I love peanut flavours. True confession here, I have a slice of toast and peanut butter every night. If I don't, I miss it.
I don't have butter on my toast, or anything else . . . just a slice of thick whole wheat toast, lightly spread with peanut butter.
I am a happy camper. Peanut Butter is such a versatile ingredient and a real store cupboard essential, at least in my home it is!
This recipe today is for a delicious marinade that you can make for marinating chicken. You could also marinate other proteins, like pork, fish or even tofu in this tasty mixture.
It works great, and tastes even better!!!
I just love the flavour of this marinade. Its an interesting mix of ingredients that somehow work very well together.
A delicious mix of sweet and salty . . .
I like to use light olive oil. Its a waste of good olive oil to use extra virgin olive oil in something like this.
I use a good quality light olive oil, one which has been specifically been produced to be used in cooking.
You can use whatever brand of peanut butter you like. Myself, I prefer Skippy. Its the North American in me I guess.
I pick mine up by the HUGE jar at Costco, and I probably go through one of those a month, no kidding.
I also prefer smooth peanut butter over crunchy for this, but if you are a fan of crunchy, go for it.
Soy sauce. I like to use the dark one because it is filled with flavour. You can get low salt ones nowadays that are really good.
Honey, just plain regular clover honey works well, and again for the BBQ sauce, just pick your favourite one. Everything else is pretty self explanatory.
Fresh lemon juice (not the stuff in the plastic squeeze lemon, please!!!!) Worcestershire sauce and garlic, plenty of garlic. Its just yum, yum, yum . . .
I like to reserve some of the marinade for drizzling over the cooked chicken, or for dipping it in.
Today I grilled some tender stem broccoli along side of the chicken and served it with my Simple Sesame Noodles. This went down a real treat!
*Grilled Peanut Chicken*
Serves 4
A
delicious marinade which yields a really tasty bit of chicken. I like
to make extra marinade to dip the finished chicken in when I am eating
it. Its just so tasty!
For the marinade:
120ml light olive oil (1/2 cup)
50g peanut butter (1/4 cup) (creamy or smooth, you choose)
60ml of soy sauce (1/4 cup)
85g liquid honey (1/4 cup)
2 TBS your favourite BBQ sauce
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
the juice of one lemon
pinch cayenne pepper
3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
4 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts, trimmed and pounded to an even size
Poke your chicken breasts all over with a fork. Place into a
shallow dish. Whisk together the remaining ingredients. Remove about
1/2 cup of it and set aside. Pour the remainder over the chicken in the
shallow dish, turning the chicken over to coat. Cover and place in the
refrigerator to marinate for 2 hours, or up to 6 hours.
When you are ready to cook, Remove the chicken from the marinade, discarding any marinade left in the dish.
I grilled my chicken outdoors on our Space Grill. I just love this fabulous BBQ Grill. It is just so easy to use and makes outdoor grilling fun instead of a chore. We have had a BBQ for years, and to be honest, we have used this Space Grill more in the few weeks we have had it than all of our other BBQ grills combined throughout the last 18 years.
Seriously I use it almost every day, and sometimes more than once a day, and the main reason for that is because it is just so darned easy to use. It literally folds out ready for use in seconds, and you can be cooking on it before you can say Jack Rabbit. Its unique patented design is probably one of the best I have ever seen.
When not in use, it tucks away, taking up very little space in the garden. Its attractive, easy to use, and works really well. I love using both the ceramic coated cast iron reversible cooking tray and the stainless steel grill rods. Today I used the tray. When done, I find that a simple soak and then scrub with a heavy duty plastic brush gets everything back and looking great again, ready to fold down and store away until next time.
I also love that the drip tray (which is located in the bottom front, beneath the easy to use controls) is so easy to clean. Just pop it off and wipe it out! I would not want to be without it now! To find out more do check out the Space Grill home page. If you're not impressed I'll eat my hat.
