Saturday Morning Snapshot
Made crepes for the first time today! They were somehow both more and less difficult than I had anticipated, but so good.
State of the Blog
How was everyone’s week? Mine was preeeeety great because I was gifted a kitchen torch and have spent every day since dreaming of all the delightful foods I can set alight with it. Do you have any handy kitchen gadgets you love? I haven’t been this excited about one since I got my first immersion blender.
On the blog, we continue to make our way through Nerd Month . If you don’t know what Nerd Month is, you can read about it in my ( Person of Interest ) Sencha Green Tea Doughnuts post . This week we had a recipe from American Gods , and then a mimosa and rib recipe combo for Wednesday and Friday from the dearly departed Happy Endings .
Fun story about that photo shoot, I shot those ribs and mimosas the same day as my Jello Shots with Triple Sec Whipped Cream , so my total consumption of food that day ended up being ribs, mimosas, and the boozed-up whipped cream from like five of those jello shots. It was delightful day. 😉
Next week, there’s an easy side dish, a classic breakfast recipe with added bacon, and then we’ll end Nerd month with a final boozy treat. I can’t wait for you to see it!
Recipes/posts released this week were:
Easy Beef Pasties – Buttery, flaky buttermilk pie crust wrapped around a savory mixture of steak, carrots, potatoes, and onions, seasoned with oregano and rosemary, and cooked in an easy homemade gravy. These hand pies one of my favorite recipes to ever come out of my kitchen!
Strawberry Mimosas – Strawberry Mimosas make brunch even better with a simple but beautiful upgrade to your classic mimosa recipe.
No-Fuss Easy Oven-Baked Ribs – The easiest oven-baked beef rib recipe you’ll ever find. All you need is two ingredients, one hour, and a whole lot of napkins.
Pop-culture Corner
It was TV Upfront week, when all the networks announce their fall schedules and release clips of their new shows. Did you watch any of the pilot trailers? Anything catch your fancy? I’m hoping there are some good ones in there to make up for last week’s cancellation bloodbath .
Ewan McGregor is joining Fargo for season 3 (!!), confirming my suspicion that no one in the world is better at their job than the Fargo casting director. So. Excited. Preacher premieres this weekend! Are you going to be watching? Early reviews have been great, and I really enjoyed the quick read through I did of the first volume of the comics a few weeks ago, so it’ll have my eyeballs.
Did you catch the new Star Trek Beyond trailer ? What did you think? My reactions went: 1)Ah, look at all the people I like in this cast. 2)Shohreh Aghdashloo has the best voice for voice overs–she and Ben Whishaw can just narrate my dreams, please 3)Was that just Idris Elba? WHY DOES HOLLYWOOD KEEP MAKING OUR MOST TALENTED ACTORS ACT THROUGH 10,000 LAYERS OF PROSTHETICS!!?? Guys, I’m just really bitter. Between this and Oscar Isaac in X-Men: Apocalypse , there’s a lot of handsome and charisma going to waste.
Does anyone watch Bob’s Burgers ? They had a horse camp episode last week and as a formerly horse-crazy little girl (now horse-owning grown up lady) I have never related to anything as much as I did to Tina desperately wanting a magical relationship with a camp horse and completely failing to get it (seriously, I have never known a creature less likely to want to be your friend than a summer camp horse).
Fox via TheRabbitEars
Meal Planning
Saturday: Mom’s Sunday Beef Stew Sunday: Spaghetti Monday: Rosemary Chicken and Potatoes Tuesday: Light and Healthy BLT Salad Wednesday: Easy Homemade Panini Thursday: Zuppa Friday: Leftovers
The easiest oven-baked beef ribs recipe you’ll ever find. All you need is two ingredients, one hour, and a whole lot of napkins.
Looking for more summer favorites? Try my Tri-tip in the Oven , S’mores Cupcakes , and Slowcooker BBQ Tri-tip Sandwiches .
