Blueberry cake is perfect for a picnic!

Weekends are busy, so whatever you can do to lessen the pressure on your time is always welcome. In the spirit of planning ahead,   while some people were travelling up to their cottage, or going to summer solstice parties on Friday night, I found myself putting a chicken on the smoker and baking 2 blueberry cakes. That is our idea of fun (not always, just when the feeling strikes!!)!

We took the blueberry cake and some smoked chicken quesadillas to a pool party on Saturday.  The cake stands up extremely well to transporting and is truly delicious. The quesadillas can be grilled ahead of time and eaten cold. Serve with a dish of salsa and rich sour cream topped with grated lime zest and your friends will be clamouring for the recipe for these savoury snacks.

 

The other half of the chicken was perfect packed in a picnic basket with some salad, fresh bread and the other blueberry cake. We went in to Toronto to meet some of the kids for a belated fathers day picnic. A perfect weekend!

 

SMOKED CHICKEN QUESADILLAS

12 corn tortillas

2 cups shredded smoked chicken

1 roasted red pepper

1 cup feta cheese

1cup old cheddar cheese, grated

1cup salsa

5 green onions, chopped

1/4 cup cilantro, chopped

Preheat barbecue on HIGH for 5 minutes.  Reduce temperature to MEDIUM. Arrange 6 tortillas on a cutti g board and brush one side with oil.  Assemble quesadillas by layering chicken, red pepper, cheeses, and salsa on tortillas. Top with chopped green onion and cilantro.  Lay remaining tortillas on top and brush top surface with oil. Place on oiled grids and grill for 4-5 minutes.  Turn using a large spatula and grill for an additional 4-5 minutes.  Serve with sliced avocado and lime infused sour cream.

Sarah’s Blueberry Cake

  1/4         pound  butter -- softened

   3/4        cup  sugar

  1             egg

  1/2          cup  milk

  1             teaspoon  vanilla

  2             cups  unbleached flour

  2             teaspoons  baking powder

  1/2          teaspoon  salt

  2             cups  blueberries

  For the Topping:

  1/4           cup  white sugar

  1/4           cup  brown sugar

  2              tablespoons  butter

  1/2           teaspoon  cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 F and butter the bottom and sides of a 9" x 9" cake

pan.

Cream butter and sugar with an electric mixer until soft.  Beat in egg.

Stir in milk and vanilla until blended. 

In a small bowl combine flour, salt and baking powder, and with a few

swift strokes mix this into the butter and egg mixture.    Gently fold in

blueberries.  Spoon into the prepared pan.

In a small bowl, lightly mix the topping ingredients with a fork until

crumbly.  Sprinkle over the cake batter.

Bake 50 minutes.  Cool on rack and cut into squares to serve.

Father's Day Favourites

Ted resurrected his 35 year old board..........

....and taught the sport to a willing student.

Father’s Day weekend it is all about the Big Guy, so we’ve been pulling together all his favourites, starting with bacon & eggs & fruit salad for breakfast on the front porch.  Saturday’s smoked duck at dinner led to Sunday’s new variation of Smoked Duck Pizza where we grilled one and smoked the other for flavour comparison.   And Father’s Day dinner featured Grilled Rack of Lamb, green beans, new potatoes, corn salad and a Flourless Chocolate Cake with raspberries.  

Smoked Pizza had a nice smokey complexity.

Smoked Duck Pizza II

For the Dough:

1 package active dry yeast

1 cup warm water (110°F)

2 cups bread or pizza (soft) flour

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons white sugar

1 tablespoon honey

In a small bowl, dissolve the yeast in the warm water.  Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the flour, olive oil, salt, honey, sugar and the yeast mixture and mix with the dough attachment until well combined in a ball, adding more flour as necessary until it is not too sticky.  Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled in volume, about 30 minutes.  Divide the dough in 2 and roll it out on a lightly floured surface.

For the pizzas:

1 cup sun-dried tomato caponata, or basil pesto

2 smoked duck legs, shredded

1 red onion, sliced and  caramelized in olive oil

1 cup thinly sliced shiitake mushrooms, sautéed lightly

2 cups grated mozzarella cheese

2 handfuls of arugula

For the Grilled Pizza:

Preheat barbecue on MEDIUM_HIGH, to about 500° F.  Lightly brush the upper side of the rolled out pizza dough with olive oil.  Gently place the dough, oiled side down directly on the grids.   Adjust the temperature settings to MEDIUM-LOW.  Cook until slightly browned on the bottom, flip the dough and cook again until very lightly browned and beginning to crisp.  Remove from grill onto a wooden cutting board and prepare with the toppings, starting with the caponata or pesto.  Scatter with the remaining ingredients except for the arugula.  Place back on the grill until the cheese has just melted, about 5 minutes.  Scatter with the arugula.

For the Smoked Pizza:

Light the smoker and place a pizza stone on the cast iron grid.  Heat to about 450°.  Sprinkle a pizza peel or cutting board with corn meal, and place the rolled out dough on top.  Assemble with toppings as above, then slide the prepared pizza onto the heated pizza stone.  Cook about 10 minutes or until crust is crisp and cheese is bubbling.

 

Grilled Rack of Lamb from Hugh Carpenter’s book:  Hot Barbecue

3 racks of lamb

Coarsely ground peppercorns

½ cup honey mustard

For the Marinade:

¾ cup balsamic vinegar

¾ cup dry red wine

½ cup Dijon mustard

8 cloves garlic, finely minced

In a small bowl, combine the marinade ingredients.  Place the racks of lamb in a large ziplock bag, and pour the marinade over it.  Let rest in the refrigerator at least 2 hours, and up to 8 hours.  One hour before grilling, remove the lamb from the refrigerator.  Rub the lamb with the peppercorns, and them with the honey mustard. 

