easy chicken satay

One of the student groups I advise had a potluck dinner on Monday night. I was assigned "any type of meat". I have been busy lately, really when I look around, who isn't? Anyhow, as a result I was trying to think of something really quick and easy that I could prep in the morning before work, and then cook when I got to the potluck. Insert: chicken satay.

The thing I liked about this recipe is that I made chicken satay a few weeks ago and thought it was gross. I had added peanut butter to the marinade, based on a recipe I found on the internet and it made the chicken taste muddy. I don't know what real satay is supposed to be marinaded in, and truly, I don't care. The night before I was going to make this, I was drifting off to sleep trying to decide what to put in it (based on what we had in the house) And below is the result. In honour of my friend Cate, I must say, "Tasty, Tasty".

Ingredients:
2 lbs, boneless + skinless chicken thighs
2 Tbsp fish sauce
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 Tbsp brown sugar
4 crushed garlic cloves
1 Tbsp sesame oil
3 Tbsp lime juice
1 Tbsp chili sambal sauce

Directions:

1. Combine all the ingredients into a large ziploc bag, massage so that all the ingredients combine.
2. Allow to marinate in the fridge for at least 4 hours, meanwhile soak skewers to prevent burning.
   
3. Heat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Thread chicken onto skewers, bake on a cookie sheet for about 10 minutes, turn and bake for another 5-7 minutes.
4. Serve with your favourite Peanut Sauce. Mine is Asian Family's Speacilaty Foods Satay Peanut Sauce

Alternatively you could cook these over your grill. This is a lot of chicken, so adjust as needed, this was enough for 10 people + extras for leftovers. (Thai chicken pizza to come)

Enjoy!

new zealand roast rack of lamb

To any vegetarian's or vegans I apologize. This post is for the carnivore...of which I am and with whom I live. One of our favourite meats is lamb. Truthfully it is something I had to develop a taste for and since really finding an appreciation for it, beef doesn't taste the same.

Pete's mom often made us a version of this. It is another one of those random pieces of paper on the bookshelf that I am cleaning out. Originally the recipe was for a leg of lamb. It requires a long marinating time (ahhhemmm...planning?) and is usually something we bbq over the grill. Tonight however we made it with a Frenched rack of lamb that I first seared and then roasted in the oven until it was a lovely medium-rare. I really liked the searing in melted butter in my cast iron pan. It adds a richness that the meat really benefited from.

I have no idea how to take any decent looking picture of meat, so here it is, in all it's glory on the cutting board.

Ingredients:
1 rack of lamb, Frenched (8 popsicles)
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon rosemary
2 cloves minced garlic
1 teaspoon salt
4 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
6 Tablespoons dry white wine

2 Tablespoons butter
1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

Directions:

1. The night before, in a Tupperware container or in a large freezer bag, combine Worcestershire and wine
2. Rub spices into meat.
3. Drop meat into container/bag, massage and refrigerate. Turn halfway through.
4. 1 hour before wanting to eat, take meat out of fridge and allow to come to room temp.
5. Heat oven to 450 degrees.
6. Place cast iron skillet in oven to heat up for 10 minutes.
7. Add butter and olive oil to skillet, ensure it doesn't burn. Over a burner at medium (it will still have a lot of residual heat from the oven) sear each side of the rack (2 minutes a side). Baste the rack that isn't being seared with the melted butter/oil combo.
8. One you have a nice sear on it that will keep the rack nice and rack, place skillet in the hot oven. For a total of 12 minutes (for medium rare), 6 minutes a side.
9. Remove and allow to rest covered for 5-10 minutes.
10. Slice and serve!
    

pumpkin pie muffins with cream cheese filling

One of my favourite pies is a moist and flavourful pumpkin pie. I loved it as a kid and I love it as an adult. In the fall, closer to Thanksgiving (in Canada!) and Halloween you can easily find the 2 for $5 pies at Safeway or any local grocery store. As a child I loved those... as an adult, not so much. The crusts are moderately better than cardboard and the flavour of filling is, ok. A few years ago for Thanksgiving I found a recipe from somewhere on the internet that was a combination of pumpkin, maple syrup and cayenne pepper (yes, really). I'm not here for Thanksgiving this year, but that won't stop me from enjoying the bounty of pumpkin season...even if it has to come from a can (shhh... don't tell).

I wanted a pumpkin muffin that was rich and moist, and felt like a treat to eat. Stuffed with an gooey cream cheese filling, and topped with pumpkin seeds (which I didn't have so substituted walnuts instead) and a little brown sugar. As these baked the apartment smelled wonderful. Settle in with a cup of tea, wrapped in a blanket on the patio on a cool afternoon, and it is a lovely way to take a time out from the busyness of life.

