Coffee crusted ribz

I did a lot of testing for Grills Gone Vegan and now it’s finally here I decided to revisit one of my favourites. In case you don’t know, all the testing and planning of Grills was done quite a long time ago and it got a bit held up at the publishers, hence this book being released so soon after Whole Grain Vegan Baking, which was co-authored with Celine Steen. I did a review of some of the fabulous recipes I tested almost 2 years ago!

There’s loads to love about this book, and even as I sit staring out of my window in the middle of May into cloudy skies and endless rain, I know there are some recipes I’ll turn to again and again. One of them is the Coffee Crusted Ribs. They were the first recipe I decided to remake, partly because I loved them, and partly because I finally got my hands on another jar of instant espresso when I was in the US recently. The recipe is in two parts – you make the ribs first and then there a number of sauces and rubs that you can use on them. They are a little bit fussy but they make a lot and they freeze brilliantly. They’re a great dense texture and you probably wouldn’t guess there was coffee in the rub, just a deep flavour that adds a low note to the ribs.

I served them alongside some macaroni cheese with spinach in. I generally make my own cheese sauces but while in Chicago, Matthew really enjoyed the macaroni cheese side dish in Chicago Diner, which uses Teese. I had only tried cooking with the mozarella Teese and wasn’t hugely impressed with it, but when I saw that they sold a cheese sauce I brought some back to try. For a bought product we both enjoyed it; it certainly made for a very quick pasta dish and if it was available here I might well keep a tube of it around for emergencies. Apparently it keeps for a month in the fridge once opened so I’ll be trying the leftovers in something else.

I can’t wait to revisit some of my other old favourites from Grills Gone Vegan and I’ll be sure to keep you posted here when I do!

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