TGIM: Easy Whisky Cocktail

I’ve been meaning to share my go-to cocktail and, if your life has been anything like mine lately and/or if you have lovely patio weather right now like we do here in Texas, a go-to cocktail is what you need!

I have to admit I was slow to get on the whisky bandwagon but I gradually found myself drinking whisky more in the winter (ah, can’t beat a hot toddy) and then, one day when I was out of rum for this super simple drink combo, I reached for some Canadian Club. After a few sips (and maybe several more), I decided I actually preferred whisky. All this to say that if you are not a whisky drinker, you should still give this a shot. It is light and refreshing and not too sweet. (Hint: The key is good ginger ale.)

Easy Whisky Cocktail

Fill a lowball glass with crushed or cube ice and pour in 2 oz. of whisky (I like Canadian Club or Maker’s Mark.) Top off with Reed’s Ginger Ale and squeeze in 1/4 of a large lime. Stir gently and commence to sippin!

Korean-style Pork Spare Ribs

As a newly single lady, I have recently tackled some projects myself around the house that made me quite proud of my girl power. But there are some things — electrical work and A/V coordination — that I am happy to bribe my guy friends to help me get done. Recently I offered up some ribs as the bait and it worked like a charm.

Now, I have cooked spare ribs many ways — Italian-style or straight up BBQ — and I wanted to have something to blog about when I was done. I also like dreaming up new recipes just to see how they will turn out. Most Korean rib recipes are for beef short ribs and, while the flavor combinations in the recipes I looked up sounded mighty tasty, I had two racks of pork spare ribs defrosted. Time to improvise.

Korean-style Pork Spare Ribs

First, start by marinating your two racks of St. Louis spare ribs.

Marinade

Mix the below ingredients together and pour over your ribs; marinate at least 2 hours and up to overnight.

Ingredients

• 10 oz bottle Teriyaki sauce
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 2 tbsp chili-garlic sauce
• 2 tsp toasted sesame oil
• 2 minced garlic cloves

When you’re ready to get cooking, remove the ribs from the marinade and place them on your Green Egg (or other smoker) over indirect heat at around 400 degrees dome temp. Leave them be, spraying occasionally with apple juice, for an hour.

Pull them off when the first hour is up and wrap them in buttered foil spread with apricot jam. Return to the grill for another hour of cooking. During this time, you can make your sauce…

Korean BBQ Sauce

I decided to riff of my Easy BBQ sauce for this version. Just combine the following ingredients:

• 1 cup tomato sauce
• 1/2 cup rice wine vinegar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 tbsp molasses
• 1 tbsp yellow mustard
• 1 tbsp garlic powder
• 1 tbsp five-spice grapeseed oil (or 1 tsp five-spice powder)
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 2 tbsp Teriyaki sauce
• 1 small shallot, minced

When your hour in foil is up, unwrap the ribs and start slathering with your BBQ sauce…

After about 45 minutes or so, you should be ready to remove those lovelies and tent with foil for 5-10 minutes to let all the juices settle down. Then take a knife or cleaver to ‘em…

And load your plate. I served these with a salad and french fries with a side of ketchup spiked with chili-garlic sauce. Spicy goodness, y’all — mmmm-mmmm!