Rustic Seafood Chowder

It’s almost November and still in the 90’s out here in AZ!  I’m way past ready for cooler weather and comfort food.  I’m afraid we might just be swimming on Thanksgiving Day!!  I felt it was time to take things into my own hands…  I came home from work and cranked the air down to freezing… when I started to get a chill, I put on a sweater and started some chowder!  It’s a pretty simple thing, just a little of this and a little of that… simmer and drink in the lovely aroma.  I tore off a nice piece of bread and had dinner!! 

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
• 1 bottle clam juice
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup chopped green onions
• 1 cup sliced carrots
• 1 cup whole kernel corn
• 1 1/2 cups chopped potatoes
• 1 teaspoon dried parsley
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon bay seasoning
• 1/2 pound shrimp
• 1/2 pound bay scallops
• 1/2 pound crabmeat
• 1 (6.5 ounce) can chopped clams
• 1/2 pound bacon
• 3 tbs flour (optional)
• 1 cup Chicken stock (optional)

Directions

1. Place clam juice and garlic in a large pot over low heat. Cook and stir until simmer is reached. Mix in green onions, carrots, corn, potatoes, parsley, and remaining cream. Season with black pepper and bay seasoning. Simmer 25 minutes. Do not boil.
2. Cut bacon into 1” pieces and fry until almost crisp (if a thicker soup is desired, add flour to bacon drippings and stir) add bacon and drippings to pot.
3. Add the shrimp, scallops, crabmeat, and clams to pot and continue cooking 10 minutes, or until seafood is opaque.  If more volume is desired, add chicken stock & milk in equal amounts.

Always use fresh ingredients whenever you can!  If fresh is not available, frozen is the next best thing.  I suggest canned goods only be used as a last resort – the taste is inferior and sodium content is high.

Well the dishes are washed and put away… my air still has a slight chill… my husband is going to question me when the electric bill comes in, but it sure was worth it!!  Time to turn the air back to a more normal setting, take off my sweater and put my shorts back on… I think the heat is here to stay just a little bit longer…

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Baby Got Fat Bottomed BBQ Ribs

Maybe what I should call these is Forever Ribs, huh? Cuz that’s how long it feels like it took me to post this durn recipe. Ribs certainly are a menu item that benefit from some time and tender loving care, but they definitely don’t take as long as this post took! LOL So first, I apologize for my long absence. What can I say? Life intervened. School, the flu, etcetra. But back to the ribs! They actually had these on sale this past week at my local market, so I guess it’s not completely past barbecue season. (Of course, in sunny So Cal, we barbecue pretty much all year round!) So let’s make some Fat Bottomed BBQ Ribs!

Ingredients

Ribs & Rub:

• 3-4 racks Pork Baby Back Ribs
• Olive Oil
• 3 cloves Garlic, minced
• 1 Tablespoon Sugar
• 1 Tablespoon Paprika
• 2 Teaspoons Salt
• 2 Teaspoons Chili Powder
• 2 Teaspoons Ground Cumin

Barbecue Sauce:

• 2 Shallots, finely chopped (or 1 small onion)
• 2 cloves Garlic, minced
• 2 Tablespoons Butter or Margarine
• 1 Cup Catsup
• 1/4 Cup Brown Sugar, firmly packed
• 3 Tablespoons Lemon Juice
• 3 Tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce
• 2 Tablespoons Vinegar
• 1 Tablespoon Molasses
• 1 Teaspoon Liquid Smoke
• 1 1/2 Teaspoons Ground Mustard
• 1 Teaspoon Celery Seed
• 1 Teaspoon Ground Cumin
• 1/8 Teaspoon Cayenne Pepper

    

Prepare roasting pan with heavy duty foil and rack. Give yourself a break and spray the rack to make clean up easier. Now let’s see those fancy knife skills! Mince 3 cloves of garlic.

    

Place in a shallow roasting pan and drizzle ribs with olive oil and  then give them a nice garlic massage.

Cover and bake at 300 degrees for 2 hours. Cool slightly.

Now let’s do a little rub!

    

Combine sugar, paprika, salt, chili powder and ground cumin; rub over ribs.

Cover and refrigerate 8 hours or overnight.

Time to get Saucy!

More mincing fun with shallots and garlic!

   

In a saucepan, sauté shallots and garlic in butter until tender.

          

            

Stir in remaining sauce ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cook and stir until thickened, about 10-20 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside 3/4 cup.

    

Brush ribs with some of the remaining sauce. Grill, covered over medium heat for 12 minutes, turning and basting with sauce. Watch carefully so you don’t burn the sauce. As you can see mine got a teensy bit…ummm…charred in a couple of spots, so I know what I’m talkin’ about! If this happens to you, just cover it up with a little extra sauce, like me! 🙂 Place back in 250 degree oven after grilling for 20-30 minutes or until ready to serve. Low and slow is the name of the game here. The longer they cook on low temperature, the more tender they will be.

  

Serve with extra sauce and your favorite bbq beans, corn on the cob, or macaroni salad.

We usually go with the corn on the cob so we can just eat the whole meal with our hands and don’t have to mess with silly things like utensils.

Finger lickin’ good!

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