Grilled Pork, Quinoa, and Eddie Izzard

Posted on August 3, 2016 by Our Growing Paynes

Sometimes it’s good to be lucky. I was scrolling through Facebook, as you do, and saw something about Eddie Izzard coming to New Hampshire. I thought I wasn’t reading that right as why would someone who did Wembley do a small theatre? But lo and behold, it was true! And it was brilliant.

He has always done really funny stuff but he has definitely progressed into a much more thoughtful dialog while using history to illustrate his point. In a hilarious way of course but he got his view across. And he did Q & A afterwards. It was a fabulous evening. My favourite quote was “I believe in human beings”. What a lovely sentiment.

I did find time to cook this weekend. When I went food shopping I found some quinoa on sale (who doesn’t like a sale?) and bok choi. I also found some pork ribs which would go great with homemade mustard. I recently made some without the chili so it would go well with this dish.

The quinoa itself is really easy to make, only takes about 15 minutes. Make it according to the package. Thinly spread mustard on both sides of the pork ribs. You don’t want it too thick otherwise it can overwhelm the dish. If you think it will you can always mix the mustard with some olive oil and white wine vinegar. Set the pork aside. In a skillet, heat up a tablespoon or so of olive oil and add a few mushrooms that have been chopped and a couple of garlic cloves that have been finely chopped. Add some fresh thyme and season with sea salt and pepper.

Once the mushrooms start browning add a quarter cup of dry sherry and half a cup of chicken stock. Bring to a simmer.

Chop up the stems of the bok choi and add it to the skillet. Add the quinoa. Allow the stems to cook for a minute or so. Then add the leaves.

Top with the grilled pork and enjoy. There were enough leftovers that I changed it up with bacon, sausage, and white wine. Quinoa can be surprisingly versatile.

Peach Bourbon Grilled Pork

Posted on July 7, 2016 by Our Growing Paynes

I’ve been trying this week to figure out video editing and the open source software. No success yet. I’m trying not to get frustrated but it drives me batty when my love of technology runs into the wall of not knowing how to make it work for me. So it may be awhile before I get this up and running. Annoying since I have a few ideas and I can see it in my head. Just need to get it through the keyboard onto the screen.

Peaches are in season and they have been showing up at the co-op, yay! And they had pork on sale. I know, I know, meat on sale? Can’t be a good idea. Usually I would agree but I’ve had success with the sales at the co-op.

In a small bowl mix up a dry rub. I used a tablespoon of brown sugar, 1 1/2 teaspoons of cayenne pepper, 1/2 – 3/4 teaspoon of ground cumin and dried cilantro, and sea salt and pepper.

Mix well and rub on both sides of the pork. Set aside to “marinade”. For the peach bourbon sauce chop up an onion to make about 1/2 a cup and finely chop 3-4 cloves of garlic. Heat up a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet and start cooking the onion and garlic.

Peel and dice one peach. Add to the skillet. Simmer until the peach starts to soften. Add 2-3 tablespoons of bourbon. I used Gentleman Jack but use whatever one you enjoy. Then add brown sugar. I started with a tablespoon but added more as it cooked to balance it with the bourbon. I also seasoned it with a teaspoon of cayenne, sea salt, and pepper.

Continue to simmer until the peaches soften and the sauce reduces a bit. Grill the pork and a peach cut in half.

I could do without the stifling heat of summer but boy do I love the flavours.

Leek and Bacon Burgers

Posted on July 5, 2016 by Our Growing Paynes

When I started blogging I was nudged by a friend to just go ahead and do it. Instead of just thinking about it and worrying whether it could be successful or not. For a few months now I’ve been wondering about starting a YouTube channel. Of course I have been trying to figure out if I could pull it off, what would I do, how would I do it, that sort of thing.

I’ve been inspired by Stéphane of My French Heaven who has started his channel. He has already uploaded a few videos and he is doing a great job. It’s a bit of a learning curve for me as I don’t have a Mac and we don’t use Windows. So I found an open source video editor Kdenlive to try out. I took a few videos to practice and boy did I feel silly! It’s one thing to have in your head what you want to do and another to actually press record and do it. So I’ll do a bit of practicing and see what I can sort out. I have iMovie on my phone but that screen is too small for me and I don’t have enough space on my iPad. Then I have to figure out camera set ups. I think this could be fun, once I learn the ropes.

This past weekend was absolutely gorgeous so we did a lot of outdoor projects. Which meant easy dinners was the name of the game. My husband wanted burgers. I wanted to do them with a twist. For the actual burger I did the same ones as I did in my gourmet burgers. Though instead of goat meat I used beef.

Instead of buns I bought large portobello caps to grill. Just prep them with sea salt, pepper, and olive oil. Set aside while you prep the burgers. Slice about half a cup of leeks and a few button mushrooms. Cut up a few rashers of streaky bacon.

Start cooking the bacon in a skillet. Once it is half cooked add the mushrooms and leeks to the skillet. While this is cooking grill the burgers and portobello caps.

