Ribs and all the fixin's

Yesterday was a lazy kind of day - figured why not have a lazy ole dinner out on the deck once the heat of the day had passed.

Ribs - sounded pretty good.  Yes, I know this recipe is quite a bit of work in the early part of the day - but at the end when all you want to do is sit back and relax with a cold beverage, they are easy peasy.

I have posted this recipe before - making the sauce on the stove top - but this time I am giving you the TM recipe for the sauce and all the fixin's that go along with the ribs - right down the the bread that was declared the"best garlic bread ever!"

Barbecue Sauce

Makes approx 1 litre

2 x 400g cans of chopped tomatoes
1 tbs olive oil
1 brown onion
4 cloves garlic
1 tbs sea salt
140g tomato sauce (ketchup)
55g worcestershire sauce
170g vinegar (I used cider this time)
140g brown sugar (adjust if you don't like it as sweet)
5g hungarian paprika
freshly ground black pepper
120g orange juice

6 drops of Liquid smoke (if you can get it - but not necessary)

Remove the hard end of the garlic cloves and place them in the TM bowl.  Process them on reverse speed for for 3-6 seconds to remove the skins.  Pick the skins out from the bowl.  Add the onion into the TM bowl, process for 3 seconds on speed 7.

Add the olive oil and salt.  Cook at 100 degrees reverse speed 1 for 2 minutes to sweat the onions.

Add remaining ingredients and cook at 100 degrees on speed 1 for 60 minutes (without the MC).

Once cooked blend for 10 seconds on speed 8.

We are big ribs lovers here so I usually buy one rack per person - and then cut them in half.

I use the American style baby back ribs.

While the sauce is cooking, simmer your ribs in boiling salted water for 1 hour.  Make sure to scoop off the scum occasionally.  After the hour, drain the ribs and place in a large container.

Add a very liberal amount of the barbecue sauce and let the ribs marinate for at least 1 hour - preferably longer.

Now when you are ready to cook the ribs, place them in a large disposable baking tray - making sure that they are not too crowded.  Add more sauce.  Preheat oven to 180 degrees C.  Bake for 1 - 1 1/2 hours, basting frequently.

I guarantee they will be the softest, juiciest ribs ever!!!

To serve alongside the ribs you need corn on the cob and baked potatoes!

Now I like to take the easy way out with these so I bake them in the oven along with the ribs.

First of all I made Garlic Butter

6 cloves garlic (peeled as above)
250g butter

Process the garlic in the TM bowl for 3 seconds on speed 7.

Add the butter and process for 30-40 seconds at 50C on speed 4.

For the corn - lay out a small piece of foil.  Place a small amount of the garlic butter on the piece of foil - top with a cob of corn, then brush a small amount of the garlic butter on top of the corn.

Wrap up like a bon bon.

Bake alongside the ribs for 30 minutes.

Baked Potatoes

Simply place the potatoes on a baking dish, spray liberally with garlic infused olive oil spray, bake with the ribs for 30-40 minutes depending on the potatoes size.

I decided that we needed a topping for the corn.  So......

Avocado Chilli Butter
adapted from Recipe in Good Taste Magazine, January edition

1 small red chilli
1-2 avocadoes, depending on size
juice of 1/2 lemon
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Process the chilli in the TM bowl for 3 seconds on speed 7.

Add the avocado, lemon juice, salt and pepper and mix for 30 seconds on speed 4.

As we had an extra mouth to feed that night that I hadn't counted on, so I thought I better make some garlic bread.

I have found this wonderful site called Forum Thermomix - there are some great recipes and tips there - and they are a really friendly bunch of people.  So if you are looking for more information and ideas for what you can do with the Thermomix this is a great resource.

I found a recipe for bread rolls that everyone was raving about - Chookie's  Plain White Rolls and then I combined the idea she had about garlic bread Garlicky Bread Plait and came up with my own version!!!

The Best Garlic Bread Ever!!! (as decreed by "The Darlings!!")
Adapted from Chookie's Recipe found on Forum Thermomix

520g white plain flour
2tsp yeast
300ml warm water
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar

Add all ingredients to the TM bowl.  Knead for 4 minutes.

Remove the TM lid.  Get a piece of cling wrap large enough to cover the bowl and smear a small amount of olive oil on the wrap.  Cover the TM bowl loosely and allow the bread to rise in the bowl until it doubles (coming up to the top of the bowl!!).

Punch down and remove from the TM bowl.  Weigh the dough and divide into 2 equal portions.  I simply held the bread in my hand and let it fall into a rustic baguette shape.

Place on a baking tray that has been lined with baking paper.  Allow the baguettes to rise again for 30 minutes.

Bake in the oven (with everything else!!) for 25-30 minutes or until golden and cooked through.

Remove from the oven and allow the bread to cool until it is just cool enough to handle.

While the bread is cooling add approximately 20g of grated parmesan cheese to the leftover garlic butter.

Slice the bread (but not the whole way through!!)  Using a pastry brush liberally brush the cut sides of the bread, and then the top of the loaf as well with the garlic butter.

Return to the oven for approximately 10 minutes, or until the top is crispy and golden with the butter.

And there you have it - Ribs with all the Fixin's

All you need now is to make sure you have lots of paper serviettes - because I guarantee you are going to get messy!!