All American Meal

For our Sunday night dinner I decided to go for a traditional summer BBQ.  Although I was just feeding my husband, daughter and I, this meal can easily be doubled or tripled to feed a crowd.  The peach crumble made for a perfect sweet treat to cap off this yummy slow cooked Sunday meal.

Spice Rubbed Ribs with Oven Fries and Caprese Salad

For the ribs:

1 rack of St. Louis style ribs

1/2c. brown sugar

2T. salt/ 2t.pepper

1/8c. cajun seasoning

1/8c paprika

1T. cayenne

Pull off the silver skin from the ribs if present (the whitish layer on the backside of the ribs).  Mix the rest of the ingredients in a bowl, taste for additional spices (do you want it saltier, sweeter, spicier etc.). Rub spice mixture all over ribs.  Put ribs in parchment lined foil and place on grill on indirect heat (you want the grill to be around 300 degrees). Grill for 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Remove ribs from foil and grill on direct heat a 5 minutes per side to char the surface.

For the potatoes:

2 russets

salt/pepper

2T. olive oil

parmesan

1 garlic clove

Set oven to 425 degrees, and place a baking sheet in the oven while it heats up. Cut each potato into 8 wedges.  Drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper. Place the potatoes on the baking sheet  in the oven, and bake for 45 minutes, turning once.  The potatoes should be golden brown.  Grate cheese and garlic on top of the potatoes when the come out of the oven.

For the caprese:

Halve  a few cherry tomatoes and dice some mozzarella, add a handful of chopped basil.  Stir in a drizzle of good olive oil and red wine vinegar  add salt and pepper. Enjoy!

Peach Crumble 

 (recipe from  Ina Garten.  I omitted the blueberries)

Ingredients

For the fruit:

• 2 pounds firm, ripe peaches (6 to 8 peaches)
• 2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup fresh blueberries (1/2 pint)

For the crumble:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 pound (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, diced

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Immerse the peaches in boiling water for 30 seconds to 1 minute, until their skins peel off easily. Place them immediately in cold water. Peel the peaches, slice them into thick wedges, and place them in a large bowl. Add the lemon zest, lemon juice, granulated sugar, and flour. Toss well. Gently mix in the blueberries. Allow the mixture to sit for 5 minutes. Spoon the mixture into ramekins or custard cups.

For the topping, combine the flour, granulated sugar, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, and the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on low speed until the butter is the size of peas. Rub the mixture with your fingertips until it's in big crumbles, then sprinkle evenly over the fruit. Place the ramekins on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper and bake for 40 to 45 minutes, until the tops are browned and crisp and the juices are bubbly. Serve warm or at room temperature.

If you want to make these early, store the unbaked crumbles in the refrigerator and bake before dinner.