Grilling Up a Mother's Day Feast

by Michele Cheplic | More from this Blogger

23 Apr 2008 10:02 AM

While the rest of the world was dining out on Mother's Day my dad consistently chose to use the occasion to unveil a new dish in honor of my mom. Since we lived in Hawaii the recipe typically involved my dad's trusty grill and a few of his special spices.

If your hubby is the family cook and grabs for the tongs instead of the telephone (to call in dinner reservations) on Mother's Day then you might consider passing on these recipes to him. The first is a traditional baby back rib recipe (my mom loves ribs) that can easily be made in the oven if Mother Nature doesn't cooperate on May 11th. The second recipe is for a lighter dish featuring my favorite fish--salmon. I love grilled fish and this particular dish is exceptional not so much because it is grilled but because of the tangy tomato caper vinaigrette that tops it.

SPICY BABY BACK RIBS

Ingredients:

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup paprika

1 tablespoon black pepper

1 tablespoon salt

1 tablespoon chili powder

1 tablespoon garlic powder

1 tablespoon onion powder

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

2 to 4 racks baby back ribs

2 to 4 tablespoons Dijon mustard

1 bottle of your favorite BBQ sauce

Directions:

Preheat your grill or preheat oven to 325 degrees.

In a bowl mix together first 8 ingredients to make the rib rub. (The recipe yields more than enough rub. I store the extra rib rub in a Ziploc bag and it is good for several months.)

Tear off large pieces of aluminum foil big enough to wrap each rack of ribs. Spray each piece of foil with vegetable cooking spray. Season both sides of ribs and brush them with mustard. Place each portion of ribs in an individual piece of foil. Wrap tightly and refrigerate for at least 8 hours, or overnight.

When you are ready to cook place rib packets on grill or if you are using an oven place foil rib packets on a large cookie sheet and bake for 2 hours.

After 2 hours carefully open foil to expose top of ribs. Spoon on BBQ sauce. Leave the packets open and cook for another 30-40 minutes.

GRILLED SALMON WITH CAPERS AND TOMATOES

Ingredients:

4 6-ounce salmon fillets

1 Pound cherry tomatoes, cut in quarters

2 tablespoons shallots, minced

2 tablespoons capers, drained, coarsely chopped

2 tablespoon white balsamic vinegar

1 tablespoon fennel fronds, freshly chopped

1 tablespoon chives, freshly minced

1 tablespoon parsley, freshly chopped

4 tablespoons Extra virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon fennel seed, ground

Salt and pepper to taste

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

Directions:

In a medium size bowl, combine tomatoes, shallots, capers, vinegar, herbs, and 3 tablespoons of the olive oil. Season with salt and pepper to taste and put aside.

Season salmon filets with ground fennel, salt, and pepper.

Place salmon on medium hot grill and cook 3 minutes per side.

If you are cooking indoors place olive oil in medium non-stick sauté pan and add salmon. Cook over medium-high heat until browned. Flip the fillets and add butter to pan and cook for approximately 2 minutes.

When fish is done cooking transfer fillets to plates, top with tomato vinaigrette and serve.

Related Articles:

Friday Fish Favorites

Maple Spareribs

A Steak By Any Other Name

Learn more about Michele Cheplic

Michele Cheplic was born and raised in Hilo, Hawaii, but now lives in Wisconsin. Michele graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a degree in Journalism.

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