We were so happy to welcome Reid and Jannell home from Asia this Canada Day weekend!  They were both super excited to have some meat and the first thing they wanted to have was a good old grilled burger with their soup. 

Fresh from the garden Green Pea Soup

This soup is a favorite, both for it’s delicious fresh flavours, and for the lovely smooth texture.

10 quarts fresh green peas (about 

5 cups hulled)

1 head iceberg lettuce, shredded

1 large yellow onion, diced

¾ cup celery, including leaves, chopped

3 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped

3 tbsp olive oil

8 cups chicken stock

1 bay leaf

1 tsp salt

½ tsp cayenne pepper

Garnish:

1 cup greek yoghurt

¼ cup fresh mint, chopped

¼ cup fresh chives, chopped

Pour olive oil into a large stockpot and add lettuce, onion, celery and parsley. Saute gently, until tender- this should take around 5-7 minutes.  Add 4 cups chicken stock, 3 cups hulled peas, bay leaf, salt and cayenne pepper.  Simmer, covered, for 15 minutes, until the peas are soft, but not mushy. Keep a close eye on them. Remove the lid, take out the bay leaf and set aside to cool for 15 minutes, then puree in small batches in the blender or food processor.

Meanwhile, place the remaining chicken stock in a large saucepan and bring it to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer the remaining 2 cups of peas until they are tender-crisp, approximately 5-7 minutes.  Add them to the pureed soup.

For the garnish:

Finely chop the chives and mint, stir into greek yoghurt and set aside until the soup is ready to serve. Place a dollop of yoghurt into the centre of each bowl/cup of soup.

Stuffed Leg of Lamb on the Keg

2 de-boned legs of lamb

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 cup chopped garlic scapes

2 sprigs rosemary, finely chopped

1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme leaves

1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage

2 cloves garlic, minced

kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Set a sauté pan over MEDIUM LOW heat, and add the olive oil, then the scapes.  Saute until fragrant and just tender, then add the garlic and stir for 30 seconds more.  Remove from heat and add the chopped herbs, salt and pepper.  Let cool slightly. 

Lay the lamb out on a carving board.  Stuff the scape mixture into the crevices and then scatter over the surface of the meat.  Roll up the meat and tie securely with butcher twine.  Sprinkle the surface of the meat with pepper.

Meanwhile, light the charcoal in the Broil King Keg.  When the coals are glowing, scatter with some apple wood chips, place the diffuser in the Keg, and fill it with hot water.  Replace the grids and set the lamb roasts on the Keg.  Set to 2 and 2 for a temperature of about 225°F. 

At this point, do not make the mistake we did by cranking up the heat too high and going to our friends’ cottage for some lovely cocktails and hors d’oeuvres for a few hours with no-one on site to check the temperatures!  I’m afraid we overcooked these lovely roasts, though they had a nice smoke ring and were tender and flavourful.  Had we stuck with the 225°F for 3 hours it would have been perfect!

Carve into thick slices and serve with mint jelly.

Our garden was brimming with fresh broccoli and we made a healthy raw salad to accompany the lamb:

Broccoli Salad with Avocado Dressing

A few crowns of broccoli, separated into bite-sized florets

½ red onion

2 tablespoons rice vinegar

1 cup fresh strawberries, hulled and halved

½ cup toasted pumpkin seeds

for the dressing:

1 ripe avocado

zest of 1 lemon

juice of ½ lemon

juice of 1 lime

handful fresh cilantro

½ teaspoon ground cumin

2 tablespoons mayonnaise

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Place the flesh of the avocado and all the remaining ingredients in the bowl of a food processor.  Whir until completely smooth.  If it is too thick, add some white balsamic vinegar or water to thin it a little.

Toss everything together in a medium bowl.  

Summer Solstice at the Cottage

Our dogs were as happy as we were to be by the lake on the longest day of the year.  What a great kick off to summer!  To celebrate we had a light dinner of fish, fruit and vegetables.  The banana salsa was cobbled together with what was in our fridge and in the fruit bowl.  Emily and Tim shelled the first peas of the summer and we boiled them with some fresh mint before topping them with a lick of sweet butter and kosher salt.

