Stacey's Secret Spice Rub



spice rub!



This actually takes some effort to make, but it will last for a long time in your cupboard. The best flavor is derived from harvesting your own tomatoes and onions and dehydrating them.  If you cannot do this,  I have offered some options below.

(to grind any of these ingredients to powder form, you will need a spice grinder or a coffee grinder)

½ C ground dried onions* (dry your own onions to grind or purchase and grind dried onion flakes)

¼ C garlic powder

3 T Kosher salt

4 T raw cane sugar (the blocky, cubey kind that is sort of tan)

1 T ground black pepper (don’t bother grinding it from corns, just use the stuff in the can.  The smoked pepper is especially tasty!)

¼ C Italian seasoning

2 T Stacey’s dried ground tomatoes* (I really like to dehyddrate the leftover skins from tomatoes after I've been making sauce.  But, this is probably impractical for most folks.  You can slice 25-30 cherry tomatoes and dehydrate them to get a good result.  Add some red pepper flakes when you grind them into powder or skip the dehydrating state and just grind some purchased sundried tomatoes with the pepper flakes to make 2 T.  You will likely need to dry roast your sun dried tomatoes in the oven or dehydrator to get rid of the chewy tendency. When they are crispy, they are ready to grind.  Do not ever put moist ingredients into this mix, as it will mold.)

2 T curry powder

2 t chili powder

2 T granulated sugar (table sugar like you put on your cereal. Yea, I know there was already sugar in this recipe)

Combine and store in a covered jar in your cupboard until needed.

*To dry onions and tomatoes—separate processes:  use a food dehydrator and follow the directions.

Note:  everyone these days adds smoked Hungarian paprika to spice rubs.  It’s great.  If you want to add it to this recipe, slip in an extra tablespoon.  But if you can dehydrate your own homegrown tomatoes, that is the ultimate and you will really enjoy it.

Sparerib #9

“I didn’t know if it was day or night. I started kissing everything in sight.”—Love Potion #9

Unlike the famous Love Potion #9, this recipe does not “smell like turpentine or look like India ink”. It is named Sparerib #9 because that’s how many were in the bag when I packaged them to put into the freezer. It is also likely the 9th recipe at least that I’ve tried to perfect these porcine bones. The secret is beer.

In fairness to you (full disclosure), there are three things I have trouble making: shirred eggs, beef stroganoff and spareribs.  So, there will likely be improvements. But at least I am trying!

(Mr. Artifact:  Are you shirr?)



They really tasted better than they looked.  But, they froze mahvelously. 
And because they were super big ribs, we got 2 additional meals out of these (for a family of 3). 



Ingredients

For the ribs:

·         1 rack of regular pork chops (baby backs are nice, but not nessa*)

·         1 beer of character (whatever you like—I used a wheat beer, but a flavored fruit beer would be nice)

·         Stacey’s Special Spice Rub (see subsequent recipe) or another favorite dry rub

·         Olive oil

For the sauce (a very vinegary, sweet sauce):

·         2/3 C catsup (not “ketchup” for you troglodytes)

·         ½ C apple cider vinegar

·         ¼ C Dijon or spicy/seedy mustard

·         1T grated fresh ginger (use the tube in the grocery store!)

·         2T Worcestershire sauce

·         ½ t or more red pepper flakes

·         ½ C maple syrup

·         Salt and pepper

Method:

Preheat oven to 325 F.

Massage ribs with a little olive oil. Sprinkle lavishly with special spice rub. Put into a large sheet pan. Pour the beer over and around the ribs. Bake uncovered at 325 F for 2 hours. Remove and check. If not “fall off the bone tender” increase heat to 350F and cook until done, probably about 30-45 minutes. Much will depend upon how big your rack of ribs is. You might want to cover them with foil at this point to avoid a major crusty bake down in the sheet pan.  (Don’t worry.  Your husband will clean up the pan.  In fact, he’ll clean up the whole damn dishes this is so good.)

Once you determine the ribs are to the doneness you want, remove pan from oven. Let set 10 minutes. Cut ribs into individual pieces.  Put back on the baking sheet and slather with sauce. Bake at 350F for 10 minutes to get that sauce stuck like glue onto those ribs.

Serve with coleslaw and artichoke ricotta mashed potatoes.
__________

*nessa:  “Nessa?  I know what’s nessa.  You don’t say what’s nessa.  I say what’s nessa!”  (Professor Li’l ol’ man   from  High Anxiety.)

The Artist at Work



This is a much better picture of Mr. Artifact working on the chair.  See the post  from 9/26 called "Chair and Back Again".



Where does a Great Dane sleep?

Wherever she wants

Chair and Back Again



one of my original chairs

Early in my married life, I was fascinated with country decorating.  I spent quite a bit of time buying  or thinking about buying primitive antiques, whether I needed them or not.  I was particularly fond of old chairs, and I was convinced that sooner or later I would buy some priceless Shaker chair that would make us

seat made of rolled paper

all rich. 

Our townhouse had a cathedral ceiling, and I enlisted Mr. Artifact to hang the chairs about 15 feet in the air. 

My antique dealer grandparents, the original proprietors of Butternut Place, encouraged this behavior.  Soon, I was  the proud owner of a number of old chairs that were primarily display pieces and upon which no one ever sat.  Who could sit 15 feet up in the air?

Fast forward a couple years, and the country style décor was replaced with Queen Anne furniture and Waverly fabrics, a malady from which I am still suffering.   They say it is curable.  To treat this, you just need money and new furniture.  Or maybe, you just need to go get those dang chairs out of the shop where they have been tied up in the rafters for the last 25 years!   

True to form, Mr. Artifact took to the challenge of restoring the chairs with a fierce-some determination.  Of course, this involved finding out “how to do it” and buying the materials, both of which he did via the web (see link  below).  I have to say it was great fun to watch Mr. Artifact do this.  He endured some mild nagging from me about maintaining the original patina of the finish (he did) without so much as a scowl. 





Before I knew it, he was done and sitting on the porch (in the chair) shredding "Red River Valley" on his banjolele. 

The project was especially sentimental because my grandfather, part of the duo that encouraged our antique collecting, was an expert craftsman and restored countless pieces of furniture, including hand caned chairs. 



Private Banjolele Concert with the hound



  

My only regret is that I wished we had learned how to do this directly from Gramps.   But even so, I think he’d be proud. 

So, one down, five to go!  And we will actually sit on them this time around!

###

This project actually was a great deal and much less than what you would pay to  purchase an antique restored chair.  Yee Ha!

__________________

What did this cost?

$7.95        Seagrass 

$5.95        Book:  Making Chair Seats from Cane, Rush and Other         Natural Materials (by Ruth B.Comstock) 

$15.00      Paint Stripper, Stain, Varnish, Sandpaper (approximately)

$45.00      Chair

Priceless  Private Banjolele Concert

$73.90     TOTAL

www.basketmakerscatalog.com



Welcome

Butternut Place is a blog about the lost home arts, delicious food, animal husbandry, gardening, self reliance, and ideas.  If you like cheese, pot likker, good wine, great books, DIY projects, warm wood stoves, canning, dogs, chickens, and America, you will also like this blog.  If you are expecting this blog to save  you a lot of money with tips about doing everything yourself, you will probably be disappointed. You can buy many things described here cheaper somewhere else.   However, they probably won't be as good for you, as much fun, or as sustainable.  And, if you are going to spend money, at least keep it at home. 

Frugality and indulgence really aren't mutually exclusive.

Stick with me and you will find out how.

ttfn, Stacey