Stuffed Grape Leaves

Very Healthy Breakfast

Ingredients

1 tbsp. Coconut flakes
1 cup Cooked Quinoa
1 oz. Sunflower Seeds
1 tbsp. Chia Seeds
1 oz. raisins
4 oz. Coconut Milk
1 tbsp. Bran Flakes
1 tsp Cinnamon
2 oz. Diced Pineapple
1 tbsp. Grated Ginger
1 tsbp. Good molasses

Directions

Bake dry coconut flakes in oven at 350 degrees for about 15 mins till golden brown. Mix all ingredients and serve. In place of coconut milk you could use plain yogurt. It would be nice with nuts added such as almonds or walnuts. Garnish with pineapple pieces if you wish or blueberries.

Crab Appetizer

Ingredients

1 cup crab meat finely minced
2 oz. cucumber
2 oz. celery
2 bunches of green onions cleaned and chopped
Juice of ½ lemon
1 tsp. of tarragon
1 oz. of prepared mustard
Dash of Rosewater
¼ coconut vinegar or apple cider vinegar
½ cup olive oil

Directions

In blender put green onions, lemon, tarragon, mustard, rose water, vinegar and oil. Mix to create a dressing.
Dice finely crab meat, cucumber and celery and mix dressing in.
Fill pastry with mixture and serve with garnish.

Recipe for Pastry

1 ½ Cups Water
1 ½ Cups Flour
6 Whole Eggs
¼ Cup Butter (at room temp)

Directions

Bring water in a pot to the boil and add butter. When the butter is melted add flour, all at once, and mix it well until the batter no longer sticks to the sides of the pot, leaving on low heat. Take off heat and let cool for a couple of minutes. Add the eggs one at a time mixing well after each egg.

Pipe in desired shape on ungreased cooking tray or in muffin tin. Cook at 400 degrees for approx. 30 minutes until it is golden brown and puffed nicely.

Take out of oven and let cool.

Banana Bread with Caramelized Pineapple Sauce

Ingredients

1 ¾ cup all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
2/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup soft butter
2 eggs
2 ½ mashed bananas
½ cup chopped walnuts
½ choc chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Add the dry ingredients to a bowl. Mash the bananas and add to mixture along butter and eggs. Mix well and add nuts and choc chips and gently fold in.

Grease 8 X 4 inch baking pan and pour batter in. Cook at 350 degrees for one hour or till knife comes clean.

For a nice twist to banana bread try adding this lovely Caramelized Pineapple Sauce over it.

Ingredients

1 oz. butter
1 cup diced fresh pineapple
2 tbsp. sugar
Juice of ½ lime
¼ cup 35% cream

Put all ingredients in frying pan except for the cream. Caramelize till it gets nice and brown. Add the cream and let reduce till nice and thick, put in blender . Serve as a dip beside the banana bread or pour right on top.

Pork and Noodles

Ingredients

1 Bunch Broccoli
3 oz. Soy Sauce
1/2 oz. Sesame Seed Oil
1 tsp grated ginger
1 small pork roast
1 diced red pepper
1 sm diced onion
8 oz. thick rice noodles

Directions

Cook pork roast in oven for approx. 2 hours at 350 degrees. Cooking time is dependent on size of the roast.

Bring water to the boil and then add broccoli and blanch, remove then place in ice water to stop the cooking. In another pot cook your noodles, remove from heat and strain.

Take the flowerets off the broccoli.

Slice meat that you want off the roast pork and cube it. In a frying pan or wok heat the sesame seed oil and put in vegetables and ginger. Fry till tender.

Add pork and noodles to the pan. Add soy sauce. Mix and serve. Place on serving dish and add any desired garnish such as sunflower seeds.

Corned Beef & Hash Patties

Ingredients (makes 4 patties)

3 Whole unpeeled potatoes
Water
¼ cup diced Corned Beef
½ tsp. Nutmeg
2 oz. Olive Oil
Salt and pepper

Method

Boil the potatoes in enough salted water to cover until ¾’s cooked. Take pot off burner and drain hot water and put in cold water till cooled.
Peel potatoes and shred with grater, comes out in shreds.
Combine diced corned beef, potatoes and nutmeg. Salt and pepper to taste.
Form into patties and heat oil in frying pan.
Fry patties till golden on both sides.

