Pickled Jalapenos

Grilled Pork Tenderloin in a Spice Marinade

This weekend I woke up to go for my long run and could not believe that it was already 2 weeks away from the half marathon race day. I completed a half marathon back in May 2010 and after a month or so of rest I started to train for the Army Half Run held on September 19, 2010 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

However, with the summer being so busy I did not realize the race day was creeping up on me. I have been able to get in all my runs, hills, speed, long distances, so I should be prepared, but I do not feel I am as energetic as I was back in May. I think I have run myself down, as I usually do each summer. I always try to balance my training, with friends, family, work and all those things life throws at you (good and bad). I think I will have a good race, but by no means going to reach a personal best and am looking forward to resting afterwards and getting into some cross training over the fall months. Regardless it should be an inspirational race with so many healthy and injured troops and their families participating in the race and therefore I will just be happy to be a part of it.

You can check out my training log at my Uberfit website under Half Marathon Army Run 2010 along with my official training schedule Half Marathon Training Program.This site also offers some other fun posts on nutrition and my travels/hikes/runs.

After my long 20km run, which took a bit over 1 hour and 40min I was famished. I had lots of water and some trail mix to hold me over until dinner. Then I prepared this grilled pork tenderloin in a spice marinade with grilled mustard and rosemary baby potatoes. The pork marinade has wonderful flavours that remind me that fall is coming – allspice, nutmeg, cinnamon and ginger.

Marinade

1/2 cup coarsely chopped white onion
2 T white vinegar
1 T soy sauce
1 T olive oil
2 tsp fresh rosemary, chopped
2 tsp brown sugar
2 tsp fresh ginger, chopped
1/4 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 jalapeno, finely chopped and seeded
1 pork tenderloin (1 to 1 1/2 lbs)

Mix all the ingredients together. Place the pork tenderloin in a ziplock bag or in a deep dish. Pour the marinade over the tenderloin and place in the fridge for 1-4hours.

Grease the grill and preheat the grill to med high heat. Grill the tenderloin for 15-18min until it reaches an internal temp of 155F to 160F for a nice pink middle. Turn the pork often while grilled. Remove from grill and tent for about 5-10min.

Grilled Grainy Mustard Baby Potatoes

1 lbs of baby potatoes, quartered
1 T grainy Dijon mustard
Freshly ground pepper
1 tsp dried rosemary

Boil the potatoes first for about 5min. This will allow them to cook slightly and reduce having a dry inner potato. Drain and add the ingredients, toss to mix. On a grill pan cook the potatoes using indirect heat for 45 min or until tender to the fork on the inside and slightly crisp on the outside. These can also be cooked in the oven.

Chili-LIme Sweet Potato Fries with Chipotle Mayo

You cannot get a more classic American meal then burger and fries. This pair has been made famous from diners in the 50s and 60s and by the fast food movement which although began earlier grew in popularity in the 70s onward. The burger and fry combo has no bounds as it can be served as part of a backyard barbeque on a summer’s day, grabbed via drive-threw on your way out of town, or ordered in a five star restaurant, likely as a gourmet slider with fancy match-stick potatoes served with seasonal chutneys and aioli.

With so many fun things to do with burgers and fries, I thought I would bring the classic diner to my backyard. I used sweet potato for fries and added some complimentary spices and served these fries up with a spicy chipotle mayo. I just loved dipping my crispy sweet fries into creamy and spicy mayo. These fries were served with a classic beef burger. The plating was a large red basket lined with brown paper (could also use newspaper). It was fun to sit in the backyard eating burgers in fries in what felt like a dish plated at a Diner. I haven’t perfected the plating and will certainly be doing it again in the near future.

Chili Lime Sweet Potatoe Fries & Chipotle Mayo

2 medium sweet potatoes, sliced into fries

(keep on some of the skin for rustic look)
1 T olive oil
1 T lime juice
½ tsp chilli powder
¼ tsp cayenne
Salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 425 F.

Once the potatoes have been cut up, place them in ice cold water for 30min in the fridge. Then drain the fries and pat them dry. This will help the outer part of the fries to get crispier. But noting the high sugar content of sweet potatoes the inner will inevitably remain soft, which is what makes them so tasty.

