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!