Muffin Ingredients
4 eggs
1 cup oil
1 x 14 oz can pure pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
1 1/2 cup white sugar
1/8 cup brown sugar
1 tsp salt
2 1/4 tsp baking powder
1 1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 1/2 cups AP flour
1 pinch cayenne pepper
1 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp baking soda

Cream Cheese Filling Ingredients
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup + 1 tbsp white sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 Tbsp butter
(you could easily half this and have less cream cheese filling in the muffin, that would be Pete's preference, I like the ooey gooey cream cheese filling)

Topping Ingredients
Small handful of chopped walnuts are pumpkin seeds
2 tbsp brown sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
   
2. Lightly grease a muffin pan and line with muffin liners (I like to grease the pan even though I use the liners so the muffin tops don't get stuck to the pan)
3. Combine filling ingredients until smooth, set aside.
   
4. Combine eggs, oil, and pumpkin until smooth.
5. Stir together dry ingredients and add to the wet.
6. Fill muffin tin 3/4 of the way with batter.
   
7. With two spoons, use one to create a well in each muffin and the other to drop in about a teaspoon of the cream cheese filling.
8. Top with pumpkin seeds or walnuts and a little touch of brown sugar.
   
9. Bake for about 20 minutes. Test the doneness by inserting a toothpick or skewer into the muffin part of the muffin (not the cream cheese part).
   
10. Allow to set for about 15-20 minutes, this allows the cream cheese filling to settle a little more so that the muffins don't tear apart.
    

Makes 18 good sized muffins.

easiest, tastiest steak marinade

I am on a house cleaning purge - perhaps instead of spring cleaning, I am fall cleaning. One place that needs some love is my cookbook bookcase. I am always ripping out recipes or being given recipes that I think "I will make one day" - I am sure many people have this as well.

Years ago a former colleague gave me this recipe. Photocopied from a book. Unfortunately I have no idea what the source is, so apologies to the creator. But in an effort to clean the shelf, random papers must go, and this needs to be added to the blog for posterity.

When I think of this recipe I think of the word, umami. The kitchen even smells great when the steak is marinating! No picture, but just know that when this all comes together and you cook your steak perfectly it is a great addition to a meal from the grill!

Ingredients
1 cup dark soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
2 cloves finally minced garlic cloves
1 Tbsp finely chopped fresh ginger
(sometimes I used ground ginger from the spice rack and that works fine too)
freshly ground pepper to taste
1/4 cup of rice wine vinegar (or juice from 1/2 a lemon)
1 Tbsp cornstarch (or tapioca starch)

Directions:

1. Mix all the ingredients together in a non-reactive dish.
   
2. Add the meat, turn to coat and marinate for 10-30 minutes. Turn meat half way through to ensure equal marinating. Do not marinate overnight, as this is a fairly salty marinade.
3. Cook steaks to the doneness you like. Be sure to allow them to rest for 4 minutes and the quickly return to grill to heat up for 30 seconds or so.
   

** Enough for 4 steaks

chewy chocolate chip cookies

I love summer...but sometimes I love fall even more. There is something so lovely about the fresh air, the consistently warm weather, the crisp evening air. AND, I feel like the fall brings on the baking bug for me. The call of the oven is louder because the house isn't melting from July/August heat! And work slows down as everyone gets settled in once classes start.

All week long I have been brainstorming things I want to make: cookies, muffins (pumpkin and zucchini) and homemade bread (to accompany several soups I want to make!). I've been reading the food blogs and it seems like everyone is picking up again! One of my favourite bloggers, Annie, made some delicious looking Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies. I thought I would take a stab at them given that I was craving baking, and here they are...

Ingredients:
2 cups plus 2 tbsp. all-purpose flour
½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
12 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted and cooled until warm
1 cup brown sugar, packed
½ cup granulated sugar
1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 ½ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

(If I was to make these again, I would use less chocolate chips and add some pecans or walnuts to the batter!)

Directions:

1. Adjust oven racks to upper and lower-middle positions. Preheat oven 325°. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper.
2. Whisk dry ingredients together in a medium bowl; set aside.
3. With electric mixer, or by hand, mix butter and sugars until thoroughly combined.
4. Beat in egg, yolk, and vanilla until combined.
5. Add dry ingredients and beat at low-speed just until combined. Stir in chocolate chips.
6. Roll a scant half-cup of dough into a ball. Holding dough ball in fingertips of both hands, pull apart into two equal halves. Rotate halves 90 degrees and, with jagged surfaces facing up, place formed dough onto cookie sheet, leaving ample room between each ball.
7. Bake, rotate cookie sheet by 180 degrees halfway through baking, until cookies are light golden brown and outer edges start to harden yet centers are still soft and puffy (approximately 11-14 minutes). Do not overbake.
8. Cool cookies on sheets until able to lift without breaking. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Source: adapted from Annie's Eats, originally from Baking Illustrated

gummy creations

August is always a crazy month for me. Getting ready for classes to start again, and for the return of students I still am amazed how fast the month flies by. So while I haven't been posting, I have been busy, and busy with lots of food related stuff.

