4th of July with The Rabbitt’s

I thought I’d share our holiday menu with you. We’re having our good friends Rudy and Dorita Pina over for the occasion. Monsoon season officially kicked off yesterday with a tremendous rain storm, big winds, and we even got some hail. Our parched desert needs it desperately so it was very welcome.  The same is predicted for both today and tomorrow so no July 4th cookout for us!

Instead I am doing Pork Ribs with Homemade Barbeque Sauce in the oven. But first, we will start with a simple, but elegant cheese platter and our first course will be chilled Salmorejo. This is a Spanish, cold soup, similar to gazpacho, but this recipe calls for smoked tomatoes, lots of garlic, sherry vinegar and more! The icy cold soup is garnished with fried capers, roasted hazelnuts and crumbled crostini. Not traditional, but excellent!

I got the recipe when my husband, Jerry and I recently ate at Kingfisher in Tucson. Being from the east coast, we both miss fish a lot and this restaurant is fabulous. I ordered the Salmorejo and was blown away. Absolutely incredible dish! I asked our waiter if Chef would share the recipe and she did. Chef Jacki Kuder is the chef/owner of Kingfisher and I can’t wait to blog her recipe…soon! She puts some very interesting twists on the classic Salmorejo and it all comes together beautifully.

BACK TO THE RIBS:

I’ve made these ribs many times, but this time dry-rubbed them instead of marinating. For the original recipe, Go to: https://cookwithcindy.com/2013/02/06/baby-back-pork-ribs/ This post is from the old blog so if you want the recipe you will need to Copy/Paste/Print. I used an extra meaty rack of Pork Loin Back Ribs, which should cook up very nicely.

Rack is rubbed and awaiting its BBQ bath tomorrow!

In the rub I used brown sugar, ground espresso coffee, lots of different chili spices, garlic and onion powder. Tomorrow it goes into the homemade BBQ sauce, is wrapped securely and roasts in the oven for 3 hours. Because it is sealed tightly in foil it steams as it roasts, which makes the ribs very tender. Finally the rack will be browned under the broiler to form a perfect crust.

With the pork we will have a fairly traditional coleslaw, steamed corn on the cob, a red/white/blue fruit salad dressed with that lovely white mango balsamic vinegar I just bought, and I believe Dorita is bringing her famous Pastel De Elote (Savory Mexican Corn Pie), which will be a perfect addition to this menu.

Not only is Dorita a fabulous chef, but also very talented artist and calligrapher. The first time she made me this Elote she also made a beautiful recipe card to go along with it.

Here’s a tip when you are steaming fresh corn: Add a splash of milk, a little sugar and lots of salt. My old friend, Jimmy Wilbur taught me that trick many moons ago. The sugar brings out the sweetness in the corn and the milk makes it very tender.

For dessert we are having Lemon Tiramisu. Here’s the recipe: https://cookwithcindy.com/2024/04/01/lemon-tiramisu/ I will serve it with whipped cream infused with lemon extract and a little Limoncello on the side for the ladies.

As fractured and angry as our country is right now, I believe we must hold on to HOPE and pray that things will improve. They must! 

God Bless America!

I hope your 4th of July celebration is filled with

peace, love and happiness…and lots of good food!