soy-marinated flank steak with shaved beet salad and tomato salad with olives and lemon zest

Welcome to the flavours of summer! Just like what Baked Shells with Winter Squash is to cooler months, this dinner is the epitome of what summer tastes like. Soy-Marinated Flank Steak with Shaved Beet Salad and Tomato Salad with Olives and Lemon Zest (all from July/August 2009 Everyday Food).

This steak is so great, I put it right up against any rib eye I've ever loved and is hands down the best flank steak we've ever had. The marinade is quite similar to teriyaki and tastes restaurant-quality (very similar to the Keg's teriyaki) whipped up with all fridge and pantry staples. Just the right amount of sweet, salty and spicy. And all it will take is one bite of those caramelized edges to convince you of the same. 

Then we enjoyed a Shaved Beet Salad which made use of my amazing OXO mandoline slicer (thanks mom!). Orange and beet are a classic combination I almost can't imagine eating apart. This salad, while being a bit of a pain in the ass, was well worth the dirty work (just cut your losses and use rubber gloves when dealing with beets!). 

And finally the Tomato Salad with Olives and Lemon Zest. I made this quickly as a side using produce we had around. I didn't give this salad much of an expectation, but the combination of tomatoes, olives and lemon together set each other right off. This was great with grocery vine-ripened tomatoes, but I can hardly wait to try it again in August when field & heirloom tomatoes are in season. 

I'm so glad we discovered this meal early in the season because we will without a doubt enjoy all three again throughout the summer. If I was to ever recommend a meal to try this summer - this is the one.

pork and chorizo kebabs and french potato salad

This weeks dinners are exclusively the July/August 2009 issue of Everyday Food.

While busy cooking through the Everyday Food cookbooks, I let the magazine fall by the wayside. I remember getting issues in the mail, flipping through them, finding many recipes intriguing but never really jumping on board. Recently, I've been pulling out the corresponding months issues of Everyday Food dating back even 5 years when it comes time to plan dinners for the week. Then I can't hold back from the many, many different recipes I want to try. 

Tuesday night we decided to try the Pork and Chorizo Kebabs from this issue (and also included in the Everyday Food Light) with a side of French Potato Salad (this was the reader's published recipe) and Quinoa and Cucumber Salad (a summer staple we all enjoy since discovering it in Everyday Food Fresh Flavour Fast 2 years ago). Similar to tabbouleh, this quinoa salad is really good. I don't know how many times I've made it to use up extra parsley and cucumbers we have laying around.

We used a pork tenderloin and my in-laws chorizo for these kebabs and they are meat-madness! They came out looking like Brazilian Churrasco. Really tasty when you are having a spicy meat craving. Barbequing the chorizo dried out a little bit, but the pork was perfectly done. The potato salad is very reminiscent of a salad a neighbour of mine made when I was a child. Not to my taste when small, but super-nice as an adult. The dijon being the main flavour coming through, there isn't any sort of dairy or creamy element, so it's nice and light.

Owen was pretty funny with this dinner. We usually let him try everything in our dinners, and of course there is a reject pile. This dinner in particular (with all the onions, dijon and spice) didn't seem the most kid friendly, so I added peas to the quinoa salad and made that salad the main portion of his dinner. Since we eat something different everyday, Owen tries everything but he definitely loved this salad. He asked for some avocado to be added, so we did and he became very passionate about his concoction taking each bite with an over-the-top & passionate "mmmmm". 

strawberry ice cream pie

Happy Canada Day Long Weekend!!

Wow, what a weekend. This is the first official long weekend of the summer and it's always the weekend that feels the longest and most enjoyable because all three days are always jam packed with good times. In the middle of the long weekend we attended a pool party and we brought this Strawberry Ice Cream Pie.

A few years ago my grandmother brought this to a family gathering and I was in awe. My grandmother, who is a from-scratch baker, made this and all I could think was, "how did she manage to get such an intense strawberry flavour in this creamy jelletin?" Then I asked for the recipe and it dawned on me how 1950's it is. And by that I mean, my grandmothers who were products of the time, have many - many recipes that feature Jello and Cool Whip along other manufactured products of that era. Because this isn't some 'secret family recipe' I'll share it.