“Oh our hay it is mown and our corn it is reaped,
our barns are full and we’ve garnered the seed…”
Even in our time it is still a hot and dusty work. This recipe I am showing you today would have been a traditional drink that would have been served up ice cold to the workers as a means of refreshment in the field.
There is actually no real "Beer" involved. Not many farmers would have wanted to risk the bringing in of their hay by serving actual "Beer" to their men . . . nor could they afford the expense of quenching the thirsts of their hot and tired workers by serving them real "Beer." Instead, it is a drink which is meant to be thirst quenching without dulling the senses.
It actually does resemble a dark ale in looks, but that is where any true resemblance to beer stops. It might have faint echoes in flavour to the real thing, but not being a beer drinker myself, I cannot actually say this for sure!
It has a very faint malty flavour . . . probably from the use of molasses in this mixture, which also gives it it's dark colour . . .
More sweetness comes in the form of granulated sugar . . . but again there is a hint of sour from the use of white vinegar. Todd, who has been an ale-drinker in days gone past, says it is quite a pleasant drink. This is also a nice whiff of ginger, which is known to be refreshing!
Having said that I don't think it is ever going to overtake homemade lemonade in the scheme of popularity when it comes to thirst quenching drinks in our house! Then again, we are not out working in the fields and getting all hot and dusty!!
It is a recipe I have adapted from a very old paper-back recipe book I have had in my library for many years called The Farmer's Daughter Cookbook, by Kandy Norton Henley. In its day, it was called a delectable treasury of nostalgic home cooking!
Published in 1971, I have had this book for nigh on to 47 years now. (Oh that does make me feel old!) This is a recipe that I have always been curious about, and with the hot weather we have been experiencing, I decided to finally give it a try! (Better late than never!)
Todd quite likes it and has really enjoyed it after mowing the lawn, maybe not as hearty a chore as bringing in the hay crop, but still quite sweat inducing!
I have a huge jar of it in the refrigerator, and I dare say he will be enjoying it until we run out of hot weather. He normally isn't much of a cold drink lover (I wear that crown), but when it is hot he does enjoy something colder!
*Haymaker's Beer*
Makes a generous
4 litres/1 gallon
This
thirst-quenching refreshing drink would have been a treat on a hot day
to the farm worker's who used to help the farmer's get their hay crop
in.
4 litres water (16 cups)
385g sugar (2 cups)
240ml molasses (1 cup)
240ml white vinegar (1 cup)
1 to 2 tsp ground ginger
Mix all of the ingredients together until the sugar is dissolved.
Chill in the refrigerator until very cold. In the hayfield, this is
every man's drink.
Needless to say I did not make a whole gallon of this drink. I cut the recipe down by about 3/4, only making about 1 litre of it. I don't have a whole haying crew to please, after all, and I mostly wanted to make it more out of curiosity than for any other reason. Having said that, however . . . I am glad that I did! Here's mud in your eye!
Sriracha Sauce. Love it or loathe it? I am from the love it camp, although I do admit, not so much that I squirt/paste it onto everything I eat like some people do. I prefer to be a tad bit choosy about where I put it and this fried rice recipe is one of my favourite ways to use it.
I think you might have to be living under a rock not to know what Sriracha sauce is, but just in case you don't Sriracha sauce is a type of thick hot chili sauce, which is made from chili peppers, garlic, vinegar, sugar, salt . . . It originated in a city in Thailand called Siracha, which is where it gets its name.
We are so blessed to live in a world where things like this are readily available to us. Nothing like this was ever even in my imagination when I was a child. We ate pretty normal, extraordinarily ordinary simple food, which is what was available to us. I don't think I had even heard of Broccoli until I was a grown up and my first experience with it was in a Chinese restaurant. We just never had it at home.
Absolute truth, first experience with Pizza was when we were making them for a Winter Carnival in high school. I know . . . how did I ever get to that age without pizza! Sheltered limited life. That's how.
