Grey Cup and Birthday Celebrations

Birthday celebrations always offer up great opportunities for us. As always, with our philosophy of 'the more the merrier', there is always a lot of food involved. Sammie's birthday celebration presented the opportunity to develop some more gluten-free recipes. While we're at it, why not experiment with some dairy-free, vegan and vegetarian options?  Crazy, but true!  Well, Ted likes to see a bit of meat on his smoker, so the menu evolved to include not only our Grilled Vegetable Lasagna, which was adapted to be vegan using Daiya grated “cheese” and a béchamel sauce made with Earth Balance butter substitute, gluten free flour and rice milk, but also pulled pork, chicken and Smoked Tofu!

What a feast!

Chicken or Tofu with Lemon and Herbs

 

6 chicken breasts and/or

1 package extra firm tofu, halved then halved again to form 4- 1” thick slabs

For the Marinade:

¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

¼ cup balsamic vinegar

2 tablespoons honey

2 small cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon grated lemon zest

pinch red pepper flakes

kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

¼ cup olive oil

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme leaves

1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano leaves

Whisk together all the marinade ingredients.  Place the chicken and tofu separately in non-reactive shallow dishes.  Pour half of the marinade over top of each dish, cover and refrigerate overnight.

We grilled the chicken breasts on the barbecue for a total of 12 minutes on MEDIUM LOW, and smoked the tofu on the smoker for ½ hour, after throwing a few hickory chips on the coals. 

Puttanesca Sauce

This was a delicious sauce served on the side-packed full of flavours!

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 small onion, chopped

2 small cloves garlic, minced

1 can San Marzano tomatoes

½ cup tomato sauce

3 tablespoons tomato paste

½ cup halved and pitted Kalamata olives

2 tablespoons capers

¼ cup chopped parsley

2 tablespoons chopped oregano

salt and freshly ground black pepper

In a medium saucepan, heat the olive oil on MEDIUM.  Add the onions, and cook until translucent and very tender.  Add the garlic and stir until just fragrant, about 30 seconds.  Pour in the tomatoes, sauce and tomato paste.  Reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes, until slightly thickened.  Add the olives, capers, herbs and spices and simmer for another 5 min.

This baked Alaska was inspired by this month’s Fine Cooking magazine, using a gluten free vanilla cake mix by Kinnikinnik, raspberry ice and lemon curd.  We served it with a pool of raspberry coulis.

The next celebration up for the weekend was the Grey Cup!! Tim cooked up a wonderful Spicy Chicken Stew and this delicious  Spicy Baby Bok Choy and Mushrooms.  Here is the recipe for preparing them on the grill!

Spicy Baby Bok Choy and Mushrooms 

2 lbs baby bok choy, washed thoroughly
1 lb cremini mushrooms
Marinade:
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup sherry
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp sesame oil
4 slices fresh ginger, minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 tsp red chili pepper flakes

Place clean baby bokchoy and mushrooms in a large glass bowl. Combine all marinade ingredients in a glass jar, shake vigorously and pour on top. Allow baby bok choy and mushrooms to marinate for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat barbecue on HIGH for 5 minutes and reduce to MEDIUM. Brush grids with vegetable oil. Place baby bok choy and mushrooms on the grids and brush with marinade. Grill for 5 minutes, continuing to brush with marinade and turn once.

It was a great weekend for eating!

Smoked Artichokes

After any prolonged absence from home, the first thing we are anxious to do is restock the kitchen and get back to the fun of cooking.  So it was not out of character that in my jet-lagged state I found a grocery store which was open at 4:00am.  By noon there were pots of chicken soup, borscht and moussaka on the go and chocolate chip cookies in the oven.  For the first Sunday dinner home, we smoked a Prime Rib of Beef to get us fully settled back, and while it was resting we experimented with smoking artichokes over the coals.   

Smoked Artichokes with Chipotle Aioli

 

6 artichokes

1 lemon, divided

for the mop:

¼ cup olive oil

1 clove garlic

1 tablespoon lemon juice

pinch kosher salt

for the Chipotle Aioli

1 cup Hellman’s mayonnaise

1 clove garlic

1 teaspoon finely minced chipotle in adobo sauce

1 teaspoon lemon juice

pinch kosher salt

for the smoke:

1 cup soaked hickory chips

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.

Cut 1/3 of the lemon and set aside for juicing.  Slice the remaining lemon, and set the slices in a large bowl of water.  Trim the artichoke stems and cut the artichokes in half lengthwise.  Immediately plunge them into the lemon water to prevent browning.

Drain the lemon and artichoke slices and transfer them to the boiling water for 10 minutes.  Drain and let cool slightly.  Using a sharp knife and tongs, removed the hairy choke from the centre of the artichoke. 

Lift the grid on the smoker, and scatter the soaked wood chips over the coals.

