Birthdays and More

We have had a very busy couple of weeks between volunteer commitments, a literary festival, 2 birthday party weekends, French lessons, and a class on smoking. 

Donna-Marie Pye and Maria Burjoski were kind enough to invite us to lead a class at Relish Cooking Studio in Waterloo last Tuesday.  We welcomed a great group of culinary enthusiasts and shared with them some of our favourite tips and recipes, most of which have appeared in our blog.  One new and very delicious addition was a Smoked Duck Pizza which we cooked on the grill.  

Smoked Duck Pizza

2 smoked duck legs, shredded

1 ball frozen pizza dough, thawed

2 tablespoons hoisin sauce

2 tablespoons barbecue sauce

4 green onions, sliced

1 ½ cups grated mozzarella cheese

Cornmeal

Prepare smoked duck legs as outlined in our previous post.  We recommend making extra, as it is so versatile and delicious.

Place a pizza stone on the barbecue, and preheat on MEDIUM HIGH.

Meanwhile, roll out the dough on a lightly floured counter.  Generously sprinkle the cornmeal over a wooden pizza peel, and place the rolled dough on top, reshaping the dough as necessary.

In a small bowl combine the barbecue sauce and hoisin sauce, and brush it over the surface of the dough.  Scatter the shredded duck, green onions and mozzarella cheese over top, and transfer it to the preheated stone.  Grill for about 8 minutes, then transfer to a wooden cutting board to slice.

Our birthday party celebrations were for Teddy’s 27^th and David Wright’s 60^th......same menu, very different crowds!  The weather was much more favourable for this week’s festivities, and we were very grateful that the rain held off for our 40 guests!

Marinated Asparagus Salad

Birthday Menu

Shrimp with Pancetta

Quesadillas

Italian Sausage with Mustard

Smoked Salmon 

 Beef Tenderloin with Charmoula

 Marinated Asparagus Salad

Pasta Salad w Smoked Vegetables

Grilled Corn Salad

Caprese Salad

Birthday Cake

Reid and Adam did a great job of grilling.

Grilled Corn Salad

8 cobs  fresh corn

  1 red pepper

  1 yellow pepper

  ¼ cup  oil packed sun-dried tomatoes, chopped

  1  jalapeno pepper, minced

  2  tablespoons fresh chives, snipped

  2  tablespoons cilantro, chopped

  For the Vinaigrette:

  1  small chipotle pepper

  2  cloves  garlic

  2  tablespoons  red wine vinegar

  1  teaspoon  frozen orange juice concentrate

  ½ cup olive oil

   salt and pepper,  to taste

Soak the corn cobs in their husks in a pail of cold water for 20 minutes.  Meanwhile, preheat the barbecue on HIGH, placing the red and yellow peppers directly on the grill.  Turn the peppers occasionally, charring the skins on all sides.  Remove the peppers to a cutting board.  When cool

enough to handle, peel the charred skin from the flesh;  seed and chop. Set aside.

Reduce the heat to MEDIUM.  Place the corn cobs (husks still on) on the barbecue.  Turn the cobs every 5 minutes for a total of 20 minutes.  Set aside until cool enough to handle, then peel and cut the niblets from the cobs with a sharp knife into a large bowl.  Add to this bowl the chopped red and yellow peppers, the sun-dried tomatoes, jalapeno pepper, chives and cilantro.

For the vinaigrette: In the bowl of a food processor or in a blender, combine the chipotle peppers, garlic, vinegar and orange juice concentrate.  Process for 20-30 seconds, then add the olive oil in a slow, steady stream, with the machine running.  Add the salt and pepper to taste. (If you do not have a food processor or a blender, finely mince the chipotle pepper and garlic, then add vinegar and orange juice.  Slowly whisk in the olive oil). Drizzle over the vegetable mixture and serve.  

Tanis Rideout reads from her new novel, "ABOVE ALL THINGS". Look for it in bookstores now.