So coming back from vacation is always a let down. My last post explains this (the last photo says it all). Joel and I have our ways of coping with this letdown. In addition to leaving paradise, part of the let down is having to cook all your own meals. Sometimes having to eat your own cooking is worse than having to prepare your own meals! Not the case when my husband is around. I convinced him that we needed some of his smoked pork ribs to cure the vacation blues.
He starts with the proper seasoning. He likes to surf the internet looking for rib rub recipes. If you are new to this, just buy Famous Dave’s Rib Rub. It’s pretty tasty.
One of Joel’s tricks is to cover the ribs in brown sugar before smoking.
His newest experiment (and my personal favorite) was to slather the ribs in this:
It you haven’t tried raspberry ribs before, you need to. They are Heavenly. This is how they look after a little 3-2-1 (3 hours in the smoker, 2 hours in a low oven, and 1 hour resting).
While he had the smoker fired up, he also smoked up a little salmon. He used a teriyaki marinade/brine before he smoked it. This is for him – as I don’t care much for fish.
One other thing I tried to make this weekend was a recipe for a really unique pizza that we had in Florida. I started with Pioneer Woman’s recipe for pizza dough, topped with parmesan and mozzarella cheese.
While that was baking, I mixed up the dressing. Yes, this pizza has dressing. In fact, it’s really half pizza, half salad. The main flavor from the dressing is the Balsamic Vinegar, along with garlic, thyme, oregano, basil, salt and pepper.
Next, chop of some mixed field greens (with arugula), grape tomatoes, and fresh mozzarella.
After the pizza cooled for about 5 minutes, I put the salad on top of the pizza and drizzled with the dressing. Then comes the best part – prosciutto.
It wasn’t as quite as good as the restaurant, but I thought I came close enough. Hey, it’s better than traveling all the way to Florida to get it!
If you’d like to try my recipe – here it is:
One Pizza Crust, topped with 1 1/2 cups of Parmesan Cheese and 1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese.
Dressing:
2 T. Balsamic Vinegar
3 T Olive Oil
1 T fresh basil, chopped
1-2 cloves of fresh garlic, minced
1/4 t. salt and pepper
1/2 t. oregano and thyme
Salad:
1 1/2-2 cups chopped field greens, with arugula
1/2 cup fresh mozzarella, chopped
12 grape tomatoes, quartered
3 oz prosciutto
If you try it, let me know what you think. I thought it had such unique flavor. Also, I’m looking for some advice on the prosciutto. What I found in the grocery store wasn’t as good as what we had any the restaurant. Any advice?
I’ll be back shortly with something quilting related. I think you might like it!
Trends and Traditions 
Since you’re in Minnesota, if you want good Italian groceries/meat, you need to take a little road trip to St. Paul. Check out Buon Giorno or Morelli’s Market. I grew up near Morelli’s and that’s where our family heads when we want authentic Italian meat and sausage. If you Google it, you will come up with Cosetta’s but I think their food is over priced and definitely over rated. My great grandfather had an Italian market/grocery store right next to the current Cosetta’s location in a by gone time, that doesn’t make me an expert but I know good Italian:)
Yum! Everything looks so good!
Yum! Made me hungry. Thanks, I think I’ll try it.
your pizza looks incredible! i have trouble finding proscuito that we like. thank you, colleen, for the tip on buon giorno. we will take a drive to st. paul to check out that place. oh, and joelia child’s ribs look so good! thanks for sharing the recipes, heather 🙂
http://navidioils.com/
cannot comment on proscuitobut if you want some really good oils and basalmic vinegars, this is the place to buy them. I do not have any ownership in this shop, I am simply a customer. I can attest to their cinnamon pear basalmic and the whole fruit blood orange or meyer lemon oil. Simply to give up quilting for.
Hi Heather! My family tried the pizza yesterday for lunch and it was delicious 🙂 Thanks so much for sharing. We bought our prosciutto at a grocery store, too, and weren’t thrilled with the taste. I think we’ll get it at an Italian grocery store next time and see if there’s a difference. Thanks again!