Instant Pot Pork Ribs

I love to cook ribs low and slow, then grill them with BBQ sauce to make them crisp and flavourful.  But slow roasting the ribs in the oven takes hours.  You can get the same tender results in the Instant Pot in minutes! 

I normally make at least two racks of ribs in the oven, since it takes so much time and effort, but with this method, I can justify making just one rack for a weeknight dinner.  I never thought I'd have homemade ribs on a weeknight!

I use a homemade spice rub when I make ribs, but you can season them any way you like.  Montreal Chicken seasoning is great for ribs.  

In the Instant Pot you need to use the rack to cook ribs.  You also need some liquid for pressure cooking.  I used chicken stock this time, but apple juice, cider or beer would be great!

For tender ribs, cook on Manual for 21 minutes.  It will take about 40 minutes when you include time to build up and release the pressure.  Still reasonable for a weeknight dinner!

You can spread the ribs with your favourite BBQ sauce and serve when they come out of the Instant Pot, but I like to crisp them up on the grill.  

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients
1 rack spare ribs
2 tablespoons spice rub (see recipe below, or make/buy your own)
1 cup chicken stock, apple juice, beer or cider
BBQ sauce

Directions
Rub ribs all over with spice rub
Place rack in Instant Pot
Add stock, juice or beer to pot
Place ribs on rack in pot
Seal Instant Pot lid
Set Instant Pot to 21 minutes on Manual setting
Once done, let pressure release naturally
Grill or broil ribs, brushing with BBQ sauce until crisp



BBQ Spice Rub
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Directions
Mix all spices together and store in a sealed container. 

Grilled Watermelon & Halloumi Cheese Salad

Here's a beautiful way to celebrate summer!  Grilled slices of watermelon and halloumi cheese over lemony green beans.  

If you haven't tried halloumi cheese, it's a very firm, mild cheese that can be grilled or pan-fried without melting.  It has a mild, salty flavour and a firm, slightly rubbery texture that works great with fruit and vegetables.  

Here's what you need for this lovely summer salad. 

Rhubarb-Cherry Sauce for Pork Chops

Rhubarb... I just don't know. 

We signed up for our CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) box again this year. We loved it so much last year and we ate everything, except the rhubarb. This year I was determined to try to use it up so I thought I'd make this sauce to accompany pork.  

The recipe comes from Martha Stewart.  Here's what you need:

The Perfect Storm: Spicy Rosemary BBQ Potatoes

This post comes from Matt, the Beer Baron, who is also a potato baron in his spare time. 

Just like pigs in The Simpsons, potatoes are the proverbial “magical animal” of the vegetable kingdom. From the ubiquitous French fry to the glorious pierogi, potatoes are definitely versatile and absolutely wonderful – so it came as no surprise to the Clockwatching Tart when I excitedly started thinking up recipe ideas for our little Something Blue potatoes from The Little Potato Company. 

Since I was starting with something I love so much, I decided to just roll with it and create a perfect storm of things I love: potatoes, extra virgin olive oil, fresh rosemary, hot pepper flakes, and cooking on my beloved Weber barbeque. 

To create my flavour-infused olive oil, I just took a shade over half a cup of extra virgin olive oil and got it up to a low simmer over medium heat on the stove top before adding six sprigs of fresh rosemary and two heaping teaspoons of hot pepper flakes. I let everything simmer for five minutes, then removed it from the heat and let it cool down before pouring the oil through the strainer to create a wonderfully fragrant, lightly spicy oil for the potatoes. 

Fish Tacos

We have sought out fish tacos wherever we can get them on our travels.  They're a favourite of ours, so we decided to try them at home.  These are so easy and versatile,  You can use any kind of fish and an assortment of toppings.  

For our first try, we used tilapia.  It's a very mild fish that works well on the grill.  We sprinkled the fish with taco seasoning (cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, cayenne and salt), and grilled it for about 3-4 minutes per side until firm and opaque.