Anyhoo, back to Sriracha . . . how do you say that? I prefer to just say that hot garlic sauce . . . because that I can pronounce, lol. I'm lucky I can even spell Sriracha!
Anyways, I had one chicken breast I wanted to use up the other day and I thought fried rice . . . a great way to feed two people. We love fried rice suppers in this house. They are a fabulous way to stretch out few ingredients, quick, easy and a great way to use up all the bits in your refrigerator! Today I added some Sriracha sauce and it was amazing. Totally amazing. Try it!
*Shriracha Chicken Fried Rice*
Serves 2
Quick, easy and delicious. (I know you must be getting tired of hearing that, but its true!)
2 tsp vegetable oil
1 large or two small boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bits
1 tsp Sriracha sauce
1 red bell pepper, chopped
handful of fresh sugar snap peas, washed, de-stringed and cut diagonally
3 medium spring onions, green and white bits separated and sliced
1 tsp finely chopped fresh ginger root
1 clove garlic, peeled and finely chopped
4 tsp soy sauce
1 TBS packed soft light brown sugar
1 pouch cooked white rice (1 1/2 cups)
2 TBS fresh lime juice
Heat half the vegetable oil in a large skillet. Add the chicken,
cook, stirring for a minute or so. Add the Sriracha sauce and cook for a
minute or so longer until the chicken is beginning to turn golden and
is no longer pink. Scoop out with a slotted spoon and keep warm.
Add
the remaining oil to the skillet. Add the red pepper, peas and whites of
the onions to the skillet. Cook for two to 3 minutes, until crispy
tender. Add the garlic, ginger root and cook until fragrant. Stir in the
soy sauce, brown sugar and rice. Cook to heat through, stirring
frequently. Stir in the cooked chicken and lime juice. Heat through,
then serve garnished with the chopped green bits of the spring onions.
The clever cook could substitute baby shrimps for the chicken in this recipe with excellent results. Colourful, crunchy, a tad bit spicy, with a bit of a tang. A main dish for two, or a side for more. Easy to multiply to feed more. This makes a quick, easy and fabulous mid week supper! Bon Appetit!
With all of the lovely warm and sunny weather we have had recently all of the berries in our garden seem to be ripening at once. I'm not complaining!
I just wish they lasted longer! Our strawberries are pretty much finished now, but the blueberries and raspberries are just beginning, so we will have them to enjoy for a few weeks yet!!
This recipe today makes a beautiful use of all the ripe berries in the garden.
Fresh Berry Crostini. Beautiful crisp toasts topped with creamy rich mascarpone cheese, and then sprinkled with fresh berries and some sweet honey!
The hardest part is toasting the bread, literally . . . these are such a simple doddle to make!!!
They are delicious for breakfast if that's how you wish to serve them . . . or for a brunch occasion.
Perhaps as a simple dessert for all of those Al Fresco happenings in your little corner of the world . . .
Or maybe you are having the gals over for a tea party. In that case I would do them on smaller toasted slices of baguette, two bite sized . . . cute!
Use a fragrant flavourful honey, and don't be afraid to drizzle it on generously and pass the napkins.
You can vary the cheese as well if you like. Use cream cheese, or mix a couple of creamy cheeses together. These really are adaptable to a variety of flavours.
They are so pretty and jewel-like everyone will be ooh-ing and ahh-ing when they see them. Fresh, light and delicious. What more could you ask for!
*Fresh Berry Crostini*
Serves 4 - 6
These
make a fabulously light weekend breakfast, a delightful surprise for a
summer afternoon tea or a simple but elegant finish to the meal!
12 (1/2 inch thick) slices of fresh French bread
120g mascarpone cheese (1/2 cup)
2 punnets of fresh berries (I use strawberries, blueberries and raspberries, 2 cups)
85g Orange blossom, white truffle or lavender honey (about 1/4 cup)
Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Put
the slices of bread onto a baking sheet. Toast in the oven for 12 to 15
minutes until golden brown. Remove and let cool until you are ready to
use them.
