Seventh Annual Bake and Booze

Some of us dread it, and some of us wait in joyful anticipation for months. No matter what you think of it, you can't stop it ( take a lesson from the Grinch and his experiences with Christmas in Who-ville!). You guessed it, The Walkers celebrated our annual Bake and Booze last week!! We talked, baked, knitted, laughed, drank....... anything goes....there are very few rules at Bake and Booze!

 First thing... Margaritas!

We kicked off the evening with a pitcher of Prickly Pear Margaritas.

Second thing, dinner......
This tummy warming Sausage and Kale Soup is a complete meal. We served it with crusty bread and salad.

Sausage and Kale Soup

1 lb hot Italian Sausage meat
2 tbsp canola oil
½ cup red wine
1 large yellow onion, diced
3 large carrots, peeled and diced
3 large stalks celery, cleaned and diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 can San Marzano tomatoes
2 bay leaves
2  tbsp herbes de provence
4-6 cups chicken stock
½ cup orzo
2 cups kale, trim stem and chop coarsely
Salt and freshly ground black pepper 
½ cup parmigiano reggiano cheese, grated
 ¼ cup fresh basil, chopped

If you are not able to find bulk sausage meat, simply buy sausages and remove the meat from the casings. In a large sauté pan, fry the crumbled sausage meat on MEDIUM  until brown and slightly crispy. De-glaze the pan with red wine, or a bit of water and remove meat and liquid, setting aside in a large bowl until later.

In a large dutch oven, heat the canola oil on MEDIUM, and add the onions, celery and carrots.  Cook until the vegetables are almost tender.  Add the garlic, bay leaves and herbes de provence and stir until very fragrant, about 1 minute.  Meanwhile, gently remove the tomatoes from the can and chop coarsely, preserving as much of the tomato juice as possible. Add the chopped tomatoes and the tomato juice to the soup. Add chicken stock, cooked sausage meat and the cooking liquid. Bring to a simmer and cook gently for 30-40 minutes. This can all be done ahead of time and set aside until closer to meal-time. When ready to finish, bring to a boil and add orzo and chopped kale. Reduce heat to MEDIUM LOW and cook for 10 minutes. Serve in large bowls, garnished with parmigiano reggiano cheese and chopped basil.

Radicchio with Figs and Ginger Vinaigrette

1 radicchio lettuce

1 curly endive , or mixed greens

3 oranges

½ slice red onion, thinly sliced into rings

8 small green figs, quartered, or dried black mission figs                                   

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 tsp red wine vinegar

1/8 tsp cinnamon

2 tablespoons orange juice

2 tablespoons very finely chopped candied ginger

seeds from 1 pomegranate, optional

Wash lettuce leaves and drain well. Tear into bite sized pieces and toss in salad bowl.

Whisk the oil, vinegar, cinnamon, orange juice and ginger together. Season to taste and pour over the salad, tossing lightly.

Peel and segment the oranges. Add to salad leaves with onion and figs.

If using pomegranate, scatter the seeds over the salad and serve.

Everyone pitched in to help Terry roll her Date Balls in shredded coconut.  A very messy job!

Lynn's Sandy Morrice's 100 year old recipe for Oatmeal Cookies is another favourite.

Kris made her delicious Cranberry Pistachio Biscotti

Deb’s Coconut Nests

1 ¼ cups sifted flour

¼ tsp salt

½ cup butter, at room temperature

¼ cup white sugar

1 egg yolk

1 egg white

Shredded coconut

Thick jelly

or jam

Sift flour 3 times with salt. Cream butter, then blend in sugar. Add beaten egg yolk. Mix in dry ingredients, 1/3 at a time. Roll dough into small balls, then dip into slightly beaten egg white, then roll in coconut. Place on greased cookie sheet, or on parchment. Indent in middle with thimble. Bake 20 minutes at 350 degrees. **After 5 minutes of baking, indent middle again.** Fill centre with jelly or jam when on cooling rack.

Makes about 18 cookies.

Andrea is the artist of the group!

These sugar cookies were made with the same recipe as the Wedding Sugar Cookies

Barb's Ice Box Cookies

2/3 cup butter                                     

1 cup brown sugar                             

1 tsp vanilla                                         

1 egg     

2 cups flour

¼ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ cup chopped red and green glace cherries                                         

Cream butter; gradually add brown sugar and cream well. Add egg, vanilla, and beat well. Mix flour, salt, and baking soda together in a separate bowl, then stir into batter. Add chopped cherries.  Shape dough into 2 long rolls, about 2” in diameter. Wrap in wax paper and chill until firm (about 2 hours). Slice thinly; place on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes. Makes approximately 2  1/2 dozen.

