A Champagne Birthday

Happy Birthday Samantha!

Samantha celebrated her 24^th birthday on the 24^th of November with 24 guests in London.  We pulled together a tried and true menu of favourites that could largely be prepared ahead and transported.  All the cooking on site was done on a Broil King Porta Chef with great results.

Special thanks to Elaine for being our photographer for the evening!

Thai Chili Shrimp

3 pounds peeled and deveined shrimp

1 cup Thai sweet chili sauce

1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger

1 clove garlic, crushed

2 tablespoons rice vinegar

2 tablespoons canola oil

Mix all the marinade ingredients together in a large bowl.  Toss in the shrimp and marinate for 15 minutes to ½ hour.  Grill on a preheated barbecue set to MEDIUM for 2 minutes per side until just opaque and beginning to curl.  Do not overcook.

Smoked Chicken Wings with Blue Cheese Dip

This is a variation of the recipe in our cookbook, with the changes reflecting what was in our pantry at that moment.

  5 pounds  chicken wings
  For the Marinade:
  1/3 cup  vegetable oil
  1  clove  garlic -- minced
 ½  teaspoon  chipotle powder
  2  teaspoons  smoked paprika

  1 teaspoon  oregano
  1 teaspoon  kosher salt
  2  tablespoons red wine vinegar

Light the Broil King Keg and adjust the settings for a constant temperature of 275°F.  Do not use a diffuser pan.  Scatter soaked wood chips (we used whiskey flavoured chips) over the coals.

Cut each wing at the joint to make two pieces, and discard the tip.  In a large bowl, whisk together vegetable oil, garlic, spices and vinegar.  Add chicken wings and toss to coat.

Place the chicken wings on the Keg, using two layers of racks if needed.  After ½ hour, move the wings around for even cooking.  Continue to smoke for another ½ hour to an hour, until cooked through and slightly browned. 

At this point we placed them all on a rimmed baking sheet and refrigerated them overnight.  We reheated them for 20 minutes in the oven before serving.
                    

Smoked Blue Cheese Dip:

½ cup  mayonnaise
 1 clove  garlic, minced
 1  tablespoon  onion,  grated

1 teaspoon fresh thyme, chopped
1 tablespoon  red wine vinegar
1/3 cup smoked blue cheese, crumbled

Assorted raw vegetables.

Mix the dip ingredients together in a medium bowl and cover and refrigerate for several hours or overnight to develop the flavours.  

                       

Gluten Free Grilled Vegetable Lasagna

1 package brown rice lasagna noodles

2 red peppers

2 large eggplants, peeled and sliced ¼” thick

5 zucchinis, sliced ¼” thick

1 pound mushrooms, sliced

2 packages frozen spinach, thawed

Lots of olive oil

4 cups Mutti brand strained tomatoes

3 cups smooth whole milk ricotta cheese

2 eggs

1 tablespoon dried parsley

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 pound sliced mozzarella

1 recipe Bechamel Sauce (see below)

1 cup grated Parmesan Reggiano

For the Bechamel Sauce:

6 tablespoons butter

5 tablespoons gluten free flour

4 cups warm milk

Dash hot sauce

Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the barbecue on MEDIUM HIGH, placing the peppers on the grill to char them on all sides while the barbecue heats.  Let the peppers cool, then peel and remove seeds before chopping. 

Meanwhile, slice the eggplants and zucchinis, salt them well, and place them in a colander to drain for ½ hour.  Then lay them on paper towels to dry and wipe off the extra salt.  Brush the vegetables lightly with olive oil, and place them on a preheated barbecue on MEDIUM.  Grill on both sides until just tender,  then cool on wire racks.

At the same time, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, and cook the GF noodles until al dente (slightly firm to the bite).  Drain well and rinse with cold water.

In a medium bowl, beat the 2 eggs, and then add the ricotta cheese and herbs.

Sauté the mushrooms in olive oil over MEDIUM HIGH heat until browned and dense in texture. 

Prepare the Bechamel sauce, by heating the butter in a medium sauce pan over MEDIUM LOW heat.  Add the gluten free flour, cook and stir for 2 or three minutes.  Remove from heat to whisk in the warm milk, then return to the flame and stir until thickened and just beginning to bubble.  Season to taste with hot sauce, salt and pepper.   

