WHOLE30 Easy Oven Baked Beef Ribs

Stop what you're doing right now and go make these!  Then invite your whole family and friends and neighbors and aunties and uncles and cousins and let them be impressed by your amazing cooking skills.  Then as if you didn't already blow everyone out of the water, you can tell them all about how they are Whole30 compliant and then they will never want to leave your house wanting to know more about what that is!

Whoops ok.

Maybe don't do that if you ever want privacy again, so just make these for your sweetheart haha!

In January, my love and I finished our first ever Whole30 program.  I'll tell you more about how it went soon in another post but long story short, it was amazing, it changed our lives, and I still cook about 90% compliant consistently, even 6 months later.  I plan dishes around taste factor obviously but also ease of preparation because I am a busy wife and mama and can't spend hours in the kitchen. 

My husband loves protein any way that he can get it which is one reason why we chose to do the Whole30 program.  He also loves to grill for me but his work schedule doesn't really allow for any grilling except on weekends.  I really REALLY wanted to make him some type of ribs for supper but knew that I would have to use the oven since it's what I know and I have no idea how to work a charcoal grill.  He brought me home some beef short ribs from Whole Foods one day because they were on sale and I thought, I have got to make my man something with these that will be over the top amazing!  So I used my pharmacist skills which surprisingly do come in handy from time to time and experimented and this is what I came up with.

Needless to say, his exact words were "This must be what it feels like to eat like a King!"  I don't know about you but this is my goal in life, to make my husband feel like he is a King to me.

If your hardworking man is the kind of that receives love through his stomach, this is the perfect Father's Day meal!  So if you want your love to feel like a King or Queen too, then here's what you will need.

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 lbs meaty beef short ribs
• 2-4 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon onion powder
• 1 tablespoon Tony Chachere's Original Creole Seasoning (or any Cajun seasoning without sugar)
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon salt (optional as the creole seasoning already has salt) 
• 1 teaspoon paprika (I use Hungarian paprika because my sweetheart is a quarter Hungarian :P)
• 2 teaspoons oregano

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Preheat the oven to 250 F (or wait if you have time to marinate).
2. Rinse ribs and thoroughly dry with paper towels.
3. Lightly coat ribs in olive oil.
4. Mix together seasoning and sprinkle generously over ribs, front and back. (don't have to use all of seasoning mix)
5. Massage the spices into the ribs with your hands, adding more olive oil to help distribute the spices well if needed.  Ribs like to be pampered, and so do I.
6. If you have time (I don't most of the time because #momlife and #mombrain I would probably forget them for a few days haha so skip to #7 if you're like me), place the ribs in a large ziplock bag or covered bowl and marinate in the fridge for 1-2 hours. 
7. Place the ribs on a baking pan in a single layer.
8. Cover the baking pan tightly with foil.  Be sure to seal the edges of the foil so that it's tight and steam won't seep out because you're creating a heat pocket.
9. Bake on the middle rack of 3½ -4 hours. (I usually plan for 4 if I'm cooking for a large group of people) Check on it after the 3½ hour mark. The oven temperature is so low so you can afford to cook it a bit longer without worry.
10. When the ribs are done to your liking take them out and let them sit for a few minutes.  You can keep the drippings for au jus if you're into that (we sure are!).
11. Serve hot with some sides like sweet potatoes and salad and enjoy!!

XX,

Madina

prime rib roast for your family

Love is the main, and most important ingredient in all my recipes.  

I love the way my husband still talks about the first time I made him this roast.  How it made him feel like we were a family.  He told me that he felt so proud to be mine and couldn't wait to make me his wife..I still get butterflies. 

To the kind military man who sat next to me on a flight and shared this recipe with me..thank you for defending our country, and thank you for bringing my family together with such an easy and delicious meal.

Prep time: 15 minutes

Total cooking time: varies with the size of roast as there are 2 phases of cooking.  I set aside usually about 3 hours for the roast to cook before dinner will be served.

You will need:

4-5 pound prime rib roast (I usually wait and get mine when this cut goes on sale, as it is a more expensive cut, but totally worth the price. I ask the butcher to cut the bones out, but tie them back in as they add so much flavor to the meat)

1 stick of butter at room temperature

1 large clove finely minced garlic

1 teaspoon raw horseradish

1 teaspoon freshly cut rosemary

1 teaspoon freshly cut thyme

[Phase 1]

Pre-heat oven to 500 degrees.

In a bowl, mix butter, garlic, horseradish, rosemary, and thyme.  Don't be afraid to use your hands, and slather the buttery mixture all over the roast.  Make sure you cover all of it and place in roast pan.

Cooking time will vary depending on size of roast.  

I use this equation:  

pounds of roast multiplied by 5 = time to cook at 500 degrees.

Example: 4.4 pound roast X 5 = 22 minutes of cooking at 500 degrees.

After the timer for the designated cooking time goes off, turn off but leave roast in the oven and do not open oven door.  

[Phase 2]

Let the roast continue to cook gradually as the temperature in the oven decreases, for about 2.5 more hours.

It is important to never open the oven door as the heat that is necessary to continue cooking the roast will escape resulting in your meat being undercooked.  If you must look, just turn the oven light on and take a peek. 

Roast will be rare to medium rare.  

If you prefer your meat a little bit more cooked, then simply increase your cooking time slightly during the phase 1, where your oven is turned on and set at 500 degrees.

Serve with au jus from pan drippings.

Enjoy and please let me know how it turns out!

delicious shrimp alfredo

Ingredients that you will need:

1 package pasta of your choice (I used fettuccine) 

1 lb peeled and de-veined shrimp
1 tablespoon of olive oil

1 stick of butter
2 cloves of finely chopped garlic
2 tablespoons of flour
2 cups of 2% milk
2 tablespoons of cream cheese
1 cup of grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of white or black pepper

Sauce:
1.  Cook pasta according to package directions.
2.  In a sauce pan over medium heat, melt butter and add 1 clove of chopped garlic (reserve the other clove for later).  Cook for 1 minute.
3.  Add flour and stir in the pan for a few minutes until it starts bubbling.
4.  Add milk and cream cheese and heat until bubbling, but do not boil.
5.  Add in Parmesan cheese and mix until the cheese melts and the sauce starts to thicken.  (If you see that the sauce is taking a long time to thicken, sprinkle in about another tablespoon of flour and whisk into the sauce).
6.  Sprinkle in salt and pepper to taste.

Shrimp:
1.  While the sauce is cooking, heat olive oil in a skillet at medium to high heat.  Add leftover garlic and cook for about 30 seconds to 1 minute.
2.  Add shrimp and cook until garlic is slightly caramelized and shrimp is cooked all the way through and is golden in color.

Serving:
Mix the hot sauce into the noodles, and place shrimp on top.

Enjoy
xox