Winter Comforts

It is a busy time of year, getting ready for our families to start gathering for the Christmas holidays. We love it!  Yet, we have learned over the years not to forget to enjoy the moment.  We both found ourselves with some time to slow down this weekend and prepared some healthful and easy meals --- in times like this, we like to prepare food from our “go- to” repertoire. 

An unexpectedly quiet weekend meant Ted and Andrea could slip away to Ellicottville for a restorative few days of hiking, reading and knitting by the fire, and of course grilling!  We stopped at our favourite American grocery store, Wegmans, and selected a succulent rack of lamb, as well as some fresh vegetables to grill.  Thanks to  Broil King's The Perfect Savoury Mediterranean Rub, the meat and vegetables were a snap to prepare.  That left plenty of time to devote to the Better Than Sex Risotto. 

Quick Rack of Lamb

1 rack of lamb for 2-3 people
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 teaspoon Broil King Perfect Savoury Mediterranean Rub

Brush the lamb with olive oil, and sprinkle the rub over all sides of the meat.  Let stand at room temperature for 1/2 hour.  Meanwhile, preheat the barbecue on MEDIUM HIGH for 10 minutes.  Clean the grids with a wire brush, then coat them with vegetable oil to prevent sticking.  Place the lamb on the grill, and cook for a total of about 25 minutes, following the guide for perfect grill marks.
Serve with mint or red pepper jelly. 


 Back in Waterloo, Mark and Kris were anxious to get their Christmas tree before the snow flew, so Mark, Jackie and Pepper headed out to the woods.  Each year, the trees seem to get bigger!!  
Meanwhile, Kris was trying to find some room in the freezer to accomodate some Christmas goodies.  We decided that it was time to smoke the duck legs that we had picked up at the market earlier in the fall. Here are 2 great meals that came out of that endeavour!! Check out this link for our instructions on smoking duck legs.

Here are the recipes for 2 great meals that came out of that endeavour!!

Lentils with bacon and dried cherries

1 can green lentils, rinsed and drained

4 slices smoked bacon

1 tbsp olive oil

2 shallots, minced

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 cup red wine

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

¼ cup fresh parsley, chopped

½ cup dried cherries

Rinse and drain lentils, then set aside. Place bacon into a sauté pan and heat over medium-high heat until brown and crispy. Remove bacon and set it aside. Drain off bacon fat. Into the same pan, add olive oil, shallots and garlic. Saute gently until the shallots and garlic are translucent, approximately 6-7 minutes. Increase heat and deglaze pan with red wine. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.  Add drained lentils, and heat for another 3-4 minutes until warm. Add dried cherries and garnish with parsley.

Thai red curry with crispy duck legs

6 smoked duck legs

1 can of full fat coconut milk
2 stalks lemongrass, beaten
1” ginger, sliced into coins and smashed
1 tsp red curry paste
½ cup chicken or fish stock
1 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp lime juice
2 tsp fish sauce
garnish with thai basil

In a saucepot,  bring the coconut milk, lemongrass, ginger, curry paste, stock and brown sugar to a simmer.   Simmer 30-45 minutes, until reduced by about 1/3.  Remove from heat and stir in lime juice and fish sauce. Strain well through a fine mesh strainer into a large saute pan. Add the smoked duck legs and simmer for 12-15 minutes, until flavours are blended. Serve with steamed brown basmati rice and steamed asian greens. Garnish with thai basil.

Cuban

Before we start talking about food, we want you to check out this link and consider getting some tickets for The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui.  We had a great time attending the play in Toronto on Friday night- if you are looking for some smart, lively entertainment- this is it!  What is it about??..go and find out! As Christopher Holte states in his review of the production, " If you have seen Brecht before, but not this play, you will be bowled over by the energy the cast brings to the work and by the unfaded relevance that scene after scene so presciently evokes. "

NOW, onto the food........

