Episode 281: The Best Ribs, Okra, and Dal

Molly Watson’s “Best Ribs Ever”

As Marisa’s maternity leave continues, Molly Watson, writer, cookbook author and editor in chief for Edible Communities, joins as guest co-host!

In food news this week, Joy and Molly discuss a recent Washington Post article concerning the new book, Burn the Ice: Is the Golden Age of Restaurants Over? The book is by Kevin Alexander, known by many as the writer of this now-infamous article.

In our What’s for Dinner segment this week, we’ve got Molly’s terrific Sichuan peppercorn baby back ribs.

In our How’d You Make That segment, we talk about the easiest, least messy way to make slime-free okra that everyone wants to eat.

In our Wildcard segment, we talk about dal. All the different types of dal we love. This is one of them.

In our What We’re Loving Segment, Molly tells us about Mexican chile peanut sauce. And here’s how she makes it:

  1. Toast about 1/2 cup peanuts in a frying pan over medium-high heat—keep swirling the pan once they start to color to last the evenly. Maybe 3 minutes. Put them on a plate to cool.
  2. Put the pan back on the heat. Add about 1/2 cup oil, 1/4 cup sesame seeds, 8 cloves garlic—roughly chopped is fine, 1 chopped onion, and a dozen dried arbol chiles.
  3. Cook until the onion and garlic are soft and the sesame seeds are lightly browned—5 to 10 minutes.
  4. Transfer to a food processor and let cool. Add a tablespoon of cider or red vinegar and a teaspoon of salt. Some oregano is optional, but not my thing.
  5. Puree until smooth. Then add the peanuts and pulse until just barely still a bit chunky.

If you like what you hear, make sure to subscribe! Bonus points if you rate us or leave a review. Follow us on Instagram and twitter @localmouthful and help us spread the word about the show.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *