuts, lots of them, to use in savory and sweet dishes or to eat them simply roasted on a cold evening. Chestnuts to me represent autumn and winter, yet this time I made something that I’d normally make during the summer. I made ice cream, chestnut ice cream.

I had a very specific dish in mind. I wanted to make a dessert, a somewhat special dessert for a special day in late November, which was the day this little blog of mine, this cherished part of the internet, turned five.

FIVE. I truly can’t believe I have been blogging for this long. I don’t think I’ve ever been this committed to anything for five years. It feels weird, yet fantastic. It feels like a huge accomplishment but I’ll be honest with you. This past year it’s been a struggle to keep up with this blog. The notion of giving it up crossed my mind and it was the first time I really did not care about it that much. I didn’t want to post as regularly, I wanted to keep things to myself more, live life without having to think about taking photographs of the food I cook or jotting down recipes with every little detail, and words didn’t seem to flow out of me as easily and as much as they used to.

However—and that is a big however—the fact that I found this anniversary worth celebrating, led me to the realization that I do still enjoy blogging, that I do enjoy this type of communication I have with you, the readers; those who quietly pass by, those who always leave a few words that make me feel that what I’m doing here is worthwhile and is being appreciated, those who send me emails with pictures of dishes they cooked from the blog, those who share their knowledge of food with me and who teach me new things, even those who are sometimes a bit harsh or abrupt in their comments; because I truly love creating recipes and sharing them here, with each and every one of you, and it brings me joy having you as my companions on this journey.

So, I had this idea to make a chestnut ice cream but then I thought, it’s winter, I want something else to break that icy feeling. I thought biscuit, and then sablé breton came to mind, a crumbly, sandy biscuit that’s not too sweet and has a light saltiness to it to add another dimension to the dessert. And then I wanted another component, like a sauce, chocolate of course, but with something else in it, to make things more interesting. Alcohol always works with chocolate and then I thought of Armagnac. The best.

A thick sauce that’s creamy, rich, and deeply chocolaty with a kick from the Armagnac, poured over the nutty and smooth ice cream that is cold but earthy at the same time, and the biscuit, that crumbly, buttery, crispy and slightly thick biscuit, adding another texture in the palate, creating a unique dessert. That was the dish I had in mind, and that’s what I made; a balanced and delicious dessert worthy of the five year anniversary of my blog.

So, happy birthday little blog. I really do love you with all my heart.
And thank you to all of you who have been following my adventures in the kitchen these past five years. Hope you join me for the next five to come.

And if you’re in the mood for more recipes with chestnuts, check out these recipes:
Sweet Chestnut Cream (Crème de Marrons)
Chocolate and Chestnut Truffles
Chestnut Cream Truffles
Chestnut Tiramisu
Chestnut Soup with Port
Chestnut Crêpes with Creamy Wild Mushroom Filling

Chestnut ice cream on sablés bretons biscuits with chocolate-Armagnac sauce

Sablés bretons are traditional French butter biscuits from the Brittany region.

You can easily serve this dessert after a festive meal during the Christmas holidays or on New Year’s as it’s so easy to make ahead; the biscuits can be made 1-2 days ahead, the ice cream 2-3 days ahead. The only component of the dessert I’d advise you to make on the day is the chocolate-Armagnac sauce. It is most flavorful the first day, but you can store it in the fridge for 3-4 days.

Also, you can just make any of the three components of the dessert for different occasions. The sablés make the perfect holiday cookies, the sauce can be served over poached pears or quinces for a quick desert, and the ice cream, well, it pretty much is perfect on its own.

The proportion of the biscuit, which is about 1.3 cm thick and 8-8.5 cm in diameter, works great for one large scoop of ice cream and for one serving. You can also cut out the biscuits smaller so you can have more portions of the dessert.

Yield: 8-10 servings

Ingredients

for the sablés bretons (makes 8-10 large biscuits, 8-8.5 cm diameter)
200 g all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting
1½ tsp baking powder
Pinch of sea salt flakes (I used Maldon)
125 g caster sugar
3 large eggs yolks
150 g unsalted butter, cut into cubes and very soft

1 large egg yolk + 1 tsp cold water, for egg washing the sablés

for the chestnut ice cream (makes about 1 kg)
250 ml fresh, whole milk
250 ml cream, full-fat (35%)
½ tsp vanilla bean paste (or 1 tsp pure vanilla extract)
Pinch of salt
3 large egg yolks
50 g caster sugar
300 g sweetened chestnut cream (ready-made or homemade*) or chestnut jam

for the chocolate-Armagnac sauce (makes about 1½ cups)
170 g good quality dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids), chopped
80 ml cream, full-fat (35%)
1 tsp vanilla bean baste (or pure vanilla extract)
1/8 tsp sea salt
2 Tbsp Armagnac (or Cognac or brandy)
20 g (1½ Tbsp) unsalted butter, cut into very small pieces, at room temperature

*If you make my homemade sweetened chestnut cream, make sure to prepare it a day before you make the ice cream and keep it refrigerated.

