Shredded Pork Ribs with Corn Cakes

People think of cornfields when they think of Iowa. I know someone who drove through the state this past summer, and she commented on the many, many rows of corn she and her husband passed.

But Iowa actually is a top pork producer, and so for this Saturday's Michigan-Iowa game I offer my famous-among-loved-ones shredded pork ribs. Serve them with corn cakes, and you've represented our opponent's state very well.

The ribs are cooked slowly in a crockpot, so they require virtually no effort. The corn cakes are easily made using a box of Michigan's own Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix, produced about 30 minutes away from my kitchen.

What a great way to get into the spirit of this match-up!

University of Michigan at University of Iowa
Saturday, November 5
GO BLUE!!!

Shredded Pork Ribs with Corn Cakes

Ribs
4-5 pounds boneless pork ribs (8 ribs)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cardamom
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 425F. Line a 9"x13" baking pan with foil; lightly grease the foil.

Place the ribs into the prepared pan. Combine the remaining ingredients and sprinkle onto all sides of the ribs. Roast for 1 hour.

Sauce
1 12-ounce bottle barbecue sauce (your favorite one)
1/2 cup brown sugar
4 tablespoons cider vinegar
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper sauce

Combine all sauce ingredients. Pour 1/3 of the sauce onto the bottom of a 6-8 quart crockpot. Place a single layer of ribs over the sauce, and continue layering sauce and ribs, ending by pouring the last of the sauce over everything. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours. Stir the pork to shred it and combine the meat with the sauce.

Corn Cakes
1 8.5-ounce box Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 egg
2 tablespoons butter, to grease skillet

In a medium bowl, stir together Jiffy mix, buttermilk and egg; let rest for 5 minutes.

Heat a large skillet over medium heat, and lightly grease with a bit of the butter. Pour batter with a 1/8-cup measure, and cook until set on the sides and golden underneath. Carefully flip the pancake and cook for 1 more minute.

To serve: Place 2 corn cakes onto a serving plate, and top generously with pork.

Serves 6-8.

Floozin' 'n' Schmoozin' at the Chili Cook-Off

Several weeks ago, I received a fabulous email from a representative of the Ann Arbor Civic Theatre; she was inviting me to participate in this past Sunday's second annual Chili Cook-Off, Beer Tasting and Silent Auction fundraiser by saying, "We have to have some Floozie chili again!" She'd remembered me from last year's event ... awww. Of course, when you decorate your table with bright pink feathers and wear a tiara, I guess you tend to stand out!

Well, how could I resist a personal request for such a good cause???

So Tom and I shopped and chopped and stirred and tasted and tweaked, and a beautiful pot of chili was born on Saturday, in order to let the flavors really develop before Sunday's event. It smelled absolutely, deliriously amazing! And while it wasn't painfully spicy, it had enough of a presence that the flavors did a little dance around our mouths and our tongues as they left a distinct tingling. We were very, very pleased at our success!

Of course, this not being the sort of fundraiser where women lose circulation in their legs from pantyhose while men are strangled by bow ties, we had to go find decorations for my table. And that's where Fantasy Attic, a costume shop that is a local institution, came in.

Tom had the notion that a chicken chili required the watchful eye of a rubber chicken; alas -- while we did find one there! -- it was $10 ... not a lot on general principle, but a lot for a one-day event. (It's not like the little guy would be particularly appropriate sitting on my desk at work, after all ....) So we aimed for the $2.50 Mardi Gras beads with little plastic replicas instead. Toss in one bright and festive set of beads with chili peppers, too, and we had our decor!

And so on Sunday we schlepped on down to the Corner Brewery for the event, and were given such a warm welcome! Several of the folks affiliated with the Theatre remembered me, and they even told me that my table from last year was available if I wanted it. Of course, I did! It was a perfect location, first one you'd see when naturally looking from left to right.

