Surprising Mom

Last night I worked another all night shift. I worked from 7am - 2pm, and then again from 7pm - 7:30am. Then I rushed to catch the 8:15 bus home. My plan was to surprise my mother for her birthday, which is tomorrow. I knew she was having a barbecue tonight with several of our family friends, and I wanted to be there for that too and make the most of my short weekend home. I knew in advance she had told everyone 'the chef would not be home' and I had to laugh at that. I did tell my brother, who is home for a few weeks visitng with his girlfriend, that I would be coming but told him to keep it a secret from Mom and Dad.

Well, they were very much surprised as were most of our guests. They were also quite happy. I didn't have much of a chance to make anything before the barbecue and knew Mom and Dad would already have a lot of food planned, but I did decorate the chocolate cake.

All together we had barbecue ribs, beer can chicken, rice pilaf, bean salad, tomato baked zucchini, fresh garden cucumber, bread rolls, flourless chocolate torte, rum cake, and oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. 

BBQ Days

First barbecue of the season with a brand new barbecue! We kept it simple - sausages, buns, and an assortment of condiments for now. Looking forward to many more to come!
Spicy, sweet, and tofu sausages.
Onion buns.
Hot mustard, grainy mu=ustard, hot sauce, ketchup, sauerkraut, pickled red onion.

Rotisserie Duck

Not too long ago, my father and brother came up with this great idea to try barbecuing a duck. Interesting enough. However, it did take much longer to cook than they had expected - much longer than a chicken. They used some type of rotisserie contraption but had trouble attaching the duck to it without having proper food safe string. The duck was basted in barbecue sauce. I personally did not try the duck myself, but I must admit it did smell quite good coming in the house. It seemed to be moist and tender and juicy, which makes sense as duck is quite a fatty meat. 

Note: duck takes awhile to cook this way so start early. I suppose some good accompaniments would be cooked vegetables, stuffing, or potatoes.  

Portobello Mushroom Burger

Does anyone else ever get tired of hamburgers? Okay, maybe it's just me, but I was never a huge fan of hamburgers to begin with. So I get bored of having them a lot, even though we don't eat them all that often, although more so now that it is barbecue season. To me though, a burger is just a burger, and I am not a meat lover anyway. Now veggie burgers on the other hand, there are a wide variety of different types of veggie burgers, and you can add many different flavors to them so you never get bored and each one is different. There are soy burgers, bean burgers, quinoa burgers, pumpkin burgers, tofu burgers, lentil burgers, and more. But a really different type of burger, that is probably also one of the easiest to prepare, is a portabello mushroom burger. Technically it is simply just a vegetable, but when grilled properly, it is thick and juicy with a meaty texture. All you need to do is buy some portabello mushroom caps, and maybe trim them and wash them a bit. Then brush them with oil, spices, or sauce as you would like, and grill them. They cook quickly too, only a few minutes per side. Then slap them on a bun and add toppings as you would for any burger. It's a great vegetarian alternative to burgers, and cheaper,quicker, and easier. My father grilled a few for me after I complained about having burgers, yet again. 

Risotto Dinner

I think I have featured risotto here once before only briefly, but it is worth another mention. Risotto is one of my signature dishes, one I can now make without the recipe, and using my own senses to judge cooking times and ingredient amounts. It is also always a hit with my family. We like to enjoy it as a main course sometimes, but it also goes well with a variety of dishes including salmon, chicken, and stir-fry. I usually just make plain risotto, but it can be varied in an endless number of ways from this simple recipe. I know I have added fresh peas, caramelized onion, lobster, and Parmesan cheese to my risotto before, but there are many more common recipes out there that I would like to try, such as butternut squash risotto. Risotto has a reputation of a time-consuming, difficult dish, but it really isn't, especially once you have made it as many times as I have. It does require a lot of stirring and constant attention, but this allows you to get other things in the kitchen done as well. This time, I made risotto to go with our salmon. Our salmon was smoked on the barbecue, just the way we like it, despite the fact it is nearly December! (Remember my September 18th post entitled "Last Barbecue Of The Season?", it definitely wasn't true). We also had a nice stir-fry with our meal as well. This is one of my favorite meal combinations; salmon, stir-fry, and either risotto or homemade hashbrowns. 

