Weight Loss Update And Ribs For Card Night

A second three-month period has gone by since I began taking Zepbound so it was time for another doctor visit and I'm happy to report that I'm down another 30 pounds for a total of 60 and I'm excited to see where I can be by year end.  The first shot below is after the first 30 lbs. and I'm wearing a 4X shirt (all given away) and the second shot is now and I’m wearing a 3X shirt – I should have tucked them both in.

It won't be long before I have to retire some shorts (this pair now for sure) but since most of mine have draw strings, I can use them for a while longer.

Ribs

I don’t know how many racks of pork ribs I’ve cooked in my BBQing days but I’ve never done beef short ribs and have always wanted to make some like I’ve had in Texas but the ribs in the store always had very little meat left on them as it went with rib roast at a much higher price.  They looked like this.

I always thought the Texas BBQ joints had their beef ribs special cut with a lot of the rib-eye meat left on them, then I discovered that they were actually using short ribs and after a little more research, it seems that beef chuck short ribs (2-5 on the cow) are the ones to get.  

So, I drove about five miles to the local Hyde Farm store where they raise, slaughter, and butcher their own beef and I put in a special order for the cut that I wanted. 

Since not everyone prefers the beef ribs, I also cooked the two racks of pork ribs that I had in the freezer – leftover, properly reheated pork ribs still go down very easy.  To prep, I removed the membrane from the pork ribs and seasoned them with Head Country Original Rub.

The membrane didn’t want to easily come off of the beef ribs so I left it on and I left on the fat cap on the other side but I scored it (maybe too deep) so the rub could get to the meat.  I'll likely regret both of these decisions.  Rather than make up a batch of beef rub, I just used Montreal Steak Seasoning as we like it on beef.

I used my RecTec smoker running at 240F and I’m not sure what the pellets were made of as they had been there quite awhile.  

I wanted the meat to be done and resting in a 145F oven by 4pm and I was confident the pork ribs would take 5-6 hours at 240F using the 3-2-1 method so I put them on at 10am.  Since this was my first time with the beef short ribs and I knew they could take 10 hours, I put them on at 8am, knowing I could continue cooking them while we played cards if need be and still eat at 6pm.  

After a few hours of cooking.

Pork ribs about to be wrapped.

Pork ribs finished.

Ready to slice and serve.

Beef ribs ready to slice.

The top one is what I expected 

But what I got was one good one and three that were mostly fat so Hyde Farm is fired.

Bev made refried beans and slaw to go with the ribs and this is my plate.

The Verdict:

Both side dishes were very good.  Bev thought the ribs were a perfectively cooked fall off the bone version but I thought they were a little dry and overcooked - I think the 3-2-1 pork rib cooking method is designed to work best with a pit temperature of 225F so I’ll use it next time knowing the beef ribs will take longer or use 3-1-1 at 240F.  The beef ribs were moist, tender and tasty but I will do several things differently next time.  First of all, get them from a different source and remove both the membrane from the back and the fat cap from the top.  Then I will use a good beef brisket rub to season them and wrap them in foil at 170F internal temp as is done for brisket.  I can sure tell I’m getting old and haven’t made BBQ in a while but I hope to do better.

Photos can be slightly enlarged by clicking on them and the blue words are links.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

Larry

8/27/26 event date

Baked Steak in Brown Gravy, German Christmas Sausage, and Mexican Out

Whether you call it baked steak, country steak, or steak and gravy, it’s beef comfort food at it’s best especially when served with mashed potatoes and it was a good meal for Pat on her first day home.  She had a knee replaced on Apr 27^th and after a few days in the hospital, she went to a step-down unit until May 8.  She has been doing very well and in much less pain than I was. 

