Dry-Rubbed Espresso Chili Slow Cooker Ribs

Ribs have always seemed like something too risky too try.  I don't have a grill (no, the Foreman does NOT count and is a royal pain in the ass to clean, despite it's "dishwasher safe" claims--you can put it in there, but will it actually come out clean?  Not a chance.).  And I've always thought that if I can't do them right, meaning smoking and grilling, why bother.  Well, I am here to today to tell you that you SHOULD bother.

Why?  Making ribs isn't some complex alchemy easily botched by the uninitiated.  While I am positive that sought-after smoked BBQ ribs is definitely worth the meal out on the town or local BBQ joint (my favorite cheat meal, btw), that still doesn't make it impractical or taboo to try them on your own at home. They can provide a delicious respite to your burger-chicken-roast monotony.  Even my first time making ribs, they were a HUGE success and they were immediately devoured. So go ahead and try making your own fall-off-the-bone, juicy ribs!

The simplicity of this recipe and room for your own touch makes these ribs an easy choice when you want to spice up your weekday meat and have a hearty meal with little to no work at all.  The elements are super simple: ground coffee/espresso, spices of your choosing, ribs, onions and mushrooms easily sliced in a food processor, a crock pot / slow cooker, and fuss-free time.  The spices are completely up to you, but the espresso/chili combo gave a hint of tomato (without any in there--must be the chili and basil), a touch of spicy, and a smokey, savory deliciousness not easily described or forgotten.  Yum!  It made the whole house smell amazing!  

In the future, I'd try the BEST coffee in the world: Verve Coffee for the espresso (and maybe double the amount for the flavor) and maybe add a little cayenne for more kick.  Play around with your own spice combinations and let me know what you like, but I would keep the salt for bringing out the flavor of the dish and because salt isn't all that bad for you, contrary to what we had all thought.  For more on that, read: The (Political) Science of Salt by Gary Taubes and a Journal of the American Medical Association article published this month finding no increased risk of hypertension or cardiovascular disease (CVD) with salt intake and, if anything, lower sodium intake might lead to higher CVD risk!    

The ribs were from our half a pig we took home from our Pig Butchery class earlier this year taught by the Pig Wizard, Jonathan Roberts.  The meat froze well and was absolutely delicious.  There was no off smell when it was raw or discoloration--just bright pink/red meat and shiny bones.  The class was a great way to connect more with your food and understand the process of butchery, which is a SERIOUSLY big deal right now given the frankenmeats appearing in the meat counters of supermarkets.  Here is a disturbing article by Dr. Mercola on the health risks posed by "meat glue" commonly used to combine scraps into seemingly legit cuts of meat.  Terrifying.  This only reinforces my desire to know my meat.  

I try to single source as much as possible from farmers I can trust.  I use Morris Grassfed for my grass-fed beef and this pig came from a Mennonite community who supposedly grain fed it (not ideal) but probably cared for it better than a pig factory, so I'll take it.  I am still looking for local, pastured pigs.  They are harder to find...  I get my eggs from Live Earth Farm at the farmer's market and the chickens I eat are Smart Chickens from New Leaf (my small, local, green-minded supermarket chain--what Whole Foods should have been), which isn't ideal, but at least is better than most supermarket chicken.  Have you ever had a Costco rotisserie chicken?  It almost made me sick because it was so fatty and definitely of lesser quality than the chickens I am used to buying at New Leaf.  It didn't taste right, look right, or sit right with me to have supported that industry.  I still feel bad.  

If you are interested in the whole, sustainable meat argument, check out this recent article by Robb Wolf laying the smack down on Fox News for a stupid piece they ran supposedly "Busting the Myth" on why grass-fed beef is better for you and the environment.  Duh. 

So, without further ado, here is a recipe in celebration of this amazing pig who has been providing us with a ton of delicious, hearty, satisfying meals.  I am filled with gratitude :)

Dry-Rubbed Espresso Chili Slow Cooker Ribs

Fall-off-the-bone tender, juicy ribs packed with a spicy, savory flavor that lingers in the mushroom and caramelized onion side you can pile up on your favorite burger or chicken breast long after the ribs have been devoured. 

Prep Time: 10min or less

Cooking Time: 8 fuss-free hours on Low in the slow cooker

Ingredients:

• full slab of pork ribs (I am sure beef would work fine too, but make sure you can cram them in your slow cooker)
• onions (I used 1.5 reds and 1 huge white one)
• mushrooms (I used two pre-sliced packages--the more, the merrier)
• the spices*: 
• 1T ground espresso
• 1T basil
• 1T chili powder
• 1T garlic powder
• 1/2 T kosher salt
• 1/2 T / 15 grinds or so of black pepper

*NOTE: any of these spices can be mixed and matched with any of your favorites--try whatever you like best!  