Indoor Cooking Season

Tonight we had hamburgers for supper. these hamburgers were baked indoors in the oven, and not on the barbecue. I guess this is a sign that barbecue season has officially come to an end, and all cooking will be done indoors now until next spring. I suppose the burgers could have been cooked on the barbecue, as we do not have any snow yet, but it was cold, and rainy at times today, and not very nice weather for barbecuing. I do like barbecued hamburgers a bit better than baked. I find they have a bit more flavor and texture and seem a bit moister. And they just have that "grilled" taste, you know? Oh well, I will just have to put up with indoor cooking methods such as baking, broiling, frying, and steaming for the next few months. That isn't a terrible thing, as it's not like we have barbecue everyday in the summer, and now we can enjoy many warm comfort foods that cannot be cooked on the barbecue anyway and are too hot and heavy to enjoy in the summer months. We did bake some salmon the other week, and although we usually grill it on maple planks on the barbecue, it tasted very well just coming from the oven as well.

Last Barbecue Of The Season?

The other day we had a big barbecue. I am beginning to think this could possibly be our last barbecue of the season. As the sun sets earlier, and the days get colder, and life gets busier, it may be time to pack up the barbecue for the season. I am certainly hoping we will have another one, and knowing my family, we probably will. My mother will kindly ask my father to barbecue a quick batch of hamburgers, and my father will definitely agree. Or maybe steak or salmon will go on sale for an amazing price, and we will have to send my father out to barbecue, even if it pours rain (or so help me, snows). My father is the grill master here, and we certainly appreciate every time he ventures out to barbecue for us. We may help prepare foods, or suggest foods, but he is always the one who cooks them, and does a great job. Pictured here, clockwise, are salmon fillets (back right), steak, pork chops, and sausages. My favorite is the salmon, followed by the pork. I don't really like steak or sausage, but others in the house certainly do. This selection is a bit different from our usual barbecue choice, often we do burgers and/or chicken. Sometimes  ribs too. We usually stick to meat and fish on the barbecue, although we could easily through some vegetable on there too. I have made a cake and a few other odd things on the barbecue too. I guess we like to have plenty of room for our meat on the barbecue, and we prepare the vegetables separately. We rarely barbecue just for one night, we almost always purposely cook extras for leftovers. Sometimes we freeze barbecue too, that way, when barbecue season really is over, we will have some for the dead of winter.

Veggie Bean Burgers

Here are some homemade veggie bean burgers I made. This was my first time making veggie burgers (or any type of burger at all actually). There are so many vegetable burger recipes out there using so many different ingredients! I didn't know whether to make a tofu burger, a bean burger, a vegetable burger, a potato burger, a mushroom burger, or a grain burger. Veggie burgers often contain some form of soy based protein or beans, along with some vegetable fillers, often onion, carrot, and celery, and a grain to bind it together, such as flour, quinoa, brown rice, or breadcrumbs. Many veggie burger recipes don't use egg because they are also vegan recipe. Most veggie burger recipes contain a bevy of healthy, and often strange or expensive, ingredients, such as quinoa, brown rice, lentils as fillers; as well as a slew of vegetables, including corn, pumpkin, squash, and spinach. You can also just grill a portabella mushroom cap, and eat that like a burger. I have had a few of these "burgers" before, and when done right, they are very tasty and have a nice, meaty texture. For my first try, I decided to take the basics of a simple recipe I found online, and alter it as I pleased. I settled on a simple bean burger recipe with chili sauce to give it a bit of kick. I haven't tasted many veggie burgers, so I don't know how good this one was, but it certainly had flavor, and a texture I liked, soft and moist with a crisp exterior.

Chili Bean Burgers
1 can (540 mL) white kidney beans, drained, rinsed, and patted dry
1/2 medium onion, diced
2 Tablespoons finely shredded carrot
1 large egg
1/2 cup dry breadcrumbs
1/4 cup chili sauce
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon paprika

Mash the beans in a bowl with your hands. Mash them to your preference - more if you like a smooth-textured veggie burger, less if you like some texture. Add in the onion and carrot, then add the remaining ingredients and mix well, using your hands if necessary. Form into patties (I got five from this recipe). These can be wrapped in waxed paper and refrigerated until needed, or cooked immediately. They can be fried in a pan of oil at medium heat for about 10 - 12 minutes, or grilled on the barbecue for 10-15 minutes. Serve on a bun with your favorite toppings.

Hamburger Buns

Tonight we are barbecuing hamburgers and veggie burgers for supper, so naturally I decided to try making my own burger buns. Surprisingly,  I have never tried this before, we usually just use store bought buns, but I wanted to try my hand at making some. There are actually many recipes for this, and you can adapt regular dinner roll recipes and simply shape them differently (this works for hotdog buns too). I decided to try a simple recipe for my first time. They turned out ok, but didn't rise all that well while baking, despite rising nicely beforehand. I also may have baked them a bit too long, so they are more crisp rather than soft and chewy, but still tasty. Because they did not rise well, they were cut thin, and a bit tricky to slice in half. Next time I will choose a less humid and rainy day to try them, but they certainly went well with the hamburgers and veggie burgers barbecued tonight, which I will feature in tomorrow's post.

