New Grill Favorite

I've never really grilled pork ribs out of sheer laziness. Ribs have become one of these recipes where everyone has some needlessly gimmicky secret with little or no bearing on the final outcome. It was so refreshing when I found this simple yet deep recipe in Bon Apetit. I've adapted Sarun Pich's recipe to give it a more floral note.

Cambodian Ribs

Ingredients

2 2 1/2 lb baby back pork rib racks

Marinade

1/2 cup fresh peeled ginger

12 cloves garlic

1 tbs sugar

1 tbs coarse kosher salt

1 tbs fresh ground black pepper

2 tbs honey

2 tbs soy sauce

2 tbs fish sauce

6 Kaffir lime leaves

3 large limes

Directions

Using a sharp knife, remove the papery, shiny membrane off the underside of each rib rack.

Combine all the marinade ingredients in a food processor and marinade the pork ribs overnight.

Place the ribs on a BBQ grill on medium heat. Grill 8 minutes aside and then cover until the pork is cooked.

Drizzle with fresh lime juice and serve.

Plum Jam

It's been a hot summer. A dry summer. An orchard summer and my plum tree has started to bow under the gorging weight of it's fruit. With the fruit turning rapidly, there was no option but to start making jam. The following Vanilla Plum jam has been adapted from The Chez Pim blog.

Plum Jam

Ingredients

2 lbs plums

3/4 lb sugar

Juice from 1 lemon

2 Vanilla beans

Directions

Place new jars, lids and seals into boiling water and boil for at least 20 minutes.

Pit the plums and cut into chunks. Place in a pot with the sugar and lemon juice. Let stand for an hour covered with parchment paper.

Cut the vanilla beans lengthwise and scrape the seeds into the plum mixture. Add the pods in as well for good measure.

Bring to a boil over medium heat and let simmer until reduced by half, stirring occasionally.

You can also test the jam for readiness by first placing a plate in the fridge. Put a small spoonful on the cooled plate and let cool in the fridge for 2 minutes. If you can run your finger through the jam and create lasting tracks, it's ready. It however, all depends on your own preference.

Ladle jam into jars, seal and finger tighten the lids. Place back into the boiling water for 10 minutes. Remove from water and cool.

Eating for my Blood Type

Why am I eating for my blood type? No apparent reason, other than for the random desire for challenge. More likely, it was just an excuse for trying my hand at rabbit. This recipe, adapted from David Tanis' A Platter of Figs and other Recipes, was pretty straightforward and provided a full, wintry feel. Next time, I'd like to try to get a hold of a rabbit with skin, just to try for that crispy texture.

Rabbit Roasted with Mustard

Ingredients

1 rabbit, 2 1/2 to 3 lbs

salt and pepper

1/4 cup Dijon mustard

2 tsp mustard seeds, crushed

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

10 garlic cloves, sliced

1/2 pound thick sliced bacon

4 bay leaves

1/2 can beer

thyme branches

sage branches

Directions

Cut the rabbit into 6 pieces, the legs and then the saddle in half. Season rabbit with salt and pepper. Marinade at least 1 hour in the mustard, mustard seeds, heavy cream, garlic, bacon, bay leaves, thyme and sage.

Preheat oven to 400 F. Place rabbit in a low sided baking dish with as much marinade as you can get out of the bowl. Bake for 1 hour, turning the pieces as they brown.

Remove rabbit from the pan. Heat the pan over low to medium heat. De glaze the pan with half a can of beer or a cup of wine and heat until thick. Place rabbit back into pan to heat through and serve.