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That’s A Lot of Zucchini!

September10

Fall is not officially here but is certainly in the air.  I know this from a number of events: we stayed in the city this weekend instead of venturing out to our beloved Beach House, J1 and J2 arrived right after church for the first Sunday of NFL, Daughter #2 and the Frenchman unboxed the Settlers game for post supper entertainment, I had a yearning for Gourmet Mac and Cheese for dinner instead of our summer barbeque fare AND I have more zucchini in my house than you can shake a stick at (I wonder where this silly saying comes from).

Recently I have tossed zucchini with onion, garlic, tomatoes, fresh herbs and feta and mixed with pasta, served it grilled with most meals, made pencil sticks out of it and fresh carrots to present to a gang of toddlers, whipped up zucchini brownies and dreamed up zucchini and pesto omelets for yesterday’s brunch.

This recipe seems to be the winner (and good thing because my supply is not yet depleted):

Chocolate Chip Zucchini Muffins
Author: 
Recipe type: Dessert
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
 
This recipe is very accommodating for more than the required shredded zucchini.
Ingredients
  • 1½ c flour
  • ¾ c sugar (I used Truvia baking blend)
  • 1 t baking soda
  • 1 t cinnamon
  • ½ t salt
  • 1 beaten egg
  • ½ c canola oil
  • ¼ c milk
  • 1 t vanilla
  • 1 c shredded zucchini
  • ½-1 c chocolate chips
Instructions
  1. Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl and mix with a sturdy whisk. Combine wet ingredients with the zucchini being added last to a medium bowl.
  2. Pour the wet ingredients into the large bowl with the dry ingredients. Mix just until completely moistened.
  3. Add chocolate chips and lightly mix again.

I had some left over beer/cream cheese icing in the fridge, so I used I smeared them with this last evening and served them for dessert.  If you eliminated the chocolate chips and added some grated cheese, they could accompany a soup or stew.

Kath’s quote: “The first zucchini I ever saw I killed it with a hoe.”-John Gould

Love-that is all.

Schneiders Spicy 3 Cheese Jalepeno Meatballs

August13

J1 is so crazy about meatballs, he thinks that someone should open a restaurant totally devoted to them.  In the mean time, I recently gifted him with a meatball cookbook.  I know that he will want to add these to his repertoire.  Every forkful brings a variety of tastes.  I served them as an entree with a side of quinoa and some steamed veggies but just think what they would be like on top of spaghetti (all covered with cheese).


Schneiders Spicy 3 Cheese Jalepeno Meatballs
Author: 
Recipe type: Entree
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 4-6
 
When I made a big batch of these, I froze half to enjoy the treat when I did not want to spend the time in a hot kitchen. They freeze beautifully.
Ingredients
  • 3 Schneiders® Grill’ems® Fully Cooked Smoked Sausages Three Cheese Jalapeno, divided finely chopped
  • 1 lb (500 g) Lean ground Pork
  • 2 tbsp (30 mL) Chopped fresh cilantro
  • 1 green onion, finely chopped
  • Kosher salt
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • Pinch chili powder
  • Pinch cayenne pepper
  • 14 Slices Schneiders® Bacon or Schneiders® Maple Bacon
  • Maple Chipotle BBQ Glaze
  • 4 tbsp (60 mL) Ted’s World Famous BBQ Crazy Canuck Chicken & Rib BBQ Sauce or your favourite gourmet style barbecue sauce
  • 2 tsp (10 mL) Tabasco Chipotle hot sauce
  • ⅓ cup (75 mL) Maple syrup
  • 1 Hardwood maple grilling plank (approx.12x8-inch/30x20 cm
Instructions
  1. SOAK grilling plank in cold water for a minimum of 1 hour. Follow directions on grilling plank package.
  2. CUT 2 sausages into 14 equal-sized chunks (7 pieces per sausage). Set aside.
  3. FINELY chop remaining 1 sausage and place in a large bowl. Add ground pork, cilantro, green onion, chili powder and cayenne. Mix well. Season to taste with salt and black pepper. Divide mixture into 14 equal sized portions.
  4. PLACE a portion of meat into the palm of your hand and flatten slightly. Place a chunk of sausage onto the ground pork mixture and wrap the meat mixture around the sausage so that the entire sausage is covered by the meat. Roll between your hands to make into a nice round meat ball. Repeat with remaining ground pork and sausage chunks.
  5. WRAP each meatball tightly with a slice of bacon, stretching bacon as you wrap, to make sure it covers the entire surface of the meatball. Cover meatballs and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
  6. COMBINE barbecue sauce, chipotle hot sauce and maple syrup in a small bowl. Set aside.
  7. SET grill up for indirect grilling* and preheat to 400°F (200°C). Place meatballs evenly spaced onto pre-soaked grilling plank. Transfer to indirect heat on grill and close lid. Grill for 8-10 minutes. Turn the grilling plank 180 degrees, close lid and continue to grill for an additional 8-10 minutes or until the bacon begins to crisp.
  8. BASTE with maple chipotle bbq glaze. Continue to grill for an additional 5 minutes or until bacon is crispy, the glaze is sticky and the internal temperature of the meatball reaches 160°F (71°C). Remove and serve immediately.

