I was planning my menu for the cottage this weekend when I came across this recipe that I have yet to try.  But it looks so good-I don’t want you to miss out on the chance.

1 lb. ground chicken, 1/4 c breadcrumbs, 1 t minced garlic, 1/4 c chopped fresh parsley, 1 egg, 2 T chopped fresh basil, 1/4 c chopped onion, 1/2 t salt, 1/2 c goat cheese and 12 T bruschetta sauce

Preheat grill.

Combine chicken, breadcrumbs, onion, garlic, egg, parsley & salt.   Form into 6 patties, place a heaping tablespoon of goat cheese on each patty, fold in half and reform patties into its original shape.   Alternately goat cheese can be place on top of each patty after grilling.

Used by permission from: Granny’s Poultry

Kath’s quote: “I don’t want to be in the same country as goat cheese. It always tastes the way a yak looks in one of those National Geographic specials.”-Erma Bombeck

Bet you were expecting a pic of something else, weren’t you?  But to some people a yak might express love…….

Sister #3 is planning on joining us at the lake this weekend.  She isn’t Cuban but looks like she is and is getting really good with her Espanol.  She makes a mean Mojito-using a simple syrup and mashing the mint with a mortal and pestle.

Another mighty mojito maker is our son who was recently willing to experiment and mixed us this version for a Happy Hour treat at the lake.

Pina Mojito

1/3 c crushed pineapple (including juice)

1 lime wedge

1 t sugar

1 1/2 oz coconut rum (or vodka in a pinch)

club soda

pineapple garnish

In a shaker, combine pineapple, lime, mashed mint and sugar.  Shake well.  Add ice and rum and shake again.  You may wish to strain into a cocktail glass at this point but we liked everything floating around to include with our sips.  Top with soda and stir.  Garnish.

Another refreshing summer treat are light tasting and refreshing Okanagan Premium Pear Ciders  that a friend special ordered into Manitoba and then brought out to the lake.  The recipe is a blend of apple cider and seasonal sun-kissed fruits.

Kath’s quote:  “Cider was, next to water, the most abundant and the cheapest fluid to be had in New Hampshire, while i lived there, — often selling for a dollar per barrel.   In many a family of six or eight persons, a barrel tapped on Saturday barely lasted a full week…..The transition from cider to warmer and more potent stimulants was easy and natural; so that whole families died drunkards and vagabond paupers from the impetus first given by cider-swilling in their rural homes…..”-Horace Greeley (1811-1872)

My first mojito was in Cuba in the early 80’s.  Our arrival was delayed by winter weather, we were kinda freaked out by the level of security at the airport,  the hotel transfer over a pot-holed highway was gruelling and our accommodations were less than five star.  We were too late for our welcome cocktail, so we chased the geckos off of our walls and crawled into bed.

The next morning I saw my first first glimpse of the Caribbean Sea! Ever since that sight,  I physically crave to be next to turquesa water and find ways to duplicate the effect in my everyday life on the prairies -sleeping under a turquoise duvet cover, wearing something turquoise every single day and decorating our home with this sparkling colour.

I digress………  Our welcome cocktail of a Mojito was served at 10 in the morning.

I have lost touch with my friend Cherrie who gave me this recipe.  Her parents are from Chile and she is engaged to a Cuban Gymnast who has lived in Winnipeg since the Pan Am Games were held in 1997.   These are individually made like the bartenders at Hotel Tortuga that once stood on Varadero Beach.

1 tsp sugar

1 lime

handful fresh mint leaves

2 oz Havana Club blanco (or any white rum)

sparkling water

Place the mint leaves and sugar in a tall glass, crush the sugar and mint with the back of a spoon for 30 seconds or until you can smell the mint.  Cut the lime in half and squeeze the juice from both halves into the glass, then drop the lime into the glass.  Pour in the rum and stir.  Add plenty of ice, then top the mixture with mineral water or club soda.  Garnish with a sprig of mint and Salude!

Kath’s quote: “As for the garden of mint, the very smell of it alone recovers and refreshes our spirits, as the taste stirs up our appetite for meat,”
Pliny

Her first taste of chicken feet

Daughter #2 does not like change.  Seems an extraordinary notion when she has just spent last semester travelling in South Africa.  She stayed in a variety of people’s homes, caves and even a jail.  And yet when I try a new chicken enchilada recipe,  she reminds me that she does not like change.

The version that she is attached to is one from my trusty old Campbell’s Soup recipe book.  I am trying to eliminate as many processed foods in our diet as possible and was looking for a more authentic alternative.

For this recipe, sliced chicken breasts (or leftover chicken) are sauteed and then tossed in a 1/2 c of  enchilada sauce (purchased from El Izalco Market on Sargent Ave.).  This mixture is then rolled up in a tortilla-I used spinach ones.

A layer of the sauce was spooned into the bottom of a baking dish and the rolled tortillas were placed on top.  The rest of the sauce was spread on top and baked in a 375 degree oven for 30 minutes.  1/2 c of shredded mozzarella went on top before it was baked for another 15 minutes.

Daughter #2 declared they were okay but not as good as the Campbell Soup version.

Kath’s quote:  “Even while I protest the assembly-line production of our food, our songs, our language, and eventually our souls, I know that it was a rare home that baked good bread in the old days…. It is the nature of a man as he grows older, a small bridge in time, to protest against change, particularly change for the better. But it is true that we have exchanged corpulence for starvation, and either one will kill us. The lines of change are down. We, or at least I, can have no conception of human life and human thought in a hundred years or fifty years. Perhaps my greatest wisdom is the knowledge that I do not know. “-John Steinbeck

I make authentic Vietnamese rice rolls on a regular basis but this variation is a nice summer spin.  I arranged a platter of the ingredients and let everyone roll their own.   I didn’t photograph any of our plates because they were a mess but so delicious that I was content to eat mine with a fork.

The day was warm and I didn’t want to heat the cottage up by using the stove.  I made everything ahead and served when the rest of the gang arrived from the city.  The meal was cool, refreshing, quick to eat and allowed us to make the kick off of the football game across the street at the “big” cottage (we only get 1 station via antennae on our cottage TV).

This is how they were supposed to look.

Thin dried rice noodles, soaked until el dente

Rice paper wrappers, soaked on round plastic screens

1 red pepper, seeded and thinly sliced

1 avocado, peeled, pitted and sliced

1 head leaf lettuce, washed

2 carrots, peeled and julienned

1 cup loosely packed mixed fresh herb springs, such as mint cilantro and basil

Hoisin sauce, to taste

I added some protein by sautéing 2 sliced chicken breasts in satay sauce.  We were out of avocados so put out guacamole instead.  Strips of purple onion and slices of mango upped the taste mix and the vitamin and antioxidant levels.

Kath’s quote: “Rice is a beautiful food.   It is beautiful when it grows, precision rows of sparkling green stalks shooting up to reach the hot summer sun.   It is beautiful when harvested, autumn gold sheaves piled on diked, patchwork paddies.   It is beautiful when, once threshed, it enters granary bins like a (flood) of tiny seed-pearls.   It is beautiful when cooked by a practiced hand, pure white and sweetly fragrant.”-Shizuo Tsuji