Meanwhile, preheat the barbecue on MEDIUM-HIGH for 10 minutes, then reduce the setting to MEDIUM.   Brush the grids well with vegetable oil to prevent sticking.  Place the lamb on the barbecue, and grill until a thermometer registers 140°F  for medium-rare, about 17-20 minutes.  Remove from the grill, tent with foil and let stand 10 minutes. 

 

Flourless Chocolate Cake

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for pan

8 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped

1 teaspoon vanilla

6 large eggs, separated

1/2 cup granulated sugar

For the Glaze:

4 ounces bittersweet chocolate

¼ cup corn syrup or honey

Preheat the oven to 275 degrees with the rack in the center. Butter the bottom and sides of a 9-inch spring form pan. Set aside.

Place butter and chocolate in a large heatproof bowl and microwave in 30-second increments, stirring each time, until completely melted. Let cool slightly. Whisk in egg yolks and vanilla.

In a large bowl, beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Gradually add granulated sugar, and continue beating until glossy stiff peaks form. Whisk 1/4 of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture; then gently fold in remaining egg whites.

Pour batter into the prepared pan, and smooth the top with a rubber spatula. Bake until the cake pulls away from the sides of the pan and is set in the center, 45 to 50 minutes. Cool completely on a wire rack; remove sides of pan.

Melt the chocolate and syrup or honey in a small bowl.  Mix well, then pour over top of the cooled cake.  Serve at room temperature with fresh berries. 

Birthdays and More

We have had a very busy couple of weeks between volunteer commitments, a literary festival, 2 birthday party weekends, French lessons, and a class on smoking. 

Donna-Marie Pye and Maria Burjoski were kind enough to invite us to lead a class at Relish Cooking Studio in Waterloo last Tuesday.  We welcomed a great group of culinary enthusiasts and shared with them some of our favourite tips and recipes, most of which have appeared in our blog.  One new and very delicious addition was a Smoked Duck Pizza which we cooked on the grill.  

Smoked Duck Pizza

2 smoked duck legs, shredded

1 ball frozen pizza dough, thawed

2 tablespoons hoisin sauce

2 tablespoons barbecue sauce

4 green onions, sliced

1 ½ cups grated mozzarella cheese

Cornmeal

Prepare smoked duck legs as outlined in our previous post.  We recommend making extra, as it is so versatile and delicious.

Place a pizza stone on the barbecue, and preheat on MEDIUM HIGH.

Meanwhile, roll out the dough on a lightly floured counter.  Generously sprinkle the cornmeal over a wooden pizza peel, and place the rolled dough on top, reshaping the dough as necessary.

In a small bowl combine the barbecue sauce and hoisin sauce, and brush it over the surface of the dough.  Scatter the shredded duck, green onions and mozzarella cheese over top, and transfer it to the preheated stone.  Grill for about 8 minutes, then transfer to a wooden cutting board to slice.

Our birthday party celebrations were for Teddy’s 27^th and David Wright’s 60^th......same menu, very different crowds!  The weather was much more favourable for this week’s festivities, and we were very grateful that the rain held off for our 40 guests!

Marinated Asparagus Salad

Birthday Menu

Shrimp with Pancetta

Quesadillas

Italian Sausage with Mustard

Smoked Salmon 

 Beef Tenderloin with Charmoula

 Marinated Asparagus Salad

Pasta Salad w Smoked Vegetables

Grilled Corn Salad

Caprese Salad

Birthday Cake

Reid and Adam did a great job of grilling.

Grilled Corn Salad

8 cobs  fresh corn

  1 red pepper

  1 yellow pepper

  ¼ cup  oil packed sun-dried tomatoes, chopped

  1  jalapeno pepper, minced

  2  tablespoons fresh chives, snipped

  2  tablespoons cilantro, chopped

  For the Vinaigrette:

  1  small chipotle pepper

  2  cloves  garlic

  2  tablespoons  red wine vinegar

  1  teaspoon  frozen orange juice concentrate

  ½ cup olive oil

   salt and pepper,  to taste

Soak the corn cobs in their husks in a pail of cold water for 20 minutes.  Meanwhile, preheat the barbecue on HIGH, placing the red and yellow peppers directly on the grill.  Turn the peppers occasionally, charring the skins on all sides.  Remove the peppers to a cutting board.  When cool

enough to handle, peel the charred skin from the flesh;  seed and chop. Set aside.

Reduce the heat to MEDIUM.  Place the corn cobs (husks still on) on the barbecue.  Turn the cobs every 5 minutes for a total of 20 minutes.  Set aside until cool enough to handle, then peel and cut the niblets from the cobs with a sharp knife into a large bowl.  Add to this bowl the chopped red and yellow peppers, the sun-dried tomatoes, jalapeno pepper, chives and cilantro.

For the vinaigrette: In the bowl of a food processor or in a blender, combine the chipotle peppers, garlic, vinegar and orange juice concentrate.  Process for 20-30 seconds, then add the olive oil in a slow, steady stream, with the machine running.  Add the salt and pepper to taste. (If you do not have a food processor or a blender, finely mince the chipotle pepper and garlic, then add vinegar and orange juice.  Slowly whisk in the olive oil). Drizzle over the vegetable mixture and serve.  

Tanis Rideout reads from her new novel, "ABOVE ALL THINGS". Look for it in bookstores now.