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Yesterday I forgot to take a pic of these chicken burgers. We enjoyed the leftovers for lunch today and I remembered to snap a pic of the burger before we dug in. Barely though - these are so good that i just wanted to eat!
Do try to find onion sprouts instead of alfalfa sprouts - they add a subtle tanginess to the burger which blends so well with the chicken, peanut sauce, and Thai seasonings.
2 tablespoons peanut butter
2 teaspoons low-sodium soy sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons dark sesame oil
1 teaspoon water
1 teaspoon rice vinegar
1 garlic clove, minced
Burgers:
1/2 cup finely chopped green onions
1 tablespoon chile paste with garlic
2 teaspoons grated peeled fresh ginger
2 teaspoons low-sodium soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast, chopped
4 (2-ounce) sandwich rolls with sesame seeds
1 cup onion sprouts or alfalfa sprouts
Prepare grill.
To prepare burgers, place onions and next 5 ingredients (onions through chicken) in a food processor; process until coarsely ground. Divide mixture into 4 equal portions, shaping each into a 1/2-inch-thick patty.
Place patties on a grill rack coated with cooking spray; grill 4 minutes on each side or until done. Place rolls, cut sides down, on grill rack; grill 1 minute or until toasted. Place 1 patty on bottom half of each roll; top each serving with 1/4 cup sprouts, about 1 tablespoon sauce, and top half of roll. Yield 4 servings.
Makes 4 servings
CALORIES 341(28% from fat); FAT 10.6g (sat 3.2g,mono 3.5g,poly 3.3g); PROTEIN 28.5g; CHOLESTEROL 49mg; CALCIUM 67mg; SODIUM 769mg; FIBER 2.5g; IRON 2.7mg; CARBOHYDRATE 32.8g
Paul made this amazing dish on Saturday - it was the perfect thing after a hectic day of painting and chores. We discovered that it was even better served the next day when the flavours had 'ripened'.
This flavor-packed steak is reminiscent of braciole, an Italian-American favorite in which steak, often flank steak, is butterflied or thinly sliced, rolled around a savory bread crumb, meat and cheese filling, and then braised. In this grilled version, the rolled steak is wrapped in aluminum foil and cooked over indirect heat, which allows the meat to tenderize and simmer in its own juices while absorbing the smokiness of the slow-burning coals. You can butterfly the meat yourself, or ask the butcher to do it.
He served it with leftover rice and grilled vegetables.
1/2 cup fresh white bread crumbs
1/3 cup grated Romano or Parmigiano-Reggiano
cheese
1/3 cup chopped salami, preferably Genoa
3 Tbs. coarsely chopped toasted pine nuts
3 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 anchovy fillets, mashed
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
2 Tbs. chopped fresh oregano
1 flank steak, 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 lb.
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
2 Tbs. olive oil
In a bowl, combine the bread crumbs, cheese, salami, pine nuts, garlic, anchovies, parsley and oregano and mix well.
To butterfly the steak, lay it flat on a work surface. Using a long-bladed knife, cut it horizontally almost in half lengthwise, taking care not to cut all the way through or to make holes in the meat. Open the meat to lie flat on a piece of heavy-duty aluminum foil that is at least 3 inches larger on all sides than the meat.
Season the meat, top and bottom, with salt and pepper. Brush the side of the meat that will be grilled with the oil, then place it, oiled side down, on the foil. Distribute the stuffing evenly on the opened side of the butterflied steak, leaving a 1/2-inch border on all sides. Using the foil as an aid, roll up the steak jelly-roll fashion. Completely wrap the rolled steak in the foil, twisting the ends and tying the roll with kitchen string if necessary. Let the meat stand for 30 minutes at room temperature or refrigerate for up to 4 hours. If refrigerated, remove from the refrigerator 30 minutes before grilling.
Prepare a charcoal or gas grill for indirect grilling over medium heat.
Place the foil-wrapped meat on the grill away from the coals of a charcoal grill or away from the heat elements of a gas grill. Cover the grill and cook, turning the meat 4 or 5 times, until it is very tender when pierced with a fork, about 2 hours total.