How to stuff.

How to wrap.

There is still lots of time left in barbeque season, but if you are running out of ideas, check out Schneider’s Facebook page to inspire you anew.

Kath’s quote: “Summer cooking implies a sense of immediacy, a capacity to capture the essence of the fleeting moment.”-Elizabeth David

 

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Beerlicious East Coaster Sea Chicken Bundles

August3

My gang loves food stuffed into chicken (case in point-their all time favourite: Asparagus Wrapped Chicken Breast with Hollandaise Sauce).  Truth is, we’ve been preparing that recipe for years so I was happy to discover this version, dreamed up by the inventive Chef- Ted Reader.

I got to work side by side with Ted this week when he was in town on his Schnieders/Beerlicious tour.  Having put in a full prep day for his TV visits, I was happy to have three portions of this recipe left over, after I had done the last of the dishes.  The Frenchman was getting ready to leave for Montreal (and to reunite with Daughter #2) and so we invited him to join us.

D seared some asparagus on the grill as the bundles were roasting and all we had to add was a crusty loaf of bread.

Beerlicious East Coaster Sea-Chicken Bundles
Author: 
Recipe type: Entree
Serves: 4
 
From "Beerlicious Volume 1 The Art of Grillin' and Chillin'" By Chef Ted Reader
Ingredients
  • 12 inch cedar plank, soaked in cold water for at least 1 hour
  • Spray bottle of water
  • 8 boneless, skinless, chicken thighs
  • 1 bottle Alexander Keith's Red
  • +1 bottle Amber Ale (12 oz)
  • 1 c ground chicken
  • ½ lb. cooked lobster, coarsely chopped
  • 3 T panko (Japanese-style) bread crumbs
  • 1 T mayonnaise
  • 1 green onion, chopped
  • 1 T chopped fresh dill
  • salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
  • 8 asparagus spears, blanched
  • 2 T Bone Dust BBQ Seasoning
  • 8 slices bacon (thick)
Instructions
  1. Place thighs in a large self-sealing bag. Pour in 1 bottle of Alexander Keith's Red Amber Ale. Seal bag, turning bag and gently massaging meat to evenly coat. Refrigerate and let marinate, turning occaisionally to evenly marinate, for 6-8 hours or overnight.
  2. Drain thighs, discarding leftover mariade, and pat dry with paper towels. Set aside.
  3. In a large bowl, combine ground chicken, lobster meat, panko bread crumbs, mayonnaise,green onion and dill. Drizzle with extra beer. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Mix gently to combine.
  4. Lay thighs on flat work surface. Evenly spread 1 T of ground chicken mixture over entire surface of each thigh, then top with an asparagus spear along the narrow end. Tightly roll up each thigh around asparagus.
  5. Season rolled thighs with Bone Dust BBQ Seasoning, coating evenly. Wrap 1 slice of bacon tightly around each rolled thigh.
  6. Preheat grill to medium (350-450 degrees F)
  7. Arrange bacon-wrapped thighs, spaced apart, on plank.
  8. Place plank on grill. Close lid and plank-bake, occasionally with beer and checking to ensure plank has not caught fire, for 40 to 45 minutes, or until bacon is crisp and chicken is fully cooked (internal temperature of 160 degrees F). (Note: If plank catches fire, extinquish with bottle of water.)
  9. Remove from grill, Serve immediately.

