Memphis-Style Pork Ribs

There are wet ribs, sticky with a succulent, spicy barbecue sauce, and there are dry ribs, where the flavor is all in the dried mixture of herbs and spices, melded into something greater than the sum of their parts by time, smoke and pork fat.
This is what they do in Memphis, Tennessee, and it’s why Memphis-style ribs are some of the best in the world.
What goes into a Memphis rib rub is up to you, but most recipes rely on paprika, brown sugar, black pepper, cayenne, garlic and onion powder.
All sorts of other ingredients find their way into everyone’s “secret recipe,” but the most common are cumin, dry mustard, celery salt or celery seed, dried oregano or rosemary, chili powder, ginger, allspice or even white pepper.
Serious pit masters spend years perfecting the exact ratio of spices for their own personal styles.
Cooking these ribs is simple: Rub the spice mix all over the ribs and cook them slowly over low heat until they’re done. Sounds easy, right? It is, sorta.

We prefer to let the spice mix sit on the ribs overnight before we cook them, but you don’t have to. We also prefer to cook our ribs over a hardwood fire, but you can use charcoal or even a gas grill if you need to. Just don’t use an oven.
In all cases, cook the ribs away from the heat source. If you use a grill, have the fire going slowly on one side of the grill and cook the ribs on the other side.
Again, slow is good. I’ve cooked ribs for 12 hours before, and I’ve never had good ribs cooked less than 3 hours.
Use our rib rub as a guide, and play with it to your own taste. What are your favorite ingredients in your barbecue rubs?
Updated from the recipe archive, first published 2011

Memphis-Style Pork Ribs Recipe

• Prep time: 10 minutes
• Cook time: 5 hours
• Yield: Serves 4

Try to get St. Louis-cut ribs for this recipe, not baby back ribs. Regular spare ribs are fine, too.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup sweet paprika
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp black pepper
• 1 Tbsp garlic powder
• 2 teaspoons cumin
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 teaspoons cayenne
• 1 teaspoon dry mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon celery seed
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 2 St. Louis-cut or spare rib racks

Method

1 Make the dry rub, rub all over ribs: Mix all the dry ingredients together. Rub them all over the ribs and, if you have time, set them in the fridge overnight.
2 Grill over low, indirect heat initially for one hour: Get your grill or smoker going. You want pretty low heat, about 200-220°F if you can measure it. Make sure you have a spot to put the ribs that is not directly over the heat source. Lay the ribs down. They should not sizzle. If they do, cool the grill down until the ribs no longer sizzle when placed down. Cover the grill or smoker and walk away for an hour.
3 Every hour or so after that, turn and rotate the ribs so they cook evenly. You should not have to baste them if you do this: The fat in the ribs will do the basting for you. Depending on how hot your set-up is and at what stage of doneness you like your ribs, they will be done in 4-8 hours.

Read More: Memphis-Style Pork Ribs

American Flag Pie

Looking for something special to bring to a Fourth of July cook-out? Check out this American Flag Pie! It’s a sheet-pan slab pie with a homemade crust and a blueberry and strawberry filling, topped with stars and stripes.
Slab pies are shallower than regular pies, but they make up for it in width. A 13 x18 sheet pan pie will easily feed 12 people, perfect for a party.
While conceivably you could use a prepackaged folded frozen pie crust (just get four of them and cut them to fit the rectangular sheet pan, and cut out the shapes), I strongly encourage you to try the home made crust recipe I’ve included for this pie.

It’s my favorite pie crust recipe. It’s really easy to make, easy to roll out, requires no special equipment, and you don’t have to keep everything cold (actually room temp is best for this recipe). You just need clean hands, flour, sugar, salt, butter, and wait for it…sour cream! The sour cream adds moisture and fat to produce a wonderfully flaky crust.
For the filling for this flag pie we are using blueberries for the stars blue background and strawberries for the red stripes. You could easily substitute and switch it up a bit with blackberries for the stars and rhubarb, cherries, or raspberries for the stripes.