To assemble (finally!), pour a thin layer of the tomato sauce over the bottom of a deep 9” x 13” pan.  Start with a layer of noodles, then ricotta mixture, then eggplant, then zucchini.  Sprinkle with red pepper and well drained chopped spinach and mushrooms.  Cover with sliced mozzarella, pour more tomato sauce over top, and repeat all the layers.  Then drizzle with Bechamel sauce and Parmesan cheese.  Bake at 350 for 45 minutes or until hot and bubbling around the edges.  Let stand at room temperature for 10 minutes before serving to allow the cheese to firm slightly.

Green Bean Salad

  2  pounds  green beans, stem ends removed

For the Vinaigrette:

  3  tablespoons  dijon mustard

  3  tablespoons  honey

  1  lemon, freshly squeezed

  3  tablespoons apple cider        vinegar

  ½ cup  olive oil

  ½ cup  fresh dill, finely chopped

   salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.  Add beans and cook until just tender crisp, about 5 minutes.  Drain and place beans in a bowl of ice water for 5 minutes.  Drain again.  Lay towels or paper towels over cooling racks.  Dry beans well, then wrap them up in damp towelling, and refrigerate until ready to use. (Can be prepared one day in advance to this stage).

Combine all the dressing ingredients if using the same day.   If preparing more than one day in advance, omit the dill until the last minute.  Arrange the beans decoratively on a platter.  Just before serving, drizzle with the dressing.  

We also served Beef Tenderloin, Pulled Pork and a Potato Gratin to round out the spread.

Is Movember almost over?!

Smoked Trout

Birthday celebrations always bring out the best in us! Especially when it means that we can prepare some favorite foods for the celebrations. When the lucky birthday person is also a student with no time to cook for themselves, there is no holding back! So, Luke was the lucky recipient of the birthday feast this week, which meant that mom was able to go all out and spend a blissful Saturday preparing beef bourguinon, meatloaf,  smoked trout, smoked ribs, sweet potato and peanut curry soup and gingerbread pudding cake.

 Actually, the smoked trout was a bit of an afterthought,  but since the smoker was going to be fired up for the ribs, we decided to try smoking some trout at the same time. There was definitely a full cooler going in to Toronto on Sunday. We had a wonderful birthday lunch-dinner, despite the day-after affects from the party thrown by his friends the night before.

Leslie, Casey, Dylan and Luke get ready to hit the books again (or maybe their beds!) after multiple birthday celebrations

Smoked Trout

This is great served with rustic bread and potato salad. It is also  delicious served in a salad. We especially like it combined with apples, walnuts, beets, red onions and celery with horseradish dressing! Or, try it in this spread(recipe below), as we did this weekend. Everyone loved it!

2 boneless trout fillets (1 lb each)

Brine:
1 cup water
3 tbsp salt
2 tsp brown sugar
1 tsp lemon/dill salt

Place trout in a large glass casserole dish, skin side up. Combine the brine ingredients and pour over the trout.  Allow to cure in the brine in the refrigerator for 6-8 hours.  Remove trout from brine, rinse in cool water and then soak in fresh water for 10-15 minutes. Pat dry.
Prepare Broil King Keg to smoke trout for 2 hours at 200-225° C.  THrow a handful of soaked apple wood chips on the coals. Place trout on the grids, skin side down and smoke for 2 hours. Let cool, then wrap tightly in plastic wrap. This can be kept in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
 

 Smoked Trout Spread with Horseradish



1  boneless smoked trout fillet
1/2 cup cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup mayonnaise or sour cream
1 tbsp prepared horseradish
1 tbsp minced red onion
1 tbsp minced celery
1 tbsp minced parsley
1 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Combine smoked trout, cream cheese, mayonnaise, horseradish, minced red onion, celery and parsley in a large bowl. Stir with a wooden spoon, until smooth, but there should still be chunks of smoked salmon in the mixture. Add lemon juice and salt & pepper to taste. Serve on top of squares of  pumpernickel bread and on slices(1/3" thick) of seedless cucumber, that have a bit of the centre scooped out to create a small impression to hold the smoked trout spread.

