Sunday's with Jerome Honey-Chipotle Ribs and Brussel Sprouts

Today I decided to write my first blog. I am not a very good writer but I do have a lot to say. I started this blog to let people know what I do with my Sundays. Sundays are a very special part of my week. I cook, clean, enjoy a brew and I get to spend time with Jen and the pups lounging and catching up on ALL THE SHOWS we love to watch. I don't even know where to begin with this blog because I feel like I have wanted to start one for a while. Do I start with the scroll of things to do around the house before Averie arrives? Do I blog about what I cooked last weekend and what I am going to be cooking this weekend? Do I blog about how I love to be handy around the house? or Do I blog about the latest and greatest show I am addicted too? So many options to blog about. So for this first blog I have decided to blog about this Sunday's dinner.

Today's dinner I have decided to cook Honey-Chipotle slow cooker ribs, brussels sprouts and roasted potatoes. Before you begin to judge me about about brussels sprouts, let me first say, I hated them before I had even tried them. The first time I decided to try brussels sprouts was Thanksgiving last year. My sister in law Jackie decided to cook them for dinner and hid the smell and taste of them with bacon, cranberries, and brown sugar. Let me just tell you, I didn't think I was eating a vegetable at all. They were HEAVEN!!!! After that time Jen and I cooked them the very same way with the same amazing results. However, I didn't want to have to cook bacon each time I ate brussels sprouts because I knew it was defeating the purpose of the sprouts themselves. I then tried to venture out and cook them with garlic, butter, pepper and the brussels. They were okay but I added way too much butter and in the end, they just weren't very good. Summer then arrived and they weren't in season so I didn't even think about them. Now that they are back, Jen and I can't stop thinking about them. I searched online for some great recipes and I finally found one that sounded great. I can't remember where I got it from but it was somewhere like recipes.com or cookinglight.com. Those seem to be frequent places I go for great recipes. Here is the recipe we chose:

Brussels Sprouts

One onion chopped

Halve two stocks of brussels sprouts (or use two bags from trader joes)

Salt

Pepper

Garlic powder

2 cups low-sodium chicken stock

4 tbsp of butter

In a pan, brown the chopped onion for about 5 minutes. Then add the brussels sprouts and season with salt, pepper and garlic powder. You can use actual garlic but I didn't buy any at the store. Then add 2 cups of low-sodium chicken stock. Cover and cook for about 15 minutes, or until the liquid is gone. Add the 4 tbsp of butter until melted and season with more salt and pepper as needed.

Let me just tell you. THESE ARE AMAZING and we are having them again tonight. On a side note, I always use two stalks of brussels because I LOVE LEFTOVERS and so do the others I share my extra food with. :)

Because Sunday is my day to let Jen relax, I almost always cook a big meal. Today, along with the brussels sprouts, I have decided to cook honey-chipotle ribs. I knew I wanted to cook something in the slow cooker because we were going to be gone in the morning so I decided to start looking for slow cooker rib recipes. I love searching on the internet for recipes and when I did, I came across this recipe on Life's Ambrosia

http://www.lifesambrosia.com/2010/06/honey-chipotle-slow-cooker-pork-ribs-recipe.html

The ribs looked good in the picture and it didn't look too BBQey if that makes sense. The last time I made ribs in the crockpot, they had so much sauce and I tried to improvise too much. They didn't end up being that good. Here is the recipe for the ribs.

Honey-Chipotle Ribs

You will need:

• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 pounds baby back pork ribs
• 1 onion sliced

Honey Chipotle BBQ Sauce

• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 (7 ounce) can chipotle peppers in adobo sauce

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.
2. In a bowl combine kosher salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, paprika, onion powder, cumin and olive oil in a bowl. Stir to make a paste. Rub mixture all over ribs. Transfer to preheated baking sheet. Place in oven and cook for 15 minutes. Turn and cook for 15 more minutes.
3. Place the sliced onion on the bottom of the slow cooker.
4. While the meat is cooking combine all of the ingredients for the BBQ sauce in a food processor and process until smooth.
5. Transfer ribs to the slow cooker. Pour BBQ sauce over the top. Cover and cook for 6 hours.

We ended up cooking them for 8 hours. Let me just tell you...AMAZING!!!! They are sweet and spicy. YUM!

We also cooked roasted potatoes. We bought the potatoes from Trader Joe's that are purple, pink and yellow. Not sure what they are called. We quartered them and drizzled them with olive oil and seasoned with salt and pepper. We cooked them at 400 degrees for about 25 minutes. Those, along with the brussels and ribs were an AMAZING meal. I finished the meal off with the Harvest Moon Pumpkin Ale. Such a great Sunday dinner.

I look forward to blogging in the future about My Sundays! Love to all. P.S. I always thought that it was brussel sprouts. But it is actually brussels sprouts. Weird.