Grilled Country Ribs and Berries

We cook as much as possible on the indoor and outdoor grills year round but when the weather turns warm the preference is for the outdoor grill. Continuing with my goal of using two things from the freezer and two things from the canning rack for each evening meal, I looked in the freezer. Grilled country ribs sounded like a plan. This meal would use up one package of country ribs from the freezer, cheese, potatoes and the ingredients to make desert. The chives, strawberries and herbs were from the garden so even though I fell a little short in my goal, I still used up a few things.

Grilled Country Ribs

Who can resist grilled country ribs? They are moist and tender with a wonderful flavour just perfect for grilling. There are so many ways to prepare the ribs for grilling too. I normally buy these in a family package of eight huge ribs then vacuum seal them into packages of two for four meals. As meat goes they are fairly frugal being low cost per meal and easy to prepare. These are such huge, meaty ribs I plan on one per person even though I know we seldom finish one each. Left-overs are great sliced on crustry rolls with Asiago cheese the following day or sliced for pork fried rice. These country ribs were marinated then grilled. Sides were baked potatoes with sour cream and chives and baked asparagus.

Grilled Country Rib Marinade

1/4 c extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 tsp organic brown sugar
1 tsp fresh rosemary (or 1/2 tsp dried rosemary)
1 tsp fresh thyme* (or 1/2 tsp dried thyme)
1 1/2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp fresh grated ginger
2 cloves garlic, pressed
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper

Place 2 large country ribs in a FoodSaver canister. Whisk the marinade ingredients together and pour over the ribs. Vacuum seal and place in refrigerator for 2 to 3 hours. [If you do not have a vacuum sealer, place the ribs into a zipper style freezer bag. Pour the marinade over then seal and refrigerate for about 6 hours.]

To grill, remove the country ribs from the marinade. Place on a hot grill turning only when the meat releases easily. Use tongs to turn so you don't puncture the meat.

*Lemon thyme gives a nice flavour to this marinade.

Berries & Cream

What happens when something goes wrong with a dish you are preparing? Sometimes that happens despite the best of intentions. It all started out just fine with a nice white cake (recipe in archives) poured into lightly oiled silicone muffin tins. In my mind, I wanted cupcakes topped with fresh whipped cream, blackberries and strawberries then garnished with a bit of chocolate syrup and a mint leaf. My first problem came when the cupcakes would not release from the silicone muffin tins. I let them cool completely without any luck. I even popped them into the fridge to see if that would help. Finally I resided myself to the fact the nice cupcakes I had envisioned would be pieces instead. Then I made what was supposed to be the chocolate syrup. That was problem number two. I'm still trying to figure out what I did wrong with the syrup as I've made it before without a problem yet it was more of a lump! So in order to save the desert, I topped the cupcake pieces with fresh whipped cream and the berries. I figured with that combination I couldn't go wrong. It wasn't the same as I had envisioned but it worked well and tasted pretty good too.