A NEW TRADITION

Nora Osbaldeston, Leslie S. and Abby Smith - blog followers!!

Big family gatherings over dinner on Christmas Eve, a long walk with the dogs after opening Christmas presents and brunch on Christmas day, a cross-country ski if the snow co-operates, friends dropping in for a visit, the boxing day road hockey game and of course food, food, food!! We were thrilled to introduce a new Christmas day tradition this year – reviewing the Gathering Around the Grill blog. We are willing to do anything for a laugh.

It has been so much fun to have all of the kids ( ??are they still kids when their ages range from 19-25??) home for the holidays. Teddy W.won the prize for the most grueling trip home. After thousands of flights were cancelled in Europe due to bad weather, Teddy persevered through 2 arduous days of waiting in line-up after line-up  to finally arrive home in K-W from Berlin. Now that is the hard way of getting into the good books with your mother (but so much appreciated!).

 All good things must come to an end of course; Teddy and Charlie W. have already left  for Europe and the UK and Ben S. is leaving tomorrow to visit Elaine’s family in the west.  So as we wind things down towards New Years, we are recommending that you continue to take the time to enjoy your families, as we are. 

Continuing with the theme of enjoying your family and friends, why not plan on hosting a small gathering for New Years?  Go out afterward for a midnight ski, or fireworks celebration. There is no better way to start the new year than with some fresh air and exercise. That is part of our tradition, and as is usual, we will be outside at midnight this New Years Eve with our friends Bev and Tim, enjoying some new outdoors adventure.

We can suggest this nice recipe for mini lamb burgers served in mini pitas with spicy chutney, that can be assembled early in the day and quickly grilled while your family and friends help assemble a simple cheese platter, some crudités and hummus, and maybe smoked salmon on pumpernickel.  This too can be made ahead, since pumpernickel is such a hearty bread. Spread the pumpernickel squares with cream cheese and lay a piece of smoked salmon over it. Top it with diced red onions, chopped fresh dill, and sprinkle with capers. Garnish the platter with thin lemon slices and you will have a simple, beautiful, not to mention healthful appetizer to add to your festive spread.

Grilled Mini Lamb Burgers with Spicy Mango Chutney

 1 tbsp olive oil

1 medium onion, finely diced

2 cloves garlic, finely minced

1 tbsp cumin

1tsp cinnamon

¾ tsp ground coriander

½ tsp allspice

¼  tsp nutmeg

1 ½ tsp salt

2 lbs ground lamb

2 tbsp fresh mint, chopped

½ cup dried currants

3 tbsp toasted pine nuts

½ cup (1 piece of bread)  fresh bread crumbs, soaked in water -1 minute –squeeze out moisture

1 egg, beaten

2 packages mini pita bread

1 bottle  Pataks Major Grey Chutney

Preheat barbecue on MEDIUM-HIGH for 10 minutes. Brush the grids with vegetable oil.  Reduce heat to MEDIUM.

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat, sauté the onions , until soft and translucent,  about 6 minutes. Add garlic and sauté another 2 minutes. Add cumin, cinnamon, ground coriander, nutmeg, allspice and salt and cook another minute. Cool.

Combine the ground lamb, onion mixture, mint, bread crumbs, currants, toasted pinenuts and egg.  Mix gently with hands until well blended. Form into small 1 ½ inch mini patties.  You should be able to make about 35 mini burgers from this mixture.

Grill 7-8 minutes, turning once.

Serve with mango chutney in mini pitas.

Happy New Year

Bake and Booze

Last Tuesday was the annual Walkers' Bake and Booze, a five-year tradition.  This is the night when the Walking Girls (Nancy, Bev, Terry, Barb, Deb, Lynn, Kris and Andrea) gather for festive cocktails, appetizers, and to bake Christmas cookies to share with each other and a local charity.  This year's tapas spread was particularly delectable, with cheeses, dumplings, meatballs, grilled beef satays with Chipotle Sauce, and more.  The evening was a great success:  only two boxes of cookies ended up on the floor.....say no more!  For the previous 2 years, we baked cookies to fill orders for our friend Lindsay's non-profit organization Eat to Feed Liberians, which provides nutritious lunches for students in a Liberian refugee camp in Ghana. This year we returned to the original model, sharing with a local shelter for teenagers, ROOF.

This year's cocktail was particularly boozy, but surely all those antioxidants in the pomegranate juice made up for it!


Pomegranate Martinis

1 part lime juice
2 parts pomegranate juice
1 part vodka
1/2 part Cointreau
Shake the above ingredients with ice, and pour over 1/2 of a martini glass of prosecco.  Enjoy!

Bev's Grilled Beef Satays with Chipotle Sauce were a big hit!  She threaded strips of beef tenderloin on bamboo skewers, seasoned them with salt and pepper, and grilled them quickly of MEDIUM heat for 2 minutes per side.   

Chipotle  Sauce

  This smokey, spicy mayo is wonderful with chicken, pork, fish or

  beef, or even as a dip for grilled vegetables.  Save leftovers for an

  outstanding sandwich spread.