Happy Friday, everyone! I hope you had a productive and fruitful week and have some awesome and/or awesomely relaxing weekend plans!
Wednesday, for Nerd Month (more on Nerd Month here ), we paid homage to a scene from Happy Endings , one of my favorite television comedies, by making Strawberry Mimosas so that we might all speak better Italian.
In that scene, we learn that while Penny speaks fluent Italian when drunk, Alex just eats ribs.
So today we are going to follow up Wednesday’s recipe with with that classic brunch mimosa pairing: oven-baked ribs.
Just go with it.
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<img loading=“lazy” src=“https://i2.wp.com/bakingmischief.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/no-fuss-easy-oven-baked-ribs-2.jpg" onerror=“this.onerror=null;this.src=‘https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhe7F7TRXHtjiKvHb5vS7DmnxvpHiDyoYyYvm1nHB3Qp2_w3BnM6A2eq4v7FYxCC9bfZt3a9vIMtAYEKUiaDQbHMg-ViyGmRIj39MLp0bGFfgfYw1Dc9q_H-T0wiTm3l0Uq42dETrN9eC8aGJ9_IORZsxST1AcLR7np1koOfcc7tnHa4S8Mwz_xD9d0=s16000';" alt=““Happy Endings” Ribs and Mimosas recipes! From BakingMischief.com - 13”>
Before we start, I’m just going to stop and say, BBQ devotees, turn away now. This recipe is going to make you so angry.
People who just really want some ribs without spending three hours slow roasting them or manning a grill, come this way.
There’s a category of recipes I call “good enough” recipes. It’s not something I write about often or see highlighted in the cooking community, because “good enough” isn’t exactly a compelling selling point, but I think they are valuable recipes for home cooks. They’re solid, tasty, uncomplicated, and easy. This is one of those.
I love beef ribs, but for the longest time, I didn’t make them because the process to get “fall-off-the-bone tender” meat was too much for me. Then one day in college, I really wanted some ribs, and I made these. And they were great.
The meat wasn’t falling off the bone like you’d get with perfectly cooked Short Ribs , but it had a beautifully baked coat of my favorite BBQ sauce on it and was exactly what I had been craving. My friends and I enjoyed the hell out of those ribs, and I’ve been making this recipe ever since.
These Oven-baked Beef Ribs are one of the easiest dinners you’ll find, and honestly, one of my lazy afternoon summer faves, especially served alongside Mashed Potatoes or a Small Macaroni Salad .
This is what you need: cheap beef back ribs and your favorite BBQ sauce.
This is what you do: Stick the beef ribs in the oven. Wait. Put some BBQ sauce on there. Wait a little longer. Eat.
It doesn’t get any simpler than that. The worst part is cutting the ribs apart if you buy a rack and waiting while they cool before you start devouring them. I have the burns on my fingers to prove it…
Are you a BBQ fan? Do you have any “good enough” recipes you love? Tell me about them!
Ingredients
- ▢ Rack of beef back ribs
- ▢ Your favorite barbeque sauce
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F and cover a rimmed baking sheet with foil.
- Cut ribs apart and lay them fat-side down on the sheet, not touching.
- Bake for 45 minutes.
- Brush generously with barbecue sauce.
- Bake for 15 more minutes.*
- Apply another coat of barbecue sauce if desired.
- Eat and enjoy.
Notes
How to make easy homemade mashed potatoes without a recipe.
Good homemade mashed potatoes are something I think everyone should know how to make, because they’re such a reliable side dish. They’re a pretty universal crowd pleaser, and they pair so well with so many things. Serve them alongside chicken, under pot roast, or with creamed turkey . Almost anything tastes better with mashed potatoes on the side.
Plus, fresh, homemade mashed potatoes are SO easy to make there’s really no reason they ever need to come from a box.