Method:

This is so easy, it's hardly a recipe: 

Food process your mushrooms and onions into slices (or slice by hand or buy pre-sliced) and add all of the onions and half of the mushrooms to the slow cooker pot.  Combine the spices and rub them all over both sides and into every nook and cranny of the ribs.  Add ribs on top of the bed of mushrooms and onions. Add the remaining mushrooms on top of the ribs.  Lid, set to Low, and forget-about-it for 8hrs.  Come home or wake up to a house that smells almost as delicious as your meal will be!  The ribs should be fall-off-the-bone tender.  Serve them with the mushrooms and onions (UPDATED 5/9/11: you can strain those from the meaty broth or leave in), if desired, or save those for kicking your chicken breast or burgers up to a whole 'nother level.  You can also add another veg like Broiled Bacon Fat-Smeared Broccolini for a mouthwateringly delicious celebration of pork!

   

Broiled Bacon-Fat Smeared Broccolini

Can you think of a more delicious sounding veggie?  Imagine bacony decadence coupled with crisp-tender, sweet broccolini that's ready in 15min or less.  Is your mouth watering yet?

Let's take a brief interlude on the What To Drink series of posts to go back to my roots and post a recipe.  I know, I know, it's been awhile.  Why?  I have been trying out some N=1 experiments (more on those later) and cheating intermittently while vacationing and entertaining out of town guests.  That is life and now more than ever I can definitely understand why food is a drug.  It can benefit your entire being when it's on, and carry one hell of a punch when it's not.  When I am normally so dialed in, faltering is felt.  Big time.  And I am not just talking about nausea/stomach ailments or loss of energy after carb-heavy meals.  I am talking about outright depression.  Food is a drug, for good or for worse.

So when I am dialed in, what is life like?  I have made it as simple as possible so it is easy to follow.  I don't have to plan or put in much effort at all.  When I am on the diet, I am really just eating meat and vegetables.  I am trying the low-carb thing, so I'm choosing low-carbohydrate vegetables instead of fruit and starches.  You would think the reduction in possibilities makes like harder, but it's actually just the opposite.  With too many choices, I'm overwhelmed and don't always make the best choices.  With fewer, I can focus more on the food itself and find myself sticking to newfound favorite staples that aren't much fuss at all.  There's hardly a "recipe" to speak of.  Life can't be simpler.  Or more delicious!  Seriously, I crave this fuel for the taste, satisfaction, high energy, and high spirits that follow.

Here's the formula that has totally revolutionized and reinvigorated my diet:

1. Pick a meat (like poultry, pork, beef, or fish) and choose a cut you have on hand or buy it from the store (remember to focus on grass-fed/pasture-raised/wild-caught/organic meats).
2. Pick a veggie.  For ease, make it a quick-cooking (like a broiler/grill crisp-able) or no-cook veggie (like salad, assorted vegetable sticks, or carrots). 
3. Prepare the meat and quick-cooking veggie the old fashioned way by grill, broiler, or hot pan with little more than salt, pepper, and sometimes a cooking fat if needed/desired.
4. Add a fat like bacon or guacamole/avocado if you didn't use plenty of cooking fat.  

So it boils down to: meat, vegetable, and fat.  That is ALL I have to think about to have a meal.  Simple.  And I can taste and enjoy every single component because I'm keeping it simple.  Naked so to speak.  I can also use this strategy to buy already cooked components from the grocery store, like mackerel canned in olive oil tossed over packaged salad greens with the juice of half a lemon or a splash of vinegar (here's the basic recipe: Salad from the Sea--scroll down to the bottom to find it).  Simple and satisfying!

Here are more examples of my 30-minute or less dinners:

• Meat: Grass-fed beef burgers, salted, peppered, and cooked in grass-fed, raw butter (Organic Pastures for the win!) topped with guacamole and/or bacon and/or leftover melted butter from cooking (Note: these could just as easily be grilled, but we don't have a grill)
• Veggie: carrots to dip in guacamole (perfect substitute for chips, especially if you cut them in half so they are more dip-grab-able) or use lettuce leaves for burger tacos

• Meat: Grass-fed steak (ribeye or NY are my favs), salted, peppered, and seared in a hot pan/grilled
• Veggie: Broiled Bacon Fat-Smeared Broccolini (recipe to follow!)