Special equipment:
for sablés bretons — stand mixer or electric hand-held mixer, plastic wrap, rolling pin, baking sheet, baking paper, 8-8.5 cm round cookie cutter, pastry brush
for ice cream — heatproof spatula, fine sieve, plastic wrap, ice cream machine
for chocolate-Armagnac sauce — heatproof spatula


Preparation

for the sablés bretons
In a medium bowl add the flour, baking powder and sea salt flakes and mix with a spoon.

In the bowl of your stand mixer (or in a large bowl), add the sugar and 3 egg yolks and using the paddle attachment (or a hand-held electric mixer) beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, for about 2 minutes. Add butter little by little, beating well after each addition, until fully incorporated and you have a smooth mixture. Add the flour mixture and mix on low speed until a dough starts to form.

Lightly flour a clean work surface and empty the dough on top. Knead lightly to form a uniform dough, shape it roughly into a ball and then into a flattened disk, and place it between two sheets of baking paper. Using a rolling pin, roll it out 1 cm thick. Transfer it onto a baking sheet and place it in the refrigerator for 1 hour or until it is firm.

Preheat your oven to 180°C.

Prepare the eggwash by adding in a small bowl 1 egg yolk and 1 tsp cold water and mixing well with a fork.

Remove the dough from the fridge, remove the top sheet of baking paper and using a pastry brush, brush the top of the rolled-out dough. Using a fork, make a criss-cross pattern (see photo for reference) which is the traditional pattern for the sablés bretons.

Place baking sheet on the middle rack of the oven and bake dough for 6 minutes. Remove baking sheet from the oven and, using an 8-8.5 cm in diameter cookie cutter, cut 8-10 rounds and return baking sheet in the oven. (See photos for reference). Bake for further 8-9 minutes or until the dough is golden brown.
Remove from the oven and leave to slightly cool on the baking sheet for about 30 minutes. Then, using the same cookie cutter as before, carefully and cleanly re-cut the sablés and place them on a wire rack to cool completely.

Don’t throw away the small pieces of biscuit that you’ll be left with. Use them as a crispy topping for ice cream.

You can keep the sablés bretons at room temperature, in a cookie tin, for a week.

for the chestnut ice cream
In a medium-sized, heavy-bottomed saucepan, add the milk and cream and heat over medium-low heat until tiny bubbles appear around the edges of the pan, being careful not to boil the mixture.
In a medium bowl, add the eggs yolks and sugar and whisk well with a wire whisk until light and smooth.
Very slowly, pour the warm milk and cream mixture into the egg mixture, whisking quickly and continuously so the eggs don’t curdle. Pour mixture into the saucepan and heat over medium heat, stirring constantly with a heatproof spatula, making sure to keep scraping the bottom of the pan. Stir the mixture until it thickens and coats the spatula, for 5-6 minutes.

Pour the custard through a fine sieve and into a clean bowl. Add the vanilla bean paste (or extract) and salt and stir well. Leave to cool for about 30 minutes and then add the sweetened chestnut cream or chestnut jam and mix with a wire whisk to incorporate. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for about 2 hours or until the mixture is cold.

Empty the mixture into your ice cream machine and churn according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
Once the ice cream is ready, empty it into a container suitable for the freezer and freeze it for at least 4 hours before serving.

for the chocolate-Armagnac sauce
Place the chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water (bain-marie) and melt, stirring often with a spatula. The bottom of the bowl must not come in contact with the simmering water otherwise the chocolate will burn.

In the meantime, in a small pan, add cream and heat over low heat until bubbles start appearing around the edges of the pan.

Once the chocolate is smooth and melted, turn heat off so the water stops simmering underneath, but do not remove the bowl from the top of the pan so it stays warm. Immediately add to the melted chocolate the heated cream along with the vanilla, the salt and the Armagnac, and stir well with the heatproof spatula to incorporate until you have a smooth sauce.
Add the small pieces of butter one by one, whisking with a wire whisk continuously to incorporate each piece into the sauce before adding the next piece. This will ensure that the mixture won’t split. You should end up with a smooth, shiny and somewhat thick chocolate sauce.

