Supper idea: Pork ribs with gravy and potato dumplings

Pork ribs is part of my childhood memories. My aunt would make these with potato dumplings, and we would all dig in. Ah, the stuff she made... Delicious :)

I haven't made ribs in a long, long time, so when an occasion finally popped up in the showing up of Magali and Kamil, it was decided- there were going to get ribs:)

Since I was already near tears that I have to do everything myself (one of those days when you either cry or laugh hystericaly from being constantly tired), I didn't make the dumplings (if I did, I would have to cook potatoes the day before), I bought some store made and they where really good- I get them once in a while just to have them for supper.

This seems to take forever to make, but finally it takes like 40 min, where you spend 20 somewhere else.
Just so you know :)


Type of dish: main
Cost: medium/low
Difficulty: easy
Serves: 2-4
Time: 40min
Prep time: 10 min

You'll need: cutting board, sharp small knife, a shallow dish, paper towels, a large frying pan/ cast iron skillet, spatula, tongs, serving plate

Ingredients:

• 0,25-1kg ribs ( 0,5kg is enough for 2 very hungry people)
• 1 medium onion, sliced
• 1 small garlic clove, minced
• 1 tbsp flour
• 2 cups water
• 1/2 stock cube, beef
• fresh herbs like thyme, parsley, a pinch of rosemary, minced
• S&P
• olive oil

How to:
Wash the ribs and pat them dry with paper towels. Cut into pieces with 1 bone in it. Season well, sprinkle with herbs, and pour over some olive oil. If possible- do this so it marinates a bit overnight or an hour or two.
Heat up the saucepan on high heat, add a bit of olive oil, and fry up 4-6 ribs at a time. FRy on both side until golden brown. Then set aside while frying the rest. When all are fried, add to the pan the onion, garlic, and wait until the onions become translucent. Scrape the bottom of the pan and  add the stock cube, and the ribs. Stir, and cover up, turn down the heat to medium low and leave to cook for 20-30min. This will make the meat very tender, and it will start coming off the ribs. When you are to serve, transfer once again the ribs to a serving plate, and add to the remaing sauce the flour, sprinkling it in the sauce, so you don't have to deal with lumps. Whisk for a while, the flour will thicken up the sauce. Either pour the sauce over the ribs or serve in a gravy boat.
De- li- ci- ous!
I swear, try this:)

Red bean - broccoli salad or the Yum Yum salad

  
This is an amazing simple salad that looks just delicious and inviting.
We had the pleasure of being introduced to each other by our friend Daria, who prepared this and also a few other dishes with nearly no effort. That kind is my kind :)
The colors are so pretty, especially shown in a clear glass dish.

Type of dish: salad, side
Cost: cheap
Difficulty: easy
Time: 20min
Prep time: 15min


You'll need:
a cutting board, small knife, collander, large clear shallow dish, tablespoon, a large cup, garlic crusher, medium saucepan

Ingredients:

• 2 cans drained and rinsed red beans
•  1 broccoli head, divided in small florets
•  1 tbsp mayo
•  2 tbsp greek joghurt
•  1 large garlic clove, crushed
•  salt
•  ground white pepper

How to?

Heat water in saucepan. Fill the colander with the beans and rinse well. Transfer the beans to the dish, making a layer out of them. In a large cup or bowl, mix together the mayonaise, joghurt, crushed garlic and season with some salt and pepper. Mix well. Set aside, best in the fridge.
Bring water to a boil in the saucepan, add 1 tsp salt, add the broccoli florets and cook until just tender - 10min is enough - even with frozen broccoli. Transfer to colander and rinse under cold water to make it crisp and to stop the cooking process. When the broccoli is cool, transfer to the dish, layering it on top of the red beans. Then plop over the joghurt- mayo mix. It will look like whipped cream over beans, but that's just the broccoli.
Cover up and chill a bit in the frigde. Serve with fresh baguette or garlic bread.
Great for a party or an appetizer.

Fettucine with sundried tomatoes, parsley and shaved parmigiano

I was at the shop and a guy was buying before me parsley and a coke. Funny thing was that I rarely buy parsley, but I like it. I also had this great fetticine pasta and a ton of sun dried tomatoes from Rome, so it was time to put 2 and 2 together.
You get a simple, fast pasta dish that is suprisingly light.

Yes, light.

And the recipe is very basic. Add a tablespoon of salt to a pot of boiling water, add a drizzle of olive oil and cook pasta acording to package. Drain and dice dried tomatoes, chop roughly half a bunch of flat leaved parsley and shred some hard italian cheese like parmigiano. Drain the pasta, place in a pasta dish, sprinkle over with the tomatoes and parsley, add some  olive oil  over it, season with fresh cracked black pepper and top with the cheese. Serve!

Additional info: If you buy dried tomatoes, they are usually quite salty in the beginning. To make the taste bearable, try soaking in olive oil, and gradually change the oil or water out. This also works with capers.