Options
You could add some finely diced onions or peppers to the patties.

Stuffed Pork Tenderloin Appetizer

Ingredients

1 pork tenderloin
1 oz. cooked rice
4 oz. Napa Cabbage
1 oz. feta cheese
1 small tomatoe blanched and diced
1 clove finely diced garlic
4 green olives pitted and diced
1 oz. olive oil
1 tsp. marjoram

Directions

Remove the silver skin from the pork tenderloin
Make an incision down the centre being careful not to go through all the way. Flatten the meat out between two sheets of saran wrap.

Prepare the stuffing as follows:

Fry the cabbage and garlic in half of the oil until tender and add the feta cheese, olives and tomatoes, cook until the mixture thickens.

Let cool down and place the mixture onto the edge of the tenderloin and roll tight.
Place the balance of the oil in a pan and put the rolled tenderloin in. Put in oven and cook at 350 degrees for 20 minutes, take out and let rest for 20 mins then slice in one inch slices and serve.

Corned Beef Coleslaw

It is best to prepare this dish the day before so that the flavours have a chance to bloom.

Ingredients

1 Corned Beef
Water
2 Carrots
2 Stalks of Celery
1 Onion

The vegetables in this situation are just added to create flavour, they should be discarded once the meat is done. This would not make a good stock since the meat is very salty. The vegetables are optional.

Add water to the pot about 2 inches over the meat, bring to a boil and turn down to simmer. Let simmer for about 2-3 hours till the meat is cooked. Keep an eye on your water level, the meat should be covered. Take out of pot and let cool. Trim the fat off.

Coleslaw

Ingredients


1 oz. green onion finely diced
Juice of 1 lime
¼ tsp caraway seed
¼ tsp thyme
2-3 drops rosewater
2 oz. olive oil
2 oz. cider vinegar
4 oz corned julienned (thinly sliced)


Add all ingredients and mix. Garnish with a fanned pickle.

Chicken with Buttermilk and Dill Sauce

Chicken
Soak 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts in the juice of 2 limes and 1 oz of chopped dill for at least 2 hours. Fry the chicken breasts in 2 oz. Olive Oil till browned on both sides then bake in oven at 350 for approx. 15 minutes or till cooked through.

Cream Sauce

Ingredients

3 oz butter
2 oz. dill
4 oz buttermilk
2 cups of chicken stock
2 oz. 35% cream
2 oz. flour
2 garlic cloves crushed
Salt and crushed peppercorn

This makes enough sauce for 8 – 10 breasts, since there are only two of us we have lots of sauce left over for other things. The leftover sauce can be used with pork chops or veal. We also had orzo with this dinner and fried red pepper and pineapple. It tasted great with this sauce.

Melt the butter with garlic and the flour, the consistency should be pasty. Add the stock, milk and cream slowly stirring constantly. Still stirring bring to a boil and cook for a minute, turn down to simmer stirring occasionally for about 12 minutes. Add salt and crushed peppercorn to taste.

Meatballs & Noodles in Tomato & Cilantro Cream Sauce

Ingredients
1 Kg of Med Ground Beef
2 Whole Eggs
3 oz. Bread Crumbs
1 Onion finely diced
2 Garlic Cloves fine diced
1 Tsp. Oyster Sauce
2 oz. Crumbled Feta Cheese
1 Tsp. Thyme

Directions
Mix all ingredients together then roll into nice sized meatballs and bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes till fully cooked.

Tomato Cream Sauce

Ingredients
1 onion diced
1 Garlic Clove finely diced
2 Tsp. Basil finely chopped
2 oz. Enoki Mushrooms
2 oz. Cilantro finely chopped
1 Tsp. Olive Oil
2 Cups Pureed Tomatoes
1 Cup Cream
Salt and Pepper

Directions
Add all ingredients to pot bring to a boil, turn down to simmer about ten minutes, adjust flavour with salt and pepper to taste.

