Sweet Barbecue Pork Ribs

I made some sweet barbecue ribs not long time ago. It was so delicious that I can’t stop myself from eating. This recipe is very easy, the meat is tender and falls right off the bone, so if you’re hungry for real meat then grab your pen and notebook and writes the recipe down.

I used to add ginger ale or sprite (to soak meat) but not this time. These liquids are good meat tenderizer.



Sweet Barbecue Pork Ribs

Ingredients:

2 racks pork ribs (cut into 4 slices)
¾ cup water
2 tbsp. soy sauce
1 tsp. Worchester sauce
1 tbsp. hickory liquid smoke
1 ½ tsp. garlic powder
1 ½ tsp. Onion powder
Ground pepper and salt to taste


1 cup barbecue sauce (I prefer sweet baby rays brand)
1/8 cup catsup
1 tsp. Worchester sauce
3 drops of hickory liquid smoke
1 tbsp. white sugar (you can add more, if needed)

Preparation:

1. Place the ribs in the baking dish (9x13 inch).
2. Add water, soy sauce, Worcester sauce, hickory liquid smoke, garlic powder, onion powder, pepper and salt to taste.
3. Cover with aluminum foil.
4. Bake in pre-hated oven 250 degrees F for about 2 to 3 hours or until tender.

5. In a bowl, mix barbecue sauce, catsup, Worcester sauce, hickory liquid smoke, and sugar.
6. Preheat the grill for medium heat.
7. Place baked ribs on grill; cook its side for 3 to 5 minutes, basting with barbecue sauce.


Enjoy.

Cinnamon Rolls

The boys love this sweet a lot. I don’t make them very often for some reasons. This recipe is probably the best one you will find online. It’s simply soft, moist and floppy almost like a cinnabon. It’s a lot of work but all the labor you will put into it is all worth it. I am lazy so I prepared my dough using a bread machine (dough cycle). The dough is going to be gooey and sticky once you take it out from the bread machine basket so always sprinkle it with some flour. DO NOT put too much flour, just enough to handle the dough.

If you’re using a bread machine, please follow the manual instructions. I like to proof my yeast for some reasons.


Soft Cinnamon Rolls


Ingredients:

A.
1 cup milk
1 pack active dry yeast
1 tbsp. white sugar

B.
1 tsp. vanilla
½ cup softened butter
2 eggs
½ tsp. salt
½ cup white sugar
3 ¾ bread flour

C.
½ cup soften butter
¼ cup cinnamon powder
½ cup white sugar

D.
1/8 cup lemon juice
1 ½ cup powder sugar
1 tbsp. milk

Preparation:

A.
1. PROOF yeast - in a small bowl warm milk in the microwave for one minute.
2. Add sugar, then yeast.
3. Cover the bowl with clean cloth. Set aside for about 10 minutes.

B.
4. Pour the proofed yeast in the bread machine pan.
5. Add vanilla, softened butter, eggs, salt, white sugar and flour.
6. Turn the bread machine to dough cycle. (It will take around 1 hour to 30 minutes -according to my bread machine).
7. Once the dough has risen once, turn it out into a lightly floured surface.
8. Use the floured rolling pin to flatten the dough into a rectangular, approximately 12 inches wide by 20 inches long.
9. The dough might be sticky, so sprinkle some flour as necessary.


C.
10. Brush the softened butter over the surface of the dough.
11. Mix the sugar and cinnamon powder.
12. Sprinkle cinnamon sugar over the butter, spreading the mixture evenly across the whole sheet of dough.

13. Start at the left-hand corner of the edge closest to you. Working from left to right, tug the lip of the dough up and over the filling, keeping it tight. Roll up the dough, tightening the log as you go.

14. cut the dough (pastry cutter, serrated knife or whatever you have) into serving pieces.
15. Place the cut rolls on a buttered or greased baking pan an inch apart.
16. Cover the rolls with a clean cloth and let them rise until they nearly double in size, about 30 minutes (I always place mine inside the oven with lights on).
17. When the rolls have double in size, bake them in pre-heated oven 375 degrees F.
18. Bake the rolls for about 15 minutes or more or until the top turn golden brown.


D.
19. Mix powder sugar, lemon juice and milk.
10. Immediately glaze or spread the mixture into the cinnamon rolls.


Enjoy.