A clever cook could cream together some mascarpone and creamy blue cheese, or even some cheddar with the mascarpone. Serve with sliced figs or apple wedges.
You could also place the toasts in a basket along with a choice of cheeses, fruits and several honey choices. (Think Greek Mountain, Acacia, etc.) Whichever way you choose to serve these, people will be pleased, and it makes for a simple, delicious and easy finish to any meal! Bon appetit!
I am about to show you something totally dangerous. You might want to look away now, before its too late . . . oops . . . too late. Sorry about that. ☺
With these warm summer temperatures, nobody can blame a person for not wanting to spend much time in the kitchen slaving over a hot stove, especially when it comes to baking goodies.
Although that has never really been a problem with me. I bake anyways. Glutton that I am through and through.
The heat never really gets to me, whereas high humidity does. Thankfully we only ever very rarely get a day here in the UK in which the humidity combined with the heat is totally unbearable.
When we do though, a recipe such as this one is just the ticket for feeding your sweet tooth and the kiddles.
These are such a simple make. As simple as stirring a few things together in a saucepan and simmering/boiling them on the stove for a short time . . . sweetened condensed milk, brown sugar, butter . . . and milk . . .
This gets layered in a baking tin along with crisp buttery rectangular shaped crackers. I have used TUC because that is what we have over here.
But you could use whatever buttery rectangular crackers you have available to you.
TUC crackers on their own are dangerous enough for me . . . love their buttery crunch . . .
Anyways, layer them into the tin, three layers of crackers and three layers of toffee, starting with the crackers and ending with the toffee.
Do make sure you line the tin with foil and butter the foil as they will stick on the sides if you don't. Toffee is like that.
Finally on top you melt some chocolate chips and spread them all over.
The original recipe once upon a time said to use milk chocolate chips, but I like semi sweet myself. These squares are sweet enough without adding to that with milk chocolate chips.
You don't have to use chocolate chips, you could just break up a large bar of milk chocolate, or even a bar of white chocolate, but the chocolate chips melt quicker.
Just spread the melted chocolate over top of the last layer of toffee and then if you want you can sprinkle on some cupcake sprinkles, not necessary, but they do dress them up a bit.
They might not be the prettiest girl in the class, but they sure are the tastiest! These are so delicious that I cut the recipe in half (yes you can do that and it works beautifully), but that's not all . . .
I keep them in the outside refrigerator so it takes an extra special effort on my part to go out and get one.
Oh, it also helps to give half of them away. Just sayin' . . . these are really scrumptious and dangerously addictive!
*Refrigerator Toffee Bars*
Makes 48
An
oldie but a goodie. I have had to adapt some of the ingredients to
what is available here in the UK. Something sweet to feed your kiddos
when the temperature rises and you don't want to be baking.
about 90 buttery rectangular crackers (Here in the UK I use TUC, but I think in
North America they are Keebler Club House)
1 (397g) tin of sweetened condensed milk (14-oz tin)
200g soft light brown sugar (1 cup)
125g butter (1/2 cup)
60ml milk (1/4 cup)
360g semi sweet chocolate chips (2 cups)
Line a 13 by 9 inch pan with tinfoil. Spray with low fat cooking
spray. Place 1/3 of the crackers in the bottom of the pan. Set aside.
Place
the sweetened condensed milk, brown sugar, butter and milk into a heavy
based saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring, until the butter has
melted. Increase heat slightly and bring to the boil. Boil for five
minutes, stirring constantly. Pour 1/3 of this mixture over the
crackers in the prepared tin. Top with another 1/3 of the crackers.
Pour on 1/3 more toffee. Cover with the final third of the crackers and
then the remaining toffee.
The Clever cook could sprinkle the warm chocolate on top of the bars with cupcake sprinkles to dress them up prior to refrigerating. Or you could top them with chopped roasted salted peanuts. In this case they would be almost as tasty as a Snickers Bar! Then again, they are pretty tasty no matter what! Bon Appetit!
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