Strawberry Ice Cream Pie

1 graham cracker crust

1 pkg strawberry Jello

1 c boiling water

2 c vanilla ice cream, softened

1 1/2 c crushed fresh strawberries (plus more for garnish)

Dissolve Jello in boiling water. Spoon in softened ice cream a little at a time. Let set till consistency of egg whites (approx 20 mins). Fold in crushed berries and pour over graham cracker crust. Keep refrigerated and top with sliced berries before serving.

Note: For best results use real cream ice cream.  


Now for lots of images of our long weekend.

 

Municipal Beach in Port Weller St. Catharines and then from one end of the canal to the other at the H.H. Knoll Park in Port Colborne at the Flavour of Niagara Festival, Canada Day blueberry lemon johny cakes, bbq pool party with cousins, another afternoon swimming in the pool - and look, Owen's now swimming on his own (assisted by his many floaties)

rigatoni with sausage and parsley

This is last night's dinner of Rigatoni with Sausage and Parsley from Great Food Fast.

We used an Italian spiced chicken sausage for this dinner to keep it a little lighter. Using sausage instead of ground meat really is a great way of having built-in flavour without much effort in blending your own spices. So if you like the taste of a particular sausage on it's own, chances are it will make a great pasta sauce once removed from the casing and cooked in place of ground meat.

One major flaw in our technique was to not caramelize the red onions. The recipe isn't written to do this, and unknowingly, we followed it as instructed. But it would have been so much better if we'd only had the foresight to take that little extra time to get that caramelized onion flavour going on. But all in all this was a really nice pasta that I really think we'll make again come fall.

barley salad with chicken, corn and scallions

With our leftover chicken from the previous night's meal, we had Barley Salad with Chicken, Corn and Scallions from Everyday Food Light.

I felt like things could go either way with this dinner, but my expectations were leaning to the lower end of the spectrum. This dinner was easy enough to prepare, but took a while to cook the barley and roast the corn and scallions. Both tasks we could walk away from once a timer was set which is a rare kitchen luxury. Once complete it took a while to get the seasoning just right (needed a lot of salt), but when we got it, it was very tasty. Barley and corn are a great match together and the addition of scallions and parsley worked really well. I think this would taste even better with fresh basil added, although I doubt we'll have this again to ever give it a try.

grilled tuscan chicken with rosemary and lemon with grilled zucchini and squash

We are really enjoying grilling our meals. Truly, can you resist this weather? Perfect for cooking and eating outdoors. We made this Grilled Tuscan Chicken with Rosemary and Lemon with Grilled Zucchini and Squash from Great Food Fast.

Another exclusive to the barbeque dinner, this is a really nice way of enjoying the flavours you get from grilled food. The veggies are a combination of zucchini, summer squash, yellow and orange bell peppers with fresh basil. We bought a roaster chicken and I'm pleased to say my husband successfully butchered his first chicken. One whole chicken made so much chicken we ended up with plenty of leftovers.

garlic-marinated chicken cutlets with grilled potatoes

Our bbq is on overdrive these days. We've already blasted through an entire tank of propane in 3 weeks. But everything tastes so great grilled and this dinner of Garlic-Marinated Chicken Cutlets with Grilled Potatoes from Great Food Fast features an entire meal prepared on the grill.

To start, this recipe calls for chicken cutlets. I don't know what they are so we just took a boneless skinless breast of chicken and cut it in half (width-wise), into two thin pieces of chicken. There is a garlic marinade for the chicken that includes thyme, but where the recipe asks for fresh, we used dried. I really like thyme with chicken and thyme is one herb I prefer dried. The marinade looked a little muddy, but the taste was fantastic. The vegetables were grilled, and when complete, everything is served family-style. There is a final addition of a drizzle of Vinaigrette. This garlic vinaigrette is a necessary addition that adds such a nice flavour boost when drizzled over all three items which really helps bring everything together. We had the rest of this homemade vinaigrette on our salads for days and it really is a keeper of a recipe. 

Overall, a little bit of time and effort goes a long way with this dinner but I highly recommend trying it, especially if you're enjoying your bbq this time of year.

strawberry-rhubarb buckle

We decided to have another picnic this weekend with my in-laws. For dessert I made Anna Olson's "Any Fruit Buckle" using fresh rhubarb and strawberries. One of my favourite dessert recipes from Fresh Flavour Fast was the peach buckle, and until making it a couple years ago, I hadn't ever heard of of this type of cake before. Similar to a coffee cake, a buckle is a vanilla cake with baked fruit and, this one Anna Olson published on her website, has a strusel topping which adds a extra nice flavour/texture contrast.