( click to enlarge)

Sesame Chicken

Sesame chicken is always been my one Chinese food favorites. I felt a little bit disappointed though because I cannot find a sesame chicken as good as in the Chinese restaurants in the Philippines. We went to a Chinese restaurant in the city for Mother’s Day celebration because I was craving for some but to my dismayed the sesame chicken I ordered tasted like sweet and sour chicken. It was lacking of something, it was gooey (too much cornstarch “I guess”), no sesame taste at all. Oh well, I wish we can find a decent Chinese place in this area who cook authentic Chinese food.

Anyway, I just need to learn how to make it so I can enjoy this delicacy with pleasure. I have been surfing online for the recipe and even tried couple of them. But this recipe (captbunzo -opensourcefood.com) is so far one of the best out there. I made some changes of course to cater my taste bud. I hope you will try this sometimes. It’s a very tricky recipe, so be cautious when adding vinegar and sugar. You can add them slowly until you achieve the desire taste.


Sesame Chicken

Ingredients:

3- 4 boneless chicken breasts cut into serving size.

Marinade

2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
3 drops sesame oil
2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons water
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda


Sauce

1/2 cup water
1 cup chicken broth
1/8 rice wine vinegar (you can add more or less, it should not be too sour)
1 cup sugar (you can add more or less, balance the taste. It should not be too sweet)
1/4 cup cornstarch
2 tablespoons dark soy sauce
4 tablespoons sesame oil
1 teaspoon chili paste (or more)
1 garlic clove (minced)


Cooking Oil for deep frying
2 tbsp. toasted sesame seeds
1 tbsp. cooking oil
1 stalk green scallion, chopped


Preparation:


1. Wash, pat dry and cut the chicken into 1-inch cubes.
2. Mix the marinade ingredients.
3. Marinate the chicken for 20-39 minutes.

4. While the chicken is marinating, prepare the sauce

- In a medium bowl. Mix together all of the sauce ingredients “EXCEPT THE VINEGAR AND SUGAR).
- “This is the tricky part”. Using a spoon, slowly adding the vinegar and sugar mix until you achieve the desire taste. Remember! You can always add or cut down.
- Set aside when you achieved the taste.


5. Deep fry the marinated chicken cubes a few at a time until golden brown.
6. Drain on paper towels. You can cover the fried chicken with aluminum foil or place it on the warm oven while continue frying.

7. Last, get a wok (if you have any) or deep frying pan.
8. Heat 1 tbsp. cooking oil
9. Sautee garlic until golden brown.
10. Add the sauce, cook, until slightly thicken. If you think your sauce is too runny then you can always add more cornstarch by diluting it first with water.
11. Add the fried chicken. Stir.
12. Add toasted sesame.
13. Sprinkle the green scallion.

Enjoy it with steamed or fried rice !

Kielbasa Sausage Fried Rice

I love kielbasa sausage and I used them very often in my cooking. The grocery down the street had a huge sale of it the other day and I bought a bunch to be frozen. I wish I have all the seafood for a ‘low country boil’ for dinner tonight. Anyway, I made this fried rice three days ago and it was different and delicious. It’s a very simple and easy recipe; you can even close your eyes while cooking this one. Enjoy!

Kielbasa Sausage Fried Rice

Ingredients:

1 medium bowl of cooked rice
1 tsp. garlic, chopped
2 tsp. onion, chopped
1 small tomato, diced
1 small carrot, diced
3 small mushrooms, diced
½ cup green peas
1 cup kielbasa sausage, diced (you can put more or less, depends with your taste)
1 stalk green scallion, chopped
1 tbsp. cooking oil
Pepper and salt to taste



Preparation:

1. Heat oil in a frying pan/wok or whatever you have available.
2. Sautee’ garlic until golden brown.
3. Add onion, tomato, carrot, mushroom and cook until tender.
4. Add kielbasa sausage then rice. Stir to combine (about 2 minutes).
5 Add green peas. Cook for another minutes.
6. Add green scallion and sprinkle pepper and salt to taste.

Optional: Sweet basil or any other herbs for garnish .You can add soy sauce if you like. I sometimes add sesame oil too.

Have Fun cooking

(click to enlarge)

I AM OFFICIALLY BACK TO COOKING

I am back ‘finally’! I am so sorry for a very long absent. Life was crazy and my interest to cooking and baking subsided a bit. I will try to update this blog as often as I can. So relax and check me out very often for new and exciting recipes.