Stack the burger on the mushroom caps, add goat cheese, and top with the leek and bacon mixture.

For this you can pick just about any cheese you like, my husband likes jarlsberg. You don’t need much more than this as it is quite filling.

Please let me know if you have a YouTube channel or any advice on having one.

Italian Potato Salad

Posted on July 1, 2016 by Our Growing Paynes

My husband and I have been enjoying exploring the bike paths that run through our area. I’m still surprised at how much I love biking. And it’s great along the shady paths with the little breeze we work up. Keeps the humidity off of us. Still tweaking the bike so it fits me better. I found a memory foam seat cover which eases the bumps we go over. Today I’m bringing the bike back to adjust the handle bars. My husband and I tried but damn if we couldn’t shift it.

Of course after doing a ride we don’t want a heavy meal and to be frank I lack the energy to whip up anything complicated. Still building up the stamina! We bought some lovely new potatoes from the farmer’s market this past weekend and a potato salad is an easy thing to make before the ride. As my husband isn’t into things with mayo I decided to make an Italian potato salad.

I made up the marinade first so the sundried tomatoes could soak a bit. I used the ratio 2:1 for olive oil and white balsamic vinegar. Whisk to bring the two ingredients together and add a couple of cloves of garlic chopped, a few teaspoons of fresh thyme, and sea salt and pepper to taste.

Cook up the potatoes until soft, drain and add to the marinade. Some potatoes will soften and fluff a bit with this, more than others. The ones I bought definitely fluffed a bit. Stir to coat evenly in the marinade. Add chopped proscuitto, freshly grated parmesan, mozzarella, and fresh basil. Chill then serve. Though you could have it warm if you prefer.

Prior to the ride I marinated steak with thyme, sea salt, pepper, garlic, olive oil, and white balsamic vinegar. Easy to grill up and dinner is ready in no time at all!

Rosemary Lemon Chicken Kebabs

Posted on June 22, 2016 by Our Growing Paynes

Tomorrow is a big day with the vote in the UK. It’s surreal because, like for a lot of people, this vote can directly effect how we transition in a few years to move back. But I can’t vote as subjects of the crown can’t vote if they don’t live in the UK. So I just have to wait and see. It will be nice to see the propaganda from both sides to die down. Talk about muddying the waters!

In the meantime I’ll just keep cooking along.

We didn’t just have a Dalek cake for the small family gathering. To avoid a sugar high I cooked healthy food as well. I kept it very simple with grilled veg and chicken kebabs. I grilled up mushrooms, peppers, onions, scallions, and aubergine.

The inspiration for the chicken came from a restaurant chain, Bertucci’s, where they have a spicy chicken wing with lemon and rosemary. No idea what the recipe is but I figured I could get close to the recipe.

I popped into my local store (my garden) for fresh thyme and rosemary. I do wish there was an easy way to prep thyme, so annoying, but what can you do? Finely chop a small handful of each. In a bowl add a ratio of 2:1 of olive oil and lemon juice, the herbs, 2 cloves of garlic finely chopped, sea salt and pepper to taste. Then add cayenne pepper to the level of spiciness you want. I kept it on the mild side as my aunt isn’t a huge fan of spicy food.

Mix well and add chicken to marinate.

When you are ready to grill add the chicken to the skewers and cook until the chicken is cooked through. Turn a few times so the chicken is cooked evenly.

It was a lovely relaxing lunch with family with plenty of room left over for cake! And any left over chicken and grilled veg is perfect for a salad later on. Which is handy after a bike ride and you aren’t up to cooking!

Italian Style Burgers

Posted on September 9, 2015 by Our Growing Paynes

Labor Day is the unofficial end of summer in the states. Usually marked by BBQs and last trips to lakes and beaches. And it was hot this weekend! Thank goodness temps are looking to break tomorrow. I’m over the humidity and heat. I’m very ready for autumn.

Burgers was the main request for Monday night and we tossed around ideas of what to make so I could have a recipe to share. My husband mentioned it would be fun to stuff them with mozzarella. Sounded good to me!

I wanted to use oven roasted tomatoes for this recipe and that does need to be done ahead of time as it takes at least an hour. To prep the burger, finely chop a clove of garlic and mix with a couple of teaspoons of fresh thyme. Add it to about a pound of ground beef. Then add about a 1/3 of a cup of freshly grated parmesan cheese and a few dashes of balsamic vinegar. Season with sea salt and pepper. Mix everything together with your hands. The trick is to not overwork the meat but get everything evenly distributed.

Divide the meat into four portions and place a slice of mozzarella in the centre. Wrap the meat around the cheese. Do your best to seal the cheese in.

Grill them on a hot grill. While they are grilling prepare the topping for the burgers. I had some oyster mushrooms to use up.

In a small skillet heat up a bit of olive oil. Chop up the mushrooms and a clove of garlic. Saute for a few minutes and add the roasted tomatoes.