Hamburger Buns
1 1/2 cups warm water
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 package (8 grams) active dry yeast
1 large egg
1/4 cup cooking oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

In a large bowl, stir the sugar into the warm water. Sprinkle the yeast over top and let stand undisturbed for ten minutes until bubbly. Stir to dissolve yeast. Add eggs, oil, and salt. Work in enough flour until dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Turn onto floured surface and knead for 8 to 10 minutes until dough is smooth and elastic.  Shape dough into balls the size of tennis balls. Flatten slightly and place two inches apart on a baking sheet. Allow to rise for about an hour, or until doubled in bulk. Bake at 375◦F for about 20 minutes.

Barbecue Feast

Summer means lots of barbecues, grilled food, and dining al fresco. Here is an example of just one barbecue feast we had. We had a few guests over, and for the majority, we are big meat-eaters (me excluded, but I do enjoy some grilled meat once in a while). My father manned the grill once again. In total, he grilled chicken breasts, sausages, pork chops, and steaks. No lack of variety in meat there, although I would have enjoyed some surf to go along with all of our turf, but that's just because I am a big fish lover. And of course we didn't just eat all meat. We did have some vegetables as well, and some potatoes, because what is steak without potatoes? Most of the meat my father barbecues is simply brushed with our favorite barbecue sauce, simple, easy, and tasty. The steaks were marinated overnight before cooking, but other than that, barbecue preparation around here is pretty simple. We didn't have hot dogs or hamburgers this time, as we often do, so we didn't even need to bother with buns. Summer is all about outdoor cooking and fuss-free meals. Pass the ketchup and mustard, and we are all set.

Hotdogs & Hamburgers

It is still summertime, thank goodness. Let the warm weather and sunshine last! Summer also means a lot of barbecues, and here is an example of another barbecue we had. Of course, my father manned the grill, as always. This time we kept it fairly simple, which makes it much easier to feed a larger crowd. We simply barbecued hotdogs and hamburgers. The burgers were my father's standard delicious burger recipe, and the hotdogs were, well, hotdogs. All you need is hamburger buns and hotdog buns, and lots of condiments and toppings, and you are all set. Side dishes, although nice, are optional. But of course, since we all have sweet tooths here, there was plenty for dessert! I am not really a fan of hotdogs at all, but I do enjoy hamburgers. Actually, I'm not a huge meat lover at all, but who doesn't like a homemade burger fresh from the barbie? A simply brush of barbecue sauce and a slice of tomato is all I need. Sure, there are plenty of fancy burger recipes out there, and there are even tons of "gourmet" hotdog recipes, but generally simpler is better for hot summer days with friends and family. Maybe next time, we'll try a double bacon cheeseburger, or a peanut butter burger, or a chili dog, or Monte Cristo hotdog, but for now, let's just enjoy the summer!

Smoked Side Ribs

The Grill Master at our house (also known as my father) cooked up another great supper recently. He made ribs again, but usually he cooks them in the slow cooker. This time, since it was a beautiful hot day, he decided to use the barbecue. He prepared his usual dry spice rub and barbecue sauce to finish the ribs, and even decided to use some flavored wood chips. He slowly smoked the ribs for about four hours. Some people insist on smoking ribs for much longer, up to eight to twelve hours, but dad did a shorter cooking time. The ribs were not quite fall off the bone and as tender as usual, but they were pretty good. I liked the crispy coating they got from the barbecue. Another issue was that my father could only get side ribs at the store, when we have always had back ribs. Back ribs are what we are used to, and we generally prefer them, but I found these side ribs pretty good as well. The ribs turned out incredibly spicy, probably because more of the rub is lost in the long process of slow cooking, so go a bit easier on the rub when grilling. Leaving the sauce until close to the end also left the ribs with a nice saucy coating. The ribs were also incredibly moist. Maybe this was because they were tented with foil and briefly allowed to rest before being cut.