Turkey Burgers

Ground turkey doesn't really work the same as beef.  Since it is so lean, it can turn out dry.  But this recipe uses veggies to keep the meat moist, juicy and flavourful.  These burgers are delicious and very healthy too!

Here's what you need for these burgers.

Spring Lamb Chops & Asparagus Ravioli

I like these simple meals that are fancy enough for company but quick enough for a weeknight.  This dish just sings spring.  Tiny lollipop lamb chops and store-bought asparagus ravioli with fresh asparagus on top.  Easy as pie!  

Here's all you need for the grilled lamb chops for two:

Sausage Party!

Last night we had a small dinner party for friends.  I wanted to serve something relatively simple and something beer-friendly.  Since we are lucky enough to have a fantastic sausage-maker nearby in The Hungary Butcher, we ordered a variety of sausages and grilled them up.

We got our favourites: Hawaiian Bacon, Spanish, Jalapeño Cheddar and Honey Garlic. 

Peach Salsa with Grilled Pork Chops

Peaches are still very much in season around here.  Last week we ate two full baskets between the two of us!  This tasty, easy peach salsa used up four of them.  It's great with pork and would be nice with chicken too.

Here's what you need:

4 ripe peaches
1 small red onion
2 jalapeño peppers
juice of one lime
cilantro or parsley

Spice Crusted Lamb Chops with Corn Salad

I always see these beautiful lamb chops with the long "handle" (bone) in blogs and recipe sites, but I never see them for sale in stores.  I decided to take matters into my own hands and turn a Frenched rack of lamb into lollipop chops.  

This recipe comes from Serious Eats but it was way too spicy for me as written.  I should have known when it called for half a teaspoon of cayenne pepper that something was off.  There was too much spice altogether, so I've halved the spice mix recipe and further reduced the cayenne.  You can add more if you want it super spicy.  

First, the corn salad.  You'll need:

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

1/2 tablespoon sugar
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
1/2 cup fresh mint leaves, chopped
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 cups fresh corn kernels, from about 4 ears corn
Freshly ground black pepper

Pineapple Glazed Short Ribs

This terrific recipe comes from Canadian Beef.  The beef is marinated in pineapple juice which is then boiled and turned into a glaze to flavour the meat while it grills.

I've been trying out different kinds of organic and natural beef.  I found some "Miami-style" short ribs.  They are also called Korean-style or flanken-cut ribs, sliced thin through the bone and good for grilling.  

Here's what you need:

Soy-Ginger Flank Steak with Sweet Slaw

Grilled flank steak is easy to make and takes on the flavour of any marinade.  This recipe from Epicurious uses a soy-ginger marinade and pairs it with a sweet and spicy slaw.  Extremely refreshing and summery!

Jerk Chicken Drumsticks

Jerk is a Jamaican style of cooking where meat is marinated overnight in a spicy rub or paste then grilled over high heat.  You can buy any number of prepared Jerk seasonings and marinades in grocery stores, but making your own is very easy and definitely worth the effort. 

The two most important ingredients in jerk seasoning are allspice and Scotch bonnet peppers.  This recipe is inspired by Clean Eating magazine.  It calls for many ingredients, but it's relatively easy to prepare.  Here's what you need:  

Leftover Steak Salad

Last Sunday my husband surprised me by making me some massive T-bone steaks, baked potatoes and fresh, local asparagus for dinner.  The steaks were delicious but obviously way more than the two of us could finish.  

I love leftover steak.  

Spatchcock Grilled Chicken with Sour Cream Mashed Potatoes

I've spatchcocked a chicken before to roast in the oven.  I've even spatchcocked a turkey.    But this may be my favourite spatchcock yet!  Grilling the chicken is quick and easy and doesn't heat up the kitchen.  The skin is crisp and the meat is juicy and delicious.  

Beer-Marinated Flank Steak with Aji Sauce

Steak? Money's too tight for steak.  

