October 10, 2017

Slow Baked Baby Back Ribs and Grilled Corn with Ñora Allioli

Natacha Sanz Caballero Meat and Poultry barbecue, corn, farmland, ñora peppers, oven baked, pork, ribs, slow baked, slow cooked, spices

I like ribs, but never loved them (I can hear you gasping). Of all the different pork cuts, I never found ribs to be tender enough, instead, I always found them kind of chewy, a cut of meat that was too much bone and not enough meat. In Valencia I had them mostly in rice dishes, like in hearty baked rice, arroz al horno. I love hearty baked rice, it’s one of my favorite rice dishes, but I would eat the chorizo, blood sausage, vegetables and rice before I ate the ribs (sometimes I even pushed them aside). So much so that I don’t even add pork ribs to my hearty baked rice recipe (find it here), even though they’re part of it.

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Grilled corn with ñora allioli, Mama ía blog

October 5, 2017

Grilled Corn with Ñora Allioli, on a Warm Fall Day

Natacha Sanz Caballero Vegetables aioli, ajoaceite, corn, corn fields, corn on the husk, farmland, grilling, nora, ñora peppers, snack

This might be the tail end of the corn season, but to go with the slow baked baby back ribs I made, I knew I had to make corn. Don’t ask me why, but I associate ribs with corn. And grilled corn with ñora allioli was the answer.

We are a divided house when it comes to corn, some of us like it grilled and some like it boiled. For this recipe I decided to grill it in its husk, and there were no complaints. The sun was shining, it was unusually warm for this time of year, and I was itching to go outside. I wonder, too, if the allioli I made to spread on the charred kernels had something to do with its success at the table. It wasn’t my regular traditional allioli (find that recipe here). The Spanish Tin had sent me a small batch of ground ñora peppers. Ñora peppers! I had never been able to find them in the US, and now I know where to go for them. Ñora is a small, round pepper that grows in the region of Murcia, just south of the Comunidad Valenciana, where I come from. It has a characteristic flavor and medium heat. To know that I can now source them through The Spanish Tin makes me very happy.

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October 10, 2016

Tomato Basil Soup —easing into Autumn

Natacha Sanz Caballero Soups and Stews autumn, fall, farmland, Indiana farm, otoño, soup, tomato soup

Early October, and the fields are beginning to show it. Colors have started to turn from green to shades of yellow and golden brown, leaves are drying, and corn stalks look as if ready to crumble under the hands of a giant. And yet, we have been enjoying summer temperatures. I’m not kidding you! This week we’ve been enjoying (more…)