This dessert is one of my favourites we've had recently. The crumb on this cake is so tender, I'm still gushing over the texture this cake has. It's so moist I actually had it in the oven for over 15 minutes longer than the instructed time. I've learned the hard way that baking times on buckles vary based on the amount of juice fresh fruit renders when baking.

Here are some of the reasons buckles are so great. If you're not the biggest pie fan (like myself), this is a great way of showcasing fresh baked fruit in a dessert. Buckles are simple cakes (similar to a loaf) and don't require any extra steps after baking. Like loaves, they are portable (which in this case I baked it right into a glass Pyrex with a fitted lid so it could travel with us to the picnic). Lastly, buckles appeal to my sensibility because they are cakes that aren't iced/frosted. 

The versatility of different seasonal fresh fruit that can be used makes this recipe a summer must-bake. If you're reading this, please try it!

owen's first rock concert

Do you ever have one of those days where you get shaken out of the monotony of routine? There are the predictable ones, like vacations or a night out... the ones that are planned. But then there are days like yesterday, where we found our day got turned upside down.

Built to Spill is a band both Nuno and I adore but have never seen live. We've seen just about every band we love live, but Built to Spill has alluded us. I was actually a little nervous to see them live because I heard their shows are about as crazy as Guided By Voices, with stinky aging male indie rockers getting beyond wild. But hours before the performance, I heard Built to Spill were playing a free show with Matthew Sweet (remember him? "Girlfriend") on the Buffalo waterfront as part of a concert series they have Thursday & Friday evenings during the summer. Well, we couldn't swing a sitter in time, so we decided there really wasn't anything that could hold us back from seeing our long overdue Built to Spill show and having Owen share in the experience of seeing his first rock show. 

Ah, I love Buffalo. Cheap food, cheap beer, free show and a really great time! It's pretty awesome to love music not many people listen to at a show not many people attend. I wonder if the Jesus and Mary Chain show planned in a few weeks will garner much of an attendance?

Owen ate a hot dog and in all his excitement spit-up on himself as well as me during one of his moshing outbursts. Party till you puke, Owen!

There was nothing more hilarious than to see Owen shake a tail feather. He made his own little dance party during Matthew Sweet (who played almost his entire "Girlfriend" album from beginning to end in honor of Roger Waters who was playing "The Wall" only blocks away at the First Niagara Centre).

I'm not sure I've seen Owen in his element more than at this show. Sign him up for swim class or soccer, he's just not on bored. But play some live music and he's got his own personal dance party.

“We’re special in other ways – way’s our mother’s appreciate”

The sound at this outdoor show was great. And I couldn't have been more happy to have heard Built to Spill play "Stop the Show". Huge thrill.

grilled greek chicken kebabs with mint-feta sauce and greek-style bruchetta

With all the dicey fails we've had with Everyday Food Light, I decided recently to take more time returning to recipes we enjoyed. One such dinner we've had several times since we first tried it is Greek Style Chicken Kebabs with Mint-Feta Sauce.

As I was prepping to make this dinner I decided to check back on my blog to find the recipe link and read any other notes. Completely by coincidence, we had this dinner exactly two years ago to the day! So I can say with confidence this is the perfect dinner for this time of year. It's simple, inexpensive and a total keeper. We had a side of Greek bruchetta made on the fly with diced tomatoes, feta cheese, diced kalamata olives, dried oregano, splash of red wine vinegar, s&p on garlic buttered loaf then barbequed. Extra kebabs and sauce make for a great lunches along with lettuce & tomatoes in Greek-style pitas.

our good times

 

marineland, aquarium of niagara, of montreal at NXNE, with my sister & cousin at NXNE, 
archers of loaf at Phoenix, backyard pools and sprinkler fun

gourmet hot dog picnic

I'm not really into the idea of hot dogs and sausages. At some point a few years ago I wrote them both off completely on account of the saturated fat and nitrates. That was until recently, when I started buying them from reputable local butchers. Now I allow them once in a blue moon and they are always a real treat. Our latest picnic at Lakeside Park yesterday found us barbecuing foot longs for a Gourmet Hot Dog Smorgasbord. These dogs are what sliders are to hamburgers. One foot long made three mini dogs where we taste tested several of the July/August issue of Everyday Food magazines suggested toppings. 

