Support Your Local Butcher: Drewes Brothers Meats

Local butchers are becoming fewer and farther between these days. I am lucky enough to live in a city that has several outstanding butcher shops. I have no issue with large supermarket butcher departments, nor with pre-packaged good quality meat.

What I love about going to my local butcher shop is the personal connection. They may not know me by name (though I do hear them calling many of the customers by name) but they do know what I ordered last time I came in. Asking how the chuck roast they sold me last week turned out and suggesting a nice pork shoulder for my BBQ pulled pork.

My local shop is called Drewes Brothers, walking distance from my house (though a bit further away than the Whole Foods, well worth the extra few blocks). They butcher all of their own meat and make many of the sausages they have on offer (like these bratwurst).

Here's a little back story from their website:

Josh and Isaac , are the fourth owners since Drewes Brothers originally opened in 1889. Thought to be the oldest operating butcher shop in California, Drewes offers old style service with new school attitude.

Josh and Joey are more than happy to spend a few extra minutes explaining the paticulars of a type of meat to a customer or offering cooking tips for roasting a tri-tip. All the while the radio blaring out Metallica or the days Giants game.

I remember going to the Westi Meat Market with my parents in Queens. The butchers were a bunch of German men (one or two of whom were quite handsome, which pleased Gran Fran no end) who worked very hard and had some of the best hot dogs and liverwurst I've ever tasted. They always offered the little kids a mini hot dog (fully cooked, ok to eat while you wait) and had German treats like Haribo Gummi Bears well before these became widely available in the States.

Drewes Brothers offers a small selection of sauerkraut and mustard. They also have on hand potatoes, lemons, onions, and a few other must-haves when cooking a nice roast.

So stop on into your local butcher shop and see what they have for you. They'll take good care of you.

We Don't All Have A BBQ for Memorial Day: Oven Baked Ribs

Just as my title states, we don't all have BBQ grills at our disposal. I live in an apartment with a tiny backyard. It's unclear if a BBQ would be a welcome addition to said yard, so I don't have one at the moment.

These oven baked ribs make me very happy. They taste great and don't require much work at all. In fact, I think these are even better than making ribs on the BBQ because they come out super tender and no worry about them charring on the outside while being under cooked on the inside.

I hope you enjoy these as much as I do.

Happy Memorial Day non-BBQ weekend to you!

Oven Baked Ribs

Ingredients:

• 1 large rack of pork ribs
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• 2 tsp kosher salt
• 2 tsp allspice
• 1 tsp curry
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp marjoram
• ½ tsp pepper flakes
• ¼ tsp red pepper

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. Mix all dry ingredients in a bowl.
3. Wash and dry the ribs in the sink.
4. Cut the rack into pieces if it won't fit into your roasting pan.
5. Coat the ribs on all sides with the dry rub.
6. Place the ribs in your roasting pan(s).
7. Let sit for at least 30 minutes (up to overnight, if you have the time).
8. Place the pan(s) in the preheated oven.
9. Bake for 30 minutes.
10. Turn the ribs over carefully.
11. Bake for an additional 30 minutes.
12. Turn off the oven and leave the ribs in the hot oven for another 10 minutes.
13. Remove from oven, cut the ribs apart and enjoy!

Cooking for One: Pork Chops

I mentioned here that I'd be working on a bunch of recipes for my friend Sara. She says it's cheaper for her to eat out more often than not, and I'm trying to convince her that with a few simple recipes she could make a bunch of stuff and recombine it all week to keep it interesting.

I'm not going to make her crazy or anything, just see if my theory is right: if you make (or buy) some good sauces and cook the basics for the dishes in advance, in bulk, you'll end up with enough variety in the end to not feel like you're eating the same leftovers again and again.

And, so, here is the first installment.

I started with a basic pork chop recipe. After I cooked it, I stored the chops in individual portions in the fridge in airtight containers. They should keep for a week this way, which means, Sara wouldn't have to eat

them several days in a row. I also made sure the herbs and flavors I used to season the chops would taste good with a variety of side-dishes. In reality, this recipe will work well with chicken, too (I don't eat lamb, but maybe it would taste good with that, too).

As we go through this experiment, it may turn out that cooking a quick piece of meat while putting together the rest of the meal might be the best way to go. My goal is for Sara to not have too much clean-up on her hands, and to keep it simple, she's a very busy lady. But, most of all I want her to enjoy what time she does have to spend in the kitchen to execute these meals.

I'll be posting the side dishes separately this week. If you'd like to see them posted with the main dish, drop me a line, I'd be happy to give that a go, too.

Pork Chops with Herbs de Provence and Honey

makes 2 chops

Ingredients:

• 2 Pork Chops
• 1 tsp Herbs de Provence
• Salt and ground pepper
• 2 tbsp Olive Oil
• 1/2 tbsp Honey

Method:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• Place a grill pan or skillet on the stove and turn the heat to high.
• Place pork chops on waxed paper.
• Coat with olive oil.
• Sprinkle herbs de provence, salt and pepper over the chops.
• Roll the chops in the olive oil to coat on both sides, distributing the herb mixture over the whole chop.
• Put into the pan and sear for about 4 minutes.
• Turn chops over and sear on the other side for another 4 minutes
• Drizzle honey over the chops.
• Place the pan in the oven and bake for 10 minutes.
• Remove from the oven and let the chops rest in the pan for 5 minutes.

Enjoy!