Cocoa-Cola Baby Back Ribs

It's May!!!! In Memphis that means sun, fun, festivals, and none other than what we're famous for: BBQ! I tell every out of town friend I have, if you visit Memphis, make sure it's in May! Every weekend, there's something fun going on, but the biggest weekend yet is the World Championship BBQ Cooking Contest! Tents line Tom Lee Park along the river with the smell of BBQ in the air. The entire week is one big party and some serious competition! 

Tres and I go every single year, spending a lot of our time at our good friends' tent, Pigs Gone Wild. Those guys are a blast, and to go along with them having a tent bursting with celebration, they can also cook some mean BBQ! BBQ Fest... It's literally the BEST WEEKEND IN MEMPHIS! So in honor of the weekend coming up, I'm doing my own version of ribs. Cocoa-Cola Ribs are exactly what they sound like... A little bit of chocolate and a little bit of Coke make these guys sweet, hearty, and will always make me think of the city I live in and love!

WATCH THE VIDEO HERE!!!! 

Grocery List (4 people): 

• 2 racks baby back ribs

• 4 tbsp good quality unsweetened cocoa powder

• 3 tbsp brown sugar

• 2 tbsp salt

• 2 tsp liquid smoke

• 2 tsp all spice

• 1 tsp smoked paprika

• 1/2 tsp pepper

• 1 1/2 cup regular coke

• 4 medium onions - roughly chopped into large pieces

• 1 cup good quality barbecue sauce

Directions: 

1. Rinse the ribs and pat dry with paper towels. Mix the cocoa, brown sugar, salt, liquid smoke, all spice, paprika, and pepper together in a bowl. Rub the mixture onto the ribs and press to adhere. Cover ribs and refrigerate for a few hours or overnight.

2. Heat oven to 325 degrees. Prep two baking pans by pouring 3/4 cup of coke into each pan. Add the chopped onions over the coke. Place the ribs on top of the onions. Cover the pan tightly with foil. Roast for 2 1/2 to 3 hours or until meat is tender and almost falling off the bone (I like my ribs to still have substance to them.. Not quite falling off the bone). 

3. Using tongs, move ribs to a baking sheet lined with foil. Strain the onions from the coke. Reserve 1/4 cup of the coke and mix with barbecue sauce. Brush a thick layer of the sauce onto ribs. 

4. Put ribs back in the oven for 20 minutes. Serve with the extra cola-barbecue sauce on the side! 

CHEERS TO HAPPY EATING!! 

Andrea's Cooktales - Series 2, Episode 5 - Cocoa-Cola Baby Back Ribs

GET THE FULL RECIPE HERE! 

BLT Chicken

I can't lay my eyes on a tomato without thinking of my great-grandmother, aka Grams. As a kid, I remember visiting her in Coffeeville, Mississippi, a little town off of I-55 that isn't bigger than a minute (that's about how long it takes to drive through it). Grams always ate tomato sandwiches. That's one of the first things I think of when reminisce about visiting her... Tomato sandwiches. Sometimes I think she must have eaten them for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Plain white bread, fresh tomatoes from the garden, and mayo... How can you not like her style?! I mean, that's perfection! Not to mention, she was a tiny little lady, so they must not have an effect on the waistline either! Back then, I wasn't real fond of tomatoes, but today, I call that an absolutely delicious, flawless meal. I loved visiting my Grams in that little town, and I can see her in my mind now, sitting at the little kitchen table in her house eating tomato sandwiches. Tomatoes are my life in the summer... And they should be all of yours too! It' the most extravagant fruit of all time, and they're only perfect this very season! Hence, y'all are gonna see me posting a lot of recipes with tomatoes in the next several weeks... Particularly BLTs. In the summer months, I eat BLTs like bacon and tomatoes will never exist again. It's totally necessary. Here's a fun version of a BLT... Plenty more where this one came from.

Grocery List (for two):

2 skinless boneless chicken breasts

2 tbsp mayo 1

lemon - zested and juiced

2 tsp chives - chopped

2 small tomato - cut into 4 thick slices and dried with paper towels

4 slices of thick cut bacon

8 oz shredded lettuce

1 tbsp creamy Dijon mustard (you can buy this in the bottle, but if you can't find it, use regular Dijon and add 1 tsp of mayo)

2 tbsp olive oil

Avocado (optional)

Kosher Salt

Pepper

Toothpicks

Directions

Step 1:

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly salt and pepper both side of the chicken breasts. Set aside.

Step 2:

Prepare the mayo spread. Mix together the mayo with chives, lemon zest, 2 tsp of lemon juice, and 1/4 tsp of salt and 1/4 tsp of pepper.

Step 3:

Spread 1 tbsp of mayo on top of each chicken breast.

Top each with two slices of the dried off tomato slices. Wrap bacon around the chicken and secure with a toothpick on top of each tomato (the bacon should help hold the tomato slices into place). Place each prepared breast on a baking sheet lined with foil and bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until bacon is crispy. 

Step 4:

Prepare the salad. Mix together the mustard with a dash of salt and pepper. Whisk in olive oil slowly. Put shredded lettuce in a bowl and toss with the dressing (do this right before serving so the lettuce doesn't get soggy).

Split the salad in half and make a "bed" on each plate. Top the salad with the prepared chicken. Top the chicken with avocado if desired.

CHEERS TO HAPPY EATING!!!