Note: Coating the outside of the fries with egg white is also a tip I heard of. I think it did help add a bit more crisp to the outside as well.

Add the oil, lime juice and spices to the fries. On a baking sheet covered with parchment paper line the fries without touching each other.

Bake for 30-40 minutes. Watch them carefully so they do not burn and flip them once during cooking. You may broil them at the very end for about 2 minutes, but be careful not to dry them out.

Check out this delicious burger recipe.

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

Apple Raisin Chutney

When I think of fall so many great fruits and vegetables come to mind apples, gourdes, carrots, parsnips, potatoes and of course pumpkins. At first I was going to make pumpkin muffins with cream cheese filling, but the local grocery store had none of the ingredients I required. So plan B, was to make something with apples. I really love how fruit chutneys compliment spicy dishes and I new that apples compliment pork very well. So I spiced up some pork chops for the grill and made some apple raisin chutney served with late summer yellow and green zucchinis. (Spicy pork marinade to follow). I found a few chutney recipes, but in the end I guess I had in mind what I wanted it to taste like and made my own concoction. I day later I tried the chutney with cheese and bread...mmmm... it tasted like apple pie filling.

Not only am I happy about fall being here and being able to cook with local fall foods. But today marks the 1st day of two weeks of holidays. I had plans to be abroad, but due to injury I am now at home. However I am very happy with that. With the new house I will have the time to fix it up as desired, new paint, carpet and of course more time to cook and bake. So hopefully over the next two weeks I will be able to post some nice fall dishes.

Apple-Raisin Chutney

3 granny smith apples, peeled and chopped
1/2 cup sweet onion, diced
1 cup raisins (sultans)
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 T grated fresh ginger
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp cloves
1/8 tsp cinnamon

Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Place in fridge and chill. Serve with cheese or meats.

See Also

Mango Salsa

Jerk Chicken with Mango Salsa

This weekend was a nice long 4 day weekend for me. I kicked it off with an evening wedding, followed by a day of recovery. I managed to make some plans for the house such as painting ideas, carpet and photo ideas that will hopefully come to fruition in the next few weeks.

As usually I also made a couple bbq meals including the same old salmon and steak. Getting tired of the same ol same, I decided to try a new recipe for bbq chicken. Since I have never tasted or made jerk anything before, and considering I missed the Carribean Celebration a few weeks ago and one of my favorite restaurants in town is Carribean I thought it was time to try it. I found this recipe from Eat Shrink and Be Merry. I found it could have used more heat, but regardless of that the flavors were extraordinaire. I personally loved the allspice, cinnamon and nutmeg flavors in the chicken. Serving it with mango salsa provided a contrast between the deep warm flavor of allspice and the fresh juicy flavors of the mango. I also served it with a simple sinach and mango salad with poppy seed dressing.

Jerk Chicken

1/3 cup chopped green onions
1/4 cup lime juice
2 T olive oil
2 T soy sauce
2 T honey
1 T ginger root grated
2 t minced garlic
2 jalapenos seeded and finely chopped
2 t allspice
1 tsp thyme, salt and pepper
1/2 tsp cinnamon and nutmeg
12 chicken drumsticks or thighs

Mix all ingredients in bowl. Pour over deskinned chicken and marinade in fridge for up to 24 hours.

Preheat grill to med high. Grill on medium heat for 15 minutes, turning occassionally. Done when meat is white.

Serve with mango avocado salsa (recipe below)



Mango Avocado Salsa

1 tomato chopped
1 avocado chopped
1/2 vidalia onion chopped
1 jalapeno chopped
cilantro (as desired)
juice of one lime
1 tsp chili powder
pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients together and refridgerate.

See Also

Mango Chutney

Mango Salsa

Grilled Salmon with Brown Sugar & Mustard Glaze

Finally some pictures of the new house (backyard and kitchen)! Being injured has not been fun, but it has allowed me to enjoy being at home. Usually I am off hiking, biking, running etc... and things around the house do not get done. It has been nice getting things in order and brainstorming about how to decorate the place with photos and paint colors.