Black Cod with Banana Salsa

1 2-pound black cod filet, skin on

for the marinade:

3 tablespoons grapefruit white balsamic vinegar

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

2 tablespoons snipped fresh chives

kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

for the Banana Salsa:

2 bananas, chopped

1 jalapeno pepper, minced

3 tablespoons minced red onion

1 red pepper, roasted, peeled and chopped

2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

juice of 1 lime

2 teaspoons honey

pinch kosher salt

Combine all the marinade ingredients in a flat glass pan.  Add the fish and marinate for ½ hour at room temperature.

Meanwhile, combine all the salsa ingredients and let stand, covered at room temperature.

Light the Broil King Keg, and let the temperature rise to about 450°F.  The upper and lower vents should be set to about 4. 

Grease the grids generously, then place the cod, flesh side down on the cooking surface.  Close the lid and let cook for 5 minutes.  With a large fish spatula, flip the fish to the other side.  Cook for a further 5 minutes, until the flesh just begins to flake.  Slip the spatula between the skin and the flesh, and lift it onto a wooden board. 

Serve with prepared salsa. 

Cornish Hens and Tomahawks

When our friend Kendal arrived from New Zealand to visit his daughter, Emily, who is staying with us for the summer, we wanted to make something new and different on the Broil King Keg.  It seems you can’t go wrong with anything you cook with this low and slow method, and the Cornish hens we served that day were no exception.  After the initial set-up there is no fussing to be done, and you can focus on the rest of the meal, which in this case was Grilled Eggplant Parmesan, Grilled Fingerling Potatoes, and some steamed asparagus.  

Herb Stuffed Cornish Game Hens

5 Cornish Game Hens (1 per man, ½ per woman)

2 lemons, sliced

Handful each fresh thyme, rosemary, parsley and oregano

Olive oil

Broil King Perfect Savoury Mediterranean Spice Rub

Light the lump charcoal in the Broil King Keg and set the vents to 2 and 2 to maintain a temperature of 250°F.  Meanwhile, soak 1 cup of mild wood chips (such as apple) in water.

Rinse the Cornish game hens inside and out with water and pat them dry with paper towels.  Sprinkle the cavities with a little Mediterranean spice rub, then stuff them with 1 slice of lemon, and a few stalks of each of the fresh herbs.  Rub the skin with a little olive oil, then sprinkle the spice mix and some freshly ground black pepper all over the hens. 

Drain the wood chips and scatter them over the coals.  Fill the diffuser pan halfway with hot water, the remaining lemon slices and any leftover herbs.  Carefully set it over the coals.  Set the cooking grids in place at the highest level and arrange the birds on the grids.  Close the lid, and adjust the top and bottom vents to maintain the temperature between 250°F and 275°F for about 3 hours. 

Using the multi-tool, carefully lift the cooking grid with the hens and place them on a carving board while you adjust the Keg set up.  With oven mitts, remove the diffuser pan.  Ted experimented by putting a pizza stone in its place, which was effective but messy!  The goal was to crisp up the skin without drying out the meat.  Continue cooking the hens for another 45 minutes to an hour, or until golden brown and tender.  Use a meat thermometer to ensure the hens are cooked through. 

Serve with cranberry sauce.  

A toast to the newly engaged couple, Jason and Jess!

A father-daughter reunion for Emily and Kendal

After all the festivities of the week, I slipped up to the cottage for a weekend all alone to do some planting and gardening.  My sister-in-law, Mag, intercepted my plans for chips and jujubes for dinner and invited me to join her and her family for a new cut of beef on the Keg:  a Tomahawk Steak.  This is basically a small prime rib roast or an extra thick rib steak with a long rib bone intact.  It was impressive looking and super-delicious, cooked at the expert hand of my brother-in-law, Rick.  In this case Rick used the Keg for direct, high-temperature grilling. 

This is one huge steak that could easily serve 5 people

Grilled Tomahawk Steak

1 3-pound tomahawk steak

your favourite steak spice

Light the coals in the Keg and allow the temperature to rise to about 500°F.  Prepare the steak by rubbing it generously with steak spice, and allowing it to come to room temperature for even cooking.  Wrap the rib bone with aluminum foil to prevent burning.

