Ideas/Help Needed: How to serve/garnish 500 Beef Rib Bites at upscale tasting event?

[PaulstheRibList]

For about 15 years I've been on the Board for a super cool human services agency in my city, the Family & Youth Counseling Agency (ok, i took 1 year off in the middle to comply with those bylaws). We have 7 programs in FYCA and it is an excellent organization, the best run non-profit in the area, hands down! All non-profit agencies have to raise money. Money is pretty darn useful, after all. I've contributed for several years now by donating a Ribs for 50 Party for the auction, and doing other stuff. I've cooked BBQ for the board, for our annual volunteer appreciation, and it's super fun!

These really cool folks have sponsored one of FYCA's programs, initiating a grief counseling for children imitative, the Shannon Cox Counseling Center. Super cool! These folks own a really nice stable, and use that platform to throw a huge Kentucky Derby party as a fundraiser for the Shannon Cox Counseling Center. The Event is called Derby for Dollars. It's a great party, and a very effective fundraiser.

Everyone dresses up in their Kentucky Derby best: Searsucker suits, and huge hats for the ladies! I've been and loved it. https://www.fyca.org/derby-for-dollars/


So, I volunteered @PaulsRibShack to bring the rig out to the stables and cook up the very best thing I've ever put in my BBQ mouth: Bone-In Beef Short Ribs!


I need to prepare 500 BITES for the guests to sample, along with the 20 or so other restaurants offering bites of their favorite things.

I'm planning on slicing little bites from the top meat for most of the bites, like this


OK, that's not the bite, but the slice where I cut the bites from. I did't take pictures of the bites.

Here's where I need your help: I DON'T KNOW HOW I AM GOING TO SERVE THESE BITES IN A MEMORABLE WAY?

> Serve just the meat bite and put on their plate...Yes, this is all you need!

> Serve on a light cracker?

> Serve with some kind of starch?

My best chef friend is coming up with ideas for a roasted potato salad? Maybe smoke the potatoes?

I confess...I'm stumped.

Ideas....Go!

[RonB]

How about a bit of lettuce big enough to hold the bite and a bit of sauce to dip it in for those who would like sauce?. Personally, I wouldn't dare put sauce on a hunk of meat that looks that good, but some will...

Almost forgot - on a very small plate.

[Mr. Bones]

Slider bun, sauce available on th' side?
Not sure how big yer bites are gonna be, but.
In answer to yer original post title, I first thought "HOT"
Give us a lil' more info, maybe one of us will come up with "THE" Idea!!!

[tbob4]

This sounds crazy, but is there any way of getting ahold of a butcher with a band saw? You could ask him to cut bones for you. Cook your ribs as you normally do, cut them into rib bites and re-insert the pre-cut bones (which you can smoke simultaneously) with a cup of dipping sauce. Sounds crazy - never tried anything like it - but may make for a good presentation. You might even want to opt for bare rib bones.

[Jerod Broussard]

Melba toast.

[PaulstheRibList]

Slider bun, sauce available on th' side?
Not sure how big yer bites are gonna be, but.
In answer to yer original post title, I first thought "HOT"
Give us a lil' more info, maybe one of us will come up with "THE" Idea!!!

It's all up to me.

They are bites, though, not full appetizer portions. So a single thin slice on a Melba Toast, as Jerod suggests.

[tbob4]

That disqualifies my 1st suggestion. How about a toothpick through a bite served above a condiment container with french onion soup. The bite could barely rest in the soup, suspended by the toothpick and the soup would be a chaser.

[Mr. Bones]

Thanks fer th' portion size.
Melba Toast is nice, mebbe a Trisquit would work, too?
Many flavor varieties...

[Notavegan]

+1 for triscuits Bones! And fat or beef juice still on the cracker before you inhale that too. Good call.

[Jerod Broussard]

Aaron Franklin had a simple slice of white bread at that fancy award ceremony, Arthur Bryant's, maybe.

[Breadhead]

Did someone say bread...😎

[HorseDoctor]

Agree! Keep it simple. Let your beef be the star! Serve it on a little piece of white bread. Get a bakery to make some mini-baguettes/oversize bread sticks and slice them?

[Cheef]

In the Kansas City area if there isn't white bread on the plate we're going to want to know why.

[TheCountofQ]

I'm thinking quarter and wrap up some onion in foil with butter or oil. Smoke/grill till translucent and soft. Toothpick some onion to a Rib Bite.

Could probably use some color too, so maybe red/yellow/orange bell peppers (seasoned/glazed) instead/also. The eyes need to eat too.

I like the above mentioned idea... on some sort of lettuce. Crackers... not so much, unless you are selling beer. Gotta wash those down ya know.

Reaching here, how about on some sheet pasta? Cut par boiled lasagna sheets and bake briefly? (Saw the concept in a book). Topped with bites and grated or sliced parm, &/or above mentioned onions, peppers, ...whatever gets the dish to entice people to try it??

I'm sure whatever you do, it will be great.

[Powersmoke_80]

Steakhouse type tooth picks with your Logo on it. or a small cut out of white bread like a wafer sized cookie cutter made out of a piece of pvc pipe or metal sharpened to cut.

[Potkettleblack]

Seconded. You built all that flavor. Keep it pure, make it easy to eat.