Let the meat rest in the foil for 15 minutes. Unwrap the meat and cut crosswise into slices no more than 1/2 inch thick. Arrange on a platter and pour any accumulated juices in the foil over the slices. Serve immediately. Serves 6 to 8.
Adapted from Williams-Sonoma, Essentials of Grilling, by Denis Kelly, Melanie Barnard, Barbara Grunes & Michael McLaughlin (Oxmoor House, 2003).
You are no doubt wondering what the heck this vase full of peonies (and a cat who shouldn't be on the kitchen table) have to do with family history . . .
It goes back more than 200 years ago. My grandmother's family (many generations ago) were living in the 13 Colonies (New Jersey to be precise). Staunch monarchists, they were content to let history with a vile king run it's course rather than do anything crazy. Obviously others were not so patient and they fought a little 'skirmish' known as the American Revolution.
When it was over and the the forces of the King lost, the upstart rebels were not exactly taken with those who had not supported their cause. Seeing the writing on the wall, many of these families packed up their cherished possessions and fled to Canada. The woman of the Smith household (I don't know her name - have you ever tried to trace a family named Smith?) loved her garden and was particularly proud of her peony plants. Guess what she tucked onto the wagon with all of her worldly household goods?
Once in Canada the family settled in the Niagara region with many other United Empire Loyalists. The story of these peony plants became the stuff of family lore. These weren't just any old peonies, they were family themselves!
My grandfather, who lived in Beamsville, was a brilliant gardener and his peonies were always a beautiful sight. He would often tell us the story of how they were brought to Canada, making sure that we understood that they were family.
After my grandfather died my mother and her sisters couldn't bring themselves to sell the family home. They rented it out to one bad tenant after another. In short, a headache! Finally they had had enough and they made the decision to sell the house. There was a stipulation in the bill of sale: the grandchildren could come and remove any plants from the garden that they wanted.
I wanted some of the peonies which had been so special to my grandfather. Unfortunately I had nowhere to put them as our house was nothing but a construction site at the time. Our friends came to the rescue and agreed to 'plant sit' , taking great care with the plants for close to 2 years until our house was ready.
They were one of the first plants we put in the garden and the rest of the garden grew up around them. Every year when they start to inch their slow progress up from the ground to brilliant bloom I am remembered of that ancestor who valued beauty and roots. It seems strange to think of a plant as family but these certainly are a strong tie to my past, the present, and the future.
And Victor, ever the vain kitty . . . he knew I was taking photos so even though he isn't allowed up on the table he jumped up and wouldn't stay out of the pic. Talk about family!
After our success with the other recipes from Lebovitz's book we were convinced it was time to try one which was more complex. This recipe makes a wonderfully rich custard based vanilla ice cream which is than infused with a tart, flavourful, vibrant swirl of crushed raspberries. After making it yesterday I realized it wasn't any more time consuming that the White Chocolate ice cream we made a few weeks back.
The recipe is from The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz. If you do not know David you should visit his blog - he is an American chef living in Paris. His specialty is chocolate and all things dessert. I have been following his blog ever since the amazing Judy AKA Diva told me about it while we were learning from her in our cooking class in Florence.
I've had the book for a few months and sadly this is only the fourth recipe that I have tried. I will have to get busy! I am already anticipating another one shortly. Now that the weather has turned hot and humid I will need more . . .
Previously I made the Champagne and Cassis Granita (p. 148) which you can read about here, the White Chocolate Ice Cream (p. 33) which is written up here, and a Raspberry Rosé Sorbet (p. 130) which is written up here.
Ice Cream:
1 cup (250 ml) whole milk
2/3 cup (130 g) sugar
pinch of salt
1 1/2 cup (375 ml) heavy cream
5 large egg yolks
1/2 tsp vanilla extract (I used vanilla bean paste because I like the flavour and the bits of vanilla beans embedded in the ice cream)
Raspberry Swirl:
1 1/2 cups (160 g) raspberries (frozen or fresh)
3 tablespoons (45 g) sugar
1 tablespoon vodka
To make the ice cream, warm the milk, sugar, and salt in a medium saucepan.