I was happily surprised to see a friend I know through work, Sam, who had taken a traditional Jewish cholent ([CHOH-luhnt] = stew) and tweaked it with some seasonings to make it into an excellent chili. I recognized a couple of competitors from last year, as well; all together, there were 18 different varieties entered into the ring, with names such as "D.O.A.," "High Flyin' Chili," and even "Road Kill Chili" ... we won't ask for the ingredient list on that one!

The event also had a silent auction, with a wide assortment of fabulous prizes like 6 months worth of chocolate, restaurant gift certificates, a walk-on role in the Theatre company's production of "Sweeney Todd," a pearl pendant, and even -- oh, bestill my baseball-loving heart! -- tickets to see the Yankees play the Tigers at Comerica Park in May. There was a beer tasting, too, which is going to be virtually ignored here because I rarely drink, and it's literally been decades since I drank beer. Wine or prissy drinks with umbrellas, please, but no beer for me.

Anyway, on with the show!

I am thrilled to say that I was the first one of the bunch to run out of chili, even though I'd brought a full crockpot as well as a stockpot with more. I had people say "I was told I had to try this" or "My friend recommended yours and said I had to taste it." One couple told me they'd read about my chili on AnnArbor.com -- my article, I hope! There was even one fabulous woman who stopped by for a sample, who then brought her husband over for a sample, who then came by one last time saying this taste was all hers: "I'm not sharing!"

I'm also proud to say that Ingrid Sheldon, former mayor of Ann Arbor, had the honor of being my very last chili taster; she literally took her plastic spoon and scraped up the one lone remaining bean from the bottom of the crockpot, because that's all that was left by the time she stopped by to visit me.

An added twist -- in addition to the three judges who were in the back, tasting away in an effort to award prizes -- was that each contestant had a jar for collecting $1 donations; the one with the most money would win the "People's Choice Award." I was tickled to see one man slip a $5 bill into my jar ... good thing I'm already spoken for, huh??? That might have swayed me, if I were a lesser woman!

Now, as though all of this excitement weren't enough, here was the BIG news: I was absolutely giddy to have had Ann Pearlman, fellow Michigander (Michigoose???) and author of The Christmas Cookie Club -- a book I'd just read and loved at Christmastime, no less! -- stop by to visit me. She's a Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award nominee, and she told me that a sequel to the Cookie Club book is due out in October, with further adventures from our favorite women ... yay!!!

I wish I'd had enough presence of mind, in the midst of my happy surprise, to have asked her for an interview ... oh, what fun we'd have had talking about food and life! Because Ann told me that her kitchen philosophy is the same as mine: the cooking, preparing, and eating of food is all about creating memories and sharing traditions and building cherished relationships through these bonding experiences.

Well, it was finally time to award the prizes -- 1st Place, 2nd Place, Most Authentic, and Most Creative. I'm sorry to say that I didn't win anything ... :(

I was kinda maybe thinking I'd win the "People's Choice;" but truly, seeing people smile, hearing their compliments, and watching them come back for more and bring their friends over ... well, that was priceless! That I got a great story to tell on a windy February day while supporting a great cause -- even better! And that I had both Tom and my BFF Wendy there, supporting me, running for chili samples (so we could taste the competition!) and enjoying themselves ... well, that was fabulous, too!!! So I really did win where it counted, I have to admit ... :)

So now, on to the chili recipe!

It looks like there's an overwhelming amount of stuff in this chili, but it's really not too bad. Some chopping, some emptying of cans, some stirring, and then just let it simmer away and work its magic! Truly, it's a thing of beauty once it's all simmered together ....