Salmon Al Fresco

I try to feature as many different things as I can on this blog, and I know I have featured salmon before, but salmon is one of my favorite foods, especially during the summertime when it can be barbecued! We had salmon for supper tonight, prepared in our favorite way: barbecued on maple planks with just a touch of brown sugar. Delicious! We also had some fresh steamed asparagus, rice, and a stir-fry with broccoli, onion, carrots, and mushrooms. We ate supper outside, or al fresco, as the Italians would say. This is not to be confused with antipasto, which is the Italian word for, before the meal, and refers to an appetizer (I actually mix these two up quite a bit). This was the first time this year, and we ate at our table in our gazebo, which was recently set up, to keep the bugs and the sun out. We don't eat outside very often, as the weather never seems to be quite right for dining; it's either too hot, or too cold, or too windy, or raining. I really enjoy eating outside though, I find it quite relaxing, and when your meal is barbecued, there is less transportation needed! While I was outside, I also picked some fresh rhubarb from our little patch, and I will bake with it soon and be sure to share the outcome with you!

Grilled Chicken

Here is the tender and juicy grilled chicken my father recently grilled on the barbecue. He baked the boneless skinless chicken breasts in the oven for about 30 minutes at 350◦F before finishing them off on the grill. All he did was brush them with a little barbecue sauce, and that was all they needed! They turned out quite moist and tender and had a great flavor, I like them done this way more so than when we simply bake them, but of course that isn't really practical in the wintertime. Chicken is such a versatile dish that goes with just about anything, and it is often a popular choice that many people enjoy. I am looking forward to more barbecues this season!

Maple Planked Salmon

The weather is finally beginning to warm up, and that means it is barbecue season again! Some of our favorite things to barbecue are hamburgers, chicken drumsticks, and best of all, fresh salmon portions. Salmon is one of my absolute favorites! Here at our house, we like to keep it sweet and simple. We grill our salmon on maple planks on the barbecue, and season them with just a dash of brown sugar. The sweetness of the sugar goes very nicely with the salmon, and complements the smoked maple flavor from the planks perfectly. We like to serve our salmon with stir-fry, especially broccoli, and rice, noodles, risotto, or potatoes. Salmon is quick and easy to grill, and doesn't require to much attention. It is also really easy to prepare and handle. We have also been able to fit up to thirteen salmon portions on two planks, which both fit on the barbecue at the same time. Barbecued salmon is good as leftovers too, you can gently reheat it, but I like to eat mine cold. It is good the second or third day on its own or in sandwiches.

Hamburgers

Tonight my father whipped up a batch of his famous hamburgers for supper. In the summertime, he likes to barbecue them, but in the winter, that isn't a very practical idea. Cooking them in the oven is a decent substitution, although I still prefer the taste of them when they are barbecued. Dad's hamburger recipe is quite simple, he uses just fresh ground beef as the base, along with some binders such as egg and breadcrumbs, and some flavor additions such as minced onion and ground black pepper. Nothing fancy and nothing too difficult. He also makes the hamburgers relatively small in size compared to the burgers you see in restaurants today. None of those 1/4 or 1/2 pounders here! Some of my family's favorite toppings for hamburgers include: lettuce, tomato, cheese, pickles, ketchup, mustard, and relish. Barbecue sauce, raw onion, and bacon slices are also good. We tend to eat our burgers on just plain old hamburger buns, but fancier sesame or foccacia buns would also be good. There is nothing like a classic hamburger for supper!

Pizza on the Grill

Yesterday, we decided to try cooking pizza on the barbecue. There are many different ways and methods of doing this. Toppings: are they put on before, after, or during cooking? Cooking temperature: high, low, blazing hot, or indirect heat? Cooking method: directly on the grill or on a pan, rotated, flipped, or left alone? Recipe: thick crust, rising crust, or thin crust?
Well, here is what we chose: a thin crust pizza, pre-topped, cooked at a high temperature on a pan, rotated at half time. This ended up working quite well for us. The crust was thin and very crispy and the pizza cooked to perfection in a reasonable amount of time. One problem we had was parts of the crust got a little bit burnt, but we figured if we used a double layer of pans next time, this would solve the problem. We cooked two pizzas at once, so the baking pans (just regular cookie sheets, greased and floured) jutted out of the barbecue just a tad. We simply rotated them half way through so both ends of the pizzas would cook evenly, and they did.
I used my regular, trusted pizza dough recipe, but made only half as much as the usual (and by the usual, I mean a double batch) so it could be stretched into a thin crust for a little something different. I really enjoyed the crispiness of the crust and the slightly smokey barbecue flavour. Next, I topped the dough with pizza sauce to within an inch of all the edges, and each family member decorated their own piece with their favourite toppings. The toppings we had on hand were: onion, green pepper, mushrooms, broccoli florets, sliced fresh tomatoes, ham, pepperoni, salami, and of course, grated mozzarella cheese! Then my father, the barbecue master, grilled them for about 20 minutes, at a temperature hovering around 425F. Delicious!