[T-bone]

What about a daikon radish pickle? You can quick-pickle them in a flavor profile that complements your rib bite. They're big enough to hold the bite and adds a crunch/acid elements to the bite.

[EdF]

That one sounds awesome!

[Thunder77]

How about a small dollop of mashed potatoes? Put that on the plate, and pop the rib bite on top of it.

[CandySueQ]

Get French bread baguettes, make 1/2 inch slices. Schmear some Secretariat Horsey Sauce on one side, then stab the Rib Bite with a toothpick (you could get fancy with the toothpick!) and you're done.

[HorseDoctor]

That's pretty much what I had in mind. Secretariat Horsey Sauce would be great for me but may not be for everyone. It would fit the motif well! Maybe offer with & without?

[PaulstheRibList]

I love this!!

[PaulstheRibList]

I'm cooking this right now...

[PaulstheRibList]

Working on the presentation of Beef Short Ribs bites, Take 1!

With only 1Week before the big day, Rib Bite presentation and plating practice commenced. These are choice bone-in beef ribs from, cut in sections, from the grocery store, adorned with BBBR.



And about 6 hours or so later...


I LOVED CandySueQ 's idea about the Secretariat Horsey Sauce! I decided to make some of our own, and buy some prepared horseradish.


I made Meathead's recipe, with the prepared sauce, and with the fresh. My chef friend, who has been coaching me on this and several other things, sent me his recipe: Sour Cream, Horseradish, Worchestire Sauce, dried Dill, salt and pepper (i used white pepper). I invited my tasting friends over and we tried all 4.

Beef rib bites are pretty! I have had good luck with the choice beef ribs from the grocery store before. These, however, were not as impressive in flavor as some in my memory. They were good, real good, but not as stellar as we have had.


Here is an example of the bite: 1/2 inch baggette slice, with a slice of beef rib, the horsey sauce, and a crumble of the beer rib cuts on top! What do you think?


The horsey sauce was fun, and all enjoyed it. The bread makes a very convenient way to pick up and eat the beautiful and delicious beef rib. However, the bread hits the tongue first when you eat it, and that masks the power of the beef rib to overwhelm the senses and send the eater into meat happiness. The Horsey Sauce draws attention to itself as well, since it has, well, horseradish.

Everyone really liked the bites. But the beef rib was not as big a star. If I was in a kitchen and could prep handfuls of these at a time, I would toast the baguettes. But that's not practical for me at this gig.

So I went back to the idea board...to be continued.

[CandySueQ]

You need to toast those slices with some oil and garlic to get some flavor on that bread! Those could be made ahead I think. I rendered down fat from 2 waygu briskets this weekend, some roasted garlic in that would be great maybe.

[PaulstheRibList]

@CansySueQ, I agree! I didn't see how I could pull that off successfully for this gig, so I tried some other plans...details coming soon!

[PaulstheRibList]

Well, Kentucky Derby Day arrived, and I was up until about 3 am the night before, prepping Beef Ribs! Lots of work, lately, with my regular business and the launch of Pauls Rib Shack, so I didn't get started until a little after 10. Maybe the reason I like slicing the 3 rib plate into individual bones is so that I can see that marbling so clearly in it's pre-cooked state! #BeefShortRibsRule



I love that when you properly trim and then properly render the fat, just about every bite on these suckers is wonderful!
What I've been doing lately is trimming down the layer fat that I can get to, to help achieve that "every cooked slice completely edible" goal. There is often a large V hunk on the end of the rib, usually on the large rib on one end.

Get that blade in there and get most of the fat out, careful to leave some on each side, so the "flat-means-flavor" rule is strictly adhered to.

When you are done trimming, squish the meat down and she's all ready!


Here is the underside of the rib, which is the chest cavity on the cow. I have not really trimmed that at all, as memory serves. But I decided to tonight. My recipe plan calls for using the side pieces on the ribs, mincing them up and putting as a topping for the Mac-N-Cheese. So, I gave it a try...on all 54 ribs! That took a little while. Now, when I go to mince those "wings" on the ribs, there will not be any heavy silverskin to trim off on the board. Or, maybe the lack of silverskin will cause the meat there on the side of the bone to get too cooked up and dry. We'll see!


This is where I was starting, just trimming off the heavy pieces of fat on the underside.


Then I thought about experimenting with trimming more in hopes of producing more miscible side bites, as I discussed earlier.


Here are the pans of the thicker ribs, all rubbed up. My thinking was to match the thicker ribs together on the pit, and the thinner rib together, in hopes of timing the pulling of them more so I didn't miss any and to speed along the temp and tenderness probing. This system worked very well. In slicing them, I didn't notice any that were under-rendered. In my last larger rib cook, I pulled a couple of them a shade early.


Here they are, all up on that pit!


And about 5-6 hours later...


Did I mention I like a nice, thick and dark bark? Yep. My plan on Beef Ribs is to take them to 210 degrees or better. I find that higher temp renders down the fat perfectly. They are so laden with uncious fat that they can handle the higher temp, and I have really been enjoying the results!




The ribs are off...now let's get to that Kentucky Derby fundraiser party and get to making guests smile!

[kmhfive]

Good-looking ribs.