The food thread

Portuguese " prego " (cow steake)

what you need :

garlic
olive oil
margarine or butter
bay leaf
mustard
salt pepper
bread


-Crush the garlic with the bark, with the aid of a knife.
- In a frying pan pour a little olive oil and margarine heat it and let it melt.
- Add the garlic ,the bay leaf and mustard .
- place then the steaks to be fried, seasoned with a pinch of salt and pepper.
- Cut the bread in half and wet the bread in the gravy.
- Put the bread on top, cover with other half and serve hot, with french fries or other follow-up to taste.

prego.jpg
here with a fryed egg on top
 
Cal if you have a portuguese restaurant were you live try it you will not be disappointed
In Vancouver there is no shortage of any ethnic groups and I am proud to say that I have more than one Portugese friend. Thankfully they are all of the female variety. ;)
No one needs margarine.
Remember when we thought it was better for you than butter?
 
Ribs?

Or fix any recipe with ...


BACON! :D


Gonna make some ribs tonight, any good rib recipes out there?


They're pork back ribs (baby?) and I don't have a smoker or anything.

Last time I scored the membrane, sprinkled salt and pepper and slathered in lots of regular mustard (condiment not powder). Wrapped them tight in aluminum foil then baked them for ~2 hours at ~325 in a toaster oven (to save electricity) meat side down (to keep the meat moist) and then finished them with some more mustard on the BBQ for ~20 min to get the nice char and grill marks. Wife loved them!

What's the verdict on the back membrane: leave it, score it or remove it?

Cheers,
Jeff
 
Hi Jeff,

Back ribs are not bad. We had them last night. :) They are a fast cook. All I do is yes, remove the silverskin with a butter knife and a paper towel and just pull it off. Then I cut off the excess fat and rub it with liquid smoke and then a meat rub. Leave for a few minutes and pop them in the oven at 500 on a rack, face down for a few minutes. Turn the heat down to about 300 and turn them face up after about 30 minutes. Leave for another 20 and then sauce them for the last 40. You have to do it once or twice to get things right as every oven is different.

Spare ribs OTOH are a different story. Those are made for the smoker, they take a lot longer but are worth the effort. You can't use back ribs that way, or at least I haven't had much luck. The best I can do for back ribs is the method above but if you are adventuresome you can drench them in liquid smoke then brine them for two days (salt and sugar) before putting them in the dehydrator for about 18 - 24 hours at 165F then place them in a steamer to warm up when you are ready.
 
Ribs "alentejo" style

what you need:

- 4 ribs
- 1 dl red wine
- pickles
- 16 olives without stones
- 1 soup spoon of butter
- 2 soup spon of vineyard d'garlic or just garlic
- to taste chili powder or other spicy sauce

1.put the Vineyard d' Garlicthe over the ribs and pour the red wine. Leave to rest the marinade approximately 2 hours.

2. Heat the butter and aloure therein the ribs on both sides. Go by adding a little liquid from marinating.

3. Once fried, remove them and add to the sauce the pickles cut into tiny pieces very small and the olives. Sprinkle with the piri-piri or other spicy sauce to taste. Let the mixture thicken.

4. Serve the ribs irrigated with the sauce and accompanied with mashed potatoes or fries.
 
In Vancouver there is no shortage of any ethnic groups and I am proud to say that I have more than one Portugese friend. Thankfully they are all of the female variety. ;)

Remember when we thought it was better for you than butter?

Analog was staffed in the 60's from our huge Portugese community, Brazil, Azores, Portugal, etc. I have many Portugese friends too.

We used to drive to the Illinois state line to buy colored oleo since the dairy lobby made colored oleo illegal in the state of Wisconsin. My grandmother OTOH made liberal use of the 70 cent* spread.

* For those that might not know margarine was also pushed on price.
 
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I heard stories from my grandmother making the trip from Milwaukee to get oleo. She was worried about her cholesterol in the early 60's I guess because of grandpas death (heart) before I was born. She made it till 96 but I think it was the wine and organ playing. I named the Pearl phono after her.
 
Jeff, I like your method for ribs in general. Back ribs can be tricky, depends how they are cut. Some are like loin chops just cut differently, and you can't cook those like regular ribs or they will dry out (I think that is what Cal was referring to). Other "back ribs" are more like side ribs, just a little meatier.

Either way, I like a dry rub first, which should contain at a minimum: salt, pepper, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, thyme, sage, mustard powder... Use your imagination. Spanish smoked paprika is nice, or if you have access to some nice dried chilis like anchos, New Mexico reds, or pasillas, grind some up and add the powder to your rub (you can see I am partial to a south-west profile). The rub should also contain something sweet, I usually use brown sugar, but if you have granulated maple sugar it is awesome.

Then, like you say, bake 'em slow and tightly covered fatty side up on a rack. When they are starting to seem cooked turn them over and cook them some more, then when the meat is almost falling off the bone glaze them with a nice sauce. Either finish them on the grill or bake uncovered for a bit to kind of firm things up.
 
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