Noodles
Ingredients
1/ 2 Pkg Chinese Noodles
Salted Boiling Water or Stock

Boil Noodles in salted boiling water or stock, Drain

Put noodles on plate and cover with meatballs and sauce and serve. I recommend that you make the meatballs and sauce the day before and let the meatballs rest in the sauce overnight to absorb the flavour of the sauce.

Enoki Mushroom Sauce and Pork Medallions

Ingredients

1 Pkg (2 oz.) Enoki Mushrooms
1 Sliced Onion
Salt and Pepper to taste
6 Oz. 35% Cream
1 Crushed clove garlic
1 Small Pork Tenderloin
Olive Oil

Directions

Cut Tenderloin in medallions and fry in 1 oz. Olive Oil until desired doneness.
Remove the meat and in the same pan add the onions and garlic, brown nicely.
The browning of the onion and garlic will de-glaze the pan for more flavour.
Add the Enoki mushrooms and continue frying till the mushrooms are cooked. Add the cream, salt and pepper and bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer till desire consistency is reached. Pour this sauce over the pork medallions.

Butternut Squash Medallions

Ingredients

1 neck of a butternut squash
bit of diced ginger
1 tsp. butter
Water
Salt & Pepper

Directions

Peel the squash and slice into slices about 1/2 inch thick. In a sauce pot add about 1/2 inch water and butter along with the ginger. Poach the squash until desired consistency and serve.

Avocado Mashed Potatoes

Ingredients

Scooped out 1/2 Avocado
1 oz. Butter
5 Potatoes
2 oz. 35% Cream

Directions

Peel and boil whole potatoes in salted water till soft. Drain and return to pot.
Add all other ingredients and mash. If you would like it creamier add more cream.

Note: We like to warm the butter and cream for a bit in the microwave so that the it does not cool down the potatoes when you add it.

Today's Excursion

This morning Trevor and I did a bit of exploring at the markets. We went to our usual B&T Asian Grocer and bought Ackee Fruit.

We then found a Greek store on King St E and Ashley. We bought some feta cheese, Orange Blossom Water and Grape Leaves. It was actually a bakery that sells several other items as well. They had some lovely baked goods, including the traditional baklava.


We also went to a Carribean Store on Robert St. close to James Ave N. This is more of a Jamaican take out place although they do have some grocery products for sale. There we purchased Irish Moss, Cinnamon leaves, Strongback, Mauby bark and coco. They also sell ackee here but were out today.


We are looking forward to experimenting with these ingredients and creating some nice dishes. Right now we have the Irish Moss soaking. It has to soak about 24 - 36 hours before its ready to use and the water has to be changed frequently. I included a picture of the Irish Moss and the Coco.

Fruit Salad

Ingredients

1 Cup Plain Yogurt
1/4 tsp ginger
couple drops of Rose Water
1/4 tsp cinammon
1/2 tsp sugar (optional)

Directions

Mix Ingredients in blender and garnish fruit. We used Jack Fruit, Palm Fruit, Pomelo, Blueberries and Pineapple. I added a bit of sugar, I prefer it sweeter than Trevor.

Asian Kidney

If you do not like kidneys you could do this with another meat, such as pork medallions.

Ingredients

1 Beef Kidney
2 Onions
1 Red Pepper
½ Cup Almonds
1 oz. Oyster sauce
Pinch of Cinnamon
1 tsp. Chopped Basil
1 small piece Ginger
2 Slices Pineapple cubed
¾ Cup Rice
1 ½ Cup Chicken Stock
2 Tbsp. Olive Oil
Squirt of Lemon Juice

Directions

Kidney

In small pot blanch kidney. Slice in thin slices and if desired remove centre fat.

Rice Pilaf

In another pot add oil, onions and rice and sweat with a fork to mix. Add stock and lemon juice. Bring to a boil for 2 mins. And turn off. Let sit covered for about 20 mins to let the rice absorb the liquid.

Sauce

Prepare Sauce, Mix well and fry 1 onion sliced with sliced pepper, pineapple, almonds, basil, ginger, oyster sauce and cinnamon till vegetables are cooked to desired consistency.

Couscous Dessert

This is a two pot dessert but very easy to make and tastes delicious. It's a great alternative to rice pudding and when done should have the same consistency.

