Terri Dowd, otherwise known as the “Parmesan Princess,” now has a famous recipe that celebrity chef Emeril Lagasse featured on ABC's “Good Morning America.”
The resident of Canonsburg, Washington County, created the Grilled Ribs and Asparagus recipe that appeared on the show last week. Dowd started her blog, www.parmesanprincess.com, about six months ago, and started posting some of her recipes on Twitter, where she follows Lagasse. She noticed and used an Emeril hashtag, and the chef found her recipe. He chose it and one other cook's recipe to be featured and demonstrated on the show.
Dowd, 32, says Lagasse loved her mix of both sweet and spicy in her homemade barbecue sauce, which contains brown sugar, honey and hot Sriracha sauce.
The Parmesan Princess loves traditional Italian cooking, and received numerous compliments from friends and family when she cooked. Dowd, a native of Johnstown, Cambria County, who graduated from the University of Pittsburgh in 2002 with a communications degree, at one time worked in pharmaceutical sales, but stopped working a few years ago when she had two children. Dowd credits the Pittsburgh culinary and grocery scene for inspiring her foodie tendencies.
“I just got inspired by living in Pittsburgh, because I'm a huge Strip District shopper,” Dowd says. “I think it's really Pittsburgh.
Kellie B. Gormly is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. She can be reached at kgormly@tribweb.com or 412-320-7824.
Terri Dowd's Grilled Ribs and Asparagus
This recipe serves two and takes more than 2 hours to prepare.
For the barbecue sauce:
1 onion
6 cloves garlic, chopped
1 cup orange juice
1⁄4 cup water
2 cups Sweet Baby Ray's Barbecue Sauce
2 tablespoons white vinegar
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 tablespoons honey
4 tablespoons firmly packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons dijon mustard
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon Sriracha sauce
For the ribs:
Rack of baby back pork ribs
For the asparagus:
1 wrapped bunch of fresh asparagus
2 tablespoons olive oil
1⁄4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
To prepare the barbecue sauce: In a large saucepan, blend the barbecue-sauce ingredients and bring to a boil. Let the sauce cool. Use this sauce to marinate the ribs overnight.
To prepare the ribs: The next day, remove the ribs from the sauce, reserving the sauce for basting the ribs during cooking. Heat the grill to 350 degrees, place the ribs on the grill, and coat them with the sauce. Grill for 8 minutes and flip, coating the meat with sauce again. Cook for an additional 5 minutes or until the juices run clear.
To prepare the asparagus: Cut off the hard bottoms. Place the asparagus, olive oil, parmesan cheese, salt and pepper into a zippered plastic bag and shake to coat. Remove the asparagus from the plastic bag when it is ready to be grilled, using a grill vegetable tray or aluminum foil. Cook until the asparagus can be poked with a fork but is still crisp.
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