Cheesy Chicken Chorizo Chili

1 pound ground chicken
1 pound chorizo
2 large onions, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
1 orange pepper, chopped
1 yellow pepper, chopped
6 scallions, chopped
3/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 teaspoon applewood smoked salt (a Christmas gift from Tom, bought at a small store in a small town; I think either regular salt or a drip of Liquid Smoke would be fine as substitutes)
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1-1/2 packets taco seasoning mix
1-1/2 cups frozen corn
2 28-ounce cans diced tomatoes
3 cups fresh salsa
1 10-ounce can green chile enchilada sauce
2 15-ounce cans white beans, rinsed
1 15-ounce can red kidney beans, rinsed
1 teaspoon Clancy's Fancy hot sauce
3 tablespoons chili garlic sauce
1 cup light beer (I used Arbor Brewing Company's Red Snapper Amber Ale)
2 cups water
16 ounces Pepper Jack cheese, grated
8 ounces Mild Cheddar cheese, grated

Brown the chicken and the chorizo in an 8-quart stockpot over medium heat. Add half of the onions, the red, orange and yellow peppers, and the scallions; cook, stirring frequently, for a few minutes. Add the rest of the onions, peppers and scallions and cook, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes.




Add the garlic, smoked salt, chili powder, sea salt, pepper and taco seasoning; cook 1 minute. Add the corn, tomatoes, salsa, enchilada sauce, white and red beans, hot sauce, and chili garlic sauce; cook for 5 minutes. Add the beer and the water; bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to medium.

Add the cheeses and cook for at least 1 hour, stirring frequently. If you can make this a day ahead and warm it up, it'd be even better!

International Week -- Transylvanian Goulash

Every time the subject of goulash comes up in conversation -- and it actually does come up in my conversations, sometimes! -- people tell me about a dish they make with ground beef that almost sounds like a soupy sort of sloppy joe mixture. I'm sure it's fabulous, and I've made similar meals myself. But it's not actually goulash, especially if the macaroni that many folks mention in the same breath is added to it ... really, I mean it.

According to the online Budapest Tourist Guide, goulash "was (and still is) a very popular dish among herdsmen in Hungary. They made it in a cast-iron kettle hung above open fire, out in the fields. Herdsman is gulyás in Hungarian, so that’s where the dish’s name comes from." The basic ingredients are a tomato base, meat, onion, sometimes green pepper and always paprika.

The basis of my own recipe comes from an article in The New York Times Magazine section from February 5, 2006. It featured Transylvanian Goulash, though unfortunately no reason for it being Transylvanian vs. Hungarian is given; both territories were once part of the Austro-Hungarian empire, so the basic dish would have been tinkered with throughout the region.

The article told of Joseph Wechsberg, the supreme authority on Austro-Hungarian food who once wrote for The New Yorker and for Gourmet, whose book entitled The Cooking of Vienna's Empire was published by Time-Life in 1968. A friend and collaborator said of Wechsberg: "His writing about food ... was so unbelievably precise, you couldn't argue with it."

And so, when I found the recipe for Transylvanian Goulash that had come from Wechsberg, I knew I had found the real thing. I tweaked it slightly, eliminating a mixture of cream and flour which would only serve to thicken it a bit at the end, but that's not a particularly radical deviation; it's not as though I took out the sauerkraut.

Yup -- sauerkraut. The goulash starts with pork cubes, adds sauerkraut and caraway seeds, and includes a bit of tomato sauce for the base. Long, slow cooking in the crockpot turns these few basic ingredients into an amazing melange of flavors, and a bit of sour cream offered for serving -- to be stirred in, if desired -- makes it richer. I have a note scribbled on my modified version of the original that simply says "EXCELLENT!!!"

Please don't think that sauerkraut is only for hot dogs ... trust me here. Even my beloved friend Wendy, who loathes anything vinegary, really enjoyed this and said that it's very well balanced and smooth. Jeremy ate two huge helpings, and was sorry there wasn't more!

Make a batch of goulash, and you'll come home at the end of the day to a house that smells amazing with the tantalizing promise of dinner, and you'll nourish both your body and your soul when you indulge in this delicious meal ....