Ingredients

2 Cups Couscous
2 oz. Sugar
2 oz. Raisins
10 oz. Coconut Milk
1 Tbsp. Cinnamon
Lime Zest
2-3 Star Anise
1/2 Cups Cranberries
1 1/2 Cups Water
1 Cup Sugar

Directions

Add cranberries, water, 1 cup sugar and star anise to a pot and bring to the boil.
Once it is boiling turn it down to simmer and let cook until it reaches a thick consistency. Let cool

In another pot add couscous, 2 oz. sugar, lemon zest, raisins and coconut milk. Bring to a boil, turn down to simmer and let cook about 15 minutes until the couscous is cooked.

Put couscous mixture in a bowl and pour the cranberry dressing on top and it is ready to serve.

Kiwi Mussels

Ingredients

3 oz. cilantro
1 oz. dill
Juice of 1 lemon
5 gram pkg laver seaweed
3 crushed cloves of garlic
salt to taste
2 oz. olive oil
4 oz. coconut milk
8 oz. mussels
1 sliced red pepper
1 tbsp. sesame oil

Directions

Put cilantro, dill, lemon juice, seaweed, garlic cloves, olive oil and coconut milk in blender and blend.
Put mixture in frying pan with mussels and red peppers.
Bring mixture to the boil, turn off and add let cool to room temperature.

Serve as an appetizer or with noodles or rice.

Mashed Potatoes with Turmeric and Garlic

Ingredients

8 Evenly sized potatoes peeled
1 tbsp. turmeric
4 cloves garlic pureed with oil
Salt
Olive Oil

Directions

Add potatoes and enough water to cover them in pot, also add the turmeric, salt and garlic to the pot.
Bring to a boil then turn down to medium and cook until for goes through the potatoes very easily.
Mash the potatoes with just enough Olive Oil to make creamy.

Note: When you mash these potatoes the turmeric will give them a nice almost orange hue to them.
Trevor and I use a lot of garlic in our cooking so we will usually cook a lot of cloves of garlic at one time
With olive oil, puree it and refrigerate it for future use.

Lamb and Eggplant with tomatoe Sauce

Ingredients

2 Lbs. Lamb Stewing meat (bone in is best as it extracts flavour from the bones)
Flour for dusting
¼ cup Olive Oil
1 cup Onion
1 cup Celery
1 Eggplant
2 cloves of garlic chopped
1 tbsp. Oregano
1 tbsp. Basil
1 tbsp. Thyme
¼ tsp. Cinnamon
Salt & Pepper to taste
1 tbsp. Thyme
660 ml bottle of strained crushed tomatoes

Directions

Heat the oil in a stock pot till nice and hot.
Dust lamb pieces in flour and brown the meat till fully cooked in ¼ batches at a time on heat between medium and high.
Remove lamb from pan and remove most of the oil but leave enough to fry the onions, garlic and celery till browned.
Chop the eggplant into large pieces about 2 x 2 inches and add to pot, add all seasonings at this time also.
Pour in your tomatoes. Fill the bottle half full of water, give it a good shake and add this also.
Bring to a boil then turn down and let simmer for about an hour. When done season with salt and pepper to taste.
Serve this over rice, potatoes, toasted bread or whatever you wish.

Note: The picture above is also for our mashed potatoes, we piped them through a piping bag.

Quinoa Dumplings

The Quinoa

Ingredients

1 ¾ cups Quinoa
3 Tbsps. Coconut Oil
Pinch of Salt
2 Cups Water (or stock in lieu of water)
1 oz. Onion Finely Diced
1 oz. Celery Finely Diced
1 Clove Finely Diced Garlic

Method

Melt the coconut oil, sweat vegetables, add quinoa at the same time.
Then add liquid (water or stock)
Bring to a boil, turn heat down and simmer for 20 minutes until the quinoa is cooked.
Let Quinoa cool.


The Dumplings

Ingredients

4 eggs (for vegans use egg replacement)
1 ½ cups bread crumbs
1tsp. diced rosemary
1 tsp. oregano
Salt and white pepper
The cooled quinoa
2 tbsp. olive oil

Directions

Mix all the ingredients, roll into desired sized balls.
Can be either baked or poached depending on how you wish to use them. If you are baking brush with oil and bake @ 350 degrees for about 15 – 20 mins till golden brown. If poaching about 15 mins in salt water.

