Saturday, August 9, 2008

More Summertime BBQing ....

Hubby and I have recently found out our new home purchase has been delayed for another year. We were so excited to be moving out of our little apartment and finally having a place to call our own. One of the things we have been looking forward to the most is its rooftop deck and being able to own a bbq of our own... now there's a heartbreaker :(

So we've decided no need to wait until then to grill and we have started practicing with some recipes now and taking them to my sister's place for grilling there. Here's a great chicken skewer recipe with the slightest hint of lemon... Great for a hot summer's day like today... We served them with some vegetable skewers that were marinaded in Italian salad dressing. Great accompaniment to this bbq.

Lemon Chicken Kabobs
By: The Canadian Living Test Kitchen


Ingredients

1 lb (500 g) boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 tbsp (25 mL) olive oil
2 tbsp (25 mL) lemon juice
3 cloves garlic, minced
½ tsp (2 mL) each dried thyme and salt
½ tsp (2 mL) poultry seasoning ( I added)
¼ tsp (1 mL) pepper

Directions

Cut chicken into 1-inch (2.5 cm) pieces. In bowl, whisk together oil, lemon juice, garlic, thyme, salt, pepper and poultry seasoning. Add chicken and toss to coat. Put all ingredients into a resealable bag and refrigerate for up to 24 hours.

Once ready to BBQ, soak bamboo skewers in water for 30 minutes. In the meantime, seed and cut pepper into 1 inch chunks. Alternately thread chicken and pepper onto skewers. Cook on greased grill, until the chicken is browned and no longer pink inside, 12 to 16 minutes.

Enjoy!

Filipino BBQ

Anyone who knows me, will tell you how much I absolutely love filipino BBQ. I've tried numerous times to obtain the ever famous recipes from my in-laws with no luck but this year I am happy to announce that my father-in-law was more than happy to share the recipe to his Filipino pork BBQ sticks... and they were just as yummy as ever!


Dad's Filipino pork BBQ sticks


Ingredients

1 pound pork tenderloin, cubed
¼ cup soy sauce
5 cloves garlic minced
2 tablespoon rice vinegar
2 tablespoon brown sugar
¼ cup tomato ketchup

Directions

Add all ingredients to a resealable bag and marinade overnight. Before barbecuing, soak wooden skewers in water for 30 mins.

Thread pork through skewers and BBQ.

Serve with vegetable shish kebobs and hot steaming rice.


Enjoy!

Thursday, August 7, 2008

My Ice Cream Machine is on overload....

My ice cream machine is on overload and I'm loving it... Having recently purchased a case of mangoes and not being able to finish eating all of them, decided to put them to good use especially for the upcoming hot summery days... What better way to enjoy them than in a refreshing sorbet!!

Mango Sorbet


Ingredients

3/4 cup of sugar
1 cup of water
1 tbsp freshly grated lemon zest
5 cups of ripe mango
1 lemon, juiced
1 large egg white

Directions

Bring sugar, water and lemon zest up to a simmer in a saucepan, stirring until sugar has dissolved. Then bring to a boil for just 1 minute. Cool liquid before chilling.

Purée mango and lemon juice with a hand blender. Stir sugar syrup into purée and pour into an ice cream maker. Once sorbet has thickened slightly (about 8 minutes), whisk egg white lightly and pour into ice cream maker. Continue to thicken in ice cream maker for about 20 minutes and then transfer sorbet to a container and freeze until firm, about 4 hours.

Enjoy!

Frozen, creamy and it needs Nutella...yummy!

Original recipe is from Giada De Laurentiis and I have to admit this may be the best homemade gelato that I've ever had. Soooooooo creamy. What a keeper!

Chocolate-Hazelnut Gelato



Ingredients

2 cups whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup sugar, plus 1/4 cup
4 egg yolks
½ teaspoon pure almond extract
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
½ cup Nutella spread (recommended: Nutella

Directions

In a saucepan combine the milk, cream, and 1/2 cup sugar over medium heat. Cook until the sugar dissolves, about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl whip the egg yolks with the remaining sugar using an electric mixer until the eggs have become thick and pale yellow, about 4 minutes. Pour ½ cup of the warm milk and cream mixture into the egg mixture and stir. Add this mixture back into the saucepan. Cook over very low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture becomes thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon, about 10 to 15 minutes.

Place a strainer over a medium bowl and pour the warm custard mixture through the strainer. Stir in the almond, cocoa powder and hazelnut spread until it dissolves. Chill mixture completely before pouring into an ice cream maker and follow manufacturer's instructions to freeze. To serve, scoop gelato into serving bowls and top with chopped/toasted hazelnuts.

Please note: I’ve incorporated some of the changes I made to the recipe including lowering the sugar from ½ cup to a 1/3 cup, using almond extract instead of vanilla extract, adding 1 tablespoon of unsweetened cocoa powder and omitting the ½ cup of hazelnuts. For the original recipe please visit the www.foodnetwork.com website.

It's a rainy summer day...

...and I've been up to my old vices. What better way to spend a rainy day than playing with your little girl and cooking up a storm... Hmm... can't wait to share all the recipes with you...


With bananas ripening so quickly in this heat, I wanted to find a new recipe to incorporate them and this bread was fantastic especially for making a great breakfast toast for our mornings.

Banana-Nut Bread
From: The Great American Home Baking Collection


Ingredients

2 1/3 cups all purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
3 large eggs
3 large ripe bananas, mashed
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
½ cup slivered almonds

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan

Mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Beat together butter and sugar at medium speed until light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.

Beat in bananas. Graduatlly beat in flour mixture until well blended. Stir in lemon zest and nuts. Spoon batter into prepared pan. Bake bread until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 55 minutes. Transfer pan to a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes. Turn bread out into rack to cool.

Enjoy!