Transylvanian Goulash

2 tablespoons oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2-1/2 pounds pork chops, cut into 1" cubes
1 pound sauerkraut not from a can, drained and rinsed well
3 cups chicken broth
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 tablespoons sweet paprika
1-1/2 teaspoons caraway seeds
2/3 cup tomato sauce

splash of hot sauce, if desired
sour cream, for serving

In a medium skillet, heat the oil over medium heat; add the onion and garlic and cook until the onion is translucent.

Layer the onion/garlic mixture, the pork cubes, and the sauerkraut into a crockpot, alternating layers. Combine the broth, salt, paprika, caraway seeds, and tomato sauce; pour over the pork. Cover and cook on "high" for 4 hours or "low" for most of the day. Serve the goulash with a splash of hot sauce and/or some sour cream, if desired.

Serves 4-6.

Look At Me, I'm Sandra Lee!

I'm not normally a fan of the "dump 'n' stir" philosophy of cooking so thoroughly relished by Sandra Lee, the eternally perky woman who has built a Semi-Homemade empire through such gag-inducing notions as making meatloaf with dry onion soup mix and Cream of Mushroom soup. (I saw it myself, or else I'd have thought I'd gone through a time machine back into the 60s!) Processed ingredients forming some semblance of a meal, and requiring no ability beyond running a can opener ... not for moi. I don't necessarily cook to Cordon Bleu standards of complication, but still!

But after a stressful month or so leading up to last weekend's hospitalization of a loved one, compounded by a wretched and broken-hearted week in which I abruptly find that I am no longer part of an "us" for reasons beyond my comprehension and control, I'm just not in the mood to cook despite it normally being a great passion. Jeremy, however, needs to eat ... as do I, although it's difficult to choke anything down. I'm trying to push nutrition into myself, focusing on fruits and vegetables and protein.

And so this morning -- a dreary, rainy day to suit my misery -- I decided to pull out my Mama Bear crockpot (as opposed to the Papa Bear and Baby Bear versions). Let the slow cooker do the work while I wallow! But what do I have to put into it, other than a couple of defrosted ground beef patties, since I haven't been to the grocery store in a few days?

A can of diced tomatoes with chili peppers and onions. A can of black beans. A packet of taco seasoning. A jar of taco sauce. Oh, no -- I must resign myself to the "dump 'n' stir" ... a pot of chili is clearly what the fates have planned.

So I browned the beef and sauteed the onions, just so I can claim that I actually did some cooking. I rinsed the beans and plopped them in along with the tomatoes and sauce and seasoning. I added a dash of Tabasco and a little bit of non-alcoholic beer discovered recently when I cleaned out my pantry. (I had Pink Eye and was a walking contagion -- I had to do something while I was on doctor-ordered banishment from work and public interaction!) And then I covered the crockpot and set it to do the cooking while I did some therapy shopping. (New-to-me jeans, t-shirt, skirt, pink beaded tank sweater, glass dish, and Moroccan tile-inspired plates from a thrift shop, plus gorgeous dangly floral earrings bought with the remainder of a gift card from a fabulous friend ... inquiring minds need to know these things!)

And ya know what? The chili was pretty good, if I may say so myself! I don't know that this will become my new m.o., but dumping stuff in and stirring it around to make an easy meal worked out well today. A few nacho chips crumbled on top, a dollop of sour cream, and dinner was served ....


Crockpot Chili

1/2 pound ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped
1 15-ounce can black beans, rinsed
1 cup corn
1 14-ounce can diced tomatoes with chilies and onions
1 packet taco seasoning
6 ounces beer
1/2 cup salsa
1/2 cup taco sauce
generous splashes of Tabasco sauce
salt, pepper

Brown the ground beef and the onions. Then dump them into a crockpot along with everything else on the list, stir the ingredients, cook on "low" all day.

P.S.: For those of you who aren't old enough to know this, the title of this post is a play on "Look At Me, I'm Sandra Dee" from "Grease." Yes, I'm showing my age ... being old is better than the alternative!