                                1           cup  mayonnaise

                                2           cloves  garlic, minced

                                1           tablespoon  lemon juice

                                1           teaspoon  pureed chipotle peppers

                                1/2         teaspoon  ground cumin

                                  3         tablespoons cilantro, finely chopped

Combine all ingredients, cover well, and store in refrigerator until ready

to use.  May be stored for up to 3 days.

As promised last week, we want to share with you some of the tips and tricks for cooking your Christmas turkey.  Refer to our Thanksgiving post for 2 ways to cook a turkey (smoked and on the barbecue).  Cooking in the great outdoors can present some challenges and variability, especially in the cold Canadian winter. Aside from delicious flavour, the biggest benefit to barbecuing your turkey is the oven space that is freed for preparing side dishes and desserts.

•  For your best result, start with a fresh, not frozen bird.  However, if your turkey is frozen,  it is very important that the turkey is completely thawed before cooking. Place it in the refrigerator 2 days ahead.  If still not completely thawed, place it in a sink full of cold water until it is.
• Try to position your barbecue out of the wind, bearing in mind you should not light it inside any building, including a garage or shed.
• Base the cooking time on an estimate of 15 minutes per pound of cooking time with the temperature around 350 F.
• Open the lid as infrequently as possible.  
• It is very important to always use a meat thermometer to determine when the turkey is fully cooked.  Insert the thermometer in the meaty part between the breast and the leg, avoiding contact with the bones.  Cook to an end point temperature of 177 F for breast meat or 180 F for dark. 
• Allow 20 -30 minutes resting time, covering your bird with aluminum foil and a kitchen towel.  Keep in mind that the internal temperature will continue to rise during this time, and the juices will be reabsorbed for maximum tenderness and juiciness(So we usually take the turkey out at 170 F, to allow for this final rise in temperature)

We have also been thinking about the post-feast leftovers, and would like to share our turkey soup recipe.

Turkey Soup

A delicious way to transform leftovers into a healthy and nutritious next meal.

For the Stock:

1 turkey carcass, including all skin and bones

1 large onion, skin on, quartered

2 large carrots, cut into large chunks

3 stalks celery, cut into large chunks

3 sprigs each, thyme and parsley

1 bay leaf

2 teaspoons salt (preferably kosher)

5 peppercorns

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For the Soup:

2 more carrots, diced

3 more stalks celery, diced

1 red pepper, diced

2 cups cooked rice

2 cups cooked turkey, cut into chunks

For the stock, place the turkey carcass in a large stock pot and add cold water to cover all the bones by about an inch.  Add vegetables, herbs and spices, and place over medium-high heat.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low, and cook, skimming foam and stirring occasionally for 1 ½ hours.  Let cool slightly, then place a large cheesecloth-lined sieve over a dutch oven.  Strain the stock, then return to the stovetop, and cook over medium high heat until reduced by about 1/3.  Test-add salt to taste.  Reserve 2 cups of stock for another use if desired.

For the soup, add the diced vegetables, and simmer until tender, about ½ hour.  Add the cooked rice and turkey and stir occasionally until heated through. 

Finally, we wanted to share with you a great initiative that we were involved in this week. The Rotary Club of Kitchener-Conestoga partnered with the House of Friendship to raise funds to supply turkeys along with the Christmas hampers for families at need in Kitchener-Waterloo. A stunning $220,000 was raised and we were so lucky to be involved in helping to distribute some of the turkeys.

Wishing everyone a wonderful holiday season! 

'Tis the Season to get Distracted!

We have so much in common the two of us. With Christmas arriving, we are both preparing for our 4 children to return for the holidays. They will be coming in from all over the world: Berlin Germany, Brighton England, New York, Montreal, Toronto, and they'll be bringing friends too!… We are so excited and have so much to do, so this weekend, with our husbands away on a ski trip, we decided to get busy. But, first things first – we had to sit down with a glass of wine and watch the Christmas episode of GLEE! 

There seems to be some consistency to this pattern.  Recently, we were having a conversation about how crazy busy we were, and the next thing we knew, we switched gears and spent the morning at the St. John's Pudding Factory  helping pack 2,700 pounds of Christmas pudding at the St. John the Evangelist Anglican Church in downtown Kitchener. Our good friend Bev invited us to join her and her sisters to fill the orders this year –they will raise ~$18,000, with proceeds supporting local charities including as Saint Monica House, Mary’s Place, ROOF and St. John’s Kitchen.  What a great group of women!



 

Just the other day, we were both battling the demands of sick dogs (now that gets in the way of things, but Pepper and Pluto are high on our lists of prioritites), when before we knew it, we were sitting at The Cake Tutor, with our friends Bev and Mary Ann. Three hours later, we had learned everything that we ever needed to know about cookie decorating, and we both left with 8 beautiful cookies. Goodness, what is going to happen next week at the annual Christmas Bake and Booze when we gather with our walking friends and each have to make 9 dozen cookies?  We will have to kick it up a notch.