A No-recipe Recipe
Today’s recipe isn’t really a recipe so much as a technique to learn so you never have to eat potatoes out of a box again (unless that’s your jam, in which case, enjoy). It’s completely customizable, and can be healthy (as healthy as you consider potatoes to be), or sinfully rich, vegan, or loaded with dairy.
This is the “recipe” I wish someone had handed me as a new cook, and I hope that after you follow it once, you never have to read a mashed potato recipe ever again.
Ingredient and Equipment Notes
- Potatoes: Russet potatoes, Yukon Golds, and red potatoes are all good options. Use what you have on hand or experiment and see which potato you prefer for your mashed potatoes.
- Milk or cream: You can use any (unflavored) milk or milk substitute or type of cream in your potatoes. The richer the dairy/dairy replacement you use, the richer your potatoes will be.
- Butter: Salted or unsalted butter will both work, as will margarine or non-dairy butter replacements.
- A tool for mashing: You can absolutely mash your potatoes with a fork, especially if you are making one or two-serving amounts, but eventually, I recommend investing in a potato masher like this one . They’re inexpensive, will make your cooking time go so much faster, and they’re also great for smashing bananas for banana muffins (mine definitely pulls double duty). If you like perfectly smooth and creamy potatoes, you can also use a potato ricer. It’s not my preferred texture, but maybe it’s yours. 😉
How to Make Mashed Potatoes
Since this is a non-recipe, there aren’t any measurements here. There’s no wrong way to make mashed potatoes, so just add a bit of butter, dairy, salt, and pepper, and taste. Add more if it doesn’t taste good, and keep going until it does. My mashed potato ratios change constantly depending on how rich I want them to be and yours probably will too.
Prep the potatoes: Peel and dice the potatoes. Place them in a pot and cover with cold water (starting with cold water will make sure your potatoes cook evenly all the way through and you don’t get soggy outsides.) Salt the water well with a teaspoon or two of salt. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
Cook the potatoes: Boil the potatoes until they are tender (you should be able to easily smash a piece of one against the side of your pot with a fork), about 8 to 12 minutes. Remove from heat and drain potatoes.
Mash: Using a fork or potato masher, smash potatoes in the pot. Add butter or margarine and a splash of milk or cream. Mix and add salt and pepper. Taste and add more butter/milk/salt if needed.
Can I cut my potatoes ahead of time?
You sure can. You can store cut potatoes in cold water in the fridge for up to 8 hours.
Can I freeze mashed potatoes?
Yes. You can freeze and reheat mashed potatoes. You can freeze single-serving portions individually or an entire pot of mashed potatoes. Store them in a freezer bag for up to 2 months. However, frozen mashed potatoes will never be quite as smooth and creamy as the were when freshly made. I usually prefer to make mine fresh.
What to serve with mashed potatoes?
Top your potatoes with Quick Gravy or Gravy from Drippings . My favorite mains to serve with mashed potatoes are:
- Tri-tip
- Roasted Chicken
- Country-style Pork Ribs
- Slow Cooker Beef Ribs
- BBQ Chicken Thighs
More Easy Sides
- Smashed Red Potatoes
- Parmesan Orzo
- Small Macaroni Salad
- Roasted Sweet Potatoes
- Microwave Baked Potatoes
Ingredients
- ▢ Potatoes peeled and diced
- ▢ Butter margerine, or non-dairy butter
- ▢ Milk cream, or dairy replacement of choice
- ▢ Salt and pepper
Instructions
- Place potatoes in a pot. Cover with cold water (starting with cold water will make sure your potatoes cook evenly all the way through and you don’t get soggy outsides) and salt water well with a teaspoon or two of salt. Bring to a boil.
- Boil until potatoes are tender enough that you can easily smash a piece of one against the side of your pot with a fork, about 8 to 12 minutes. Remove from heat and drain potatoes.
- Using a fork or potato masher, smash potatoes in the pot. Add butter or margarine and a splash of milk or cream. Mix and add salt and pepper. Taste and add more butter/milk/salt if needed.