American Flag Pie Recipe

• Prep time: 1 hour
• Cook time: 1 hour, 10 minutes
• Dough chilling time: 1 hour
• Yield: Serves 12

If you haven't worked with a sour cream pie dough before, it's wetter and more pliable than a standard butter crust dough. Don't worry, it will firm up when it chills.
While this recipe calls for blueberries and strawberries, you can easily change it up a bit. Add raspberries, cherries, or rhubarb to the strawberries or use blackberries instead of or in addition to blueberries.
As you are rolling out the dough for the crust and stars and stripes, if it becomes too too soft to handle, just put it in the refrigerator for a few minutes.

Ingredients

Crust:

• 3 1/2 cups flour
• 3 1/2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 14 ounces butter (3 1/2 sticks), cut into cubes
• 7/8 cup sour cream (that's 3/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp)

Strawberry filling:

• 3 1/2 pounds strawberries, hulled, quartered
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons orange zest
• 4 Tbsp cornstarch, flour, or minute tapioca

Blueberry filling:

• 1 pint blueberries (about 0.6 lbs, 280 g)
• 3 Tbsp sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• 2 Tbsp cornstarch, flour, or minute tapioca

Egg wash:

• 1 egg white
• 1 teaspoon of milk or cream

Special equipment:

• One 13 x 18-inch rimmed sheet pan
• Star-shaped cookie cutter

Method

1 Make the pie dough: Cut the butter into cubes and let sit out for a 10 minutes to take the chill off. Whisk together the flour, sugar, and salt in a large mixing bowl.
Add the butter and toss to coat with the flour. Using your (clean) hands, work the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles a coarse meal.

Add the sour cream and mix with a fork until well incorporated.

Knead with your hands until the mixture comes together as a ball. Divide into 3 equal sized balls of dough (it helps to use a kitchen scale).

Form the balls into rectangular discs. Sprinkle with a little flour and wrap individually with plastic wrap.
Chill for 1 to 2 hours or overnight (can freeze this point if making several days ahead).
2 Make berry fillings: Put the quartered strawberries in a large bowl and toss with sugar, cornstarch (or flour, or minute tapioca), and orange zest.

In a separate smaller bowl, put the blueberries, sugar, cinnamon, lemon zest, lemon juice, and cornstarch (or flour or minute tapioca), and toss to combine.

3 Roll out the dough for the bottom crust: Line the bottom of a 13 x 18-inch rimmed sheet pan with parchment paper.
Remove two dough discs from the refrigerator and let sit for 10 minutes to soften a bit. On a clean, lightly floured surface, roll out one disk to 8 x 11-inches and arrange on half of the sheet pan, with an inch of edge over the sides of the sheet pan.
Roll out the second disc and cover the other half of the sheet pan.

Fold the dough over along the edges and crimp.
Remove any excess dough from center. Form into a ball, then use your hands to roll into a long rope. Crimp that rope of dough and form a rectangle in one corner of the sheet pan. This is where your berries and stars will go. The dough will help keep the blueberries from running into the strawberries. (If you don't have excess dough at this point, no worries, you will later when you cut away the stars and stripes.)

Put in the refrigerator to chill.
4 Make egg wash: In a small bowl, whisk together the egg white and milk or cream.
5 Roll out dough for stars and stripes: Remove third rectangular disc of dough from the fridge and let sit for 10 minutes to soften a bit. Roll out so that the longest point is 18-inches.
Use a dinner knife (blunt) or a pizza wheel to cut out stripes. You'll need 2 stripes that are about 18 inches long and 1 1/2 inches wide, and 2 stripes that are about 10 inches long and 1 1/2 inches wide.
Use a star shaped cookie cutter to cut out stars.