Making Bacon

Homemade Walnut Smoked Bacon

We love bacon.  And now, if the world goes dark, we know that we can make homemade bacon for our families.  But barring this kind of emergency we also know it is far easier to pick up a pound of bacon at the grocery store.   However this was a fun adventure, and what else were we going to do with all of Mark’s walnut sawdust?  This recipe takes 3 days to prepare, but they are not labour intensive days and require only a little effort and some patience.  We found that the Broil King Keg was an excellent vessel for this cold smoking process. 

We bought the pork belly from Brady's Meats and Deli  in Waterloo. The flavour of the bacon was subtle and mild, neither too salty nor too sweet. It is a definite thumbs-up! Maybe we have found a new business for ourselves?!?!

1 pork belly, about 7 pounds

For the Brine:

3 ¾ cups water

3 cups Diamond Crystal kosher salt

¾ cups brown sugar

¾ cups honey

1 cup dark rum

Charcoal briquettes

6-8 cups walnut, or other hardwood sawdust

2 aluminum Loaf pans

Combine all the brine ingredients in a large plastic tub, and stir until dissolved.  Place the pork belly in the brine and set a heavy dish on top of it to completely submerge the meat in the liquid.  Set the tub in the fridge for 48 hours.  Drain it well, set the pork belly on a wire rack and pat it dry with paper towels.  Place it in a cool place, such as the fridge or inside a cold barbecue if the weather is cool enough, so that some air can circulate around the meat.  Let dry in this way for about 6 hours. 

Light 6 briquettes in a chimney starter until they are glowing red and covered with ash.  Place about 2 ½ cups of sawdust in each pan and set them in the very bottom of the Broil King Keg.  Using tongs, transfer the hot briquettes to the loaf pans.  Set the grids on the Keg and place the prepared pork belly on the grids.  Close the lid, and open the top and bottom vents to #4.  Every hour or so, give the coals as stir in the pans, adding sawdust and more lit briquettes as needed to maintain smoke.  The temperature should not rise above 120°F in order to maintain the texture of the bacon.  Continue smoking the bacon for 5-6 hours.  Wrap the slab of bacon tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate before slicing.  Cook and use as you would any bacon.

Spaghetti Carbonara

½ lb spaghetti

6 slices Homemade or store-bought bacon, cut into 1” pieces

½ red onion, chopped

2 cold eggs, beaten

¾ cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano

1 teaspoon coarsely grated black pepper

½ cup reserved pasta water

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil for the pasta, and cook the spaghetti until just al dente.  Meanwhile, heat a large non-stick skillet over medium-low heat and add the bacon.  Cook until golden brown and beginning to crisp, and remove with a slotted spoon.  Drain off all but 1 tablespoon of the bacon fat and add the chopped onion.  Sauté until translucent. 

Reserve ½-1 cup of the pasta water and then drain the pasta.  Toss the spaghetti in the skillet with the bacon, adding a few tablespoons of water to loosen any of the brown bits in the pan.  Turn off the heat and pour the eggs over the pasta, tossing to coat all the strands of spaghetti.  Sprinkle with the grated cheese and pepper and toss again.  Serve immediately on heated plates.  

Walper Spinach Salad

This was Ted’s mother’s signature salad.   The recipe was created at the Walper Hotel in Kitchener which was owned and operated for many years by her mother’s grandfather, father and brother.  It is a family favourite that we pull together for special occasions. 

2 lbs baby spinach, washed and torn

½ lb homemade bacon, cooked and crumbled

1 cup heavy cream

3 tbsp white vinegar

1 tsp grated onion

1 tsp Dijon mustard

2 tbsp  sugar

Salt & pepper, to taste

Wash the leaves in cold water.  Drain the leaves, wrap in paper towels and chill.

To prepare dressing, pour the remaining ingredients into a tightly sealed mason jar and shake vigourously for 3 minutes. The thicker the dressing the better! Taste to adjust seasonings. It should have a sweet-sour taste.

When ready to serve, place the spinach in a salad bowl, sprinkle with bacon and toss with the dressing.