From left to right - Frank & Beans, Mexican Charred-Corn Dog and Banh Mi Dog. 

The one stand-out was the Banh Mi. We had all the ingredients around from our Vietnamese Steak Sandwiches from a couple nights ago (Nuno and I are hooked on these sandwiches and it makes perfect sense to work them into a hot dog). I'm disappointed that all the pineapple and red onions were used on our Hawiian pizzas the previous night because I think the Hawaiian Dog would have been delicious as well. Over our picnic, we came up with lots of new hot dog toppings that might work, so if we decide to do this again we'll try and share some of our own concoctions.

I made a side of Marinated Zucchini with Mint from Everyday Food Light and - it was just terrible. To think of the time it took to make this it was a huge disappointment on every level. I took this as a sign to just go ahead and indulge because as much as I canceled hot dogs from my diet, I just as avidly reject chips. But we decided to have Tostitos & salsa with this dinner and thank goodness we did since the zucchini side was so rank.

This is Owen's second time trying hot dogs (the previous time was at a birthday party). As you can tell he has no idea how to eat one with the wiener in one hand and bun in the other.

He even got to enjoy some Tostitos along with his cucumber slices as a side. Summer picnics are all about fun with a bit of indulgence.

hawaiian pizza

I used to find it strange to have something sweet like pineapple on a pizza. Hawaiian is a pizza I've only gained appreciation for very recently.

This Hawaiian Pizza on the bbq is made by grilling red onions and pineapple on the bbq first. To do this we sliced thick slices of red onions and sliced a whole pineapple into 8 long segments (removing the skin and core). Once cooked it's cut into chunks. 

Once we shaped our dough it was placed directly onto the bbq grates. I thought for sure it would melt through the grates, but it didn't happen that way. It grilled up perfectly! Once the first side was done it's flipped and the topping are placed on. Along with tomato sauce this pizza has prosciutto and mozzarella cheese along with the grilled onion and pineapple.

coriander-crusted flank steak

The July/August 2012 issue of Everyday Food magazine features the recipe for Coriander-Crusted Hanger Steak (which we substituted flank steak for). This is basically a rub of crushed whole coriander seeds, bay leaves and black pepper. Once grilled we were really pleased with the result. A quick and simple way to boost the flavour of your steaks.

On the side is my potato salad. I've reworked this potato salad with fantastic results. Here's how it's made:

Creamy Potato Salad

2 lbs of scrubbed new potatoes, halved, large quartered

1/2 cup reduced-fat sour cream

1/4 cup light plain yogurt

1/4 cup light mayo

2 tbsp white balsamic vinegar

1 tbsp dijon

1 bunch of thinly sliced scallions, just white and tender green parts

4 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled 

In a large pot, cover potatoes with salted water. Bring to a boil; reduce heat. Simmer until potatoes are tender when pierced with the tip of a sharp paring knife, 12 to 15 minutes. Drain and mix in sour cream, yogurt, mayo vinegar and dijon. While stirring mash a few potatoes and blend into salad. Season with salt and pepper. Let cool to room temperature and add the scallions and bacon. Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour and up to 1 day.

After posting this entry I noticed that I’ve now posted 800 entries. When I first started writing I didn’t expect to make it past 50, but to maintain and grow this blog has become a fun hobby. It’s been a way of tracking and enjoying things in my life that are important to me such as my family, vacations, milestones and of course food.

eggplant rollatini

This is our Eggplant Rollatini from Everyday Food Light. After cooking through a number of recipes from this book I’m finding it really is hit and miss, but this dinner is a huge hit!

This is our first time making any sort of eggplant rollatini, so I’m not sure how the original dish is made, but I doubt we’d have it any other way than this. It’s absolutely delicious, probably one of our favourite Italian American dinners we’ve ever had! These look like huge heavy burritos but it's not a heavy dinner by any stretch. It's quite light, using light ricotta and light mozzarella and baked eggplant instead of noodles, I definitely think this is light without sacrificing flavour. We ended up doubling this recipe and freezing the second portion which worked out really well.