Chrissy Teigen's Pineapple-Grilled Short Ribs-Famous Fridays

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It's been weeks since I've done a Famous Fridays post--thanks for indulging me in my summer hiatus--but today I'm finally back with a person and book I never expected to love so much, let alone blog about on these pages:  Chrissy Teigen and her amazing cookbook, Cravings: Recipes for All The Food You Want to Eat!! Really, guys I had low expectations for this cookbook, tossing it aside as just another celebrity indulgence, but once I started reading it not only was I laughing out loud at some of Chrissy's anecdotes, but I was seriously hooked on her recipes too, like these totally amazing and indulgent Pineapple-Grilled Short Ribs. In every way, Chrissy and Cravings is deserving of Famous Fridays treatment! Gosh, it's good to be back!!

John Legend is one lucky guy! Not only is he fabulously gifted and successful himself, but he's married to one of the most beautiful, fun and talented women around (you all know he and Chrissy are a couple, right?). Now Chrissy may be a high fashion model but the lady likes to eat well (and by well, I mean not exactly diet or calorie conscious). She also LOVES to but cook and tell stories so the book is full of her recipes for fairly decadent, high calorie offerings along with zany and slightly risqué stories and perspectives. It's not what you'd expect from an A-list model and I don't know how she looks the way she does with eating what she does, but it only makes the whole thing more endearing. There are recipes for breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks and more with often out-there outrageous titles and an emphasis on Asian food since Chrissy's mom is originally from Thailand. So far, I've tried about 6 six different recipes and everything has been surprisingly wonderful!

It was hard to pick just one to share, but in the end these decadent, fun, Asian-style short ribs won out as they seem to best represent the heart and soul of the book. You start by rubbing the ribs all over with salt, pepper and brown sugar. Decadent and fun already, right?

Then you marinate the ribs in a brown sugar, soy sauce, sesame oil and pineapple mixture that is easy to throw together and adds tons of sweet/salty goodness to the finished product. 

The actual cooking part is a breeze. You can grill the ribs outside on the barbecue (that's what I did) or in a grill pan or cast-iron skillet on the stove and they cook in just a matter of minutes, as do the pineapple slices. The meat caramelizes gorgeously on the outside (so does the pineapple) and stays incredibly tender and juicy on the inside. Messy but divine!!

And you'll definitely want to serve this over some fluffy white rice to mop up all the not-to-be missed juices!! These are like nothing I've ever had before and I can't wait to have them again!!

So if you're looking for something spicy and sassy this weekend, pick up a copy of Cravings and you'll understand what I mean when I say it's not just about the food!! And before we finish, I want to give a big smoocheroo to our middle guy on his (gulp) 20th birthday!!! Two decades, really?!! We love you and miss you! Have a great one guys and I'll be back next week with more as head into fall!!

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Chrissy Teigen's Pineapple-Grilled Short Ribs-Famous Fridays

Makes 4 servings

Prep Time for Ribs:  20 minutes, plus at least 4 hours to marinate and up to 24; Prep Time for Marinade:  10-12 minutes; Cook Time:  15-20 minutes

Ingredients

For the ribs  

• 2 ½ pounds flanken or kalbi-style short ribs
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper  
• ½ cup dark brown sugar (packed) 

For the marinade  

• ½ cup low-sodium soy sauce
• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar (packed) 
• ⅓ cup finely chopped garlic
• 2 tablespoons mirin
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh pineapple (you can use canned in a pinch too) 
• 2 tablespoons finely grated yellow onion
• 1 tablespoon Sriracha
• 1/2 tablespoon sesame oil

For serving  

• the rest of the pineapple, cored and sliced into half-moons  
• ¼ cup chopped scallions  
• Cooked rice

The Recipe

1.  For the ribs:  place ribs in a large baking dish or roasting pan and season them all over with the salt and pepper. Then, rub them all over with the brown sugar and let them sit for about 15 minutes so that the sugar can dissolve. 

2.  Meanwhile, make the marinade:  combine all the ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Pour over the ribs, turning to coat well. Cover the pan and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, but better yet 12 or 24 hours. Remove the ribs at least 30 minutes before ready to cook to allow them to come to room temperature. 

3.  Preheat grill to high or heat a grill or cast iron pan over high heat. Remove ribs from marinade, allowing excess marinade to drain off and pat dry with paper towels. Reserve marinade. Grill ribs about 5-8 minutes per side, until cooked through and caramelized on outside. Remove and set aside. Add pineapple slices to reserved marinade to coat them and grill 2-3 minutes per side, until caramelized.

4.  Serve ribs with pineapple slices garnished with the scallions over a bed of rice. 

Enjoy! 

Note:  Recipe adapted from Cravings:  Recipes for All The Food You Want To Eat by Chrissy Teigen. I left out the 2 tablespoons freshly grated ginger from marinade.