50th Anniversary Ribs Throwdown

My amazing parents celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary last month. That's half a century, people, which definitely warranted a hardcore anniversary party and full blown family reunion over Memorial Day Weekend.

Obviously nothing says 50 years of wedded bliss like heaping platters of baby back ribs, which must be why my sister, Anne, chef and culinary genius behind Chefanti, (check out their awesome concept for simplifying dinner here) challenged Mufasa, husband extraordinaire and King of the Big Green Egg, to a cut-throat friendly, family-style ribs throwdown. Happy Anniversary, Mom and Dad. Don't forget the wet naps.

Meet the competitors. That's Chef Anne there on the left, or Chefanti, as she's known to a slew of nieces and nephews. And there's Mufasa (apparently along with his towel collection?!) on the right. The way they're cradling those beers and mugging for the camera you'd think the day was all hugs and rainbows. But you would be wrong.

Here was the scene just moments before...

Check out the chaos in kitchen stadium. Sauces simmering, meat getting garnished, anxious chefs pacing the floor, Paparazzi hovering around the corn. No joke.

And then...a last minute surprise from Mufasa who pulls out not one but two types of ribs - traditional BBQ and a second platter with a sesame scallion Asian flavor twist!

The contenders...

The judges swarm the table

The votes are in and despite some discontent with the voting process...

The winner is....
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Chef Anne! 

Despite a two vote deduction for flagrant trash talk and losing two more votes for not making enough ribs (c'mon, seriously, Chef!), Chef Anne pulled off a heroic victory. Now, there is a theory floating around that Mufasa may have split his votes by throwing two types of ribs into play at the last minute, but it doesn't really matter. The real winners here were the family of hungry judges who got to tear apart three platters of crazy good ribs. That's a party, my friends.

Mufasa has already made public his Fork-Tender Baby Back Ribs recipe here and rest assured, they are awesome! For now Chef Anne is keeping hers quiet but I'm guessing if you pop on over to Chefanti and shoot her a harassing encouraging email, maybe we can convince her to release the secret winning recipe. What do you say, Chef Anne?

And don't worry. We gave the 'rents a real anniversary party too complete with pretty dresses, heartfelt speeches, cloth napkins, and very little trash talk

Chef Anne's winning ribs

Mufasa's Fork-Tender Baby Back Ribs

At last, here's a much-anticipated guest post from Mufasa! He's a super star husband, extraordinary father to Looly, Bean, and Roo, master fly hunter, and a force to be reckoned with when he has a slab of meat in his hands. Take it away, Mufasa...

Three years ago when Amy was thinking about starting this blog, I played the role of dutiful husband. I told her how therapeutic it would be to write about the trials and tribulations of our family. I guess I must’ve gotten carried away because I promised to be a regular guest blogger.

I haven’t been so regular. It turns out blogging is a lot of work. Well, after a few gentle reminders I decided to gear up and tackle a topic that doesn’t get much airtime on this site: grilling. Now, I know that Amy has the talent and interest to be an excellent griller, but she leaves the domain of outdoor cooking to me. I think she likes having Looly, Bean and Roo see their father cook. I like having them see me cook, too.

I decided to have the kids help me make my slow cooked, fork-tender bbq ribs. This isn’t an endeavor to be taken lightly, not because it is hard to pull off, but because it is a whole day affair. My dirty little secret is that when I make these ribs, I usually (over)emphasize the time commitment. If people jump to the conclusion that they must be a lot of work, there isn’t much I can do about it, can I?

My most memorable rib making adventure happened in Albuquerque when we were visiting Amy’s sister. I decided to break in her new grill with these ribs and unfortunately “missed out” on a day trip to Santa Fe. Instead, I started a glorious day with a trip to the grocery store with an early 80’s vintage manual transmission pick-up truck as my chariot. Next I enjoyed some quality me time as I prepared my ribs accompanied by a frosty 6-pack. When the gang returned I was eager to greet them with some falling-off-the bone meat. Amy’s mom dubbed them “fork-tender” and the name stuck.

This version began at Blue Ribbon Meat Market, my favorite old school, always packed, family-owned butcher shop. I love taking the kids to this place where the display cases barely contain all the meat and the 10 minute wait to be helped provides delightful people watching.

Like all good rib recipes, this one starts with a rub. The measurements are approximate and should be fiddled with liberally.

Mufasa's Fork-Tender Baby Back Ribs

4 tbsp brown sugar

1 tsp ground cumin

2 tsp garlic powder

2 tsp onion powder

½ tsp chili powder

2 slabs baby back ribs                          

1. Combine spices in a small bowl and mix well (preferably with your fingers).

 2. Cut two slabs of baby back ribs into sections with 3 or 4 ribs each.   

3. Find some helpers and get them to rub the rub into the ribs vigorously. 

4. Put the ribs into a foil pan, cover with foil and cook on indirect heat for 2 – 3 hours, after which they should be fork-tender

5. When the ribs are tender, brush liberally with bbq sauce and put them back directly on the grill grate (still cooking with indirect heat) for 10-15 minutes, enough for the sauce to develop a hint of crispness.

You can use any bbq sauce you like but I prefer to make my own. 

Mufasa's Favorite BBQ Sauce

1 cup ketchup

½ cup chicken broth

4 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

4 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

4 tablespoons brown sugar

2 cloves chopped garlic

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon black pepper

¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

Just combine all the ingredients in a pot, bring to a boil and let cool.

 Enjoy, but don’t let on how easy they were to make!

Pasta Salad with Bacon, Melon, and Feta

Phew! I thought this back to school thing was supposed to give me more time for myself but for one reason or another I am still running around like a chicken with my head cut off. Fortunately it's all good stuff, visits from friends, school planning, parties, and I recently embarked on my next fitness adventure, Insanity: The Asylum. After doing regular Insanity workouts for over a year, I thought I was ready for the next challenge. At this point my heart, lungs, lats and quadriceps are much less certain. But as long as they keep making mint chocolate chip ice cream, Shaun T remains a requisite part of my day. Here's a self portrait after my first ever Insanity workout. I don't blame you if "stunning" isn't the first word that comes to mind.

Speaking of good hearts and yummy food, have you checked out Eat Your Heart Out lately? My pal, Stephie, is always cooking up something delicious and I'm especially excited about her new Back to Basics series, which is a great starting point for kids or anyone else who's just getting their bearings in the kitchen. As if that wasn't enough to get you over there, she recently nominated me for a Very Inspiring Blogger award. Thanks, Stephie! As part of the award, I am supposed to tell you 7 tidbits about myself, then pass the award to 15 more bloggers. So here we go...

7 Tidbits from Kid Cultivation

1. You might have figured this out already, but I love Insanity. I don't love The Asylum yet, but I'm tripping and stumbling my way through it and hope to be fit and coordinated enough to be there one day.
2. I am the baby in a family of 5 girls. Some say my parents must have kept trying for a boy. I say they stopped when they finally achieved perfection.
3. I ran the Chicago marathon in 2002. It was awesome.
4. I eat almost everything but there are a few random foods I simply cannot tolerate. These include: yellow mustard (stoneground, whole grain, and Dijon are fine!), orange soda, Goldfish or other cheddar flavored crackers, and bratwurst.
5. September is my favorite month.
6. My bladder is the size of a pea.
7. Every time I throw a penny in a fountain I wish that Roo's food allergies and Eosinophilic Esophagitis would go away.

And 15 amazing food-focused blogs you should definitely come to know:

1. spabettie
2. Katie's Cucina
3. What Megan's Making
4. Damn Delicious
5. Great Secret of Life
6. Family Fresh Cooking
7. A Taste of Madness
8. Home is Where the Cookies Are
9. The Spanish Wok
10. Culinary Travels
11. Cooking With My Kid
12. Kitchen Fun With My 3 Sons
13. Food Allergy Mama
14. The Allergic Kid
15. Funky Food - Feeding Kids Allergic to Food

For those of you nominated, here's the deal. Feel free to do the following, but I have to be honest. I won't be mad at you if you don't :-)

1. Link back to the person who nominated you.
2. Post the award image to your page.
3. Share 7 facts about yourself.
4. Nominate 15 other bloggers.
5. Post the rules in your blog post.

And last but certainly not least, who wants bacon?! Mufasa made his signature ribs last weekend and has promised to do a guest post soon with the details. While he was manning the grill, I made this kid-friendly, easy, pasta salad on the side.

Pasta Salad with Melon, Bacon, and Feta
adapted from Bon Appetit, August 2012

4 slices bacon, cooked until crisp, and crumbled
1 pound penne, rotini, or other short pasta
1 medium cantaloupe, cubed
1 cup fresh mint, coarsely chopped, divided
1/4 cup scallions, thinly sliced
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup Champagne vinegar
Kosher salt
Black pepper
4 ounces feta cheese, crumbled

1. Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and run under cold water to cool. Set aside.
2. Combine 2 slices of the bacon, pasta, melon, half the mint, and scallions in a large bowl.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together olive oil and vinegar. Season with salt and pepper. Pour dressing over pasta mixture and toss to coat. Garnish with remaining bacon, mint, and feta cheese.

Since my kids tend to be purists, I served the feta cheese on the side for them, but really the whole salad could be easily deconstructed for Littles. Separate and serve pasta, bacon, cantaloupe, cheese and you've got a sweet toddler meal!