• Meat: Rotisserie pasture-raised chicken (store bought)
• Veggie: salad greens alone (like crunchy snack-able/dip-able romaine hearts) or with a simple oil + citrus acid dressing, or raw, cut veggies and guacamole

• Meat: Farm fresh eggs and chicken-apple sausage and/or bacon
• Veggie: Wilted baby spinach sauteed in bacon fat or butter cooked in the same pan as the eggs and sausage

• Meat: Toaster-oven broiled wild-caught fish (just cooking fat smear, salt, and pepper)
• Veggie: arugula salad with a simple oil + citrus acid dressing

Lunches are even easier using precooked roasted turkey breast or leftovers from dinners (always make more than you need!) and cut veggies or a salad.  Add some nuts, avocado/guacamole, cooking fat, bacon, or skin for some fat.

Breakfasts are the staple of which I NEVER tire: farm fresh eggs and chicken-apple sausage cooked in raw, grass-fed butter or bacon fat, and perhaps a green veggie to wilt in the pan like spinach.  

Pretty simple!  Just make sure you have plenty of meat, plenty of veggie, and plenty of healthy fat (monounsaturated and saturated).  Thinking of your meals in terms of just these three things makes life SO much easier!  Cooking is no longer a chore and neither is meal planning!

What Is Broccolini?

Broccolini is sweet broccoli.  It has thin, slender stems still attached to the small florets.  The sweetest and most tender are those with the thinnest stalks, as opposed to those with thicker, woodier stems.  Broccolini isn't really baby broccoli, as I once thought; instead, it's a cross between Chinese broccoli and regular broccoli.  Surprisingly, this new variety was just introduced in the US in 1998!  Broccolini is definitely kid-friendly since it is a finger food (even when cooked) and naturally sweeter than regular broccoli.  Like most veggies, it's most nutritious when raw and only needs quick cooking.  It's rich in vitamins A and C as well as fiber, potassium, and iron.  I imagine many of the benefits of standard broccoli still apply.  See more at The World's Healthiest Foods.

According to the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University, cruciferous or Brassica vegetables include broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, asparagus, Brussels sprouts, kale, bok choy, radishes, arugula and some other greens.  There are some promising links between eating these veggies and preventing cancer.  While high intake seems protective of cancer, make sure you aren't iodine deficient.  There is a possibility of hypothyroidism if you eat a lot of cruciferous vegetables and you are iodine deficient.  Find out more about iodine deficiency at this information page also from the Linus Pauling Institute.  

Okay, enough with how good the damned veggie is!  I mean, it's a vegetable, so it's nutritiousness is a no-brainer, right?

On to the recipe!

Broiled Bacon-Smeared Broccolini
All the porky deliciousness of bacon plus good-for-you, sweet, crisp-tender broccolini?  Need I say more?
Cooking Time: 15min or less start to finish, prep and all

Ingredients:
Bacon fat (reserved from cooking bacon--can store for quite some time sealed and refrigerated or on the counter-top.  What?  You don't have any on hand?  What a great excuse to make more bacon!)
one bunch of broccolini per diner (you want those with the slenderest stems instead of thick and woody)
salt
pepper

Method:

This is so simple it is hardly even a recipe.  Let's see how few breaths it takes to recite: Take broccolini, cut off end of stems, rinse, shake to dry, place on broiler-resistant baking sheet (like stainless steel--NOT non-stick unless you like the high-heat-released toxins), drizzle on the cooled, liquid bacon fat or lather on the solid-yet-soft bacon fat (there is no such thing as "too much"), salt, pepper, arrange with thickest stems placed in the middle of the sheet, and whack in the broiler (I use the LOW setting and the top rack) for 3-5 minutes.  Check for a color change to a more bright, emerald green.  If your broccolini were especially slender, they might be done right now.  Make sure you don't let them get floppy (unless you like them overcooked).  If you want more cooking, flip them, put them back in, and wait 3-5 more minutes (varies broiler to broiler), then test for desired doneness.  I like mine still very crisp, but not hard-crunchable.  The stalks shouldn't be floppy, but should still yield when you try to cut them.  Remove from that hot sheet once done, serve hot or at room temperature (cold is a little weird with the solidified fat clinging to them), and sop up leftover bacon fat with the florets.  Um... yum!

NOTE: since the broiler and grill are roughly equivalent, you could probably quickly grill these using the same recipe (but beware of fat flare-ups).  Perhaps you want to dry cook them and then drizzle on the melted bacon fat after.  Yum!

Also, these last a few days when sealed and placed in the refrigerator.  I just reheat them briefly if desired and they still remain crisp and delicious.  So make more and have some leftovers for more easy meals!


Now you have more tools in your nutritional toolbox to revolutionize your diet too!  Let me know how it goes!


Steamed Broccolini