Cooking Casebook: Easy BBQ pork ribs

I know, I know, I've been missing from this space for a really long time! Life has been really full, and we've been busy with the regular going-ons of everyday life. And speaking of busy, I've been spending a fair bit of time in the kitchen cooking our meals, and these days I'm very blessed to have the boys help out in the kitchen with the cooking.

Having so many little cooks trying to help means I'm always on the look out for easy to prepare dishes that appeal to everyone's tummies. This recipe for oven-baked ribs happens to be one of them. It's straightforward, doesn't require much preparation or monitoring, and the steps are simple enough for the kids to help (that's them in the photo mixing up the rub for the ribs)! I always get requests for the recipe every time I post a photo of these on Instagram (you can follow our family cooking exploits over @justtey), so I decided I should just write up the recipe here. Our recipe is adapted from this one, and is the main reason why we no longer order baby back ribs when we are dining out (because it's much cheaper to cook your own!).

EASY BBQ PORK RIBS

(Serves 4)

Ingredients
1 kg of baby back ribs
1/3 cup of brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon of salt
4 cloves of garlic
3/4 cup of BBQ sauce

Method
1. Preheat oven to 160ºC.

2. Mince the garlic. (We usually use the chopper that comes with our hand-held blender, and the kids love blitzing the garlic!)

3. Mix garlic, sugar, and salt together to make the rub. Apply rub on all sides of the ribs.

4. Place ribs, meaty side down, in a cast-iron pot (we use our Le Creuset buffet casserole, but a French oven should work too).

5. Bake with the cover on, for 2 hours and 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and drain the excess liquid. Increase the oven temperature to 180ºC.

6. Brush on the BBQ sauce on top, then flip the ribs and brush the other side.

7. Return the ribs to the oven, and bake uncovered, for another 20-30 minutes, depending on the size of the ribs (just keep one eye out to see that they do not get burnt!).

8. And you are done! Serve with pasta or potatoes (in this case we paired the ribs with hasselback potatoes and steamed veggies), and enjoy!

They really love the ribs, and this kid can eat 2 to 3 ribs in one sitting!

Some points/tips to note:

1. On buying ribs: It would be best to use baby back ribs for this recipe, as those are more tender. We used a different cut in the pictures, and we find that the meatier and leaner cuts tend to become dry during the cooking process (you can read more about the different cuts here). We purchase our ribs from the wet market, as we find that the pork ribs from the supermarket tend to have a strong smell. I usually ask our butcher to chop the ribs into individual pieces, as I want the flavour of the rub to go in during the cooking process. However, you can also cook the ribs together as one slab, and cut them into individual pieces later, before brushing on the BBQ sauce.

2. On the cooking process: The original recipe required the ribs to be wrapped in aluminium foil, but I was cautioned by some readers about the use of aluminium foil in cooking. Hence, I adapted this recipe to use our Le Creuset buffet casserole instead, and it does a good job sealing in the moisture and flavour during the cooking process. I have yet to try it, but I think a French/Dutch oven would work as well. For those without, you can use a baking tray and cover the top with aluminium foil, however, do note you would probably need to lower the initial baking temperature to 150ºC.

3. On the use of garlic: The original recipe calls for the use of garlic powder, but we've stopped buying garlic powder, as I find it clumps up quickly in storage due to the humidity in SG. I love how freshly minced garlic gives more flavour to the ribs!

4. On brushing the sauce: If your kids are helping out, a basting brush with a longer handle would be preferred, as the ribs are very hot! Brushes with silicone bristles are also better, for the same reason, and our Venus basting brush is perfect for the job. The boys love brushing on the sauce, saying that it is like "painting with BBQ sauce"!


PS: This post is the first in a series of posts written in collaboration with Le Creuset Singapore. We were sponsored products for purpose of these posts, and no monetary compensation was received. Do stay tuned for more easy recipes to try with your kids!

#MakingMumEatsWell: A challenge to eat better

Cheese omelette, for a quick lunch. Details here.

I cook almost everyday for the family, and we usually eat out probably for two meals in a whole week (you can find our tips for planning and cooking everyday here). However, while I do plan for rather nutritious meals, I tend to try to cut corners, like not including greens or using less ingredients when I cook so as to save time in food preparation.

That aside, I've been having to cook for more people (as the FIL is visiting, and my dad comes by to help me), and my previously frozen stash usually isn't enough to go around. On those days, I end up eating bread or instant noodles (I admit, I love instant noodles, but I was having it way too often!). And speaking of instant noodles, I tend to eat a fair bit of junk food (I love my chips, chocolate and biscuits!) in between meals, since a breastfeeding mama tends to be hungry half the time. I also found myself stuffing myself with chocolate whenever I got stressed or upset, which is quite often, unfortunately!

Stew (frozen previously), with garlic bread and loads of fruit! Details here, and I adapted a recipe from here.

All in all, I wanted to eat better, and prepare better meals for the family. To get my engine going, I thought I would make myself accountable by setting myself a challenge, and posting one photo a day on Instagram about this learning journey. I know one should set small specific goals to accomplish something, but I didn't want to stress over goals, so I left it as a general guideline to just get me moving in the correct direction.

