Cupcakes

I was given the Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook

(http://hummingbirdbakery.com/) for my birthday.

When I was in London I visited the original bakery in Nottinghill.

All the cupcakes I tried were yummy!

This picture is my version of the "lemon" cupcake recipe.

Christmas has come again

Pasta with garden fresh vegetables and grilled chicken

Marinate two chicken breasts in 1/4 cup vegetable oil, 1 T. freshly chopped rosemary, 2 t. fresh basil finely chopped, salt and pepper.

Put in the refrigerator for at least two hours.

Turn the grill on to high and heat for 10 mintues. Grill the chicken on both sides (don't forget to do the 10/2 grill lines!) turn the grill down to medium. It takes a lot of time to cook through a thick chicken breast so check for the internal temperature to make sure it is done.

I am using my garden vegetables up to I chopped up two fresh large tomatoes, a small zucchini and a Japanese eggplant.

Finely chop half an onion and mince two garlic cloves.

Heat a skillet and gently saute the onion and garlic. Add the tomatoes and other vegetables until all the vegetables are soft. Salt and pepper to taste.

Cook until done some bow tie pasta. Drain and toss in the vegetables.

When chicken is done slice into bit-sized pieces and add to the sauce.

Louise (made the pastry) and I (made the filling) for an apricot pie today. I think it is my favourite of all fruit pies. Yum.

Grilled Japanese Eggplant

Today after some much needed rain the sun came out and I started thinking about dinner. The menu- grilled trout with dill and lemon, mushroom and green pepper fried rice ( I was using up leftover rice and needed to use another of my fresh green peppers) and coconut cake for dessert.
My first Japanese egg plant was ready to be eaten so I had to find a recipe to use with it.

Oddly enough I was in the Tom Douglas' restaurant last week and ate one of his famous crab cakes. This recipe is from his cookbook.

Grilled Japanese Egg Plant with Honey Soy Glaze
Honey Soy GlazeMix together:¼c. honey + ¼c. vegetable + ¼ c. fresh lemon juice + ¼ c. soy sauce + ½ t. minced garlic or garlic powder.

Add a few shakes of red pepper flakes if you want it a bit spicy.

4 Japanese eggplants and sesame seeds, toasted

Whisk together the glaze ingredients and put in a flat casserole dish.
Cut each eggplant in half lengthwise, leaving the stem on. Then partially cut each half several times lengthwise, like a fan.

If you'd like to use a globe eggplant (or if you have an abundance of home grown zucchinis) slice it into ½-inch-thick rounds.
Pour half the glaze over the eggplants in a medium bowl and let them marinate for at least 10 minutes.

Fire up the grill. Remove the eggplants from the marinade.

Allow any excess marinade to drip off, to prevent a flare-up when you place them on the grill.
Grill the eggplants, turning as necessary, until tender, 4 to 6 minutes.
Place 2 eggplant halves or 2 slices of eggplant on each plate and drizzle with a bit of the remaining glaze. Garnish with the sesame seeds.

Vegetables

I am so proud of the new things I grew this year green peppers and Japanese eggplant.

Now to figure out what to do with them.

Sizzling Hot Fahitas

Today is still hot in YVR and to ensure no extra heat was added to the house everything was cooked on the sideburner of the BBQ.
Today I picked my first ever green pepper from my garden!
I sliced it along with a yellow pepper (from the store).
I brushed clean and then sliced about 5 large mushrooms.
Mince two garlic cloves and 1/2 an onion.

In a skillet heat 1 Tablespoon olive oil. Saute the garlic and onion about 3 minutes. Add the mushrooms and spice it up with 1/4 teaspoon both chili powder and cumin and freshly ground salt and pepper. Saute until mushrooms are cooked.
Add the bell peppers and then add pre-cooked chicken breast that has been roasted and then sliced.
Wrap in a soft tortilla shell add cheese and sour cream!

HOT chicken caesar salad

If you live in BC you know it is really HOT.
So in my attempt to stay cool I decided it was the day to make a hot chicken caesar salad and a scalloped zucchini side dish.

To start - I walked out to the garden and picked my first zucchini of the season. I washed and then sliced the zucchini into coins. Put the slices on a sheet of tin foil. Drizzle with olive oil and then season with salt and pepper. I also used about 1 teaspoon of fresh minced thyme. Mince one garlic clove and one eighth of an onion (finely chopped) and then sprinkle them on top of the zucchini. Spread evenly 1 Tablespoon of flour over all the ingredients so far. Lastly grate about 1/4 cup cheddar cheese over the top. Seal the tin foil up and place on a BBW grill on low heat for about 10 minutes.

To make the salad-tear into bite sized pieces about 15 washed romaine lettuce. Grate 2 Tablespoon fresh parmesan cheese over the lettuce. Add the caesar salad dressing of your choice (I use only enough to lightly coat the leaves about 2-3 Tablespoons). Toss!

Set your BBQ to high until grill is hot and then to medium to cook.

Lightly coat a chicken breast per person with olive oil. Salt and Pepper and then sprinkle paprika on top. I like that grill pattern on top of meats so again do the 10 and 2 technique. Cook on each side for about 4-5 minutes until the correct temperature is reached 165 degrees Fahrenheit (74 Celsius).

Place on a clean plate and let the juices soak back into the chicken breast for about 3 minutes.

Slice chicken breast and put on top of the salad. Toss once more and then add croutons.

I made a few extra chicken breasts, sliced them and I will use them for fahitas tomorrow. Because I have the side burner our BBQ I can cook it all outside!