Savouring the last of the good BBQ weather.

We had some friends over on the weekend and were hoping for a BBQ by the pool. We had to settle for a BBQ in the park with some of us wearing sweaters and then dessert inside. None the less, it was nice to be outside eating, food always tastes better to me when you are outside in the elements, catching the last of the days rays. We had to carry our picnic down to the communal park in our condominium so a little organisation was needed to get everything in one go and not have to come back up for anything that got forgotten. And a little pre-thought meant the food was all easy to cook too.

I had some steaks marinading in olive oil, salt and freshly cracked black pepper in a ziploc bag. I also had some portabello mushrooms in a bag in the same marinade. Another bag had some half cooked corn (I boiled it for a couple minutes and dropped it into cold water to stop the cooking process just as it started to give when I poked it with a knife) in it. I had a tupperware with a simple salad of grape tomatoes, peeled and diced cucumber, avocado, sheeps' feta, lemon juice and olive oil. A few drinks, plates, cutlery and salt, pepper and butter and we were set. Everything went on the BBQ for about the same amount of time, easy as.

I couldn't believe how easy it was to take food somewhere else to cook and eat. I would do it again with the same menu in a heart beat. And I cannot emphasis how much I LOVE corn on the bbq. The sugar in it caramelises so well, it is like a different vegetable all together. And always so good when it came fresh from my in-laws garden, first pick of the crop, very impressive. As much as I love the Summer produce I have to say that I am very happy to have Fall in the air again, it is my favourite time of year. With the blue skies and crispness in the air. Starbucks have their pumpkin spice late out now and I had a chocolate cupcake with pumpkin frosting from Prairie Girl Bakery yesterday, yummy! Thank you to Megan who dropped the treat off in work for me, it really made my day!

What happens when you don't cook or blog for a long time...

O.K., I know, I have long been absent and it has pained me. I am very aware of the fact that I haven't written for a long time and that also means that I haven't cooked much in order to have something to write about. I shall do better now that I am in a routine, though this routine sees me at work over lunch and dinner, so not too much cooking will happen. Hopefully I find some interesting things to write about none the less and the weekends hold lots of promise for home cooked food. I have friends telling me on Facebook that I am slacking on my Blog, friends emailing me to check on the reason for the absence and a husband who misses his wife's cooking! 

Today I got home at 8:30pm and I knew hubby was making dinner. He had been catching up on the Blog and a couple of weeks ago asked for the Garlic Sausage Penne meal. I had some of the ingredients in the house but never got around to making it on the weekend. He finally decided to make it himself. I arrived home to a somewhat sheepish man on the couch and when I walked over the stove top he leapt to attention and raced into the kitchen (to defend himself). I took the lid of the pot off and came face to face with sausage soup! With half curdled yoghurt in it. All I did was look at it and he said that it was my fault that the dish hadn't turned out! I asked why it looked the way it did and he said because he had added yoghurt to it and he thought he may have added it too fast. I asked if he wanted it to be the way it was and he said no. I asked if the yoghurt was because he had made it too spicy and he said no. But that he had made it too spicy and had used a can of condensed tomato soup to try and dilute it. The yoghurt was to thicken it. I didn't understand this part and he assured me that my Blog told him to do it. I re-read it and decided that no it did not, that I used cream cheese instead of cream because it would make it thicker than cream and that yoghurt could be a substitute for cream if you were watching calories in a rose sauce. 

I then remembered that he had said it was too spicy so I asked him how many chilli flakes he had used. He said he had used 3 of the chillies in the fridge. I almost choked! The chillies in the fridge are the tiny, extra hot, killer kind of chillies. Ones that I use whole when I cook so that some hotness seeps out of them and then I remove them from the food for fear that someone will burst an eardrum with heat pressure if they accidentally ate one. And we had 3 chopped ones floating around in our 'soup'. A few minutes later he went to the bathroom to wash his face and started yelling because he had rubbed a chilli finger in his eye! At this point I lost control and burst out laughing with tears running down my face, and he joined me, and then we went back to the kitchen to eat 'the crap' he had made, so he called it. 

It wasn't that bad. You could taste the soup in it and we used a slotted spoon to catch the veg and sausage bits out of the liquid and we are both full and happy. Though I guess I should get my apron back on and get into the kitchen more often to save my husbands ego and chilli burned eyes. 

P.S. I have his permission to write this, he is just happy I am writing something after so long!

Ginger marmalade (in peach pie and rib marinade).

I saw a picture on a Facebook friends' profile the other day of a peach pie, and it looked delicious. I asked for the recipe, but it is a secret of her Mothers', so I got some general guidance and one of the key ingredients was ginger marmalade. Genius! I went ahead and made a peach pie using it and it was/is delicious! 

I was being lazy so I picked up a Dr.Oetker pie crust mix but I know a home made pie crust would have been better. So, do as you will/can there. I was making this pie and a smoke cured salmon pate at the same time, as well as making lunch and eating it, all with a couple hours to go before having to be in work, so it was a little messy in the kitchen but I was happy. 

I made the crust according to packet directions and baked it blind a little first. I find this helps the crust to cook and not be soggy. I peeled and cut up 6 ripe Ontario peaches (yum!) and made a crumble/crisp topping. I wanted to avoid wheat as much as possible and make this as healthy as possible so I made the top out of oat bran and ground almonds, brown sugar and butter (not that the sugar and butter is good but there is no avoiding that part!). It doesn't have the same consistency as when you use flour but I knew it was better for me and it was filling and tasty. I also chopped up some pecans to go with it. 

I spread the ginger marmalade onto the hot pie shell and it helped it soften and spread evenly. Then I filled the shell with peach pieces, sprinkled some all spice on it and topped with crumble and pecans. In hindsight I would have added more ginger marmalade on top of the peaches, or melted some and mixed it with the peaches before hand, one of the 2, in order to incorporate more of the flavour and gooey-ness. The cooking instructions said to cook high for a few minutes if the filling was uncooked and then reduce temp and cook for about 30minutes. I found that the high heat actually made the pecan pieces and areas of the crumble burn so I would avoid this instruction level or cover the pie (which I did afterwards having spotted said burnt bits and removed them) to protect the topping and to help it cook better. I laid a piece of foil over it but didn't tuck the edges under.

We've eaten the pie cold and it is really good. I like warm pie and I am sure it will be wonderful warm! I think it could do with more ginger marmalade in it, but it has a lot of Autumn flavours in it and feels really wholesome and natural. Big fan of this! Especially when peaches are in season. 

I was then wondering what else ginger marmalade would be useful for and came up with the idea of using it in a rib marinade.

They are cooking as I write and they smell amazing! I had them in marinade for a couple of days before hand, actually, that was what else I was doing while making pate, pie and eating lunch, making marinade! It has Thai sweet chilli sauce (which is sweet, hot and garlic-y), ginger marmalade, soy sauce, tomato ketchup, rice vinegar and hot sauce. Lots of fragrant, bold flavours! We are going to have them with a big salad and some baked sweet potato!