Beef hor fun, recipe here, tips for preparing here. 

It has been more than a week since I've started my challenge, and I'm happy to say we seem to be headed in the right direction! The first week saw me trying to increase our fruit and vegetable intake, as well as increase the variety of the meals I prepare. There's has been a sense of satisfaction knowing that all this hard work helps in the kids' growth. Also, I've been trying to eat less junk, so I've started baking our own treats with the boys (so that I can control the amount of sugar and other ingredients that go into our snacks!), and opting for fruit or nuts when I feel hungry. I'm relying less on frozen food the past week, which means I can increase the amount I cook so that there's enough food for everyone. And if there isn't enough, I've learnt that cooking an omelette doesn't take much more time compared to cooking instant noodles. It helps that the two grandpas are around, since it allows me a little more time in the kitchen to experiment.

Muffin tin frittatas, which are great for lunch boxes. Recipe here, meal details here.

The kids and hubby are sick now, so for the week ahead I'll be exploring lighter meals and soups, as well as all the nutritious drinks that might help them to recover faster. It's great how doing this challenge pushes me to learn to cook new things, and I've learnt so much from all the tips and suggestions that fellow IG-ers have shared along the way!

Porridge since everyone was sick. Details here.

Stay tuned for more yummy updates (I'll be posting them mostly in IG, at my account @justtey, and if you want to see what's cooking in the kitchen, you can search #makingmumeatswell on Instagram, or click here. Now I'm off to make some chrysanthemum tea!

Cooking Casebook: Muffin tin frittatas

I love eggs. I love how versatile they are. You can eat them silky smooth and steamed, you can fry them into omelettes with lots of stuff mixed in. Or you can have them simple: half-boiled and runny with a dash of soya sauce (my mum used dark soya sauce, while the hubby insists light is the only way to go), or sunny-side up with a nice gooey center.

Eggs were a staple for Junior J when he was a toddler, since he was extremely fussy and hated to chew, so feeding him any type of meat was a challenge. We would even buy eggs when we travelled with him, since we could easily cook them in a hotel room (all you needed was a cup and hot water!), and bring them along with us on the go.

However, eggs more or less disappeared from our diet about two years back, when Lil J came along. We discovered the boy had an egg allergy, and cooking eggs in a meal meant that I would have to prepare an extra dish for Lil J (and on an ordinary day, I didn't have that kind of time!) I was also worried about contamination during food preparation and during the meal itself, since the boy was a foodie and would sometimes filch food from our plates. And it was rather sad to see this little boy asking for "the yellow thing" on our plates, only to be told he couldn't have it because it had egg in it. (Birthday parties are also another time when the little boy gets a wee bit disappointed, since he usually doesn't get to eat the birthday cake, and most other baked goodies, plus he doesn't get to eat most of the stuff in his goodie bag, like marshmallows and various biscuits.) So I more or less stopped cooking stuff with egg in it for quite a long time. 

These days however, I've discovered all these freezer friendly meals, and wanted to explore making meals with egg in them that I could prepare at night and freeze. These I could just heat up in the toaster (we gave away our microwave some time ago!) while I prepared something else for Lil J. I recently found this recipe for muffin tin frittatas, and tried it out, and Junior J loves them, so I've been making batches and freezing them for him. These are great for breakfast, as well as for lunchboxes (they look especially lovely sitting in a colourful muffin cup), so I'm sharing our recipe here. 

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Muffin Tin Frittatas

Modified from this recipe, as I didn't have mascarpone cheese, or prosciutto.
Makes 12 mini frittatas.

Ingredients:

6 large eggs, or 8-9 regular-sized ones

2 slices of ham, cut into small pieces

1 medium sized tomato, cut into small cubes

A large handful of baby spinach, chopped

1/3 cup grated/shredded cheese (I use mozzarella and parmesan)

1 tablespoon parsley, chopped

Pepper

Olive oil or butter

Steps:

1. Heat the oven to 190 degrees Celsius. Lightly grease 12 muffin cups with olive oil or butter and set aside.

2.  Add eggs and some pepper to a bowl. Whisk the eggs, then mix in cheese, ham, tomato, baby spinach and parsley. 

3. Spoon in egg mixture into the muffin tin, filling each about 2/3 or 3/4 full (you can also fill each almost to the top if you want larger servings for adults). 

4. Bake for 20-22 minutes, until the tops are puffed and golden-brown.

You can serve them immediately, or cool them and store them in the fridge or freezer. It should keep for a few days in the fridge. We heat these for about 4-5 minutes at almost maximum heat in the toaster after they have defrosted for about 20 minutes or so. Most of these recipes call for you to add salt to the egg, however, I've omitted it as I find its already pretty salty with the ham and the parmesan. If you'd like it to be less salty, use more mozzarella instead of other cheeses as it has a lower salt content. Also, you can try adding other stuff to the mix, like onions, capsicum, or potatoes!

PS: I hardly post recipes on the blog these days, since I'm not a good cook. However, we've been on a mission to make better breakfasts these days, so I hope to be back to share what we've been making and eating! 

