Oven Smoked Beef Ribs

No smoker? No worry, cause these are so delicious and cook just in the oven. 

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Makes approximately 4 ribs

INGREDIENTS

• 2 pounds beef back ribs
• 3 tablespoons liquid smoke
• 1/3 cup yellow mustard
• Kosher salt & fresh ground pepper
• 1/4 cup hoisin sauce
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon five spice powder
• 1 tablespoon sriracha
• 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 275
2. Put ribs on a large sheet of foil, and brush with liquid smoke, then liberally with mustard
3. Season well with salt & pepper and wrap tightly with foil - place in oven
4. Bake 3-4 hours, checking after about 3 hours for your perfect level of tenderness - I like them very tender (just don’t tell anyone in Texas)
5. Combine hoisin, honey, soy, 5 spice, sriracha and sesame oil - mix well and set aside
6. When they’re ready, remove from oven and turn to broil
7. Open carefully (there will be steam) and either pour out liquid in the foil and put back on robs, or put ribs on a rack
8. Brush well with sauce and return to oven for until sauce starts to bubble
9. Remove and devour, I mean serve.

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ASIAN CHICKEN TACOS

These spicy little tacos are silly good, and healthy too…. so what are you waiting for?

Makes about 4-6 tacos

INGREDIENTS

• 1 tablespoon peanut oil
• 1  1/2 cup broccoli coleslaw mix
• 1  1/2 cups deli roasted chicken, dark meat, shredded
• 1 teaspoon fresh ginger, finely diced
• 1 tablespoon Chili Paste (Sambal Oelek)
• pinch Kosher salt
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 4-6 wheat tortillas

Slaw Dressing:

• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 1 teaspoon fresh ginger, finely diced
• 1 tablespoon peanut oil
• 1 tablespoon soy
• 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon rice vinegar
• 1/2 lime, juice
• 1/2 teaspoon brown sugar

DIRECTIONS

1. In medium bowl mix all the dressing ingredients, throw in the slaw, mix again
2. Preheat smoking hot grill pan, add oil, chicken, ginger, salt, cook 2 minutes
3. Add chili paste, cook 30 seconds
4. Warm tortillas
5. Build your taco: Sour cream, slaw mix, chicken mix, eat!

WATCH SAM MAKE THIS...

Hoisin Beef Skewers

Makes about 2 dozen skewers

These can be made in 5 minutes and cooked in about 5. That's pretty darn good - plus you get to eat them off those cool little sticks. Put the steak in the freezer for about 15 minutes before slicing - it will make it easier.

Ingredients

• 1 pound steak, I think a New York works well
• 1/2 cup Hoisin sauce, supermarket Asian aisle
• Juice from 2 limes
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• bamboo skewers
• chili sauce, to taste
• green onions, thinly sliced and toasted sesame seeds for garnish

Directions

1. Mix Hoisin, lime juice and garlic well - set aside
2. Trim steak across grain into slices about 1/4 thick
3. Thread steak onto skewers
4. Add some of the sauce to the skewered meat - reserving some for dipping
5. Heat grill pan or bbq really well
6. They won't take long - no more than about 3 minutes a side
7. Mix a little chili sauce with reserved dipping sauce and serve on the side

Crab Won Tons

Makes about 30

This falls under the heading of "Don't make the same thing all the time". They're delicious, simple and different - plus they're baked, not fried. I would try to insist on fresh crab, but there's no point. You're going to use what you want and besides - canned in this case is actually not that bad. But if you do use the canned, buy the 'lump'.

Ingredients

• 4 oz cream cheese, softened
• 3 green onions, sliced very thin
• 1 cup crab meat, approximately
• 1 tablespoon Asian hot sauce (Sriracha)
• 1 package won ton wrappers, I like the round ones

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400
2. Mix all ingredients well in bowl, except wrappers
3. Put about a teaspoon and a half of mixture in center of each wrapper
4. Dip finger tips in water and wet edges of wrapper lightly and fold in half - try to remove as much air as possible
5. Seal tightly and place won tons on baking sheet coated with cooking spray
6. Bake until they start to brown - should be about 15 to 20 minutes
7. While they cook, make the dipping sauce:
8. 3 tablespoons soy
9. 1/4 teaspoon sesame oil
10. 1 teaspoon sugar
11. 1 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
12. 1 teaspoon green onion, finely chopped
13. Mix all ingredients and serve on the side

Tomato Beef Chow Mein

Serves 6

A boyhood favorite.

Ingredients

• 2 Styrofoam cups of the pre-packaged instant ramen noodles
• 1 pound steak (you choose but I like a New York for this)
• 1 tablespoon peanut oil
• 4 ripe, medium sized tomatoes, cut into 8 wedges each
• 2 tablespoons black bean sauce, (found in the Asian aisle of most supermarkets)
• 1 tablespoon water
• Green onions (scallions, chopped fine for garnish

Directions

1. Cook noodles according to package directions--for the styrofoam type I just fill with water and microwave 2 minutes, then drain well. For the plastic bag kind--I boil them without the seasoning packet then drain well
2. Slice steak into very thin slices
3. Preheat a pan or wok on stovetop and heat really well over medium heat, then add oil
4. When the oil is smoking, and not until-- add beef and tomato and stir fry for a couple minutes until beef changes color and is cooked through
5. In a small bowl mix black bean sauce with water- -set aside
6. Add drained noodles and black bean sauce to the beef and tomato and stir the whole business until the flavor is through everything and all is heated
7. Serve

Yakitori Chicken

Japan is famous for the little shops that serve many incredibly delicious types of charcoal grilled chicken. The 'little' refers to the fact that the shops can be as small as having seats for as few as 6 or 8 people. The 'many types' refers to the many different 'parts' of the chicken they use. For our purposes, we'll stick with just thighs.

Ingredients

• 16 bamboo skewers
• 4 chicken thighs
• 5 tablespoons soy sauce
• 5 tablespoons sake
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 4 green onions

Directions

1. Soak skewers in water for 20 minutes
2. Combine soy, sake and sugar in small pot over medium heat for 5 minutes
3. Cut each thigh into approximately 8 bite size pieces
4. Thread 2 chicken pieces onto a skewer with a piece of green onion in the middle
5. Grill chicken over medium heat until done, basting constantly while they cook until done

Pork & Shrimp Potstickers

Makes about 30

These might be a little work, but they're certainly worth it.  Delicate little dumplings that will have you wishing you made more - or that you didn't share them.

Ingredients

• 1/2 pound ground pork
• 1/2 pound raw shrimp, peeled & deveined
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled
• 1 inch piece of ginger, peeled
• 4 green onions, white & light green parts only with root cut off
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 30 round won ton wrappers
• vegetable oil for frying

DIPPING SAUCE:

• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon rice vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon hot chili oil

Directions

1. In a processor, combine first 7 ingredients (or chop all finely by hand and mix well)
2. Put some of the pork mix in the middle of each wrapper, dip you finger in water and lightly moisten the wrapper edge
3. Fold in half and seal shut
4. Heat oil in a pan and cook gyoza until lightly browned on bottom, 3-5 minutes
5. Add water carefully (it'll steam & splutter) and cover with a lid
6. Steam until cooked through, approx 5-8 minutes
7. Remove, plate and mix sauce ingredients for dipping

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