Pour the cream into a large bowl and set a mesh strainer over the top.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg yolks. Slowly poured the warmed milk into the egg yolks (if your milk is too hot you will cook the yolks and have scrambled eggs), whisking constantly, then scrape the warmed egg yolks and milk mixture back into the saucepan.
Stir the mixture constantly over medium heat with a heatproof spatula, scraping the bottom as your stir, until the mixture thicken and coats the spatula.
Pour the custard through the strainer (thus removing any bits of cooked egg) and stir it into the cream. Add the vanilla and stir until cool over an ice bath.
Chill the custard thoroughly in the refrigerator. I cover with plastic wrap, pressing the wrap against the surface of the custard, to avoid a 'skin' forming.
About an hour before you plan on churning the ice cream, make the raspberry swirl by mashing the raspberries together with the sugar and vodka. Note: if using frozen raspberries be sure to thaw them a bit first. The mixture should be juicy but still have chunks of raspberries in it. Chill until ready to use.
Freeze the ice cream custard in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.
As you remove the finished ice cream from the ice cream maker, layer it int eh container with spoonfuls of the chilled raspberry swirl mixture.
Freeze until ready to enjoy (and enjoy you will because this is amazing!)
We finally got around to painting the garage and the porch yesterday. We've been here 4 years and the paint was flaking off (even more when I cleaned the surface with the power washer). We hadn't even started with the taping of the windows and stuff and the neighbours were out checking up on what we were doing - probably concerned that we were using a gaudy colour (none of us will forget the lavender colour used by the guy 3 houses down last spring JUST prior to his moving - the two were related we think).
Actually they were most likely just curious. We live on a large crescent so it is perfect for kids, impromptu gatherings, and checking into the activities of your neighbours. Everyone seems to gather in clumps to talk about their kids, school, work, the mayor, the hockey game, etc. I can't stand it. We just like to do our thing . . . we didn't move to make friends, we have a bunch that keep us busy already darnit! LOL It is great for when you are on vacation though because they watch your house like a hawk!
I have digressed.
Anyway, the neighbours were ready to come over and offer advice i.e. that's the wrong tape to use; those aren't the right brushes, I'd use a roller there, and so on.
I wanted a grey green colour, not that far from the colour originally selected by the builders. I presume that you get used to a 'look' and that is what you want over and over again.
We had bought reptilian which seemed to be a nice grey green on the chip.
ARGH
It went on like green cotton candy. I know paint dries a bit darker but this would have to dry a whole lot darker before I'd be interested in looking at it for more than 30 seconds.
Back to the store I went and this time I had the guy dry some on the chip so I could see the match. It wasn't that the previous can hadn't been mixed well, it was just that I despised the colour. Funny how what looks good on a little card just looks dreadful splashed on the entire garage door.
When I returned Paul had almost finished the porch and then we got started on the garage. I still wasn't sure I was happy with the colour but I could live with it.
By now the neighbours had broken out the BBQ and were having an impromptu BBQ next door. They invited us over the burgers, chips, and salad but i said Paul was making dinner. They wondered what - stuffed flank steak I replied . . . two of them invited themselves to our house for dinner!
We finished up, cleaned up, and went to eat dinner.
Later we thought we'd put everything away inside the garage over night (we still needed to paint the outdoor furniture today) except . . . the garage wouldn't open.
Yes, we had painted it shut!
Of course we didn't want to bring the entire neighbourhood over to offer advice in the dark about how to get in, so Paul quietly went inside and got a knife which I used to break ' the hold' of the paint in a few areas.
We decided to leave the garage door open to allow the paint to dry properly in an way that was unobstructed (and wouldn't stop the flipping door from ever being opened again).
This morning when I went out to get the paper I noticed a trail of trash from the garage to the foot of the driveway. You guessed it, we had a nocturnal visitor who really enjoyed the trash. I tell you, there are few things that are better first thing in the morning then having to shovel week-old trash back into a garbage can! ARGH Thank goodness it is supposed to rain so the mess can get washed away.
This morning we ripped off the tape and noticed that there were spots which would need to be touched up. I wasn't sure if I liked the colour or not but my neighbour came over and RAVED about it - apparently he and the neighbours approve.