Empty it in a bowl and if you plan on using it on the same day, keep it at room temperature. If you plan on using it the next day, cover it well with plastic wrap and place it in the fridge. You can reheat it in a bain-marie or in the microwave, being careful not to burn it.
You can keep it in the fridge for 3-4 days but it has the best flavor on the day you make it.

assembling and serving the dessert
When you have all the components of the dessert ready, start assembling your dessert.
In individual plates, place one sablé breton biscuit. On top, add a large scoop of chestnut ice cream and then either serve the chocolate sauce on the side, in a small container, or pour the sauce over the ice cream.
Serve immediately.

Enjoy!!

Bananas, chocolate et al

Whereas everyone seems to be making apple pies and pear tarts, I am making frozen bananas dipped in chocolate and covered in sprinkles, desiccated coconut and ground pistachio.

I don’t care for the seriousness of autumn, I want to hold on to the playfulness of summer. It is still rather warm out so these were a brilliant idea to cool us off somehow in the most sweet and colorful of ways.

I considered making an ice cream, but, to be honest, I have had my share of ice creams this summer and I have somewhat retired my ice cream bowl. As we speak, it is not sitting in my freezer, but comfortably in its box.

I’m also kind of in a state of watching what type of sweets I make, meaning that I prefer them on the less-sugar side (even though as we speak, I’m dreaming of a cupcake recipe I want to make that’s full of sugar) so I decided to make something that I can call healthy-ish, or something like it.

These chocolate-covered bananas are so fun and easy to make, effortless really, and a joy to eat. Crispy, crackly chocolate, firm, cold, sweet banana; perfection!

For those of you who are not keen on autumn and share my need to keep summer close, make these and enjoy them under a glorious sun.

Frozen chocolate-dipped bananas with desiccated coconut, pistachios or sprinkles

I used extra-virgin coconut oil to thin out the melted chocolate in order to have a thin coating rather than a brick-like one and it gave the bananas a faint flavor of coconut that was beautiful. If you’d rather not have that flavor, use odorless and flavorless vegetable oil to mix with the chocolate.

Use bananas that are firm yet ripe. If they have a few brown spots like mine, that’s okay. You want them to be flavorful but not soft, otherwise they will break when you insert the stick.

Yield: 16 banana sticks

Ingredients
8 large, ripe yet firm bananas
200 g good quality dark chocolate (60-70% cocoa solids), roughly chopped
1½ Tbsp extra virgin coconut oil (or sunflower oil)
Desiccated coconut
Sprinkles
Coarsely ground unsalted pistachios

Special equipment: popsicle sticks, large tray suitable for the freezer, baking paper


Preparation
Peel the bananas and cut them in half crosswise. Insert a popsicle stick slowly and carefully half way into the banana, being careful not to puncture through the fruit.
Place the banana halves onto a baking paper-lined tray suitable for the freezer and place them in your freezer for 20 minutes. Don’t cover them because we don’t want any moisture to form on top of them.

Place the chopped chocolate and coconut oil (or sunflower oil) in a bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water (bain marie) and melt, stirring often (or you can use the microwave). The bottom of the bowl must not come in contact with the simmering water. Stir gently with a rubber spatula and once the mixture is smooth and melted, remove bowl from the top of the pan and empty into a jug or a tall container to make dipping the bananas easy.
Let it cool until it is warm but not hot.

Note: this chocolate mixture will not be the same as this chocolate shell as it contains less coconut oil so it doesn’t get hard in a few seconds. Instead, it takes a few minutes to set which gives you ample time to cover in sprinkles, coconut etc.

Remove the bananas from the freezer and one by one, dip them into the chocolate. You can either dip the whole banana into the chocolate or dip half of it. I prefer them half-dipped. Let the excess chocolate drip off for a few seconds and then either roll them in sprinkles/coconut/pistachios or sprinkle on top. If you roll them, they will be more covered than if you simply sprinkle them.
Place the bananas on a new piece of baking paper (and onto a tray) and return them to the freezer, uncovered. They need about 2 hours to be frozen.
Serve them either straight from the freezer, or if they’ve been in the freezer for more than 2 hours, transfer them to the fridge for half an hour or to your kitchen counter for 15 minutes to soften a bit.

If you plan to keep the bananas in the freezer for more than a day, cover each one well in plastic wrap or put them in a freezer bag or in an airtight container. You can keep them like that for 1 week.