3.29.2009

THE BIRTHDAY OF THE LITTLE LOPEZZER



Our good friend Lopez had a birthday today and we tried to celebrate it properly with a dinner at our place and a few drinks in the hood to cap off the evening. I'm not sure about everyone else, but I felt it was a rather successful venture.

We'd initially talked about creating fish tacos for the affair, but neither Meena or I were feeling all that hot so we just opted for a dinner that would require incredibly minimal activity on either of our parts.

Ribs. Veg. Cornbread.

Done.

Meena did the bulk of the heavy lifting and knocked out the veg and the cornbread. Her veggies went like this:
- brussels sprouts
- onion
- potato
- bacon
- olive oil
- sea salt
- black pepper

And for her cornbread, she just whipped up a bit of jiffy corn muffin mix (I won't front, this stuff is probably frowned on in many circles, but we use it often and hold our heads high) doctored with some canned green chilies. Delicious.

I took care of the baby backs. Noting special. Just three racks with a nice glaze:
- sesame oil
- brown sugar
- honey
- garlic
- soy sauce
- korean bbq sauce

I baked them for a couple hours and just applied the sauce in 15-20 minute bursts. Something like that. I just throw a little more on when I feel like it. Or when I remember.

Anyway, they came out lovely. The ends were just a touch chewy and sticky from the sauce and the meat was soft and luscious. Fell right from the bone. Can you ask for anything more?

The veg was out of this world. The liberal use of bacon took the sprouts, potatoes and onions to a truly special place. A warm and happy land of smoky, salty flavors for everyone. It's late. I'm getting a little weird.

But the dinner was delicious and I think everyone had a good time. We're definitely doing our best to recover today and with any luck, these nagging colds will dissipate and we'll be back on our feet for this long work week looming in the not so distant future.

2 comments:

Su-Lin said...

Swell! I've had a box of Jiffy sitting in my cupboard for a while...the box is just to pretty and retro to use but this is a good reminder for me to use it!

alec said...

I would definitely recommend it. It's like a blank canvas just waiting for you to give it new life. Enjoy!