Lemon Butter Shrimp with Bacon & Cheddar Grits

We really like shrimp and grits so since I had some shrimp in the freezer and Karen recently posted her recipe for Lemon Butter Shrimp with Bacon & Cheddar Polenta on her “Backroad Journal” blog, a plan was born.  Since Cindy had been wanting to cook, she took over those duties and followed Karen’s recipe except we had no cornmeal and I didn’t want to make a store trip, so we used Quick Grits and made extra to ensure leftovers.  Plus we served more smaller shrimp to use what we had.

Chicken Stew Ala Cindy And Lakeside Tavern

Cindy likes to take her turn cooking suppers and for this meal she chose chicken stew then kicked it up by adding drop dumplings to it.  As it turned out, we had a recent recipe for Creamy Chicken Stew from Cathy on her “Noble Pig” blog  and Cindy found the recipe for Fluffy Dumplings on the “Just A Pinch” blog.  Unfortunately she was too busy cooking to take many pics but this is my bowl.

Low Country Boil For Eight With No Heat And Birthday Desserts

Wende and crew came down to celebrate my birthday and we did it a day late so Cindy could join us. I had considered making jambalaya but changed to low county boil to take advantage of the last of the fresh corn for the season. I used the recipe below which is designed for eight diners with some leftovers. 

Delicious Southern Garlic Cream Rigatoni with Shrimp & Beef Then Breakfast

I can’t remember where I got this recipe (Perhaps from Facebook) but I wanted to try it as a way to use our Royal Red Shrimp and easily serve our Friday card group.  I followed the ingredients list but I changed the cooking method quite a bit to keep the steak from over cooking.  The original called for cutting it into bite sized pieces prior to browning it but I browned it first and kept it very rare.

Sauteed Collard Greens And Roasted Baby Potatoes with Shallots For St. Patrick's Day

I wasn’t inspired to cook a typical Irish meal on Monday, so we ate the two dishes below instead (one was green and the other was potatoes though) for St. Patrick’s Day but I did drink a couple of Guinness Stout’s to celebrate. 

Go-To Country Baked Steak And Gravy And A Favor To Ask

I have a favor to ask.  I love to get you comments and I like to know you they are from so if you comment as unknown, I'd appreciate if you would add your first name at the end.  Thanks Much

We had six pieces of cubed steak in the fridge and I considering using the recipe for Smothered Cube Steak on the “Ask Chef Dennis” blog but I didn’t want to use two skillets to cook it on the cook top so I reverted to our usual Baked Steak and Gravy (Bev prefers this anyway).  However, I still used Dennis’ recipe for everything but the final cooking except I increased the meat seasoning by 50% and the gravy ingredients by 25% to get the recipe below.  You can check out the Chef’s site for his great how-to pics by clicking on the above link.

This dish should not be confused with Chicken Fried Steak which is pan or deep fried then plated and topped with gravy but Country Style Steak can often refer to both of these dishes.

Some random meals – Cindy Salmon, Shrimp Omelet, And Pinto Beans

Cindy Salmon

Cindy made a very good Salmon dish recently and I didn’t do a post about it as it required typing in the entire recipe.  The recipe for Salmon With Creamed Spinach & Parmesan Sauce came from Tieghan Gerard in an unknown magazine and it was very good.

Delicious Then Awesome, Unique Tomato Sandwiches

I really like eating fresh, local, summer garden vegetables and we plan many meals around them.  Bev, the pups, and I made a trip to Maryville (about 18 miles) for stops at the Coning Farm Market and another market in town to get a loaf of Tellico Grains Bakery Olive Bread.  As a result, my supper plan for the day changed to boiled corn and a unique tomato sandwich.

Cajun Shrimp and Grits - My New Favorite

My Honey got home from St. Marten on Friday, just in time for her Sat. birthday and all of us boys are really happy.  Her little boy (only child and now 53) sent her flowers and I'm making one of favorite meals tomorrow.

Bologna Sandwiches Revisited – Supper & Breakfast

I’ve been wanting a fried boloney (bologna) sandwich lately as I recalled the one’s we had about a year ago that were based on the one I had in Rugby TN,

Like theirs, I made mine with a thick piece of the meat.