This weekend was also fun in the fact that Westboro Beach, the nearby beach, was having its annual "movies at the beach" night. The vote that won was for the movie "Cars." First I dined at my sisters place who made these awesome Korean barbecued ribs with an orange ginger marinade. We then walked down to the beach at dark sat on a blanket, poured some wine and watch the movie. It was a lot of un and really cool to see the river behind the screen and the city lights on the horizon.

The next night the weather was still perfect so we decided to yet again dine outside. I decided to grill a nice fillet of salmon. Rather than use the blackening spice I use perhaps too often, I decided to change it up with a nice tangy glaze. I must give credit to my husband for this glaze as he makes it by taste (thus hard to provide any concrete measurements). Depending on how you adjust your flavors the glaze can be sweet and tangy with a hint of heat. I am kind of getting tired of the same old side dishes of tomatoes, cucumbers, corn, rice, potatoes or salad. Therefore I jumped ahead a season and bought an acorn squash and roasted it with indirect heat on the bbq for about 50 minutes.

Glaze

3 T brown sugar
1 T honey
2 T butter
1/4 cup grainy dijon mustard
T olive oil
2 T soy sauce
1 T grated ginger root
pinch of cayenne (optional)
salt and pepper to taste
1 large fillet of salmon or 6 (6oz) pieces

Melt the brown sugar, honey and butter in a small saute pan oven med high heat. Remove from heat and whisk in mustard, soy sauce, oil, ginger. Let cool.

Preheat the grill to med heat. Brush salmon with glaze. Place the salmon skin side down on the oiled grill. Grill for 6-8 minutes (turning after 5 min) and baste through grilling time.



For the squash this should be placed on the grill well before the salmon. Heat the grill to high and then turn off once side of the bbq to grill using indirect heat. Brush the squash halves with a mixture of melted butter and brown sugar. Grill meat side up for 50 mins.

Loving the backyard with a patio, herb garden and garage.

Kitchen exits nicely to the patio, making it nice and easy to entertain guests, as well as nice to have natural light for food photography.

BBQ Chicken in Bourbon Sauce & Corn

One of my favourite summer time meals, is corn on the cob. When it is in season it truely is so flavourful. I recently picked a dozen up at the Parkdale Market and served it with chicken legs. The chicken was basted with my father in laws homemade bourbon bbq sauce. This sauce has a really nice tangy flavor. I am still keeping my typing to a minimal, so this will be a short post.

2 T butter
1 large shallot, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 ounces of bourbon
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup of honey
1 T ancho pepper, finely chopped
8 ounces of chili sauce
8 ounces of barbecue sauce
3 ounces of wing sauce


In a large saucepan, melt the butter, add the shallot and garlic cloves and saute for 2-3 mins. Stir in the bourbon, sugar and honey. Heat through for about 1 minute. Add the pepper, chili, bbq and wing sauce. Cook stirring occasionally for about 2 minutes.


Baste chicken with this sauce and let sit for about 15 minutes prior to cooking.


Preheat grill to med high and cook chicken (can baste with more sauce if you like your chicken saucy) until chicken is cooked.

Asian Inspired Coleslaw & Ginger-Sesame Dressing

Being from Canada I live for bbq and patio season. Most traditional barbeque meals include a variety of salads, with coleslaw being an oldy but goodie. I find this salad light and with the right dressing can be flavorsome. I tinkered with this one to get the right amount of ingredients so it would not be too peanuty, or too gingery. In the end I think the balance between the ingredients works well.

Ginger Dressing

6 T rice wine vinegar

3 T olive oil
1 T peanut butter
2 T soy sauce
3 T brown sugar
2 T minced fresh ginger
2 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp hot sauce
salt and pepper

Coleslaw

8 cups of shredded (red and green)
1 red bell pepper sliced thinly
2 carrots julienned
6 green onions, chopped
1/2 cucumber, diced
1/2 cup cilantro
1 apple shredded (optional)

Use either a pre-shredded cabbage or using a sharp nice finely chop 8 cups of cabbage. Cut the remaining vegetables and put together in a bowl and mix.

Whisk together the ingredients for the dressing and pour some over the salad and toss. Serve immediately.