Place stars and stripes on a cookie sheet, sheet pan, or large plate. Brush with egg wash. Chill.
6 Preheat oven to 450°F.
7 Fill the pie and top with stars and stripes: Spread the strawberries over the part of the sheet pan where the red and white stripes should be. Scoop the blueberries into the corner where the stars should be.

Arrange the stars and strips of dough on top of the berries to form the flag. Chill for 10-15 minutes before baking.
8 Bake: Bake at 450°F for 15 minutes. Then tent with foil and lower the heat to 375°F and bake for another 45 to 55 minutes or longer, until the filling is bubbling.
Remove from oven and let cool at least an hour before serving.

Read More: American Flag Pie

Mint and Lime Mojito

We can wax on about the glory of the mojito – this perfect concoction of rum, mint, sugar, lime juice, and sparkling water — but I’m guessing you won’t need a lot of convincing in that regard.
Instead, let’s discuss the building of the mojito, which in my opinion, is what distinguishes a “good” mojito from a “truly incredible” mojito.
Before now, you may have made mojitos like this: You threw some mint, lime juice, and sugar into a glass and then mashed ‘em up with a wooden spoon, or if you were feeling bartender-y, with a fancy muddler. Then you added a little booze and a lot of soda water, resulting in a sparkling, mint salad in a glass with a hint of rum.
No more. You’re better than that, and your mojitos should be too!
The better way to make mojitos takes a little more time, patience, and effort, but is well worth it.

Take a mortar and pestle and slowly crush the mint and sugar with a splash of the rum until you have a very fine paste. After that, add the rest of the rum and let it infuse for a few minutes, then strain the mixture, and top with a bare splash of soda.
The result is a mojito that’s not only cleaner in appearance (big mint flavor, no floating mint leaves), but also endlessly more flavorful than any mojito you’ve previously experienced.

Mint and Lime Mojito Recipe

• Prep time: 5 minutes
• Yield: 1 drink

A mortar and pestle are really the best tools for this recipe, but if you don't have one, then chop the mint as finely as you can, then smash it with a fork in a small bowl to mix it with the sugar and rum. You can also puree the mint, sugar, and all of the rum in a clean spice grinder.
Traditionally, you would use a highball glass for mojitos, but it's fine to use whatever glass you like for your cocktail.

Ingredients

• 10 large mint leaves, plus extra for garnish
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 1/2 ounces white rum
• 1 tablespoon lime juice (from half a lime)
• Soda water
• A few sprigs fresh mint, to garnish
• Thinly sliced wheels of lime, to garnish

Special equipment:

• Mortar and pestle
• Small strainer

Method

1 Make the mint paste: Place the mint, sugar, and 1/2 ounce of the rum into the bottom of a mortar and pestle, and grind slowly until it turns into a paste.

2 Add the rest of the rum and allow it to steep for about 5 minutes. If your mortar is too small for the additional rum, transfer the paste to a small bowl and then add the rum.
3 Strain the rum. Fill a glass with ice. Set a small mesh strainer over the glass and strain the mint mixture. Use a spoon to press out every last drop of rum from the paste. (Use a large bowl and strainer if that’s all you have then transfer to the glass. Whatever works for you.)

4 Finish the cocktail. Add the lime juice and top with soda water. Stir together and garnish with a lime wheel or a sprig of mint if you’re feeling extra fancy.

Read More: Mint and Lime Mojito

Cheater’s S’mores Ice Cream

Because toasted marshmallows BELONG in your ice cream! It’s creamy vanilla ice cream, toasted marshmallow gooey goodness and chocolate bits all in one bite, does it get any better? Actually, I take that question back because it DOES get better, you could top it all off with homemade chocolate magic shell….which is what we did…so yeah, ice cream win!!

