The BEST Frickles!

By Pam Hadder

Frickles, yes, FRICKLES... a good part of my weekend extracurricular activity involved frickles.  Don't have a hot clue what the frick a  frickle is??? Don't sweat it - it seems from my brief survey of friends and acquaintances that people either rave about them,or give you that deer in the head lights look...
For those doe-eyed folks, a frickle is a fried dill pickle and ooooh yesssss they are worth the effort to make.  The ingredients are simple, as is the method - but they are a little time-consuming to make for a big group - for our small dinner get-together, it was manageable.  I have been studying up and comparing recipes and the one that follows is from Rick Browne of PBS TV's "Barbeque America" - I like the beer/mustard coating that precedes the dredging and also love additional crunch of the cornmeal.  The dip recipe is my own concoction.  Hope you will overcome the fear of frying and cook up a batch - enjoy! xox


FRICKLES
Ingredients:
1- 16 ounce jar of dill pickles
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
1/2 cup all purpose flour
2 Tbsp. of your favourite dry rub spice mix
2 Tbsp. beer
1/4 cup yellow mustard
2-3 cups canola oil
Method:
Drain the pickles in a colander; cut into coins or spears and set aside.  Meanwhile in a shallow dish,combine the flour, cornmeal and dry rub spice. In a small bowl, stir together the beer and mustard.  Dip pickles in the mustard mix; coating evenly.  Dredge the pickles in the flour mix and place on a baking sheet or wax paper covered platter.  Heat the oil in a skillet to 375 degrees (you can also use a deep fryer - just follow the directions for your appliance).  Carefully place small batches of the frickles into the hot oil and cook until the pickles bob to the surface.  Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.  Serve with a sauce made from 1/2 cup mayonnaise, 1/2 tsp. coarse black pepper and 1/4 cup ketchup - dill-icious!!!

September Sauciness

Well, as promised here are the BBQ goodness deets-- cooking method and sauce recipe; hope you will try and enjoy this wonderful comfort food :) We are not big consumers of pork, but I do prefer this recipe with pork back ribs versus beef - I find the natural sweetness of the pork a nicer combination, but, of course, the choice ultimately is your own. Enjoy!

Pam's Saucy Ribs

Method - to prepare ribs for baking:
Use approximately 5-7 lbs fresh pork or beef back ribs
8 - 10 liters/quarts of water
10 bay leaves
2 -3 Tbsp. sea salt
1 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. crushed red chilies
2-3 large cooking onions, coarsely chopped
2-3 cloves fresh garlic, coarsely chopped

Place water in large stock pot, add seasonings and onion and set heat to high. Cut ribs into manageable sections and place in stock pot so that they are covered completely in water. When water starts to boil, reduce heat to maintain a simmer and cover the pot loosely. Simmer for 45 minutes, then remove meat and place in a roaster or roasting pan with a lid. NOTE: add water during simmering process, if necessary, to keep meat covered.

Lightly season each piece of meat in the roaster with garlic powder and Hy's Seasoning Salt. Then layer the meat in the roaster with BBQ sauce. BBQ sauce recipe follows.

Pam's Saucy Sauce for BBQ Goodness
*This is likely enough sauce for 10-12 lbs. of ribs, but my kids like sauce to add on rice etc., so I use this amount when preparing approx. 5-7 lbs of ribs*

4 cups tomato ketchup
4 cups water
5 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
6 tsp. dry mustard
3/4 cup sugar (brown or white)
1/4 cup black strap molasses
6-8 bay leaves
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper, or to taste

Combine in a medium size pot and heat over medium heat, stirring occasionally. When the sauce begins to boil, reduce the heat and stirring constantly, allow to simmer for 5-6 minutes -- you will notice that the sauce thickens considerably during this time.

This sauce is also excellent with meatballs prepared in the slow cooker - great for casual group dinners and busy families. xo!

Sunday, Sweet Sunday :)

So long, sweet summer days! The cool, smokiness is in the air and I am finding myself noticing the shorter daylight hours -- a lot more java going down at both work and home LOL!

I like to cook one "home style", full-course meal a week for my children and today I am going to make BBQ ribs. My method follows that of my dear Momma -- par-cooking the meat in seasoned pot of water and then slow-roasting in the oven. The result is lower in fat, and fall-off-the-bone delicious.

A salad using fresh garden tomatoes and herbs will accompany; along with some baked potatoes and all the fixings (fresh chives, sour cream etc.).

Not sure of dessert yet, but I know that I am looking forward to sipping some Limoncello apres diner and perhaps engaging my girls in a game of full contact Scrabble - ah, BRAIN WARS! Fun to exercise our mental muscle :)

I will post my BBQ recipe and meat seasonings/par-cook method a bit later. Time to hit the supermarket for a few things. xo