J's Kitchen

🧂 Ingredients

• 1 rack baby back ribs
• Meat Church Holy Cow rub (or peppery BBQ rub)
• ½ to 1 cup Kern River Big Water IPA (or any IPA/pale ale)

📋 Instructions

1. 1 Preheat Traeger to 225°F. Season ribs generously with rub on all sides.
2. 2 First cook (2 hours): Place ribs meat side up on the grill. Smoke for 2 hours.
3. 3 Texas Crutch (2 hours): Remove ribs, wrap tightly in foil. Pour beer into the foil packet. Return to grill meat side down. Cook 2 more hours.
4. 4 Final bark (45 min): Unwrap ribs, return to grill meat side up. Cook 45 minutes to firm up the bark.
5. 5 Rest 10 minutes before cutting. Serve. Accept compliments.

✅ Doneness Check

💡 Rub & Beer Notes

🧂 Chili Base

• 2 tbsp oil
• 1 onion, diced
• ½ cup diced chilies (hatch, jalapeño, or bell)
• 1 can (28oz) diced tomatoes in juice
• 1 can (15oz) stewed tomatoes
• 1 can Rotel (any flavor)
• 1-2 cans chili beans (optional)
• 1 packet chili seasoning
• 28oz water

🥩 The Meatball

• 2 lbs lean ground beef
• 1 tbsp chili powder
• 1 tbsp SPG (salt, pepper, garlic)
• ½ tbsp hatch chili powder
• Jalapeño Lime Pilsner rub (optional)

📋 Instructions

1. 1 Sauté onions and chilies in oil in Dutch oven until softened.
2. 2 Add diced tomatoes, stewed tomatoes, Rotel, beans, chili seasoning, and water. Bring to a simmer.
3. 3 Season ground beef with all rub ingredients. Form into one large meatball. Don't be shy about the size.
4. 4 Set up smoker: Dutch oven goes in, meatball on a rack sitting ABOVE the pot.
5. 5 Smoke at 275°F for 45-60 minutes.
6. 6 Increase to 325°F. Continue until meatball hits 145-150°F internal temp. Stir chili occasionally.
7. 7 Remove meatball. Break it apart into the chili. Stir well. Cook another 20 minutes.
8. 8 Serve with cornbread, shredded cheese, sour cream, and jalapeños.

🧂 Ingredients

• 1 can (28oz) whole tomatoes with juice
• 2 cans (10oz) Rotel
• ¼ cup chopped onion
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 whole jalapeño, quartered
• ¼ tsp sugar
• ¼ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp ground cumin
• ½ cup fresh cilantro (or more)
• Juice of ½ lime

📋 Instructions

1. 1 Combine everything in a blender or food processor.
2. 2 Pulse 10-15 times — keep it chunky. Don't over-process.
3. 3 Taste with a chip. Adjust salt, lime, cilantro as needed.
4. 4 Refrigerate at least 1 hour before serving. Overnight is better.

🧂 Ingredients

• 1 bag (12oz) cranberries
• ⅓ cup toasted pecans
• ⅓ cup packed brown sugar
• 3 scallions, coarsely chopped
• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
• 2 jalapeños, seeded (+ seeds = hotter)
• ⅓ cup fresh cilantro
• ⅓ cup fresh lime juice
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• Kosher salt & black pepper

📋 Instructions

1. 1 Sort cranberries on a rimmed sheet pan, removing stems.
2. 2 Pulse pecans and brown sugar in food processor. Coarsely chop.
3. 3 Add cranberries, scallions, garlic, jalapeños, and cilantro. Pulse to coarsely chop cranberries — keep it chunky.
4. 4 Add lime juice and olive oil. Process just to combine.
5. 5 Taste. Adjust sugar and lime as needed. Season with salt and pepper.
6. 6 Best served within 3 hours. Keeps refrigerated 3 days.

🧂 Cake

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• ½ tsp salt
• 3 eggs
• ¾ cup vegetable oil
• ¾ cup buttermilk
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups grated carrots
• 1 can (8oz) crushed pineapple, drained
• 1 cup flaked coconut
• 1 cup chopped walnuts

🧁 Cream Cheese Frosting

• ¾ cup butter, softened
• 2 packages (8oz each) cream cheese
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 1½ tsp vanilla extract

📋 Instructions

1. 1 Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour three 8-inch or 9-inch cake pans.
2. 2 Sift together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside.
3. 3 Beat eggs in a large bowl. Add oil, buttermilk, sugar, and vanilla. Mix well.
4. 4 Stir dry ingredients into wet until just combined.
5. 5 Fold in carrots, pineapple, coconut, and walnuts.
6. 6 Divide evenly into pans. Bake 25-30 minutes until toothpick comes out clean.
7. 7 Cool completely. Frost between layers and on top. Refrigerate 1 hour before cutting.

🫓 Dough

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• ½ cup water
• ½ tsp kosher salt

🥩 Filling

• 12 oz ground pork
• 6 oz napa cabbage, minced
• 2 eggs
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tsp rice wine
• 2 tsp ginger
• 2 scallions
• 1 tsp ground white pepper
• ½ tsp salt

🌶️ Dipping Sauce

• 2 tbsp Zhenjiang vinegar
• 1½ tbsp chili oil
• 1 tbsp garlic, minced

📋 Instructions

1. 1 Make dough: Combine flour, salt, and water. Knead until smooth (~10 min). Rest covered 30 minutes.
2. 2 Make filling: Squeeze excess water from minced cabbage. Combine all filling ingredients. Mix well.
3. 3 Roll dough thin, cut into 3-inch rounds.
4. 4 Place filling in center, fold and pleat edges to seal.
5. 5 To pan-fry (potsticker style): Heat oil in pan, place dumplings flat side down. Brown 2 min. Add ¼ cup water, cover, steam 6-8 min until water evaporates. Uncover to crisp bottoms.
6. 6 To boil: Drop in boiling water. Cook until they float + 2 more minutes.
7. 7 Combine dipping sauce ingredients. Serve immediately.