Day 23: Smothered Broccoli with Peppers, Onions, and Raisins, Greek Pot-Crushed Potatoes

I have been dreading this recipe because the photo is so ugly in the cookbook. I was given a suggestion to make a meal out of all the recipes that don't seem too appetizing, but I don't think I could emotionally handle all of that at one meal.

Smothered Broccoli with Peppers, Onions, and Raisins
Greek Pot-Crushed Potatoes

Bonus: Karen's mom's Baby Back Ribs

Let's start with the least appetizing of the bunch, the Smothered Broccoli. I am not sure I would call anything "smothered" and expect people to want to eat it, except maybe if it said "Smothered in butter" or "smothered in hot fudge" or something like that. Also, I think of smothered as something slow cooked, but this recipe tells you to cook your onions for only 3 minutes!

This recipe has too much in it. First, you steam your broccoli and then set it aside, on a serving platter, to get cold while you make the rest of it.

Then you saute bell peppers, thin-sliced red onion, fresh rosemary, red pepper flakes, salt, pepper. THEN, add raisins. THEN, add toasted pine nuts when you pour the whole mess over your broccoli. It should be called Cold Broccoli with Way Too Many Ingredients. This seems so wrong to me. Pine nuts and raisins and rosemary and peppers and broccoli? Everything tasted great by itself. If you took a bite of broccoli and it had a bit of red onion, that tasted fine. A little broccoli and a pine nut, interesting, but fine. But all of it together is really not delicious at all. The rosemary over-powers and call me a backwoods simpleton, but broccoli and raisins might not have ever been meant to be on the same plate together.

I might make this again without the pine nuts or raisins. But I would also toss the broccoli in with the saute to heat them up a little before serving.

Whew, raced through that one, now onto the Greek Pot-Crushed Potatoes. These were really tasty. Thin slice red potatoes and boil them until tender (about 8 minutes). Drain them and then use the same pot to saute 8 large garlic cloves with salt and pepper, red pepper flakes, and water. The water is essential so the garlic doesn't burn. Add fresh oregano, cook until fragrant and then add the potatoes back to the pot. Smash the potatoes with your wooden spoon as you blend them into the garlic mixture. Blend in chopped parsley, lemon juice, and thin sliced green onion.

The parsley and lemon were essential here and really rounded out the flavor in the potatoes. This tasted a lot more interesting than plain old mash potatoes and since you didn't peel them and then mashed them gently with your spoon they still have a lot of texture and color. Good side dish for most any meal.

Now the main entree was NOT from the How to Eat Supper, but our friend Karen brought over some tasty ribs to a party and I convinced her to give me the recipe.

Karen's Mom's Baby Back Ribs

2lbs pork baby back ribs
garlic power and/or any type of seasoning you like. I added pepper.
1 container of your favorite BBQ sauce. (1+ cup)

Rub meat with spices and let sit for half an hour to 3 hours.
Cover baking sheet with foil, transfer ribs to sheet-meat side up, and then cover tightly with foil.
Cook for 2 hours at 250 degrees. Check for doneness at 1 1/2 hours. Meat should separate easily from the bone.
Set oven to broil.
Uncover ribs and baste with your sauce.
Broil 5-6 inches from heat, 8 to 10 minutes, or until desired crispiness. Turn and baste a couple times during the process.

YUM!

44 recipes down in How to Eat Supper.