An "Updated" BBQ Dinner....
PEANUT-CRUSTED CAROLINA BBQ PORK SPARERIBS | Deep-Fried Potato Salad
SO YESTERDAY I DID SOMETHING I don't usually do. I used my Facebook status update to bitch about my day. I don't wax personal on my updates—I save that for my Notes—so it was more of a momentary, reactionary thing. The nature of my frustration was work related; I had been waiting for clients to pay me for work rendered all week and, having written checks on these intended recompenses, was quite upset when one client had, that morning, postponed our meeting for the third time that week, and another client had taken off for an 8-day vacation without nary a phone call to me.
Assuming my day was officially in the crapper and was not about to get better, I sought my go-to solace: food. And not just eating of food, but, as many of you are already well aware, of doing something culinarily inventive. That's where the true "therapy" in food is for me!
You can read the catalytic discussion on my original status update (notice how everyone who commented seem to be very less interested in my emotional well-being and far more invested in the food. I guess it's more therapeutic for everyone else too...!), which includes a rough version of the recipe for the Peanut-Crusted Carolina-Style Barbecue Ribs with Deep-Fried Potato Salad that I wound up making. Or you can just "savor" the photos of said meal below....
Yes, it was excellent! So good in fact that I decided to keep leftovers for myself as opposed to giving them to some of the staff members downstairs in the restaurant where I work (sorry, Ray!) which I had offered to do.
The peanuts added a nice, soft, nutty crunch to the tangy, sweet, juicy, lean and fatty pork, as did the deep fried shell of the potato salad add another textural element to each of its bites. Would the whole meal be just as good without the nuts or deep-frying? Yes, absolutely. But, again, this was about updating a classic.
And updating my mood, in a sense. Which happened anyway since, in the 6 hours that the ribs were in the oven, one of my aforementioned clients finally drived by my apartment to drop of (cash!) money, and the other client's check, which had been left at the bar downstairs the night before, was finally relayed to me.
So the night ended on a good note, and as I contemplate how many deep-fried items I've had this week, I offer myself the comfort of knowing what things and/or behavior I used to indulge in to cheer me up, and realizing how much better it is to wake up happy and pain-free with, maybe, just some peanut in my teeth....
Bun Apple Tea!
.kac.
PEANUT-CRUSTED CAROLINA BBQ PORK SPARERIBS | Deep-Fried Potato Salad