Brush the inside of the artichokes with the mop, and set them cut-side down on the smoker.   Leave them to smoke for about ½ hour.

Meanwhile, combine all the ingredients for the aioli in a small bowl and leave at room temperature to develop the flavours. 

 

Special thanks to Juliana and the Broil King Team for the superb annual Onward Manufacturing Holiday Party they organized for Saturday night.  Our team of chefs:  Rich, Geoff, Tom, Dan and Ben spent the day cooking on a whole array of OMC barbecues, and prepared the most perfect beef and turkey for 300 people.  Outstanding!

Anthony and his crew produced this excellent video that they shared at the party.  

New Zealand Lamb

Ted and I just spent a week in the warm hospitality of Kendall and Jo Jones and their beautiful children Georgina, Emily, Marcus, Ruby and Madeline at their lovely home in Nelson, New Zealand.  Special thanks to Ruby who vacated her bedroom for us, and to Kendall and Jo who made our visit a dream!  We were treated to a small taste of the beauty their country has to offer, and we enjoyed grilling and smoking our dinners together and sharing them over some gorgeous New Zealand wines from Kendall’s cellar. 

 

We fired up both the Broil King Barbecue and the Broil King Keg, and during the course of our stay we enjoyed rack of lamb, bison steaks, grilled chicken and smoked ribs.   

One memorable lunch with the Four Seasons team at The Grape Escape was a lovely grilled lamb and vegetable salad:  so simple and so delicious!

Grilled New Zealand Lamb and Vegetable Salad

serves 4

2 lamb sirloins, trimmed of fat

olive oil

2 small zucchinis, sliced ¼” thick, on the diagonal

2 small eggplants, sliced ¼” thick, on the diagonal

8 cremini mushrooms

1 red pepper, cut into large chunks

4 marinated artichoke hearts, quartered

mixed baby greens

edible flowers, such as small pansies or nasturtiums, for garnish

aioli

salt and pepper, to taste

Preheat the barbecue on MEDIUM HIGH for 10 minutes.  Brush the grids with a wire brush, then use a silicone basting brush to apply vegetable or olive oil to prevent sticking.  Reduce the temperature to MEDIUM. 

Toss the lamb sirloins and vegetables separately with a little olive oil.  Cook the lamb to medium rare, about 8 minutes in total, following the directions for Perfect Grill Marks. Let rest 5 minutes, then slice.  Sprinkle with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Meanwhile, toss the prepared zucchini, eggplant, mushrooms and red pepper in a little olive oil.  Grill them separately according to our vegetable grilling chart until tender crisp. Slice the grilled red pepper into thin strips.

To arrange the salad, spoon some aioli in 3 puddles on each dinner sized plate.  Mound the greens in the centre of the plate, then arrange the grilled and prepared vegetables and sliced lamb around the plate, topping with edible flowers for garnish.  Sprinkle with more kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. 

Beef Jerky

We were both missing our kids this week, and set aside some time to make casseroles and muffins for them.  We worry that they will not find time to make their own home-cooked meals, as they juggle work and school. Eating out becomes the go to mantra for young people stuck in this  predicament- that can become very expensive.  As part of our mission to help stock their refrigerators, we undertook an experiment in making beef jerky.  There is no way to make this snack food look pretty, but it can hit the spot when you’re craving some serious sodium. 
 

Lots of protein after a long night of studying-we threw in the apple chips for some relief from all of the salt!!

The next time that we make it, we will try to slice the steak a bit thinner - much like our kids, we are always learning something!! We picked the Crispy Apples Chips up from Martins Family Fruit Farm - they are really tasty!

This could have been sliced more thinly...rookie mistake.

1 1/2 to 2 pounds flank or hangar steak

For the Marinade:
2/3 cup Worcestershire sauce
2/3 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons onion powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin seeds

1 teaspoon ground coriander seeds

1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves

½ teaspoon Chalula hot sauce

Place the beef in the freezer for an hour or so until it is firm but not frozen.  Slice it into thin strips with the grain and place them in a large flat-bottomed glass dish.  Whisk together all the marinade ingredients, pour it over the meat, and toss to coat evenly.  Refrigerate for 4-6 hours.

Meanwhile, light a few coals in the bottom of the Broil King Keg, and control the airflow vents at the top and bottom to maintain a temperature of about 160-170°F.  (Both will be open to about 1 ½.)  Set the diffuser pan over the coals, but do not fill with any liquid.  Place the strips of meat on the grids so that there is enough space between them for the warm air to circulate.  Check every few hours to ensure that the temperature is maintained, and move the strips around if necessary for even cooking.  Total cooking/smoking time will be about 8-10 hours.   

Beef jerky will keep for up to a week in the refrigerator.

Toss well in the marinade and allow 4-6 hours for the flavours to sink in.

Lay the strips on both racks leaving space between them.