We just got back from a vacation to San Diego where we feasted on sushi and tacos all week, so we’re the last people deserving of a fancy steak dinner but I saw some flank steak at the local market. It is delicious and economical if you have a little time to marinate it. And I did, so I did. 

This recipe comes from Epicurious. I made the aji sauce, which was an excellent accompaniment, easy to make and highly recommended. I skipped the guacamole though.  

Here's what you need for the steak marinade:

1 1/2 to 2 pounds flank steaksalt and pepper
1/2 tablespoon dried oregano
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
4 thinly sliced green onions
half a 12-ounce bottle dark beer

Lamb Kofta

I've wanted to make kofta for a long time.  It's intriguing.  It's sort of like a little burger or meatloaf grilled on a skewer.  Ground lamb is not easy to find in my local supermarkets but I did find some at my local farmers market last weekend.  I thought it would be delicious with some middle eastern spices and I was right.  You can also use ground beef if that's what you have. 

This recipe comes from Vikram Vij whose Vancouver restaurant I hope to visit one day.  
Here's what you need:

1 pound lean ground lamb
2 hot peppers
1 inch fresh ginger
3 cloves garlic

½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon cumin powder
1 tablespoon cilantro leaves, chopped
¼ teaspoon garam masala
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons flour
1 medium onion, finely grated

Pork Tenderloin with Plum Chutney

The other night after work I was planning a simple shrimp pasta dinner but realized a basket of plums was becoming overripe and needed to be used. I'd been thinking of shrimp for dinner but an online search for shrimp and plums didn't turn up anything appealing.  I did find this recipe on Epicurious for pork tenderloin with plum chutney. It called for the pork to be wrapped in pancetta or prosciutto, which I didn't have, but I did have some leftover bacon from the weekend that needed to be used, so perfect!  This was a lot more involved than I'd been planning but it wasn't too much trouble and it was so delicious it was worth the effort!

For the plum chutney you'll need plums, an onion, apple cider vinegar, ginger, garlic, brown sugar, mustard seeds and a bay leaf.

I used these local blue plums but any plums will do. You can peel them if you want but it's not like the queen is coming over. I don't know if I'd even peel plums for her. 

Pit and slice the plums. You can see some of these are a bit mushy. Perfect for cooking.

Slice an onion and sauté in a little oil until soft.

Throw in a tablespoon of mustard seeds and toast for a few seconds.

Add in about 1/3 cup of brown sugar, 1/4 cup cider vinegar, a tablespoon of minced garlic and the same of minced ginger, 1/4 cup of water and a bay leaf.  

Simmer a few minutes and add in the plums. Those skins will give it a beautiful colour as it cooks.

Cover and simmer 8 minutes, then uncover and let it simmer and thicken for about 20 minutes.  

It will be a lovely, thick chutney once it's done.

Meanwhile, prepare your pork tenderloin.  

Mince 2 tablespoons fresh rosemary and mix with a tablespoon of dried herbes de Provence and a tablespoon of olive oil.  

Rub this all over the pork tenderloin.

Now you'll need about 6 slices of bacon (or pancetta or prosciutto).

Carefully wrap the bacon around the pork until it is completely covered.

Secure each bacon slice with a toothpick or use kitchen twine.

Grill the pork over high heat about 8-10 minutes and then move to low heat for another 15-20 minutes until cooked through. Tip from the griller: it'll be very smoky and you may see flames when you first put the pork on high. 

Once cooked, cover in foil and let it rest while you rewarm the chutney.

Remove the toothpicks and use a very sharp knife to slice the pork so you don't shred the bacon.

Slice into medallions. We're serving this with grilled zucchini and a wild rice and basmati blend.  

Top the pork with the plum chutney.

For this unexpectedly fancy weeknight dinner we also broke out a nice bottle of wine. The bacon and herb wrapped pork was amazing, we'll definitely use this technique again. The chutney was a nice touch and a great way to use up ripe fruit.