We went to the family reunion in the Okanagan, and brought back with us, some peaches, pears, cherries, tomatoes and peppers...and so I have been busy canning some new stuff (to be posted later when I get a decent picture of the jars in natural light).

As I was sitting at the table looking at the freshly canned Roma tomatoes, I started to think about how I could have walked about 50 feet to the little grocery store practically out my door and picked up a tin of tomatoes for a measly buck something, there is something so satisfying doing it myself.

Then, as it often does, my mind wondered away and I started thinking about random things I could try to make from home.... I am not sure if anyone has ever watched "How It's Made", but it tends to be something that catches my attention, perhaps because it helps me think about how I could make things that we so often run out to the store to buy. I just love the challenge of trying to make something at least once...and so came the ah, ha moment when I thought, why don't I make my own gummy candies. Truly I have never desired to do it, but I figured the kitchen is already a mess, why not!? The result is below... not exactly the same as the junk you can buy at the corner store, but still kind of fun. We made the recipe below twice, first raspberry flavoured and then lime. I'm looking forward to trying to make these with my nephew!

Ingredients:

1 package flavored jello
6 packages unflavored gelatin
1/2 cup cold water

Directions:

1. In a small saucepan, mix both the flavored and the unflavored gelatin.

2. Stir the gelatins up. Pour cold water in mixture and stir with a spatula until you have a gloppy-chunky blob not unlike play-doh.

3. Turn heat stove top burner on medium and melt blob.

4. Stir the blob constantly until melted.

5. Spray molds very lightly with a vegetable spray like Pam.

6. Pour the melted mixture into miniature bear molds, or other small candy type molds.

7. Place filled molds in freezer for 10 minutes to cool.

** I don't have candy molds but I do have silicon shapes ice cube trays from Ikea...and as a result, flowers and puzzle pieces. Voila!

Recipe from Marianne Dambra

dulce de leche pecan ice cream

At the wedding we went to a few weeks ago, instead of having a seating chart, there was a table with escort cards laid out. On each card there was the name of a guest, their table number and a favourite recipe of the newlywed's to take home (and hopefully make!).

This recipe comes from Pete's escort card. And given that he loves caramel and ice cream, we knew we would have to make it. I have had at the happy couple's house before, and it didn't disappoint when we made it - so a big thank you to them!

This is a delicious ice cream to make...it is not however a healthy treat, sweet and rich - so to make on occasion is good, just not something you may need to have in you freezer at all times. We made a few adaptations to the recipe, so below is what we ended up making.

Ingredients
1 c milk, plus 2 T
1 c whipping cream
4 egg yolks
1/4 c sugar
1 jars dulche de leche (or 1 can prepared sweetened condensed milk)
1/2 c pecan halves
Freshly ground black pepper

Directions

1. In a small saucepan, heat 1 c milk and the cream over medium heat, just until bubbles appear around edge of pan. Remove from heat and set aside.
   
2. In a bowl, beat together egg yolks and sugar. Add warm milk mixture.
   
3. Wipe saucepan clean. Return custard mixture to pan and cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until custard thickens and coats back of a spoon, 8-10 minutes.
4. Immediately remove from heat and strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a clean bowl.
   
5. Stir 1/3 can dulce de leche into warm custard.
   
6. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing it directly on surface of custard, and let cool completely.
7. Refrigerate for 1 hour.
8. Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C). Spread pecans on a baking sheet, sprinkle with 1 T of water, and season to taste with pepper. Toast pecans until fragrant and lightly browned, 7-8 minutes. Let cool, then roughly chop. Set aside.
9. Freeze chilled dulce de leche custard in an ice-cream maker. Transfer to a chilled freezer-proof container and fold in toasted pecans. In a small bowl, mix half of the remaining dulce de leche with 2 T milk, then fold into ice cream just enough to form a marbled effect. Freeze until service.
   
10. Accompany ice cream with 1/3 can dulce de leche.

To prepare sweetened condensed milk into dulce de leche:

1. In a large dutch oven, filled with water, bring water to a rolling boil.
2. Carefully drop can of condensed milk into water, ensure it is fully covered, preferably with an inch or two of water.
3. Keep water boiling at a low boil for 3 hours.
4. You will need to keep adding water to the pot to keep the can covered, this allows can to be under constant and equal pressure. (I checked every 15-20 minutes_
   
5. After 3 hours (though many sites say anywhere for as short as 90 minutes) remove can from water and allow to cool.
   
6. You can store the can in the fridge once prepared unopened, and it would last for months.

**Please be careful while preparing the dulce de leche - it can be a little dangerous!**

Adapted from Williams-Sonoma, TASTE