Events
this busy weekend ranged from a family birthday party, to a Christmas Tea to a
Grey Cup Party.
Samantha had not been home for her birthday for the past
five years, so it was a real pleasure to be able to put together a home-cooked
celebration in her honour. We were also
happy to have Teddy and Brian, Granny and our neighbours come to join us. On the menu:
Wild Rice Pancakes with
Duck Confit and Plum Sauce (recipe follows)
Braised Kale
Green Beans
Butternut Squash Risotto
Gluten Free Lemon Coconut Layer Cake
Wild Rice Pancakes with Duck Confit
and Plum Sauce
1 tablespoon olive oil
½ cup minced onion
1 large clove garlic, minced
1 cup cooked jasmine rice (do not rinse before cooking)
1 ½ cups cooked wild rice
Vegetable stock
1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cooked duck legs, either smoked or as prepared duck
confit from the butcher
¼ cup plum sauce
Micro greens for garnish
Heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a small pan. Add the onion, and sauté until softened and
translucent. Add the garlic and cook for
30 seconds more until very fragrant.
In the bowl of a food processor, pulse the 2 kinds of
rice for about 30 seconds. Add the
cooked onion and garlic and a few tablespoons of vegetable stock. Continue to pulse until it begins to come
together in a ball, adding more stock as necessary. Add the sage, salt and pepper and pulse to
just combine.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Scoop out small spoonfuls (about 1 teaspoon
each) of the rice mixture, and with damp hands, form into small pancakes. Chill for ½ an hour until set.
In a large non-stick frying pan, heat the remaining olive
oil on medium-high. Add the pancakes and
cook until golden brown on both sides.
Place them back on the lined baking sheet and preheat the oven (or
barbecue) to 350°.
This recipe works well with the leftover smoked duck legs but if you don’t have this on hand, prepared duck confit is a
simple shortcut. The duck confit can be
heated and crisped on the barbecue for 5 minutes per side. Meanwhile, reheat the pancakes for 5
minutes. Slice or shred the duck and
place on the pancakes. Top with a
dollop of plum sauce and garnish with a few sprigs of micro greens.
Grilled Scallops over Orange and
Fennel Salsa
The Food & Drink version calls for pan-searing the
scallops, but for us, Ted grilled them to perfection. We substituted chicken for our guests who did
not eat seafood.
Enough large scallops for 2 per guest
For the Salsa:
1 cup chopped fennel
1 cup chopped orange segments
1/2 cup finely
chopped red onion
2 teaspoons seeded and chopped jalapeno pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons orange juice
2 tablespoons lemon juice
3 tablespoons snipped chives
3 tablespoons chopped cilantro
Salt and pepper, to taste
For the Rub:
2 teaspoons fennel seeds, cracked
2 teaspoons coriander seeds, cracked
2 teaspoons cracked peppercorns
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Olive oil for grilling
Combine all the ingredients for the salsa and set aside
at room temperature. If preparing more
than one hour in advance place in the refrigerator until an hour before.
Combine the rub ingredients and sprinkle over the
scallops.
Preheat barbecue on Medium High. Reduce heat to Medium. Brush scallops lightly with olive oil, and
place on the grill. Sear 2 ½ minutes per
side.
Spoon salsa on each small plate, and top with scallops.
 |
| Happy Birthday Samantha! |
 |
| It all adds up to 23! |
Mark + football = party
Since the Grey Cup was scheduled to begin Sunday night at
6pm, Mark was busy Saturday at midnight, loading up the smoker with charcoal,
gathering the pork butts and apple juice spray bottle, and organizing his
coleslaw ingredients for the morning. In
quick time, he had the smoker lit and the temperature set at a constant 200⁰F.
On went 3 pork shoulders and off we went to bed!
By kick off time, the juicy pulled pork was ready to go,
tossed with a spicy barbecue sauce. Ever
the traditionalist, he had a big bowl of coleslaw and a bubbling pot of baked
beans ready on the sidelines. As an
added bonus, he was able to offer his buddies a heaping platter of perogies, fried in
butter, bacon and onions – these were acquired in a trade with Darryl. Mark smoked an extra pork shoulder for
Darryl, who prepared an extra couple of dozen homemade perogies in exchange. What a talented, not to mention
resourceful pair!