Tomato & Feta Sandwich with Pesto Mayonnaise

I did not mearure the amount of mayonnaise vs pesto and think it is a personal choice on flavor anyways. I started with a few heaper Tablespoons of light helman's mayonnaise and kept adding a couple teaspoons to the mixture until I reached the desired taste.

It is great on panini or any type of sandwich.

This is a handcrafted dish from my travels to Peru.
Peruvian artwork, crafts and pottery are very impressive.

Tomato and Feta on Toasted Baguette with lettuce & pesto mayonnaise

Basil Pesto

A while back I made spinach pesto and used it as the base for a chicken pasta sauce. It was so easy to make and a nice change from the tomato based sauces I am use to, that I thought I would try a basil pesto this time. I had fresh basil in my fridge and every time I opened the door the smell was so fresh and uplifting I couldn't resist. I thought it would make a nice sauce for pasta, a spread for a grilled veggie sandwich, pizza sauce and/or mixed with mayonnaise to dip veggies or potato wedges in.


2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup pine nuts
2 medium sized garlic cloves, minced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

In a food processor combine the basil, pine nuts, cheese, garlic, and salt and pepper. Pulse in a the food processor. While pulsing slowly add the olive oil in a constant stream. Add more salt and pepper if needed.

Makes 1 cup.

Spinach & Walnut Pesto

With my husband's and my active lifestyle we are always looking for meals packed full of energy. Currently we are both training for races in May. Between doing 1 hour weight training on lunch and variety of runs after work (speed, hills, long runs), by the time we get home we are ready to gnaw our arms off in hungry. But rather than rapidly scarfing down a meal, we usually take that time to unwind by preparing a nice meal. Well we have the occassional melt down where we hit the pub instead, for a delicious Apricot beer and lamb wrap...mmmm gotta love the Manx.

With such an active lifestyle finding meals that will replenish our energy is a must. Pasta is just the meal for that and has hence become part of our weekly menu - offering complex carbs, protein and depending on the vegetables a great source of vitamins & nutritents. However, I must admit when it comes to pasta recipes we tend to stick to the same type of tomato based dishes with slight variations. As I was getting tired of the same old thing, I decided to be adventureous and create a new pasta dish (spinach pesto penne with chicken).

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I am not one for cream sauces and find olive oil bases boring. Therefore I decided to try a pesto sauce. As I did not have basil, I used the baby spinach in my fridge and combined it with the following ingredients to make a really nice pesto that can be used on pasta, chicken, pizzas & grilled veggie sandwiches. I like pesto, but find that it can be overpowering. Using spinach rather than basil makes for a less pungent pesto (optional: add some basil leaves about 1 cup for that spicy aroma and flavor basil pestos offer).

4 cups of baby spinach, washed

1/4 cup walnuts

2 cloves garlic

1/4 cup parmesan cheese

salt and pepper

a bit of lemon rind

1 tsp fresh lemon juice

1/3 cup olive oil

1/3 cup water

Optional: add 1 cup basil leaves.

In a food processor combine spinach, walnuts, garlic & cheese and process until roughly chopped. Then slowly poor olive oil combined with lemon rind and lemon juice into processor while blending. Then add water the same way until the paste is smooth and thick. Remove from processor and store in fridge or freezer.

For a creamier pesto can combine with 60g of goat cheese or 50g of cream cheese. This makes for a nice spread on crackers or baguette. I used goat cheese with this pesto as the base for my pasta dish which will be posted soon.

Makes about 1 1/2 cups.

Nutrition Facts:

Spinach contains is a source of iron (60g contains about 1.9mg), however the absorption of iron is improved greatly by combining it with citrus (Vitamin C), as it is a nonheme absorption enhancer. It also contains calcium, vitamin A, C, E, K, Magnesium, folate and antioxidants.

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Walnuts are a great source of omega 3 fatty acids, with about 90% of a persons daily value. They are known to have health benefits for cardiovascular disease, asthma, rhematoid arthritis, inflammatory skin diseases such as psoriasis and eczema. Furthermore, they contain antioxidants that help the immune system and hold anti-cancer fighting properties.