We are always looking for inspiration for recipes that we can adapt for preparing on our barbecue or smoker. We were delighted to be presented with a new idea last week, when out for dinner in Toronto to celebrate Luke’s birthday.  Just around the corner from his apartment on Dovercourt is a Cuban restaurant, Julie’s Cuban Restaurant.
 The thoughtful menu is short, but packed with intriguing dishes that are rich in traditional flavours, through the use of slow cooking with onions, garlic and lime juice---including chicken, pork and beef. This is just the kind of challenge that we are looking for when trying to adapt recipes for the smoker.  Meats that can cooked  low and slow are just the kind of dishes that we are interested in. The moist atmosphere created by filling the diffuser pan in the smoker, set at 200°-250°C is great for creating tender, juicy dishes.  The other benefit is that the meat can be cooked on the smoker the day ahead, then finished off the next day, freeing up a lot of time on the day of your gathering!!

Our first attempt was Vaca Frita – slow-cooked beef, pulled and then seared  with onions, garlic and lime juice quickly before serving.  We decided that for best results, we should start with a nice fat and rich cut of beef for the smoker, so we tried both blade steak and blade roast.  Here is what we came up with.

VACA FRITA on the Broil King KEG 

 3 pounds blade steak/roast

2 tbsp olive oil
2 bay leaves
2 tbsp cumin
2 tbsp oregano

1 tbsp black pepper, freshly ground

 1 tsp salt

4 tbsp olive oil
1 large Spanish onion, julienned

2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped
3/4 cup lime juice
Salt and pepper 

Setting up the Smoker: 

1  Pour a 4-6” deep layer of  lump hardwood charcoal on the bottom of the smoker.

2     Use 2 True’Cue match-light charcoal starters or a chimney starter to ignite the charcoal. Within 8-10 minutes, you will have glowing red coals.   Open the top and bottom vents to the widest position (#5).   Let the coals burn for 10 minutes until the smoker reaches 225°F.    Dial down the top and bottom vents to the #2 position. The fill the diffuser pan with water and keep it full throughout the cooking time. 

   Prepare the beef for smoking:
) Lay beef out on 2 layers of heavy foil wrap, which have been cut large enough to allow for fully enclose the beef when wrapped into a packet. Rub beef with olive oil, then rub cumin, oregano, black pepper and salt into the meat. Place bay leaves on top, add 1/4 cup water,  then fold foil around beef, and crimp edges tightly.

Place the packet on the grids, close the lid and cook for up to 7 hours. The internal temperature of the beef should be 145 °F. Remove from the smoker, keeping it wrapped in the foil, and let it rest for at least an hour before unwrapping it. Do not skip this step, as it is the final step in allowing the connective tissue to completely break down, resulting in tender, moist beef!   Shred the meat. This can all be done a day in advance.

 

The final step in preparing the vaca frita is to fry the meat. First add 2 tbsp olive oil to a large saute pan and cook the onions over low heat until caramelized, approximately 20-30 minutes. Add the rest of the olive oil, increase the heat to high,  then add the meat, cilantro, and lime juice, making sure to spread it out evenly. Flip it over and cook until both sides become crispy. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Serve with brown rice, black beans, grilled plantain and sauteed peppers.

Grilled Plantains

Plantains are the ultimate cuban side dish, usually fried. We found this great grilling recipe on Epicurious - it will become one of your go-to recipes when preparing latin cuisine -simple and delicious!!

• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar or sherry vinegar
• 4 very ripe (black) plantains

Prepare the butter glaze
Place the butter and sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat and cook until the butter is melted and the sugar is dissolved in it. Add the vinegar and stir well. Remove from the heat and set aside. 

Prepare, grill, and serve the plantains
Heat your grill to HIGH and close the lid. Wait at least 15 minutes before lowering the heat to MEDIUM-HIGH. Oil the grates with a vegetable oil-soaked paper towel held with a long pair of tongs.

Slice the unpeeled plantains in half lengthwise and place them cut side down on the grill. Close the lid and cook for 15 minutes. Turn the plantains over and baste the cut sides of the plantains with the butter glaze. Close the lid and continue cooking for another 15 minutes. Brush a bit more glaze on the plantains before removing them from the grill.

Serve the plantains in their skins while hot from the grill.

Cooking notes

Advance preparation
You can prepare the butter glaze a few hours in advance. It will thicken when cool and will need to be reheated.

From Latin Grilling by Lourdes Castro, © 2011 Ten Speed Press, a division of Random House, Inc.

Read More http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Grilled-Ripe-Plantains-em-Platanos-Maduros-a-la-Parrilla-em-364830#ixzz2mF6ggBbi