Linking up with:

Foodie Fridays: Summer slurping

Summer can be summed up at the market.  First come the strawberries, then the currants, followed by the blueberries, raspberries and cherries.  Then there is the onslaught of blackberries and plums.  We've been eating fruits by the punnet, and even freezing them to make ice cream:

In addition to all the books on summer that we've been reading, Junior J and I have been busy in the kitchen.  We were blessed with home-grown zucchinis, tomatoes and eggplants from a friend's garden, and made zucchini muffins (and had loads of ratatouille for dinner):

We didn't have a muffin tray, so the batter spread out and the muffins were rather flat, however, the boy loved them!

Then the boy also helped to make dessert some nights.  He was delighted when he was given a bowl of strawberries to wash and dry:

We melted some chocolate in a pan of hot water...

And he got to coat the strawberries with chocolate (and lick the spoon at the end of course)!

I also tried making rainbow popsicles (inspired by this mum's version!), but our freezer chose to conk out just after I added the last layer.  In the end, I tore up the paper cups (we didn't have popsicle molds, so I used paper cups and ice cream sticks) and squished the half-melted popsicles into glasses and called them "rainbow ice".  The boy still enjoyed his for dessert!

It was supposed to follow the colours of the rainbow:
Red (strawberries & raspberries), orange (orange juice), yellow (honey with freshly squeezed lemon),
green (kiwi), blue (blueberries), purple (blackberries).

Summer is nearly over, but we are looking forward to fall, and its harvest of apples and pumpkins!

Linking up with:

Capsicum Cake

Today didn't start off too good.  Leaky nose and cough, plus a headache to boot.  Grouchy baby who woke up early.  3 year old who has been holding poop in, resulting in soiled pants and lots of washing to do while baby wailed at being left alone.

By 10.30 am I was starting to feel light-headed, so I grabbed the nearest thing (potato chips) and started eating.  And then went off to feed baby.  The boy, seeing me stuff my face, asked me "are you hungry, mama?".  And then he trotted off to his play kitchen, and came back with this:

"Because you didn't eat enough potato chips, you have to eat capsicum cake", he declared, and proceeded to feed me the pieces.  The baby tried to grab a mouthful too, but got pushed away by the big boy with a "no, baby J, you can only eat this when you are bigger, ok?".

And here are the steps to make the cake, as described by Junior J:
1. Take a piece of bread and put a burger bun on it.
2. Put another bread on it.
3. Put capsicum on top.
4. Bake it in the oven.
5. Eat it, its very yummy!

And that's his recipe for capsicum cake.  To me, that's a recipe for making mama smile!

Foodie Fridays: Kids in the kitchen (again!)

Remember I mentioned little boy was on a food strike recently?  We've just managed to figure out why.  It turns out that he probably was down with a virus, which was making his insides revolt, since he would sometimes throw up half-way through a meal.  It only became clear after a week of us struggling during meals, since the virus is now giving him a runny nose, and a cough.  Ah well.

Junior J cooking in his own kitchen.  I had grand plans to DIY my own version, but eventually caved
in and got him a store-bought one, since I realize we really don't have time to scout for parts and assemble it!
He sometimes asks to wear his bib as an apron when he cooks.

So the battle to get him interested in food continues, and I'm still trying to get him involved in the kitchen.  The other day, he surprised me during one of our conversations:

Me: Would you like to help Mama cook dinner today?  We can stir the beans and add the herbs!

Junior J: I want to cook over here (pointing at his own play kitchen).

Me: Why?

Junior J: Because its easier!

(I admit, I was so taken aback, I didn't know what to say!)


Here's to a blessed weekend, dear friends!

Foodie Fridays: Kids in the kitchen (and oatmeal cookies)

Junior J has been on a food strike recently.  He's been starting to spit out food again, and now is only willing to eat some of his food if we let him eat raisin bread (with cream cheese) on the side.  We've been lamenting this change, since he was eating much better ever since the Taiwan trip, and was finally gaining some weight.  Guess you never know when it comes to kids!

Anyway, in an attempt to get him to eat better, I thought I'd try to involve him more in the food preparation process.  Since I've been rather inspired by this mum's baking attempts with her 2 kids, I thought I'd try baking cookies with the boy today.  He was really co-operative, waiting for me to scoop the ingredients, while he poured them carefully into the mixing bowl:

He loved watching the ingredients being mixed up, and kept saying "round and round!"...

This version turned out pretty good (but a tad too sweet for my liking), and I think on the whole, better than the previous version that I tried.  The cookies are nice and crunchy!  (However, just a word of warning, younger kids might not be used to their texture.  Junior J had one after lunch, took one bite and started hacking away.... Guess these are better suited for the grown-ups, and I'll be trying other things like muffins instead next time!)

Here's the recipe we used, which was modified from this version.  All you need to do is dump all the ingredients in a bowl (melt the butter first!), mix them up, and then pop them in the oven!

Click to enlarge! 

Do you get your kids to help out in the kitchen?  What kinds of recipes do you try with them?