Race Weekend

This past weekend was the 2009 Ottawa Race Weekend. Both my husband and I are runners and hence we have been participating in this event for a number of years either as a runner or a spectator.

This year my husband trained for his first half marathon. He usually completes the 10km, trying to improve his time each year. Last year, being happy with his 10km time (45min), he decided to try the half marathon (21.2km).

From January to May 2009 he trained hard with hill training, speed training, weight training and many long distance runs. His hard work paid off as he was able to complete his first half marathon in 1:46:47, a pretty impressive time.

Congratulations Marc on your great run!


Also see last years Half Marathon blog.

Grilled Salmon with Honey Mustard Glaze

Although I blog about salmon a lot, I have not had it in ages. Last week I decided it was time to stop eating red meat and have some nice atlantic salmon with fresh green beans.

2 x 6oz salmon fillets
1 T brown sugar
1 T olive oil
1 T honey
1 T soy sauce
1 T Grainy Dijon Mustard
2 cloves garlic, minced

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl. Pour marinade over salmon fillets and let marinade in fridge for 30 minutes.

Grease grill. Preheat grill to med-high heat. Place salmon on skin side down and grill on med for 6 minutes, then flip (only if salmon easily comes off grill, if not it needs another min or two) and grill for another 6 minutes, until flaky.

Brush with marinade while grilling.

Serve with grilled green beans.

Earthy Green Kitchen

I moved into my new home August 2008. The house is a semi-attached built in the late 1940s (1947) and hence has lots of character. As with any new home once you move in you just want to make it our own. As a foodie I spend much of my time at home in the kitchen and therefore desired to paint the kitchen and make it more modern, with a bit of my character in it.

Browsing through endless palette colors proved to be tedious, and my indecisive self could not decide on a bold reddish color or to use more earthy tones. Considering the kitchen goes off onto a deck and out into a garden of fresh herbs, mature trees, as well as my personal love for outdoors, nature and greenery the emerging theme was apparent - earth friendly tones. Benjamin Moore’s Misted Fern (green) provides a nice accent wall which complements the lighter Hemp Seed (a shade of beige) color. These colors stand out even more with the trim painted white. The earthy theme was enhanced with bamboo placements, bamboo shoots in a glass vase and potted herbs growing (basil, coriander, dill, rosemary), which I will be transplanting to the garden today.

Other additions to render this 1940s home more modern were the addition of a high glass pub table with leather stools. And lastly my kitchen would not be complete without a chalkboard featuring the menu of the day – one of my many narotic tendencies. I used an old picture frame without the glass, primed the pressed board and then painted a few coats of Benjamin Moore’s black chalkboard paint. As usual I posted way too many photos... enjoy!

Before

After

Fresh strawberries from the Parkdale Market

Before around door

After around door

More pictures of the kitchen before being painted can be seen here.

Grilled Ribs with a Smokey BBQ Sauce

This long weekend was not the best weather, and I am happy I did not go camping and get stuck in the downpours. Rather I stayed home and painted my kitchen (photos to come) and on the one nice day we had worked in my garden. I had bought a few racks of ribs a while back, and in an attempt to clean out the freezer I decided to grill them for dinner last night. Previously I used a great boubon bbq sauce for these ribs.

However, as I ran out my husband and I decided we'd try and make our own to our liking. The following ingredients were mixed together and basted on the ribs. The flavor is fantastic a good balance of tang and spice with a mild smokey flavor cmoing from the ancho chili powder. I would say this bbq sauce is one worth trying.

1/2 cup ketchup
1/3 cup red wine
1 T olive oil
1 T soy sauce
1 T brown sugar
1 T apple cider vinegar
1 T Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp chipotle chili powder
1/2 tsp ancho chili powder

Also Try

Grilled Ribs in Bourbon Sauce

Korean Ribs in Orange Ginger Sauce

BBQ Chicken in Bourbon Sauce

Turkey Burgers

Burgers are a staple in my house come spring/summer. Weather it is a beef, veggie or chicken burger it is our favorite simple thing to eat. I decided to try a new recipe for turkey burgers. The following recipe turkey out nice, the dijon mustard made it nice and tangy, while the hot sauce gave it a bit of spice. If you like yours burgers spicy you could add a bit of cayenne to spice it up more.

1 to 1 1/2 ground turkey

3/4 cup bread crumbs (add a bit at a time until desire consistency)

1 large egg slightly beaten
4 T chopped cilantro

1/2 jalapeno seeded and minced

1 clove garlic minced

1 T grainy dijon mustard

1 T worchestshire sauce

1 T hot sauce

2 T chives (from my garden)

freshly ground pepper

Mix all the ingredient together in a bowl.

Form into 5-6 patties about 2 inches thick.

Preheat greased grill to med-high heat.

Place patties on grill and cook for 6-8 min per side, flip only once and do not use spatula to push down on the pattie or you will loose all the juiciness of this burger.

Fresh chives from my garden.

Grilled Ribs in Bourbon Sauce

It has been just over a month since I last blogged. The month of April was incredibly busy between seeing friends, family, running and doing spring errands (like planting my herbal garden) I did not have much time for blogging. With the nice weather I have also been enjoying the deck and BBQ. This past weekend we purchased a much needed new Q. The other one was pretty unhealthy as it was rusting out. The new grill has so much more room, more BTUs, a cast iron grill. So far it grills really nicely.
On the weekend we grilled up some ribs in a tangy bourbon sauce with asparagus on the side. The ribs turned out delicious. Cook ed them on medium high heat for 12 mins (6 mins per side) and basted with bourbon sauce througout grilling. As for the asapargus usually 4 min per side or total of 6-8 min tossing around occassionally is perfect (I added olive oil & freshly ground pepper to them). Hopefully with the new BBQ and the herbs in my garden growing I will be inspired to post more regularly again.