Lay the steak on the lower level cast iron cooking grids for 3 minutes on one side and another 3 minutes on the other side.  Then move the steak up to the higher rack for another 12 minutes.  Use a meat thermometre and cook to a temperature of 145°F for medium.  Let rest 5 minutes before carving into slices. 

While the meat was resting, Rick put asparagus on the top rack of the keg and closed the lid.  It was perfectly tender-crisp and slightly smokey.  

 

We had the first of the season spinach for dinner last night!

Brine and Barbecue Brisket

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The Grand Porch Party is an annual Uptown Waterloo Neighbourhood tradition of music being played on front porches throughout the neighbourhood. The Schumachers have always provided their front porch for a band, and their barbecue for a feast to share with friends afterwards. The only difference this year is evidenced by the umbrellas. Not to worry thought, the day was warm, with lots of fun and great music. We were host to The Short Films . They are fun and intelligent - and you can catch them every Thursday night in downtown Kitchener at IMBIBE, where they host an evening of art and music. Check them out!

We were looking for a new technique to prepare our brisket for Sunday evening and came across a recipe in Smoke & Spice(Jamison, 2003) for Deli-Cured Brisket. It calls for an initial step of brining the brisket over night. When you know that you are going to prepare a brisket on the smoker, you generally have a few planning days to work with. We did not. So, we brined the brisket all Saturday afternoon, prepared a modified rub, then put it on the smoker at 10 pm. This gave us the flexibility of 18 hours to cook the brisket over a very low flame. The result was a spicy, smoky brisket, that was still juicy and tender. It was an absolute winner and we will definitely prepare it this way again.

Of course we use the Broil King Keg to smoke our brisket, and we are 100% confident in it's ability to maintain a constant cooking temperature of 200-225°F, when the vents are set just barely at 2.This is critical when trusting your 12 pound brisket to a full night on the smoker!

Brine and Barbecue Brisket

Serves 15-20.

Brisket:

11-12 pound trimmed beef brisket

Brine:

½ cup kosher salt

6 tbsp brown sugar

¼ cup Montreal Steak Spice

Rub:

½ cup yellow mustard

1 cup Montreal Steak Spice

1-2 cups Maple wood chips, soaked for at least an hour

Give yourself 6-12 hours of brining time. Prepare the brine by combining the brine ingredients in an extra large roast pan with 2 litres of water. The pan has to be large enough to accommodate the brisket. Place the brisket in the pan, submerged in the brine and refrigerate for at least 6 hours.

Prepare the smoker for barbecuing overnight, by filling it with 6 inches of lump hardwood charcoal and bring it to a consistent temperature of 225°F. Fill the diffuser pan with water.

 (See setting up the smoker for more detailed information).

Remove the brisket from the brine, lay it on a large cutting board, pat it dry and rub it all over with the yellow mustard. Rub with Montreal Smoke Spice and allow to sit for 45 minutes, while it comes to room temperature.

Place ½ cup of soaked wood chips around the edges of the charcoal. Transfer the brisket to the smoker and monitor the temperature for an hour, to satisfy yourself that the smoker is cooking at 225°F.

At this point we went to bed. 10 hours later, we checked the smoker and it was still cooking at 220°C. The internal temperature of the brisket was 130°F. We knew that we still had 7 hours of cooking time to work with, so decided to restock the smoker with charcoal. We carefully removed the brisket, wrapped it in foil and placed it in a large cooler, with a few towels on top. This allowed the meat to continue slowly cooking while we attended to the charcoal. We restocked the charcoal, refilled the diffuser with water, then set the vents back to 2, in order to get the temperature of the smoker back up to 225°F.

We removed the brisket from the foil and placed it back on the smoker and let it cook slowly for 4 more hours. Checking the internal temperature of the meat again, we found it to be proceeding nicely at 170°F. At this point, we removed it from the smoker, wrapped it in foil and let it cook slowly for 2 more hours. When the internal temperature was 190°F, we removed it from the smoker, and placed it back in the cooler, still wrapped in foil, with a few towels on top for an hour, allowing the meat to rest.

Take this time to set up the buffet table and when you are ready to eat, remove it from the cooler, set it on a large cutting board and slice thinly across the grain. There will be no leftovers – Guaranteed!!!!