Try your hand at decorating your own cut and bake cookies.  We love Grandma Harris' Sugar Cookie recipe:

3 ½ c flour

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

1 c shortening

1 ½ c sugar

2 well-beaten eggs

1 ½ tsp vanilla

Beat sugar and shortening. Add eggs and vanilla.

Sift dry ingredients together. Stir into wet ingredients.

Do not chill dough. Roll out immediately.

Bake 400° 6 – 8 minutes.

The moral of this story is: life is too short to not be enjoying it! So, in light of the fact that we are encouraging everyone to enjoy the distractions of family and friends at this time of year, we are giving you this super easy recipe, as always, a real crowd pleaser.

                        Cedar Plank Salmon with Asian Ginger Marinade

                                                                                    1 6-pound  salmon fillet, skin-on

                                                                                         Asian Ginger Marinade:

1/4 cup white wine

1 orange, finely grated zest  and juice

1 tablespoon sesame oil                          

1 teaspoon, ginger - grated                

1 teaspoon honey
1 teaspoon asian chilli sauce 
salt and pepper -  to taste
1 untreated cedar plank                                                                                      

                                                                        

To begin with, soak an untreated piece of cedar in a container of water for at least an hour. You may need to place a weight on top to keep the wood immersed.

                                                                                       

Meanwhile, combine ingredients for marinade in a large, flat shallow glass dish and  marinate  the salmon fillets, skin-on, in the refrigerator for half an hour.

Preheat barbecue on HIGH for 10 minutes.

Pat dry plank and oil the upper side. Place plank directly on the grids and heat until plank begins to smoke. Place the salmon, skin side down in the middle of the plank and grill until just opaque at the thickest part. A 6 lb. fillet may take 30 minutes.

Next week, look for our recipe and tips on using your grill to roast your turkey! It is guaranteed to be one of the highlights of your Christmas dinner.

Grilled Wahoo with Rice 'n' Peas, a Bahamian Feast

Early December was a great time to slip away for some restorative sunshine before the thick of winter descended.  A week in the Bahamas was the perfect tonic! 

A major highlight of the trip was the abundance of fresh fish.  Our first taste of it was at a funny little beach bar called the Chat ‘n’ Chill where they grilled some thinly sliced Wahoo and served it with Peas 'n' Rice.

Later in the week the guys went out in the boat with hooks, lines and sinkers (no rods) and caught a rainbow of gorgeous fish. 

 

Our friend Franny marinated it in lime juice, tossed it in flour and seasoned salt and pan fried it quickly. 

This week, we want to share with you our version of Grilled Wahoo, and give you our ideas for side dishes - Peas ‘n’ Rice and a zesty Mango Salsa. Not to be left out – the Goombay Smash!

Bahamian Peas ‘n’ Rice 

(serves 8 generously)

2 strips bacon, cut into 1” pieces

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 small onion, chopped

1 stalk celery, chopped

1 red pepper , chopped

1 small hot red pepper, minced

1 clove garlic, minced

1 tomato, seeded and diced

2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves, chopped

2 cups long grain rice

1  15-ounce can pigeon peas, drained

¼ cup tomato paste

1 can coconut milk + enough water to make 3 cups

1 teaspoon salt

Heat vegetable oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat and add bacon.  Cook until bacon is crisp, then remove it with a slotted spoon and set aside.  Add onions, celery and both kinds of peppers, and sauté until the vegetables are softened.  Add garlic and stir until fragrant, about 30 seconds.  Add diced tomato and thyme and stir in rice until coated with the oil.  Add the pigeon peas, tomato paste, coconut milk + water, and salt.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low, cover tightly with a lid, and cook 20 minutes.  Turn off heat and let stand, covered, for 5 minutes.  Fluff with a fork and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Grilled Wahoo

8 thinly sliced Wahoo steaks

2 tablespoons lime juice

2 tablespoons lemon juice

¼ cup vegetable oil

1 ½  tablespoons smoked paprika

Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Lime wedges for garnish

Combine marinade ingredients in a large glass dish and add Wahoo steaks.  Cover and refrigerate for 15-30 minutes.

Meanwhile, preheat barbecue on MEDIUM-HIGH for 10 minutes, and clean grids thoroughly with a grill brush before generously coating them with vegetable oil to prevent sticking.  Reduce heat to MEDIUM and place the fish on the barbecue.  Grill quickly, about 2 ½ minutes per side.  If the Wahoo steaks are thicker, increase the cooking time accordingly.

Mango Salsa

2 ripe mangos, diced

4 scallions, white and green parts chopped finely

1 small hot red pepper

2 tablespoons minced red bell pepper

2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

Juice of one lime

1 tablespoon honey

Combine all ingredients in a medium sized bowl.  Cover with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for an hour to combine flavours.

To top off the whole meal, serve it up with some Goombay Smash!

Serves 1

1 ounce Meyer’s or spiced rum

1 ounce coconut rum

½ ounce triple sec

Pineapple juice

Wedge of lime

Mix together the rums, triple sec and pineapple juice and pour it over a glass of crushed ice with a wedge of lime.  Sublime!