sticky beef spare ribs

Who doesn't like sticky ribs? My kids and I devoured these for dinner tonight.The kids love gnawing on the rib bones and dipping the meat into the sticky sauce.

Super simple to make, ridiculously delicious and nutrient-dense (these are my 3 key cooking criteria!).

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients

2x pastured beef spare ribs (approx. 500g in total)

For the marinade;

15g garlic
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce (I like the Melrose brand as its the cleanest).
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/8 tsp salt
cracked pepper

Directions

Blend the marinade ingredients with a hand held (stick) blender well mixed. Pour over the ribs in an oven proof baking dish. Allow to marinate in the fridge for 2+ hours if time permits. Before popping into the oven, brush the ribs with the marinade mixture from the bottom of the dish with a cooking brush. Cook covered at 80 degrees Celsius for 8+ hours (or higher temp for shorter time. Don't cook above 120 degrees as high temp cooking denatures fats and proteins and causes inflammation).

Once or twice while the ribs are cooking, baste them with the marinade mixture from the bottom of the dish. Baste again just before serving.

Serves 2-3 (2 ribs served me plus 2 kids with some left overs - the one I bought were HUGE).

I teamed this with some steamed Asian greens and a cup of home-made chicken broth.

For the greens I steamed boy choy until soft and dressed it with olive oil, a splash of tamari (wheat free soy sauce), a handful of roughly chopped mint and scattering of activated  sesame seeds.

If you try this, let me know what you think! :)

Creamy mushrooms and zucchini side dish

Who doesn’t like creamy mushrooms? My kids love them so much that I thought that this would be a great way to disguise green veggies that kids otherwise struggle to eat. Zucchinis being the case in point. This side dish is super simple to make with only a few ingredients. Tonight I served this with roasted lamb shanks but it would also make a great weekend brekky served with eggs and avocado. My kids ate the whole serving of this and asked for more.

Ingredients:

1 punnet (150g) mushrooms, sliced
1 zucchini (or other greens of choice eg spinach), thinly sliced
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons cream (I like the thick mud cream)
unrefined salt
cracked pepper

Directions:

Melt butter in frying pan. Add mushrooms and zucchini and season with salt and pepper. Cover and cook on low heat stirring occasionally until veggies are cooked through and soft. Stir through the cream and gently heat covered for a few minutes before serving (do not allow cream to boil).

Variations:

• omit greens entirely if you want unadulterated creamy mushrooms.

• add a splash of white wine after adding in mushrooms for extra flavour and oomph!

• add a sprinkle of fresh or dried thyme after adding in mushrooms for extra seasoning.

OMEIO – the latest new online organic deli for Sydney-siders

Omeio is Sydney’s newest online store that provides fine, organic, artisan food delivered to your door.  It was founded by a gorgeous young couple with Greek background- Niko and Klara- both passionate about organic products and wholesome foods.  Klara’s background is in psychology and she works as a bilingual counsellor with migrant communities. Niko currently works as a chef in an organic restaurant in Surry Hills.  

Following a two year venture sourcing the finest organic products, they have just launched this week their online deli which offers a unique shopping experience to all Sydney siders. 

What sets Omeio  apart from all other on-line stores is that they have chosen, and work exclusively with, ONE artisan for each product category in order to limit the choice to only the highest quality goods.  They have chosen to stock my activated nuts, muesli, chocolate, power bars, and date coconut balls. Ovvio Organic spices were chosen for the spice category, Pepe Saya for the dairy category,  Miellerie from Tassie for honey and The Big Marquee for coffee. All the food items available on their online store are handpicked, handmade and packaged by the artisans themselves.  I am also impressed by their range of local and International print books and magazines on offer including Gather, Modern Farmer and Kinfolk. 

They are currently offering free delivery to the entire Sydney metro area until Thursday 11th September. 

You might be interested to know that the name Omeio comes from the Greek word “Ομειος”, which means the same or similar. It represents the idea that all we need to be healthy can be found in nature, and the more similar our lifestyle and diet are to the elements we can find in nature, the better our lives will be. 

Check them out here and happy online shopping!