Angel Biscuits For Happy Hour And Breakfast

Bev had made arrangements for the neighbors to join us for happy hour to try her first attempt at making Angel Biscuits, which we had known about for some time.  I assumed we would have biscuits with butter, jelly, and tomatoes but when I went into the kitchen to check on her, Bev was well into meat cooking.  She used the biscuit recipe from Southern Living Magazine and made it as written with a yield of 19 good sized (about 3”) biscuits.  What makes them different from other biscuits is that they contain yeast in addition to the normal baking powder/baking soda and the dough can be kept in the fridge for five days and used as needed.

Mexican Johnny Cakes (Hoe Cakes) With Our Pinto Beans

In Sep 2022, I posted about our meal of Pinto Beans and Hoe Cakes but this meal is different in that we used our recipe for Mexican Cornbread for the cakes.  Johnny Cakes are made along the eastern seaboard from New England into the Caribbean Islands and are often called Hoe Cakes in the US South.  For this meal, I cut our Mexican cornbread recipe in half to get the one below.

Pasta al Pomodoro Crudo With Pesto & Canadian Bacon

Two things happened this summer that resulted in this dish: 1. We made Pasta al Pomodoro Crudo and 2. Bev decided after all of these years that she liked pesto once she ate Ina Garten’s version at a friends house.  So after I suggested we make pesto pasta, she suggested we combine the two dishes and below is the result.

Pasta al Pomodoro Crudo With Pesto

The Ingredients:

1¼ lb. grape and diced tomatoes

3/8 cup extra-virgin olive oil

3 medium cloves garlic, finely minced by hand

18 fresh basil leaves, torn into small pieces

1 cup pesto – Link above, we made a half recipe

Kosher salt

16 oz. thin spaghetti

The Directions:

1. Make the pesto per the recipe below and set aside.

2. In a pot of salted boiling water, cook pasta until al dente.

3. Drain pasta using a colander and return to cooking pot.

4. Add pesto to the pasta and stir well until the pesto is evenly distributed.

5. Add pasta to bowl with tomatoes.

Your Basic, Delicious Summertime Meal For Card Night

Bev and I made a trip down to the Englewood Mennonite Market this week and picked up several goodies and decided to turn some of them into a nice summer meal for our Friday group.  Nearly the entire meal came from the market and it consisted of:

Malibu stringless pole beans cooked our normal way 

Brisket And Pork For Friday Cards & Belmont Peanuts

In my previous post, I discussed my cooking of a brisket flat and pork butt, and this time I’ll show what we did with them but before I do, once again I learned something new.

I love all kinds of nuts but I am a nut snob as I want them to be fresh and crispy which I have discovered isn’t easy to find.  Planters Cocktail Nuts were my standard many years ago but I can’t even count on them anymore.  If a nut has any hint of being stale or having a rancid smell, I’m not interested.  After seeing them advertised, I tried some from Nuts.com and they must have been last years so the birds got them, after a rinse.

Southern Smothered Oxtails

While here last year, our son, Rhett, raved about the oxtails he had made and, since I like braised beef shanks, I knew I wanted to give them a try.  So, when they butchered their beefs last winter, I asked our neighbors to get us some oxtails (really cow tails) and I’m just getting around to cooking them.  

A Few Meals I Didn’t Post About - Stuffed Delicata Squash, Baked Steak and Mushrooms, and Mediterranean Potato Salad

I kept seeing these gourd looking things in our fridge and had no idea what they were and hadn’t bothered to ask Bev.

Alabama Scramble – Different Version

This summer, we made Alabama Scramble a time or two using our normal method of cooking everything in a skillet but since we had oil in our deep frying pan, we opted to change it up some.  We recently had deep fried okra and green tomatoes and realized they needed more seasoning than just S&P at the end so I’ve attempted to correct that.  The following recipe feeds 3-4 people eating only this.