PULLED
PORK SMOKED ON THE BROIL KING KEG
IMPORTANT TIPS:
·
Low and slow is the name of the game
here! We like to start the smoking before we go to bed, around midnight. Usually, a 6-7 pound pork shoulder will take
12 to 14 hours – allow 2 hours per pound of meat. Whenever the pork shoulder is
finished, remove it from the smoker, wrap it in foil and set it aside until you
are ready to serve it.
·
Being organized means that most of
the work happens the night before your gathering, which is great when you are
expecting a big crowd. This frees your time up so that you can enjoy your
family and friends.
·
Purchase a pork shoulder and be sure
that there is a nice fat cap. There is a lot of flavor and moisture there, so
leave it on.
·
Coat the whole pork shoulder with yellow
mustard and your favourite rub, letting it sit for half an hour before placing
in the smoker.
·
The cooking temperature of the
smoker should be constant at approx. 225°F. The waterpan should be kept filled
with water throughout the cooking time. The Broil King Keg is very efficient and reliable, so if you set it up
properly with lots of charcoal, and adjust the vents correctly the temperature
will remain constant all night long.
·
Start basting with a mop when you
get up in the morning. Mop every hour or so until finished.
·
Cook
to an endpoint temperature of 175°F.
·
Wrap
the pork shoulder in foil and let rest for at least an hour before pulling it.
Do not skip this step, as it is the final step in allowing the connective
tissue to completely break down, resulting in tender, moist pork!
Getting started:
1. Pour a 6” deep layer of True’Cue lump charcoal
on the bottom of the smoker.
2.
Use 2
True’Cue match-light charcoal starters to ignite the charcoal. Alternately, use
a chimney starter. Crumple up 1 or 2
sheets of newspaper in the bottom chamber, and place a cup of lump charcoal in
the top chamber. Placing the starter on the pavement, a flat rock or non-ignitable
surface, light the newspaper. Within 8-10 minutes, you will have glowing red
coals. Carefully lift the chimney starter and dump the coals into the lump
charcoal already in the Broil King Keg.
3.
Open the
top and bottom vents to the widest position (#5).
4.
Let the coals burn for 10 minutes
until the smoker reaches 225°F
5.
Dial down the top and bottom vents
to the #2 position
6.
This should maintain a smoker
temperature of 225°F for up to 12 hours. Add more charcoal as needed.
 | |
| Kris "helped a bit" with the party |
1
6-7 pound pork shoulder
3 tbsp yellow mustard
Rub:
1 cup brown sugar
½ cup chili powder
1/3 cup paprika
¼ cup celery salt
¼ cup garlic powder
¼ cup onion salt
¼ cup black pepper
¼ cup white pepper
1 tbsp dry mustard
1 tbsp 5-spice powder
1 tbsp dry ginger
Mop:
Apple juice in a spray bottle
2 cups Spicy barbecue sauce
Prepare rub and sauce the night
before. Rub pork shoulder with yellow mustard, then cover with rub. Let rest
for half an hour before placing on smoker, which has been set up according to
the instructions above. Once the temperature has reached 225⁰F:
·
place
a handful of soaked wood chips on the surface of the charcoal,
·
check
to make sure the drip pan is full,
·
place
the pork shoulder on the smoker,
·
close
the lid and allow to cook for at least 6 hours.
·
Begin
spraying with apple juice every half hour.
·
This
is also the time to begin to monitor the internal temperature of the pork,
using a meat thermometer. Once it has reached a temperature of 175⁰F, remove it from the smoker, wrap
it tightly in foil and allow it to rest for at least an hour before pulling.
 |
Kidsability
Sugarplum Tea
Our friend, Eleanor Yach was part of the committee that
organized this wonderful event at Langdon Hall on Sunday afternoon to raise
funds for KidsAbility, a local organization which empowers
children and youth with special needs to realize their full potential. We were greeted with a glass of prosecco and
led into a beautiful room all decked out for Christmas where we were served a
full Afternoon Tea.
 | |
| Honey Butter, Strawberry Jam and Devon Cream to accompany the scones |
 |
| Assorted Finger Sandwiches |
 |
| Dainty Desserts |
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