His daughter came over and said 'you need to paint the front door'. Actually, she said this two or three times.
I can only imagine the discussion about that. I guess the neighbours like the colour but were talking about how the front door needs the same treatment! Now we have a job for next weekend.
It is funny really, how a little job can become an adventure.
I had originally planned on making this sorbet a few weeks back but for one reason or another I never got around to it. Yesterday I took a vacation day so it was a a prefect time to give this a go. It isn't that the recipe is complicated or time consuming, rather it needs a brief bit of attention over the day so a day off was perfect as I did chores around the house.
The recipe is from The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz. If you do not know David you should visit his blog - he is an American chef living in Paris. His specialty is chocolate and all things dessert. I have been following his blog ever since the amazing Judy AKA Diva told me about it while we were learning from her in our cooking class in Florence.
I've had the book for a few months and sadly this is only the third recipe that I have tried. I will have to get busy! I am already anticipating another one tomorrow.
Previously I made the Champagne and Cassis Granita which you can read about here and white chocolate ice cream which is written up here.
The recipe for the sorbet is simplicity itself:
2 cups Rosé wine
2/3 cup sugar
3 cups raspberries (fresh or frozen)
I used a Rosé wine that we got a few summers ago in Prince Edward County (a new wine region in Ontario). You wouldn't want to use a wine that was too sweet as it would seem cloying with the raspberries.
In a medium, nonreactive saucepan, bring the Rosé wine and sugar to a boil.
Remove from heat and pour over the raspberries. Allow to cool to room temperature.
Puree the mixture in a blender or food processor.
Press the puree through a strainer to remove the seeds.
Chill the mixture thoroughly.
Freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.
David warns in the book that because of the amount of alcohol in the mixture it will not freeze very firmly in the ice cream maker. It was quite soft when I put it into the container to go into the freezer.
I put my faith in David and stuck it in the freezer and promptly forgot about it while we painted the porch and garage.
After supper this evening we needed something refreshing and I pulled this out to have a taste. WOW. It was an amazing combination of flavours and incredibly refreshing.
This recipe is from the Williams-Sonoma book the Essentials of Grilling. If you haven’t seen it you should check it out; it is one of the three grilling cook books which I use on a regular basis. You can order it from amazon.ca
The chicken breast is pounded thinly, covered with sun dried tomatoes, prosciutto, and basil. It is then rolled tightly, and grilled on the BBQ. It is an easy, yet sophisticated take on chicken.
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
4 thin slices prosciutto
8 large fresh basil leaves
2 whole oil-packed sun dried tomatoes, drained and thinly sliced
Salt and pepper
Olive oil
Place the chicken breasts (one at a time) between pieces of plastic wrap and pound lightly to an even thickness of ¼ inch. Take care to not make holes in the chicken.
Place a prosciutto slice on each chicken breast (fold if necessary to fit), then place 2 basil leaves on each prosciutto slice. Top with the sun dried tomato pieces.
Roll each breast up jelly-roll style and secure with a toothpick (I used 2 toothpicks per breast). Season with salt and pepper. Brush with olive oil.
Heat the grill. Oil the rack.
Grill the chicken directly over the heat, turning to grill on all sides, until cooked throughout, 12 – 15 minutes.
Cut the chicken crosswise into slices.
We served the chicken on a bed of Orzo and vegetables.
Orzo and Broccoli Pilaf
2 teaspoons olive oil 1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms 1/2 cup chopped onion 2/3 cups orzo 1 14-ounce can reduced-sodium chicken broth 1/2 cup shredded carrot 1 teaspoon dried marjoram, crushed 1/8 teaspoon pepper 2 cups small broccoli flowerets In a large saucepan heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Cook and stir the mushrooms and onion in hot oil until onion is tender. Stir in the orzo. Cook and stir about 2 minutes more or until orzo is lightly browned. Remove from heat. Carefully stir in the chicken broth, carrot, marjoram, and pepper. Bring to boil and reduce heat. Simmer, covered, about 15 minutes or until orzo is tender but still firm. Remove saucepan from heat; stir in broccoli. Let stand, covered, for 5 minutes. Makes six 2/3-cup servings. |