Orphan Black Viewing Demands Southern-Style Feast!

Tonight was the first Orphan Black gathering we've had in ages, and we watched three episodes back-to-back! So I decided that the momentous occasion called for a veritable feast--a Southern meat-and-three extravaganza for my soul seestras. I prepared Ham Hock and Fava Bean Soup, Magic Pot Baby Back Ribs with Jamaican BBQ Sauce, Magic Pot Four Cheese Mac and Cheese, and Spicy Sautéed Kale (the kale and hot pepper were from my garden). And of course, we topped it all off with sweet tea pie!

First, I will tell you about the soup, which was an IP experiment that turned into an IP fail...and then into a soupy success. I tried to cook a bag of frozen (thawed) fava beans with onions, garlic, yellow peppers, a can of Rotel, a packet of Sazon, and a ham hock in some chicken stock, on manual for five minutes, but they came out really mushy--very flavorful, but sadly mushy. Plus, they had those awful, tough skins! So I sliced open and squeezed out each one of those darn beans, added another couple of cups of chicken stock, and used a stick blender to purée. Lastly, I stirred in a little heavy cream. It ended up tasting just like split pea with ham soup. Delish!

I bought two racks of frozen, pre-marinated (Kansas City BBQ) ribs, and I thawed them overnight in the fridge. To cook them, put the metal rack into the IP, pour in a cup of apple cider vinegar, then CURL the racks of ribs into the pot. Cook on either meat or manual for 27 minutes, then brush with your favorite BBQ sauce and broil for five to ten minutes in the oven until browned and crispy on top.