Note
This is nice as a replacement for meatballs, an addition to stews, soups. With an egg replacement it can be used by vegans. For tonights dinner we had them with pasta instead of meatballs. A much healthier choice.

Banana Dressing

This morning Trevor wanted to do something different with Bananas. He came up with this dressing; he certainly has a creative mind. It tastes amazing. A great mayonnaise alternative as well for vegans.

Ingredients

2 Ripe Bananas
1 Tsp. Chopped Dill
1 Tsp. Chopped Cilantro
1 Tbsp. Soy Sauce
¼ cup Coconut Vinegar
¾ cups Corn Oil
Salt to taste

Directions

Put all Ingredients in blender, blend and serve.

Green Onion Mustard Dressing

Today Trevor made my favourite dressing. It is a green onion dressing. You could drizzle this over mussels, shrimps or on a nice salad. Whatever you wish, just think outside the box. Today we drizzled it over tomatoes. If you don’t have coconut vinegar then apple cider vinegar or rice wine vinegar work just as nicely. The two dressings that we have listed here are a great alternative for mayonnaise, in particularly for vegans.


Ingredients
2 bunches of green onions cleaned and chopped
Juice of ½ lemon
1 tsp. of tarragon
1 oz. of prepared mustard
Dash of Rosewater
¼ coconut vinegar
½ cup olive oil

Directions
Put all ingredients in blender and its ready to use. If you find it’s a bit tart for you just add a bit more olive oil.

Asparagus Soup

Ingredients

1 oz. Olive Oil
1 oz. Coconut Oil
3 onions diced
1 cup diced celery
Small piece of ginger
1 lime leaf
8 cups of chicken stock (vegans can use a vegetable stock)
2 bundles of asparagus ends
¼ cup rice

Directions

Add all ingredients to the pot with the oils and sweat.
Once this is done add the stock
Bring to a boil and simmer until the asparagus stocks are soft
Let it cool down and process through the blender and strain with a fine strainer
Re-warm, do a final season with salt and pepper if desired and serve. For a garnish you could add frozen lime zest, a dollop of sour cream or yogurt.

Note:

Quite often when we make this soup we have just had the asparagus tips with a meal, we will reserve the water they were boiled in and use it for part of the stock as well to increase the asparagus flavour of the soup.

Goulash

Ingredients
2 Lbs. diced Sirloin
2 oz. olive oil
12 onions sliced
1 oz. Paprika
2 garlic cloves crushed
1 tsp. caraway seeds
½ diced tomatoe
1 bay leaf
½ tsp. thyme
4 -5 cups of beef broth (adjust liquid accordingly)
Salt and Pepper


Directions
Brown meat with garlic, onions and caraway seeds in oil then add the paprika and mix well.
Let cook on high for a minute or two to the mixture absorb the paprika. Be very careful not to burn the paprika or it becomes very bitter.
Add your beef broth, tomatoe, bay leaf and thyme.
Let this come to a boil and then simmer until meat is tender and it has reached the desired consistency.
If you find that it is not getting thick enough you can add some diced potatoes to use as a thickening agent.
At the very end season with salt and pepper as desired.
When serving pour mixture over potatoes or mini dumplings

Notes
This dish is best prepared the day before to allow the flavours to develop. There are many variations of this dish and you can add items as you wish for example carrots or peppers. A nice garnish to this dish is to top it when it is hot with a spoon of frozen sour cream and that will give you that nice hot/cold contrast when you are eating it.

Mini Dumplings

Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
3 eggs
1 cup milk

Directions
Stir together the flour and salt. Combine the eggs and milk together and add this to the flour mixture.
Mix well. Pour the batter into a colander with large holes and over a sauce pan with boiling salted water push the mixture through the holes.
Let the pieces cook for about 3 minutes. When it floats to the top it should be done.
Strain and mix with a little butter to keep from sticking together.

