GO RAVENS !!!! Game Day Menu!!

Baltimore born and bred, I remember the Colts literally sneaking out of town in the middle of the night. It was devastating to this sports town. This town has not forgiven them yet. So believe me, even though we will be away from home, we will be flaunting our purple pride and tuned in for the match between the Indianapolis Colts and Baltimore’s indomitable Raven’s!

Whether your team is playing on Saturday or Sunday, chances are, you’re planning to watch one of the football playoff games this weekend. So you will definitely need food to maintain your sustenance for all that screaming, yelling and jumping around. Thought I’d share a recipe or two that we plan to make.

Along with the usual menu of wings, chips and beer (Baltimore IS a beer town!!!), we may just make up a batch of these jalapeno gems!

FRIED JALAPENOS

Prepare 6-8 jalapeno peppers by removing the stem end, and, using a pointed paring knife, remove the seeds and veins from the pepper. (The pepper’s heat is contained in the seeds and veins. We like the heat, so I usually only remove about half of the seeds from ours.)

Cream together:
1 ½ oz. cream cheese
1 - 1 ½ oz. shredded cheese of your choice
(mozzarella, cheddar, taco mix, etc.)
1 oz. mild or hot salsa (How hot do you want these?)

Beat 2 eggs in a small, deep bowl.
Blend ½ cup flour with ¾ cup seasoned bread crumbs in a cereal bowl.
Use canola oil to prepare a deep fryer to the fill depth or a frying pan to about a 2” depth.
Using a spoon, fill each pepper with the cheese mixture.
Dip each stuffed pepper in the egg bowl and then roll in the crumb mixture, coating completely.
Dip a second time in the egg and again in the crumbs.
Carefully place the peppers, a few at a time in the oil.
Fry till golden brown.
Serve warm.


We might even serve some ribs!!!

OVEN-BARBECUED BABY BACK RIBS

(Since we don’t own a real charcoal smoker, I developed this recipe to make my ribs in the oven. They can almost convince you they were smoked on the grill. These are “dry ribs” which means they are cooked without sauce, just a seasoned rub.)

2 racks of baby back ribs
½ cup dry rub to coat both sides of each rack
8-10 oz. apple cider or apple juice to spritz ribs while they cook

Remove the transparent membrane from the back of the racks of ribs before cooking. Generously apply rub to both sides of the ribs.
Place the ribs on a raised rack in a roaster pan.
Bake at 225° for 2 ½ hours, turning the ribs after one hour.
Spritz ribs with apple cider at that time and raise the oven temperature to 350° and continue cooking for 2 more hours, spritzing ribs about every half hour and turning after one hour. Finish the ribs off with 10-15 minutes under the broiler to brown them up.
** If you don’t have a small spray bottle to spritz, you can spoon the juice over the ribs just as you might baste a turkey.

This process should produce flavorful F.O.B. (fall off the bone) ribs!! If you must, add the bbq sauce of your choice.



GO RAVENS !!!!!!