Sweet and spicy glazed Beef Short Ribs

You could feel the storm in the air when you stepped outside last Monday night, causing a bit of anxiety in the house.   Preparing dinner would be the  perfect thing to keep us (mostly me!) occupied as we tried to stay away from the television coverage of the looming disaster of Super Storm Sandy last week.  On the top of our minds of course, was how Ben and Elaine were making out in New York and if their galleries in Chelsea and the Lower East Side would make it safely through the floods.  We are happy to report that they made it through safely, although are a little cagey after being stranded in Queens/Brooklyn while the transit system makes a slow recovery. The good news is that they were able to provide some shelter from the storm to some friends who were less fortunate than they were with respect to power outages and flooding.
 

 Being a little too distracted to be very creative,  this Adam Perry Lang recipe was easily modified to suit the beef short ribs that I had picked up at Central Fresh Market in Kitchener that morning. I still had some late fall eggplants that had been given to me by a neighbour last week, so they also became part of dinner.

Sweet and spicy glazed Beef Short Ribs
 http://www.adamperrylang.com/recipes/boneles-griled-short-ribs-with-asian-flavors

Ingredients

4 lbs cross-cut beef short ribs

Marinade
4 garlic cloves, peeled, halved, germ removed, grated on a Microplane grater
1⁄4 cup Japanese soy sauce
2 tablespoons fish sauce
2 tablespoons rice wine or dry sherry
2 tablespoons water 2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
2 tablespoons canola or vegetable oil
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
3 tablespoons finely chopped scallions, white and green portions
1 tablespoon finely chopped or grated fresh ginger
1⁄2 teaspoon finely ground fresh black pepper

Glaze
Pinch of crushed hot red pepper flakes (optional)
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons firmly packed dark brown sugar

Preparation

1. Combine all of the marinade ingredients. Place the ribs in an extra- large resealable plastic bag. Pour over the marinade, squeeze out any excess air from the bag, and close. Roll the bag to evenly coat all of the meat in the marinade. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours, or up to 6.
2. Preheat all grates of a well-oiled charcoal or gas grill to medium.
3. If using the pepper flakes in the glaze, combine the vinegar and flakes in a jar with a tight- fitting lid and let sit for 1 to 2 minutes to allow the flavors to develop. Add the sugar and water to the jar and shake to combine the glaze ingredients. Set aside.
4. Remove the ribs from the marinade, letting any excess run off into the bag. Lightly pat the meat dry with paper towels.

Cooking Method

5. Place ribs on grids. Close the lid and cook, without moving the meat, until it is well marked and lightly caramelized, 5 to 7 minutes. Flip the ribs, close the lid, and cook on the second side for 5 to 7 minutes. Turn off burners below the ribs and continue cooking over indirect heat for 8-10 more minutes.  Meanwhile, give the glaze a quick shake to reincorporate any ingredients that may have settled and brush each rib on both sides with the glaze. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes to tighten the glaze.

Grilled Eggplant with Asian Glaze

We also were able to adapt this Lucy Waverman recipe for the grill.

4 large eggplants, asian if you can get them

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp salt

Glaze:

2 tbsp soy sauce

2 tbsp brown sugar

1 tbsp rice vinegar

1 tbsp water

 1tbsp extra virgin olive oil

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 tbsp ginger, minced

3 green onions, chopped

½ tsp Asian chili sauce

1 ½ tsp sesame oil

1 tsp toasted sesame seeds

Preheat barbecue on MEDIUM and brush the grids with oil to prevent sticking.

Slice the eggplant into ½ inch thick slices, lengthwise, and toss with oil and salt. Lay on the hot grids and grill for 8 minutes, turn and grill for another 8 minutes, until brown and slightly crispy.

Meanwhile, combine soy sauce with sugar, vinegar and water in a small bowl. Heat a sauté pan and add oil.  Add garlic, ginger, onions, and chili paste. Cook for about 30 seconds. Add soy sauce mixture and bring to a boil. Add sesame oil. Place grilled eggplant slices in the sauce pan and toss to coat with the glaze. Place eggplant slices on a large serving platter with the short ribs and sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds.

Andy and Mark enjoy the results.