Ribs and mousse

I've never made ribs before, and neither has Ed, but we were thinking it was about time to use up the ribs that have been living in our freezer all fall. We took them over to Ross and Sam's place, and after a long day of playing in the snow, they were an excellent thing to have for dinner. I don't remember exactly what we put in the pot, but I don't think it actually matters that much. Ed chopped the ribs into rib segments, or maybe it was two-rib segments, and put them in the dutch oven. We covered them with a container of turkey stock (from thanksgiving, good stuff), a can of tomatoes, and a whole slew of other spices, including cayenne and bay leaves (and other stuff I don't remember). I think we also had an onion and some garlic in there, and a good bit of cumin.

After that simmered away for about two hours, maybe three, the meat was basically falling off the bone. Delicious.

Ed made a bbq sauce, and I have no idea what he put in that but it was quite tasty, and I'm sure you could use something store-bought to the same effect, more or less. He slathered the ribs with bbq sauce, and then broiled them in the oven until the sauce started to caramelize. I don't know if he flipped them, I don't think he did. Anyway, the end result was delicious. I highly recommend it.

We also took the leftover turkey stock juice stuff and used it as liquid for the rice, like a dirty rice sort of thing. That was also delicious.



Also, Ross and Sam fed us mousse. It was utterly delicious, and they used this recipe. They actually follow recipes, so you can just use the same one. So good. I seem to have it backwards, though, and I'm trying to eat the glass, rather than the mousse. Don't worry, eventually I figured it out. Turns out a spoon was easier.

Stuffed endive leaves

Ed had an idea to stuff endive leaves with stuff, and I thought it was a good idea, so took pictures as we did it. The filling was a mixture of ground pork, roasted red peppers, onions, and garlic, with a little salt and pepper. We put those onto the scoopy part of an endive leaf, and placed them artfully around a pile of rice. The rice got cooked with a spoonful of yellow curry paste, which made it quite tasty.

While the endives were pretty and all, the pork mixture really just tasted best when eaten with the rice. At least we tried it both ways!

To roast the red peppers, cut your pepper into strips, and place skin side up, on a baking sheet. Broil for 5-10 minutes, until the skin is all blackened and bubbled. Take out the peppers, let them cool, and then peel off the skin with your fingers.


On an aside, Ed put the weather station thingy that had been sitting collecting dust for a few years outside, finally, and in the process extracted a sweet icicle. Luckily, the tip fell off before he could attack me with it.

Espresso white chocolate macadamia nut cookies

I love these cookies. The espresso powder was a last minute thing, but I'd been scheming to make white chocolate macadamia nut cookies for a while, I had the macadamia nuts, I just needed to acquire a tasty enough white chocolate. The Ghiradelli chips I have don't taste quite right, I can't figure out what it is about them, but I'm not a huge fan. Anyway, Ed's mom came through in a big way for Christmas, and gave me some sort of chocolate-lover's pack from King Arthur Flour, it had fancy cocoa powder, mini chocolate chips, fancy chocolate chunks, espresso powder, and fancy white chocolate chunks. Perfect. Paired with the jar of macadamia nuts from my mom, I was all set.

The espresso powder made the cookies a bit darker than they'd normally look, but its tasty - adds a bit of a kick. I got the idea after eating one of Sam's truffles that she gave us for Christmas that was white chocolate and espresso. Not necessary, but worth it if you have it.

I found the recipe for these guys online, and decided to halve it, since I'm one person. It seems to have worked, so I'm posting my halved recipe.

Espresso white chocolate macadamia nut cookies
Made 12 big cookies

1C flour
1/4tsp baking soda
1/4tsp salt
6 tbs butter
1/4C brown sugar
1/4C white sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp espresso powder
3/4C white chocolate chunks
1/2C macadamia nuts

Preheat your oven to 325F.


Cream the butter and sugar together.

Once the butter is light and fluffy, add the egg and the vanilla. Then stir in all the dry stuff on top.


Once you've mixed together your dough, dump in the nuts and chocolate - it was about equal parts dough and chunky things.

Spoon the cookies into 12 equal-sized piles on the baking sheet.

Bake for 10-14 minutes, and take them out before there is any goldenness around the edges - you want them to be soft and chewy.

These ones rose a lot, and I think I want them flatter. I'm going to try less baking soda next time, although I'm almost out of nuts, so there might not be a next time. Or I could flatten them a bit more. Either way, they are delicious.