Canada Day long weekend is coming up fast, so it felt like a perfect time to share this recipe with you!  I know that you’re all planning on spending your long weekend on a patio, at the cottage and celebrating with friends and family.  So, what better way to celebrate it than with this s’mores ice cream?? Load it onto a crunchy waffle cone and eat the weekend away.  YUMMMMMMM! Yeah, you definitely need this recipe for your weekend plans! I really wanted to make some kind of easy ice cream recipe for the holiday weekend and it felt totally appropriate to make it S’mores-flavoured – who doesn’t love the taste of toasted marshmallows?
Side note – I always love burning my marshmallows on the campfire.  The charred outer layer and gooey, sticky, sweet center is all that I could ask for in a guilty pleasure snack.  Mmm…and now I’m starting to think that I should toast up the remaining marshmallows I have in my pantry.  Yup, done!

Ok for real, this ice cream tastes like a big bite of a s’mores sandwich.  To be totally honest (because I know you won’t judge me), I made it twice.  because of “recipe testing” and all that…yeah…that’s why.  I brought the first batch to my mother-in-law’s house so I wouldn’t eat it all myself, and the next day I was craving it so badly that I made it again.  Why did I do that!?!?!

My favourite part of this recipe is the gooey bits of toasted marshmallow that taste like it just came from the campfire.  This ice cream is perfect on top of a waffle cone.  I usually like my ice cream in a bowl but biting into this ice cream cone was the most satisfying feeling ever.  The gooey marshmallow and crunchy chocolate bits mix perfectly with the smooth ice cream and then that waffle cone “crunch” is the ultimate sound, taste and feeling.

And then there’s the magic shell chocolate sauce.  OMG, as it if it couldn’t get any better right? I know.  But you know me by now, if I can add more chocolate to the recipe, I will! And that’s exactly what happened.  You don’t HAVE to make the magic shell, but I strongly recommend that you do.  It hardens as it hits the cold ice cream and it’s so much fun to watch it happen in real time.
And the best thing about this recipe? It’s SUPER simple to make.  I’m not kidding.  This is a weekend to spend with family, NOT to spend it in the kitchen boiling cream and eggs and figuring out how to use that darn ice cream maker (we’ll think about that another day because I have an awesome ice cream flavour recipe coming your way).  Instead, this recipe takes all of 10 minutes to make before freezing it (or eat it as soft-serve) and enjoy!

Why is it so easy? Because this recipe is my “cheater” ice cream version.  I saw a delicious recipe from Donna Hay mixing pre-made ice cream with dulce de leche and I had to make it.  So this recipe is made with store-bought *gasp* ice cream, toasted marshmallows (from the oven or campfire, you choose!), crushed graham crackers and chocolate chips.  It won’t be long before you’re diving into this ice cream, I promise you!

Cheater's S'mores Ice Cream

Gooey toasted marshmallow ice cream mixed with crushed graham crackers and chocolate for a perfect an easy, 4 ingredient s'mores ice cream recipe!

Author: Priya McHugh
Recipe type: Dessert
Serves: 4 big bowls!

Ingredients

• 
  For the S'more's Ice Cream:
• 1 container of vanilla ice cream (I used Chapman's)
• 15 large marshmallows
• 1 cup crushed graham crackers
• 1 cup of chocolate chips
• 
  For the Magic Shell:
• 1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips
• ¼ cup coconut oil

Method

1. Let the ice cream soften for 5 minutes. Place in a stand mixer and mix on low speed until it becomes a soft-serve texture. In the mean time, toast the marshmallows under the broiler for 1 minute until the tops brown (being careful not to burn them - watch the marshmallows closely). Turn off the stand mixer and fold in the toasted marshmallows, graham crackers and chocolate. Place in a container and freeze for 4 hours or overnight.
2. To make the chocolate shell, combine the chocolate and coconut oil in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave the mixture at 30 second intervals, stirring in between until the chocolate is completely melted (approx. 1 minute). Let it cool and serve over ice cream.

3.2.2925

Don’t forget to tag your photos with #littlekitchenbigworld and follow us on Instagram @littlekitchenbigworld so we can see what you’re cooking!

Like this:

Like Loading...

Read More: Cheater’s S’mores Ice Cream