Last night Steph and Pete were both sleeping at friends' houses, so Andy and I were free as birds! Oh wait, no we weren't, we still had Julie home. Dang. But it did give us a glimpse into the future when there is a possibility that all three children will be away at sleepovers and Andy and I can, um, do whatever we used to do before we had kids. If we can remember what any of those things are. At the very least, we could go out without having to spring for a babysitter.
In any event, the good news is that Julie goes to bed at 8:00, so we fed her early and revisited our old habit of having "date night" in the living room. Long-time Verbatim readers will recall that when our kids were little, we used to put them to bed, cook ourselves something far too sophisticated for their palates, spread out a picnic blanket on the rug, open a bottle of wine, and insert the latest Netflix offering into the DVD. It's been a long time since we could do that, so last night was really nice.
We watched "Milk," which I'd been dying to see. It fully lived up to all the raves I'd heard and read. Sean Penn was outstanding. As soon as I saw his face on the screen, I could no longer even picture the real Milk in my brain. He just took over. Even though I of course knew how the story would end, it was fascinating to watch it play out. I think this was the first time I'd seen James Franco, Emile Hirsch, and Diego Luna, who were all terrific, as was Josh Brolin. I thought that the era was recreated very convincingly, what with all the bad moustaches and faux-grainy news footage.
We made a really delicious new recipe:
Beef Ribs with Orange and Smoked Paprika Sauce
⅔ cup sweet orange marmalade
¼ cup Sherry vinegar
2 Tbsp frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 Tbsp smoked paprika* (plus more for sprinkling)
1¼ tsp ground cumin (plus more for sprinkling)
6 meaty beef back ribs (not short ribs, which require long, slow cooking)
*Not to be confused with regular paprika! This stuff is awesome. You might find it labeled Pimentón Dulce or Pimentón de La Vera Dulce.
Heat grill on medium-low. Combine all ingredients besides ribs in small bowl. Season sauce with salt and pepper. Transfer half of sauce to small pitcher and reserve.
Sprinkle ribs on all sides with extra paprika, cumin, salt, and pepper. Grill 20 minutes, turning occasionally. Brush ribs with some sauce from bowl. Grill until slightly charred and cooked to medium-rare, brushing with remaining sauce in bowl, about 15 more minutes. Transfer ribs to platter. Drizzle with some of reserved sauce in pitcher and sprinkle with salt and pepper; pass remaining sauce.
I made 7 ribs, but next time I think I'll get 8; we were both looking for a few more bites. Alongside I served roasted asparagus and one of my favorite quick side dishes, Trader Joe's Harvest Grains blend, which contains Israeli couscous, red and green orzo, baby garbanzo beans, and red quinoa. I make it with low-sodium chicken broth instead of water.
Ah yes, smoked paprika has become a condiment in its own right at our house. I made an amazing potato and onion soup with a big helping of smoked paprika, and it tasted exactly like it had bacon in it, even though it was vegan. Also good on bagels with cc and in chili.
Posted by: Katy | May 03, 2009 at 12:17 PM
Mmm. Sounds awesome. This would be great for Harstine where we mostly grill (here at home, not so much—very noisy on the deck with constant traffic). I'll save this to my OneNote! (OneNote, if I hadn't mentioned before, is a Very Cool Microsoft application that acts like a virtual, well, notebook! I have a tabbed "section" for recipes. I use it all the time (it's part of the Office suite, and I use it more than Word or Excel!)
Posted by: Tonya | May 04, 2009 at 12:53 AM
Did you see Y Tu Mama Tambien? Then you have seen Diego Luna.
I hadn't known the details of who shot Milk, so it still had plenty of drama and surprise for me. Great film.
Posted by: Janeen | May 04, 2009 at 10:46 AM
You will be able to have your date nights anytime you want. :)
We watched August Rush. OH soooo good!!!
Posted by: joan | May 04, 2009 at 01:40 PM
How sweet are the ribs? I don't like sweet savory foods, but these sound intriguing.
Posted by: Wendy | May 04, 2009 at 07:02 PM
I am bastardizing this recipe as we speak (as I type?) so that I can make these in the crockpot, as befits my overwhelming laziness. Woo!
Posted by: Mir | May 27, 2009 at 09:17 AM
Sounds great! I bet this would work well for pork ribs, too.
I'm a huge fan of smoked paprika; it's great on grilled veggies with a little olive oil. Especially eggplant.
Posted by: JP | July 08, 2009 at 07:19 PM