If you are watching your fat intake and are concerned about the bacon, you may wish to remove it from your bundle and pass it along to Mrs. Spratt.  You will still enjoy all the bacony taste that has permeated the chicken.  I try to reduce fat with products where I do not miss the taste  like Greek yogurt and sour cream, so that I can enjoy real butter on my popcorn or a crispy, salty strip of bacon.  Moderation folks, is the key (took me way too long to learn this lesson). 

Daughter #2 is still in Montreal, J1 & J2 are heading to the lake, Daughter #1 is staying in town to attend Movies in the Park and D and I are off to assemble with his family at a Minnesota Lake, so we will not be together for this long weekend.  But I am looking forward to us assembling in our backyard paradise so that D can fire up the grill and I can ensure that the beer is icy cold.  What could be better? 

Kath’s quote: “Life expectancy would grow by leaps and bounds if green vegetables smelled as good as bacon.”-Doug Larson

Love-that is all.

Photo used according to stipulated conditions: http://www.flickr.com/photos/not_on_display/with/4430743342/

 

Hoisin Beef Burgers

July16

One of the many wonderful attributes of burgers is that they adapt to most every cuisine.   In the winter months we consume lots of dim sum and Asian dumpling soups but we begin to miss the fresh, crisp tastes come summer.  So I adapted my Hoisin Meatball recipe to produce these delectable burgers.   Ground beef is economical and kids love it!


Hoisin Beef Burgers
Author: 
Recipe type: Entree
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 2-4
 
Fusing Asian ingredients with a summer burger treat.
Ingredients
  • 8 oz ground beef
  • 1 egg
  • 1 t chopped mint (or cilantro)
  • 2 T minced red onions
  • 1 medium carrot, grated
  • 1 t grated ginger
  • 1 minced garlic clove
  • 2 T+ hoisin sauce
  • 3 T dried breadcrumbs (delete for gluten free)
Instructions
  1. Place all ingredients in a large bowl.
  2. Combine and mix with clean hands.
  3. Form into patties and place between sheets of parchment paper.
  4. Refrigerate until ready to use.
  5. Grill to your likeness on open flame adding more hoisin sauce if desired before removing from heat.
  6. Serve with toasted burger buns and grilled tri-coloured peppers if desired.
  7. More hoisin can be smeared unto the bun.

We needed the energy that beef delivers because we had a busy weekend at the cottage which included spending some time as babysitters to three of our grand nieces and nephew.

D need his strength to tickle and wrestle with the youngest as the girls and I had a lovely time walking our dog on the beach.

Find out what your burger personality is at: https://www.facebook.com/ILoveCanadianBeef/app_325742427515323 I’m a Canadian Beef Ambassador and I love Canadian Beef.

Kath’s quote: “Beef is the soul of cooking.”-Marie-Antoine Carême

Love-that is all.

 

Sour Cream Dill Talapia

July10

We have had our first crop share delivery from Blue Lagoon Organics which we are splitting with another family and J1 and J2.  The first night I made a salad with the purple leaf lettuce and kale and added some pickled beets and chopped purple leeks.

This weekend I put together “Ogorki” (what my Polish Grandma used to call her cucumber and dill salad) and butter and carrots roasted in honey and dill.  Do you see a theme here?  Even though I have only 1/3 of the delivery, I have more dill than I have ever had at one time.

I concocted this low cal/low fat dish the night of our pick up and it was a hit.  The creaminess from the no fat sour cream was enough to moisten the fusili which I simply tossed with olive oil and coarsely ground sea salt.  Can’t wait for this Thursday’s surprizes…..


Sour Cream Dill Talapia
Author: 
Recipe type: Entree
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 2
 
Very low cal/low fat and delicious!
Ingredients
  • 3-4 talipia fillets
  • 3 T no fat sour cream
  • 1t no fat Miracle Whip
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1 T fresh dill
  • coarsely ground sea salt & pepper
  • 1 young purple leek, thinly sliced (or 3 green onions) for garnish
Instructions
  1. Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees.
  2. Spray baking pan with canola oil.
  3. Place fish in pan.
  4. Mix sour cream, Miracle Whip, garlic and fresh dill.
  5. Ladle over fish.
  6. Bake uncovered for 15-20 minutes.
  7. Plate fish and garnish with leeks.

Kath’s quote: “Be not angry or sour at table; whatever may happen put on the cheerful mien, for good humor makes one dish a feast.”-From a Shaker manual, ‘Gentle Manners’

Love-that is all.

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