 We prepared a number of salads in advance, wanting to keep the party as simple as possible. Along with the traditional potato salad to go with the brisket, we prepared asparagus served with a lemon/tarragon vinagrette, we decided to prepare a cool rice noodle salad, for the vegetarians in the group.

Mango/Pepper Rice Noodle Salad with Fresh Herbs and Spicy Chili Vinaigrette

1 pkg rice vermicelli noodles

Vinaigrette:

½ cup canola oil

3 cloves garlic

3 tbsp fish sauce

2 tbsp lime juice, freshly squeezed

2 tbsp rice vinegar

2 tbsp honey

1 tbsp srirachi sauce

1 tsp sesame oil

½ tsp salt

3 ataulfo mangoes, julienned
1 red pepper, julienned
3 mini cucumbers, julienned
1/2 cup red onion, chopped
1 cup broccoli flowerettes, blanched
1/2 cup fresh mint, chopped
1/2 cup fresh coriander, chopped
1/2 cup fresh basil, chopped
1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped
Salt and pepper, to taste

 Prepare vinaigrette by combining all ingredients in a food processor or blender and process for 30 seconds. This can be done a day ahead, stored in glass jar and set aside.

To prepare salad:
Bring large pot of salted water to a boil. Add rice vermicelli noodles and cook for 5 minutes, until tender to the bite. During the last minute, add the broccoli flowerettes to blanch.  Drain and rinse under cold running water for 3 minutes, to rapidly cool the noodles and broccoli down. Toss noodles and broccoli with half of the vinaigrette. Place in a large bowl and refrigerate.
Cut the mango, cucumber and peppers into julienne slices, and chop the red onion and fresh herbs. Add all of these to the prepared noodles and toss with remaining vinaigrette and salt&pepper. Serve. Can be topped with toasted sesame seeds or chopped peanuts if allergies allow. We suggest leaving nuts and seeds to the side and letting guests add the garnish themselves, if they choose.

Slicing against the grain

Gathering of old friends and family!

The feast!!

Pizza at the Ready

What do you serve for dinner when you are expecting guests, but are not sure when they are going to arrive?  That was the question on Saturday- but not a big concern.  We picked up some frozen pizza dough and proscuitto at Vincenzos, grilled some asparagus and mushrooms, grated the cheeses and waited for our guests to land in Waterloo.  Pizza and salad are always a crowd pleaser when cooked on the grill. It takes 8 minutes on the barbecue when using a pizza stone, then you can sit back and enjoy the crisp, gooey pizza with your friends.  The smoky flavour of the crust and the grilled vegetables accompanied with a simple green salad go so well with a glass of wine.

Grilled Pizza with Mushrooms, Asparagus and Proscuitto

Pizza is a snap to prepare on the barbecue if you have a pizza stone and a wooden pizza peel. Place the pizza stone on the grids and preheat the barbecue on HIGH for 10 minutes. Reduce temperature to MEDIUM.

2 balls frozen pizza dough, thawed and rested
1/4 cup corn meal

1 cup tomato sauce
1 handful fresh asparagus
1 cup cremini mushrooms, grilled
1 large onion
12 slices of proscuitto, thinly sliced
1 cup grated mozzarella cheese
1 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/3 cup fresh basil, chiffonade

Set pizza dough out at room temperature and allow to thaw, 3-4 hours. Once it is at room temperature, place in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with a damp cloth and allow it to rest for another hour. At this point, the dough should be soft and pliable. Shape or roll it into a circular shape to fit the pizza stone.

Sprinkle a handful of cornmeal onto a wooden pizza peel (or the back of a baking sheet). This helps though dough to slide easily off of the pizza peel and onto the hot stone.  Gently lift the stretched dough onto the floured peel. Top the pizza, scattering the ingredients around to within 1/2 inch of the border. Shake the peel (or baking sheet) gently back and forth to make sure the pizza isn't stuck. If it seems stuck, lift the edges up with a spatula and toss a bit of flour under the dough. Quickly slide the pizza onto the hot baking stone. Bake until the edges are golden, about 8 min. Using a peel, a wide spatula, or tongs, remove the pizza from the grill.

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