Culinary Terms

To make our recipes easier to understand I have listed some of the classic culinary terms that we will be using with exactly what they mean.

SAUTE: It is a French verb meaning to jump, i.e. wok cooking. To do this you would stir constantly moving, using little grease. Basically tossing.

FRY: This means to cook on high heat, with colour. For instance frying onions until golden brown to promote caramalization.

SWEAT: This is to cook on a low heat without colour. For example cooking onions slowly until translucent.

SEARING: The meat is pan fried to brown on both sides to promote caramalization but this does not lock in the juice of the meat.

HERB: A tropical plant whose stems do not become woody, for example parsley, sage, dill, oregano

SPICE: This is tropical and can be made up of roots, bark, seeds. For example mace, nutmeg, turmeric

ALLSPICE: In Jamaican recipes they sometimes refer to this as pimento, they do not mean pimento pepper but actually allspice.

CHIFFONADE: This is a cutting technique used to cut herbs and flat leafy green vegetables into thin pieces.

JULIENNE: To cut vegetables very thin into matchstick strips

BLANCH: A method used to keep vegetables crisp and fresh looking. A quick boil then an ice bath. It allows vegetables to keep their colour, texture and flavour. Once cooled you can cook anyway you desire to re-heat such as grilling or pan frying.

Healthy Egg Breakfast

Last night we boiled some eggs and this morning I was wondering how we could turn those eggs into a healthy egg salad. It turned out great. A nice alternative to the usual egg salad and it only took minutes to make.

Ingredients

4 hard boiled eggs
1 avocado
juice from 1/2 lemon
1/4 small onion diced finely
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 tsp cilantro finely chopped

Directions

Chop cooled eggs and mash with a fork
Add avocado and mash again with a fork
Add lemon, cilantro and onion
Add salt and pepper to taste and mix

Spread over whole wheat or whole grain toast and serve.

Polenta with Chicken

Tonight we made our homemade Polenta.

Ingredients

1.5 Cups Cornmeal (if you like it thicker add more)
6 Cups Chicken Stock
Salt and Pepper to taste
4 oz Mozarella Cheese
Sliced Mushrooms
1 Tbsp Butter

Polenta Directions

Bring stock to the boil, slowly add cornmeal stirring constantly with a wooden spoon so it doesn't lump up. Mix until it thickens then add the mushrooms, salt, pepper, butter and cheese. Once desired consistency is reached and you have tasted for any final adjustments it is ready to serve.


This is a lovely dish to do your own thing with, we decided on a whim to add the mushrooms and mozarella cheese, it was delicious.

Chefs Meeting

The Hamilton Chefs Assoc. meeting will be on March 20th at 6:30 pm at Avondale Restaurant Equipment, 230 Avondale, Hamilton, On. Come and join us.

Photography

Check out this link for some beautiful photos. Stefanyie will be at the Bridal Show this Tuesday at Micheal Angelo's in Hamilton, Ontario. www.hearttoheartphotography

CRFA - Food Show

We won't be posting any recipes today as we are off to the Canadian and Restaurant Foodservices Association show in Toronto today. Looking forward to it.

BBQ Sauce

This recipe for BBQ Sauce was sent to us by a friend of Trevors, Joe Demeule(senior chief SS US Navy retired). Thank you so much for your addition to our blog. We had a lot of fun reading your recipe and are looking forward to trying it out.

East meets West NC BBQ. Please read the whole recipe before starting. It will make sense. This recipe is for one whole chicken cleaned and cut up.


Ingredients


1 shole chicken, cut up and cleaned
1 1/2 cups apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon white sugar
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/2 cup ketchup
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
Lawry's season salt (Ancient Chinese Secret)


Directions

Heat vinegar (EAST) and sugars to boiling, remove from heat, strong odor is normal, (sugars act as a binding agent) add ketchup (WEST), salt, pepper, cayenne and crushed red pepper, whisk well till blended. Set aside to cool. Can keep in fridge for a long time. I put mine in an empty ketchup bottle.

Take chicken pieces and rub generously with salt, the nitrates in the salt soften the chicken. Cover and place in fridge for a minimum of four hours, longer is good but too long (24 hours) and chicken falls apart when cooking. Add half the sauce to the chicken about an hour before grilling to marinate it.

