New Year's Eve Meal

For the last two years, on either New Year's Eve or New Year's Day, I have made dinner for Mr KT and I. We have something that I've never made before. Last year, I made beef tips with Sugar Snap Peas and Fried Rice and Cranberry Sorbet for dessert. This year we went All-American with BBQ Beef Ribs with BBQ sauce from scratch, Boston Baked Beans, and sweet cornbread. Dessert was Lemon Daiquiri Sorbet.

I had actually never made any of these recipes before. The cornbread I usually make isn't sweet. But I have to say that everything turned out great! It was so yummy. I was so glad because I had been looking forward to good ribs and I would have been so disappointed.

I sort of followed recipes but not really and so I am attempting to write down what I remember doing. So, here goes...


BBQ BEEF RIBS
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4 lbs. pork spare ribs
Cumin powder
Mustard powder
Chili powder
Celery flakes
Garlic salt
Brown sugar
Liquid smoke


SAUCE:

2 tbsp. brown sugar
2 tbsp. soy sauce
2 tbsp. vinegar
1 c. Ketchup
1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp. chili powder

Line a roaster with foil (otherwise you have a mess). Place ribs in roaster. Brush ribs with liquid smoke. Sprinkle lightly with each of the seasonings. Put a 1/4 cup of water in bottom of pan. Seal with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Decrease heat to 300 and cook for 90 more minutes. Uncover and pour some of the sauce over the ribs. Bake 5 more minutes or until meat pulls easily away from the bone. Serve remaining sauce with ribs at the table.



BOSTON BAKED BEANS
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(I seriously didn't follow the recipe on this one so here is what I did.)
INGREDIENTS

* 2 cups canned organic navy beans
* 5 slices of turkey bacon
* Onion flakes (didn't measure)
* 3 tablespoons molasses
* 2 teaspoons salt
* 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
* 1/4 teaspoon dry mustard
* 1/2 cup ketchup
* 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
* 1/4 cup brown sugar

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
2. Arrange the beans in a 2 1/2 quart casserole dish by placing a portion of the beans in the bottom of dish, and layering them with bacon and onion.
4. In a saucepan, combine molasses, salt, pepper, dry mustard, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce and brown sugar. Bring the mixture to a boil and pour over beans. Pour in just enough water to cover the beans. Cover the dish with a lid or aluminum foil.
5. Bake in the preheated oven, until beans are tender and heated through. Remove the lid about halfway through cooking, and add more liquid if necessary to prevent the beans from getting too dry.



SWEET CORNBREAD
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Ingredients:

* 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
* 2/3 cup sugar
* 1/2 cup yellow corn meal
* 1 tablespoon baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1 1/4 cups milk
* 2 eggs, lightly beaten
* 1/3 cup vegetable oil
* 3 tablespoons butter, melted

Directions:
PREHEAT oven to 350° F. Grease an 8-inch square baking pan.

COMBINE flour, sugar, cornmeal, baking powder and salt in a medium bow. Combine milk, eggs, vegetable oil and butter in a small bowl; mix well. Add to flour mixture; stir just until blended. Pour into prepared baking pan.

BAKE for 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.

FOR MUFFINS:
SPOON batter into 18 to 20 greased or paper-lined muffin cups, filling 2/3 full. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks for 5 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool slightly. Serve warm.



BEN & JERRY'S LEMON DAIQUIRI SORBET:
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3 lemons
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons rum
1/4 cup corn syrup
2 1/2 cups cold water

1. Grate the zest from 1 lemon and set it aside.
2. Juice the lemons. Save the pulp but pick out the pits.
3. Stir the sugar, rum, corn syrup, and water together in a mixing bowl until the sugar dissolves. Stir in the lemon juice and zest.
4. Transfer the mixture to an ice cream maker and freeze following the manufacturer's instructions.
Makes 1 quart.

I froze the entire amount in a 9x13 pan and then used a hand mixer to whip it up when almost frozen. Then refreeze and should be ready to serve. I think a ice cream maker would have been better it just wasn't in the cards.

So, I recommend all of these recipes. Happy cooking! Oh, and I do have some pictures that I will post with this shortly. They just haven't been downloaded yet.