I want my baby back...

Tonight is a special birthday edition of The Man Hunger. On this lovely day some many years ago, our very own Mariana was born into this world, ready to eat and be merry!

To celebrate, her favoritest sister and her favoritest husband worked together to bring a delicious birthday dinner to the table.

Mariana's Birthday Dinner

Pork back ribs, mashed potatoes, and asparagus

The recipe for the ribs came from a combination of recipes from one of our favorites, Sam the Cooking Guy. Justin was in charge of ribs, I was in charge of the sauce for the ribs and we made the birthday girl make her yummy mashed potatoes, which you will hear about later.

Pork Back Ribs

 First, we get Justin's way of preparing the ribs (as told by Justin and transcribed by Paula):

So one day, Shawn told me there were some ribs in fridge but they were Ted's and he told me to steal them while Ted wasn't around cause Ted was somewhere else, stealing from Chuck. But I didn't do anything for a few days until one day everyone left early, including me but not as early so I took the ribs and brought them home in my front seat and put them in the freezer.
About a year later, Paula decided she wanted to make ribs for Mariana's birthday and I said, 'Hey, I have some ribs in the freezer we could use." So I went and pondered the ribs, not knowing what they actually were, just thinking I knew I had a bag of ribby goodies. So I took them out the next day and I relized I still didn't know what they were. So I defrosted them. And I found they were pork back ribs. *Snoring* Oh, sorry!
I pondered lots of recipes so I decided I would make up my own. They call me the rib god. So I baked them for an hour and 15 minutes in the oven at 400 degrees. Wash the ribs off prior, removing all of the gunk off, place on a baking sheet and add about 4 tablespoons of cider vinegar, one in each corner of the baking sheet and cover with aluminum. Remove the ribs after an hour and half and place on the grill until you see grill marks and have a good crispiness. Then you can baste it with the sauce. Be sure to do this with a beer in your hand or nearby at all times.
Now Ted doesn't have any ribs to eat at his house.

He's a wild one that Maloney boy! Just to recap, here is how you prepare the ribs:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Take a 3-4 pound rack of ribs, rinse and place on baking pan. Add 4 tablespoons of cider vinegar to the pan and cover tightly with aluminum foil. Place in oven and bake for an hour and half. Remove ribs from oven and carefully remove aluminum foil (there could be a lot of steam). On a gas or charcoal grill over medium heat, grill the rack of ribs until there are grill marks and a crisp outside has developed. Baste the ribs with sauce (recipe to follow), leave on for a couple more minutes, remove from grill and serve up promptly.

Honey-Garlic Sauce

For the sauce you will need:

• 3/4 cup of honey
• 3/4 cup of soy sauce
• 3 cloves of garlic, crushed
• 2 tablespoons of cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon of garlic powder

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan. Simmer for 5 minutes over low-medium heat. Any sauce left over after adding to the ribs can be served on the side for dipping.

Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Next, we will call upon the birthday girl for her very wonderful mashed potatoes:

Garlic mashed potatoes are my birthday tradition going all the way back to college (right Miss Mandy?), so it seemed fitting that they accompany the amazing ribs being cooked. For the potatoes, you will need:

• 10 small red potatoes
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 2-3 tablespoons of butter
• Milk
• Salt
• Pepper
• Garlic powder
• Cayenne pepper

Peel the potatoes, but leave some of the skin if you like your potatoes a little lumpy. Cut into quarters, throw into enough water to cover them and bring to a boil. Add a pinch of salt to the water and the garlic cloves. Boil the potatoes until you can easily stick a fork or knife through them. Drain and return to the pan.

If you like garlic and aren't afraid to get a large chunk, leave the cloves in. Otherwise, remove before mashing the potatoes. Mash the potatoes (and garlic if you left it in) and then add a couple tablespoons of butter and milk (about a half cup). Sprinkle in a pinch of salt, some pepper, a large sprinkle of garlic powder, and a little cayenne pepper. Mix thoroughly and taste. Adjust for taste by adding salt, pepper, garlic powder, and cayenne as needed. You may also need to add more butter and milk to make them creamier and achieve your desired texture.

Asparagus

Thank you birthday girl! Lastly, I made asparagus to add some green to the savory dinner:

• One bunch of fresh asparagus
• 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
• Garlic salt
• Fresh ground pepper 

Asparagus usually have a tougher, denser, less edible end at each stalk. You can easily remove this part by taking the stalk and bending it around the bottom third or quarter of it. The end should snap off very nicely. Rinse all of the stalks and be sure to shake off all of the excess water. Heat the oil in a skillet large enough to fit the amount of stalks you are cooking, over medium heat. Saute the asparagus, turning frequently. Sprinkle on garlic salt and ground pepper to taste, about 1/2 teaspoon each is usually what I use. Continue to saute until stalks are tender. Be careful not to overcook; you want them to still have a good crunch when you bite into them.


There was also a tasty fall treat of a Pumpkin Cheesecake Roll for birthday dessert! I will post the recipe for that later this week.

A special thanks to my gracious brother-in-law for helping out with this special birthday dinner and for his wonderful description of how to prepare the ribs.

Happy Birthday sister wister!! I hope you loved your birthday dinner and I will always look forward to many many more! I also give you this wonderful gift of music for tonight's post...

Bon appetit! Buen provecho! Happy Birthday!

-Paula