I use a Weber grill, 20 pieces of charcol each on the left and right side of the grill, ignite and start at the flame till eyes hurt, and flame subsides, coals should be very hot. This is when you start consuming beer. Place chicken pieces over hot coals and cook till charred, yes charred. (Smoke will make the neighbours drool) then move the chicken to the centre of the grill and use indirect heat and lid to continue the cooking process. Have more beer. Continue flipping chicken so you don't char it too much in one place or until you have no hair left on hands. Now this is important cook chicken till halfway done. Have a beer and cool off you're halfway there.

Best part. Pur the half done chicken in a roasting pan and pour in the rest of the sauce and cover with foil. Place in a pre-heated 350 degree oven and cook till done, this will soften the charred skin. Done equals 365 degrees. Serve the sauce in the bottom of the pan with the chicken, it's so good you will wet yourself, drizzle it over the finished product. Have more beer. Enjoy

Beets with Coconut Sauce

Ingredients

1 tsp. coconut oil
1 onion sliced
2 oz. brown sugar
1 oz. Rice wine vinegar
4 drops Rosewater
1 oz. dill weed chopped
20 oz coconut milk
salt to taste
Lime juice from 1/2 lime


Directions

Melt the coconut oil on low heat
Add and Sweat the onions about 3 Min's
Add the Brown Sugar, Rice Wine and Rosewater

On low heat cook until the sugar has dissolved then add the coconut milk. Add dill and lime juice.

Pour the mixture over sliced freshly cooked and warm beets, mix gently. You can serve this right away or put in the fridge overnight and let marinade. The reason | say to use warm beets is that if your beets are room temp to warm the sauce will absorb better than it would on cold beets.

Oatmeal Garlic Soup

This is a classic French Recipe, very easy to make and delicious.

Ingredients

1 Qt Chicken Stock
2 cups Oatmeal
1 onion
4 Tbsp Olive Oil
15 Gloves Garlic chopped
½ tsp. Caraway Seeds

DIRECTIONS

In Stock Pot add 3 oz. olive oil and brown garlic.
Add Chicken Stock and bring to boil
Add 2 Cups Oatmeal, let boil for 5 mins till oatmeal is cooked
Remove from heat and let cool
Put through a blender and strain
Adjust flavour with salt and white pepper if desired
In a frying pan slice an onion and fry in 2 tbsp of oil till golden brown, the onion will be your garnish on your soup.

Asian Food Stores

Since so much of our cooking has an Asian flair to it I thought I would let you know where we like to shop. Our favourite store for vegetables and seafood is B & T Food at 103 Queen St. N. in Hamilton, Ontario. This morning we went there and purchased some beautiful Asparagus for $1.00 a bunch.

Another store that we frequent often is called Tan Thanh at 115 Park St. N. in Hamilton, Ontario.

Vegetable Stock

Ingredients
1 Cup Celery
1 Cup Carrots
1 Cup Onions
1 oz Roasted Wakame (Seaweed)
1 oz Chopped Corriander
1 oz Basil Leaves
1 Small piece Ginger
10 Cups Water
Organic Salt to taste


Directions
Add all ingredients to stock pot, bring to a boil then turn down to simmer.
Cook until all vegetables are done. Let stand till cold and strain.

Notes
I don’t want to make this sound like you don’t know what you are doing but Trevor sometimes forgets to be a little bit more specific. So I ask him questions that me, being a regular housewife might ask. Of course the question I asked him here was “why am I removing the vegetables?” His answer is “it is a stock, you would let it cook, strain it and put it in the fridge and you can use it for a variety of dishes as the liquid. For example if you were making a sauce you might use it, for soup or for even boiling potatoes. It gives the food a nicer flavour.”
My next questions was “So what do I do with these vegetables now?” His answer to this one was “If you are going to make a soup right away you could use them in this soup or you could use them to make something else or just discard them.” So I get the idea, the purpose of making the stock in this case was for Trevor to keep it in the fridge for future use in other food preparations. How long can you keep it in the fridge? You only want to keep it in the fridge for a couple of days but you could freeze it.