Dates in Detroit: Small Plates

Living in a border-city has its perks. If you live in Windsor, you are most likely familiar with border crossing, the glories of American retail and maybe if you dare, some culinary adventures.


In a few blog posts to come, I hope to broaden your restaurant horizons to include the Greater Detroit Area. There are some great destinations for fun dates, Sunday brunch and even fancy dinners.

Small Plates is where I'd like to take you first. 

taken from their website: www.smallplates.com

Small Plates is the American take on Mediteranean Mezze or Spanish Tapas. They serve food that is meant to be shared with all the small white plates your heart desires. They are critically acclaimed by such publications as Bon Apetite, Hour Detroit magazine, and Wine Enthusiast, to name a few. 


Matthew first took me there on a date, and then we've made the trip back several times with friends and family. Its the kind of place where cravings are born.


Small Plates is a charming hole in the wall, in the heart of the city, right across from the Detroit Opera House. This is neat because you could have dinner and walk across the road to see a show. But, be warned, because the place is so small, it fills fast and reservations on any night of the week  is probably a good idea.


Also, they have been featured on Groupon for Detroit, where you can buy a meal for half price. They also have appetizer and drink specials for weeknights, so check their website for details before you go!


Here is a small sample of their offerings:

All of their salads are amazing. This one in particular is the Chop Chop Salad, which is a fresh green salad with Asian highlights such as a ginger vinaigrette dressing and fried wontons. It comes in two sizes and is so delicious!

These Veggie Spring Rolls are a must, we order them every time we go. They are crispy, fresh and served with a side of hoison, spicy mustard and plum sauces. Mmmmm!!

Small plates offers a variety of pizzas. This one is their pepperoni pizza, but there are several other interesting options such as BBQ chicken, Italian Sausage or Greek pizzas. 

On our last visit we ordered these ribs. They were smokey, sweet and the meat fell right off the bone. Behind the ribs is our other must-have, the hand cut fries. These fries are amazing and come with their own housemade ketchup, which has a bit of a kick to it.

The dessert menu is also lovely and contains some chef's specials such as housemade cake and cheesecake. The creme brulee is also spectacular.

So if you want to go on a little adventure. Head across the border to downtown Detroit, where I know Small Plates will not disappoint.

Visit their website or facebook page for more information:

www.smallplates.com

Slow Cooker BBQ Ribs with Ease, Don't Freeze Your Knees!

Just because it isn't summer (although one might argue that it isn't winter either), it doesn't mean that you have to limit your dinners.

My husband loves anything BBQ. And just because I can't whip out the grill and stand outside, it doesn't mean that I can't make a mean rack of ribs. 

One of the first wedding gifts I received was a slow cooker. I said thank you, stared at it, and thought that my Iraqi grandmother might murder me in my sleep if I dared to use it. That's probably not a fair assumption; it wasn't something I was familiar with and I never saw one used while growing up. All jokes aside, my "Bibi", as we lovingly call her, is the best cook I know, and she IS the slow cooker. She stands by her stove top and whips up delicious meals every day of the week. 

Well as you may have guessed from my disjointed paragraphs, I use my slow cooker to make amazing fall-off-the-bone BBQ ribs!

I like to plan my dinners around what type of meat is on sale that week at the grocery store. I buy what I know I will cook that week, and that way I don't have to freeze anything - fresh is always best. Sometimes you will find that a good rack of pork back ribs is on special. I like to buy them when they are under $10, which is a pretty amazing deal.

I often prep this dinner in a rush before work or on my lunch break if I can make it home. You can always start the night before, and make it a bit easier on yourself. 

If you have time, here are some extra things you can do:

• Remove the membrane. On the underside of ribs is a clear stretchy membrane. If you are able to, and have the time, it makes for a better cooked rib if you take the membrane off. I like to use paper towel to grip a corner and then I pull. If you're lucky you can pull off the membrane in one piece. 
• Marinate the ribs in a dry rub overnight. I like to mix a bit of heat and sweet with chili, paprika, salt, pepper, garlic powder and brown sugar. The best thing to do is look up a rib rub recipe online to see if it suits your taste and then tweak it. Place the ribs on a baking sheet and rub the mixture into the meat. 

If you're a bit rushed, like I was the other day, this is what to do:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Place the ribs on some tin foil on a baking sheet and season them with salt and pepper on both sides. I also added a bit of brown sugar and paprika to kick it up a notch.

Let the ribs brown for 15 minutes on each side. While the ribs are in the oven, take out the slow cooker and set it on low. Once the ribs were done, I chopped them in half and placed them right in the slow cooker. I mixed a bit of BBQ sauce (Bulls-eye Bold Original was my choice) with some water (equal parts, about 1/2 cup's worth) and drizzled it over the ribs. 

Now this part sounds weird, but I added 2/3 of a can of Barq's Root Beer Soda over top of the ribs. The fizz disappears and what you will taste is a light hint of root-beer flavor. What the pop does is create moisture during cooking and also glazes the meat. Its delicious, I promise! Feel free to use any type of root-beer you have.

Don't feel like you have to balance them, later in the day they fell and they turned out just fine.

And that is it! Let the ribs cook on low for at least 6 hours; more time doesn't hurt. If you have less time, turn the heat to high instead and monitor after 4 hours as you don't want anything to overcook and burn. Here's how ours turned out:

For a side dish: I sliced sweet potatoes into wedges, seasoned them with salt and pepper and roasted them in the oven on a baking sheet at 450 degrees until they were crisp (approx 30 minutes). 

This recipe is easy to duplicate with beef ribs too!

I have learned that a slow cooker is your friend: it can warm you up after a long day of work with a hearty meal that looks like you slaved in the kitchen all day long! Delicious!!