may 24

It may seem like a cliché, but after this weekend, we can both sincerely take a deep breathe and say “it’s that time of year again!”  The time of year that we refer to is the cottage season, when the size of our families seems to swell 10-fold on weekends.  When you have 4 children in your family, and they all ask if they can have “a few friends” for the weekend, you better be ready for a crowd! 

And so it was this weekend. With the garden and the boats to put in and a lot of winter dust to clean up, neither of us wanted to be overwhelmed with feeding the masses. This is where the tried and true crowd-pleasers really pay off.  One of the best things that you can do for yourself is prepare a couple of side dishes ahead of time.  That way, you can enlist a few people to help with the grilling and enjoy the gathering.  We love getting to know our kids friends around the barbecue -it is a very social and relaxing atmosphere.

On Wolfe Island, we had 14 young friends as our house guests, not to mention the other friends that dropped in to say hello after the long winter. Along with the Beer -brined pork chops with Grilled Pineapple and Corn Salad,  and a mountain of fresh grilled farmers sausage  – this weekends  menu included traditional potato salad, salad of mixed greens  and greek pasta salad. 

Beer-brined Pork Chops with Grilled Pineapple and Corn Salad

6  thick cut pork rib chops

1 bottle beer

1 tbsp salt

1 tbsp brown sugar

1 tbsp barbecue rub(your favourite)

1 clove garlic, minced

Juice of 1 lime

1 sprig of fresh rosemary

Combine brine ingredients in a large flat dish. Place pork chops in brine and set aside for 2-3 hours. Remove chops from brine and pat dry.

Preheat barbecue on MEDIUM-HIGH and brush the cooking grids with oil. Place the chops on the grids and reduce heat to MEDIUM. Cook for 5 minutes per side, remove from grill and serve with Grilled Pineapple and Corn Salad.

Grilled Pineapple and Corn Salad

1 pineapple

5 cobs fresh corn

1 red pepper, diced

½ red onion, diced

½ cup cilantro, chopped

For the vinaigrette:

2 tbsp olive oil

   Juice of 1 lime

1 tsp honey

½ tsp Tabasco Sauce

 Salt & pepper to taste

Preheat the barbecue on MEDIUM-HIGH.  Remove husks and silk from corn and slice pineapple into ¾ inch rounds. Brush lightly with oil and place directly on grids. Reduce temperature to MEDIUM. Turn after  5 minutes and grill for 5 more minutes.   Remove and set aside. Meanwhile, prepare vinaigrette by combining olive oil, lime juice, honey, Tabasco and salt and pepper in a glass bottle and shake vigourously.

When cooled, remove niblets from the corn with a sharp knife and dice pineapple. Combine in a large bowl with red pepper, red onion and cilantro. Toss with vinaigrette and serve with beer- brined pork chops.

At Oak Island on May 24^th weekend, the vegetable garden is a big priority.  We managed to get peas, 4 kinds of beans, beets, carrots, onions, shallots, potatoes, basil, parsley, zucchini, sunflowers, arugula, and an array of lettuces all tucked into the ground.  Thanks to our kids and their team of friends it was fun and fast, and this year it was even hot enough for a very quick dip in the lake to clean up!

Meals on work weekends need to be simple and quick.  Saturday night’s Spring Chicken evolved from chopping up whatever had resurfaced in our herb garden (sage, parley, oregano and chives) as well as a precious stalk of young garlic, planted last fall and plucked from the ground before the cloves separate. 

Spring Chicken!

8 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

Splash of white wine vinegar (lemon juice would be good too but we didn’t have any on hand)

Handful each of chives, sage, parsley and oregano, washed and chopped finely

1 stalk of young garlic, minced

Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste.

Whisk together all the marinade ingredients in a large glass dish, add chicken, and cover tightly.  Allow to marinate 1-6 hours, refrigerated. 

Preheat barbecue on MEDIUM-HIGH  and brush grids liberally with vegetable oil.  Place chicken on the grill on a 45° angle  and reduce heat to LOW.  For Perfect Grill Marks, cook 3 minutes before turning  over on the same 45° angle.  After 3 more minutes, flip over on the opposite 45°.  Cook three more minutes before flipping to the same 45° and turn off the heat for the last 3 minutes.  

We had two kinds of light shows competing in the Muskoka skies on Sunday night.......