Friday, February 22, 2013


“Quick BBQ Ribs” & “Pasta with Casaluz Sauce”


Hmmmmm... Friday night. What can you do easy and succulent for two at home? Here are a couple of options. I suggest a simple salad of green lettuce and hearts of palm with extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar and a bit of salt and pepper as accompaniment for either of these dishes.


1)      “Quick BBQ Ribs”: Simple and yummy.
a.      Tools: large skillet or sauté pan
b.      Ingredients: 6-7 ribs in a rack (about 1 ½ lbs. of ribs), a pinch of salt, ½ a cup of your favorite BBQ sauce unless you want to do it homemade (recipe for it in a future blog), ½ cup of water, ½ orange.
c.       Procedure: Preheat the oven at 350 F. Put the ribs in the skillet, meat side up and season with salt. Cover the meat with the sauce and make sure it is spread all over it. Mix some of the juice from the orange with the water and add it to the sauce to dilute it a bit. Cover the skillet with foil and cook for about 1 ½  hours. Every 20 minutes or so baste the meat to keep it moist. It will be ready when the meat is dark golden and falling out of the bones. Grate finely orange zest on top of the ribs, separate the ribs with a sharp knife, garnish with a bit of fresh parsley and serve.


2)      “Pasta with Casaluz Sauce”: This is my version of pasta with red sauce.
a.      Tools: 8 Qt. stock pot and a 3Qt saucepan, sauté pan, or an 11-12” skillet
b.      Ingredients: 1 large onion, 1 jar of strained tomatoes, 1 tsp. of kosher salt, a splash of Worcestershire sauce, 1 Tbsp. of tomato catsup, 1 Tbsp. of sherry vinegar, 3 Tbsps. of unsalted butter, ½ a package (1/2 lbs.) of spaghetti. Note on the pasta, there are several “cuts” of pasta such as linguini, angel hair, etc. however, I think that spaghetti is the most suited for this sauce.
c.       Procedure: chop the onion very fine. Melt the butter in the sauce pan and cook the onions at medium heat stirring frequently for about 25-30 minutes until they turn sweet and caramelized, but not brown or burned. Add the tomatoes and bring to boil. Add the salt, Worcestershire sauce, catsup, and vinegar, stir and bring down to a slow simmer. Cook that way for at least 45 minutes or more until ready to serve. Fill the stockpot to ¾, add 2 Tbsp. of salt, and put it to high heat until it has a rolling high boil. Drop the pasta and follow instructions of the package. Before taking the pasta out check that it is not to hard or soft, to taste. Serve with the sauce on top, drizzle a little bit of your best virgin olive oil and a bit of Parmesan cheese on top of the sauce. Delicious, satisfying, and absolutely fool proof.


Enjoy


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