This is my official entry into the "Your Signature Dish" TD.
Please accept my entry titled "My Signature McRib".
Because I jump at
any opportunity of McRib talk on site to post a picture of the McRib I make, it was easy to figure out what my signature dish is. McRibs!!!
I've had a cryovac with some beautiful meaty ribs in the freezer I've been saving for a special occasion. Have ribs, will smoke! I've been smoking meat just over a year now and I've smoked more ribs than anything -- another reason something with ribs has to be my signature dish. When you are making a McRib it is very important not to disturb the membrane on the underside of the rib rack, an intact membrane will help you ease out the rib bones. I've been experimenting with my own rubs which helps me control the amount of salt, sugar and artificial additives on our food at home. Along the way I've noticed I love the taste of celery seeds on ribs in a small amount, they pack a flavourful punch so a few too many seeds can overpower a dish. Chewing one or two celery seeds per rib bone has become a delight I look forward to. For these two meaty racks of back ribs I made a rub of: 2 heaping tsp of Cool Runnings 'All Purpose Seasoning with Pimento' (it's
similar to a jerk rub, pimento is allspice), 1 level tsp granulated garlic, 1 heaping tsp ground ginger put through a sieve, 2 heaping tsp onion powder and 1/8th tsp celery seed. I have a few stainless steel shakers to mix rubs in that make distributing spice evenly over meat easy.
A few of the necessary ingredients to turn ordinary ribs into Signature McRibs: onion, sweet pickles, BBQ sauce and soft, oval, white buns with a crack down the middle. The Thursday before the TD started I checked out buns while I was shopping and found the perfect oval bun that had a crack, too! They were a specialty Portuguese bun. I went back on Saturday and the shelf was bare, they don't get their Portuguese bread delivery until Mondays! Had to be happy with a crustini bun, it was round, not oval, but at least it had a crack across the top.
While the ribs were smoking I put my attention to the side. While we were out Saturday I went into a trendy local food shop that was offering samples, one of which was a celeriac salad. I had two celeriac bulbs in the fridge at home so I wanted to see what this salad tasted like, maybe I should make it, too. I was really surprised to find out it was bland. It showed me what a jazzed-up version could grow from, though, and I was game to try making something new for this TD. The bland salad had a fresh herb in it, couldn't figure out what it was because it was really mild -- I decided to use fresh dill in mine as well as sour cream, lemon, black pepper and raw Celtic salt.
Cut the celeriac and radishes into matchsticks, added salt and set the bowl in the fridge for a few hours to draw out excess moisture. I love the texture that procedure creates for cabbage slaw, why not try the same with celeriac and radish? This is a picture of the bowl after resting a few hours, you can see some of the matchsticks are shiny from the drawn moisture.
The ribs are done, here they go for a rest in a roasting pan.
And now to finish the salad -- or celeriac slaw. Because I'm also putting fresh lemon juice on the salad I want to be sure it is as dry as I can get it so the sour cream stays thick. I tried one of the celeriac match sticks. The texture was wonderful and definitely better than that trendy specialty food store's celeriac. Guess they didn't rest theirs in the fridge with salt. I put the matchsticks in a colander and washed some of the salt off and dried it with paper towel.
Chopped up some dill fine, added fresh squeezed lemon juice and the rest and mixed the salad. Wow, that was GOOD. I ended up eating most of the bowl myself in one sitting, it had too much lemon for my partner but for me it rocked! This celeriac slaw is now one of my new addictions, next time I'll ease up on the lemon in the main bowl and just add more to mine.
Now to build McRibs. First, we need to free the bone from the meat. I cut off a piece of ribs that is just larger than the bun -- usually about 4 or 5 bones, depending on the size of the rack. Turn the piece upside down and work the knife through and around the membrane to free the bone. The membrane keeps moisture between the meat and bone, kind of like micro-steaming it, which makes separating the two easier. Avoid cutting through the meat to the "good" side. Some ribs will allow you to ease your finger into the growing pocket between the bone and meat. If the bone doesn't come out easily just keep poking your knife around until it does.
First the meat goes on the bun bottom.
Next is the BBQ sauce. Because this is real rib meat I want to taste the meat so I'm controlled when saucing. I like to be able to see that some of the meat has no sauce or such a thin layer of sauce that the meat easily shows through.
Next are the chopped onions. I put on a lot more than Mickey D does.
Sweet pickles are next.
And my finished Signature Dish with my signature fabric drape!
PLEASE USE THE PHOTO BELOW FOR VOTING.
Now THAT'S a McRib! :thumb: Absolutely delicious, as always, but this time I got the bonus of that fantastic celeriac slaw.
Thanks for looking!
