Swordfish Steaks with Grilled Pineapple and Grapefruit Salsa

 

 We had a lot of fun this weekend in Ellicottville.  On Saturday, Ted led us on an amazing cross-country ski trek, through the beautiful hills and forests behind Holimont. It was an incredible workout, for both the humans and the dogs! Happily, a great meal is always the reward at the end of these adventures! Andrea had stocked the refrigerator with some wonderful foods, so we were able to quickly prepare a delicious meal. It was an early night, then back out on Sunday morning, this time on snow shoes!!  After exploring the forest for 3 hours, even the puppy was tired out!!    

 Swordfish Steaks with Grilled Pineapple and Grapefruit Salsa

For the salsa:
1/2 pineapple, cored and cut into long spears
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 ruby grapefruit, peeled and cut into sections, then chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
 1 red bell pepper
1 red cherry pepper or other hot pepper, minced
1 teaspoon each chopped fresh cilantro, mint, tarragon and chives
Juice of 1/2 lime
1 tablespoon honey 
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger root

Preheat barbecue on MEDIUM HIGH and place the red bell pepper on the grids.  Cook until charred on all sides and move to a cutting board to let cool. Reduce the grill temperature to MEDIUM LOW.
Brush the pineapple spears with vegetable oil and grill them until slightly caramelized and tender, about 8 minutes, turning 3 times for perfect grill marks.  Transfer to a cutting board and chop into 1/2 inch cubes. Toss the pineapple into a medium bowl with the remaining ingredients and let stand to combine flavours. 

For the Swordfish:
4 swordfish steaks
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the marinade:

Juice of 1/2 lime
Juice 1/2 lemon
2 tablespoons grapefruit infused white balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons lemon infused olive oil
1 teaspoon grate fresh ginger root 
1 teaspoon each chopped fresh tarragon, cilantro, chives and mint
 Pat the fish dry with paper towels, then sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper.  In a flat glass dish just large enough to hold the fish, combine all the marinade ingredients. Add the swordfish steaks, coating well on all sides and let stand 15 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the barbecue on MEDIUM-
 HIGH.

Reduce the heat setting to MEDIUM LOW and brush the grids well with vegetable oil. Cook the fish for a total of 8 minutes, turning every 2 minutes for perfect grill marks. 

Grilled Baby Bok Choy

6 baby bok choy, halved
1 tablespoon olive oil
For the sauce:
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 large clove garlic
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger root
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon sambal olek
1 teaspoon honey

Brush or spray the bok choy with olive oil and grill lightly on both sides, about 3 minutes per side.  Meanwhile, heat the vegetable oil in a medium skillet. Add the garlic and ginger, stirring until fragrant, about 30 seconds.  Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer for a few minutes. Add the grilled bok choy and toss to coat. Serve hot.

Wally and Baldur are true snow dogs!!

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!