Cake on the Barbecue

To go with our Beer Can Chicken yesterday, I made a cake to cook on the barbecue as well. 

I found this idea to be very intriguing, and I just had to try it. 

The recipe was published in Company's Coming "Barbecues".



White Cake
1/2 cup butter or hard margarine, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 cup milk

Cream butter and sugar together well. Beat in eggs 1 at a time. Add vanilla. Stir.
Mix flour with baking powder and salt. Add in 3 parts alternately with milk in 2 parts beginning and ending with flour mixture. Pour into greased 9x9 inch (22 x 22 cm) pan.
Place pan on medium grill over indirect heat. Close lid. Bake for about 25 to 30 minutes until an inserted pick comes out clean. Rotate pan after 15 minutes. Serve hot with ice cream or cool, and frost. May also be baked in 350◦F (180◦C) oven for about 25 to 30 minutes.

After the meal was finished cooking on the barbecue, I just popped the cake on to cook while we ate supper. It was done cooing around the time we finished eating, and I decided to serve it warm, but with hot caramel coffee sauce instead of ice cream. It was delicious! This is a good way to save energy if you already have the barbecue on, or if you want to avoid heating up your entire house with the oven. Since this cake is a basic butter cake recipe, it does not have a whole lot of flavour on its own. For this reason, I STRONGLY RECCOMMEND you use real butter (not margarine) and real vanilla extract (not artificial or imitation) to get the best of this cake's flavour. It should also be served with a little something, whether it is sauce, ice cream, or frosting, but not alone. It is a nice, light cake, but I would not use it as a master cake recipe for birthday cakes and such, as it lacks a little something needed for those. I'm sure you could spruce this recipe up a bit though. I also used a disposable 8x8 inch foil pan, as I was a little worried about what our old barbecue might do to my good pan. Surprisingly, the pan came out in reasonably good condition, although the bottom was a little greasy from the chicken juices beforehand. Another interesting idea would be to bake the cake beforehand, let it cool, then cut it into pieces and grill the pieces directly on the barbecue, for a double-barbecued cake! I'll have to try that next time, as I would definitely make this recipe again!

Paré, Jean. "White Cake." Recipe. Barbecues, Edmonton Alberta: Company's Coming Publishing Limited, 1991. 66.

Beer Can Chicken

I'll have to give all of the credit for this creation to my father, as he is the barbecue master. Well, most of the credit anyway; it was I who gave him the cookbook with the recipe in it and bought him the chicken rack. Beer Can Chicken is a simple process of putting a whole chicken on a rack with a half-full beer can in the cavity of the chicken, resting in the pan underneath it. The recipe is started off by brining the chicken in salt water, rinsing it well, and patting it dry. Then rub it with a dry rub (the one we used was a mixture of brown sugar, garlic powder, paprika, salt and pepper). Place it on the rack with the beer can and barbecue it! It was originally estimated that the chicken would take at least 2 1/2 hours to cook, but it was done within 1 1/2 hours. The only problem with this was that the rest of our meal was not ready. So we left it on the grill a little while longer, then put it in a roasting pan, covered it, and placed it on the hot stove to keep warm. Even though the chicken was slightly overcooked, it was still incredibly moist, tender, and juicy, even the breast. I'm not one for chicken skin, but the flavour was incredible from the rub, and it was very crispy too! The only regret I have is not buying another roasting rack, specifically designed for beer can chicken. I found it at a local grocery store in the clearout section for less than $3, but it did a surprisingly great job, and even came with a basting brush. I wish I had bought two, that way we could do two chickens at once! This bird turned out absolutely beautiful and delectable, and I hope my father will make it again. It can even be prepared similarly in the oven in the winter!

Potato Patties

This is what I made as a side dish to go with the chicken from last night. They are called Potato Patties and the recipe is from Company's Coming "Barbecues". These patties can be grilled in a vegetable basket on the barbecue or fryed in a frying pan on the stove. I fried them and they were quite tasty. I bet they would be good if you barbecued them, spread them with BBQ sauce, and put them inside hamburger buns. Then they would make a nice vegetarian burger, just like grilled portebello mushroom caps do! Anyway, they are a great alternative to the usual mashed potato side dish.

To make them, all you have to do is boil as many medium potaotes as people you are serving until barely tender. Then give them a litle grate in the food processor. Add some chopped onion, salt, and pepper, and form them into patties. Then grill or fry for 7-10 minutes per side, until golden and crispy. That's it! Quick, easy, and yummy!

Paré, Jean. "Potato Patties." Recipe. Barbecues, Edmonton Alberta: Company's Coming Publishing Limited, 1995. 141.