Add a bit of balsamic vinegar and bring to a simmer. Season with sea salt and pepper.

At the end of cooking add fresh basil. Top the burgers with the tomato mixture and grate fresh parmesan on top with a bit more fresh basil.

And if all goes right, it will be nice and melty inside. Melty, not sure if that is the technical term!

Add a side of grilled corn and it’s a great meal to say goodbye to summer. While I left off the bun, this is also good with a buttered grilled brioche bun. But that is a lot of food!

Grilled Thai Steak and Ever So Grateful

Posted on August 24, 2015 by Our Growing Paynes

It was a very long week last week but everything went well with my dad’s surgery. Yesterday they discharged him from hospital and now he is recuperating at home. We were all breathing a sigh of relief. Still are if you want to know the truth.

So he’ll be causing trouble for a good long while now and we wouldn’t have it any other way!

As you can imagine I’m a bit backed up with blog posts and getting everything else back on track. Kids are back at school this week so we’re winding down the summer the next couple of days. Making sure they get back into the routine of things.

Last weekend I was in the mood for Thai flavours and decided to do a grilled steak with rice noodles. We have had some success with growing fresh garlic this year and we also had ginger and cilantro on hand.

In a bowl mix 2 tablespoons peanut oil, 2 tablespoons oyster sauce, 2 tablespoons amino acid, 1 tablespoon lime juice, one to two teaspoons of fresh chopped cilantro, a large clove of garlic, finely chopped, and salt and pepper. Add the steak to marinate for at least an hour.

When it is time to cook, heat up a couple of tablespoons of peanut oil. Add a few cloves of garlic, finely chopped, and a couple of scallions, chopped. Saute until the garlic starts to soften. Add a cayenne pepper. When slicing use gloves, saves on burning skin. We keep the seeds but some may find that too hot. Saute for a few minutes.

Add a cup of chicken stock and bring to a simmer. I made the mistake of adding the rest of the veg too soon. I like my veg on the crispy side. If you like them soft then add the peppers and mushrooms when you add the stock. Also add carrots. I added a couple of tablespoons of green curry paste, a tablespoon of oyster sauce, a tablespoon of amino acids, and a splash of lime juice. Continue to simmer. As it cooks adjust the flavour to your liking.

Grill the steak to medium rare.

Take the leftover marinade and add it to the skillet and continue to simmer. While the steak is resting add half a cup light coconut milk. Add a few more teaspoons of freshly chopped cilantro at this stage as well.

While this is being created cook rice noodles according to the package. Toss the noodles in the sauce and serve. Top with the steak and peanuts.

I enjoyed this dish. The heat was mild but you could always add more hot pepper as you cook. Tonight we are doing Pad Thai for dinner. Another one of our favourites!

Grilled Tarragon Chicken Salad and Radio Show

Posted on August 7, 2015 by Our Growing Paynes

Every once in awhile you have to go outside of your comfort zone. I had the opportunity to do that yesterday. I’ve mentioned Luca, a chef in town and a friend of mine, who does cooking shows. You might remember my daughter had a chance to do a show with him.

He also does a weekly radio show on our local talk radio with Dan Mitchell talking about cooking and he brings bloggers, chefs, etc on as guests. He invited me to join him. I had an absolute blast doing this. I was nervous about doing it but I didn’t want to miss this opportunity to do something new.

Here is the podcast if you would like a listen. But please, I know I sound American. Every time it comes up that I’m English, without fail, I get “but you don’t sound English”. That bothers me. Like there is a doubt of who I am. I came over very young and didn’t go back again until I was an adult. The accent doesn’t start coming out much until I’m back in the UK. It is what it is! Other than that I do hope you enjoy the podcast.

And of course I had to show up with food. But because the show was in the morning and there isn’t a kitchen so it had to be something I could serve cold.

I decided to do grilled chicken with tarragon. For dinner I did it as a salad and for the show I did it as lettuce wraps.

For the marinade I finely chopped a few cloves of garlic and a handful of tarragon. Mix it with equal parts white wine and olive oil. Season with sea salt and pepper. Make sure it is mixed well and then add the chicken to marinade for at least an hour.

Grill the chicken and let it cool. Meanwhile toast half a cup of pinenuts in a dry skillet. You want to pay attention as you are doing this. The nuts can easily burn. Keep the pinenuts moving in the skillet as you toast them.

Once they are golden remove and set aside. I did try to do a wine vinaigrette but it just didn’t have any brightness to it. So I did up a tarragon lemon dressing instead. Do two parts olive oil to one part lemon juice. Add a bit of tarragon and season with sea salt and pepper. Shake it up.

To assemble, lay out the lettuce leaves and layer with the chicken, veg of your choice, and the pine nuts. Drizzle the dressing over the salad and top with creme fraiche.

It is very easy to convert it to wraps. Just put less into each piece and wrap it up! Perfect for a warm summer day. As I said this was a fantastic experience and I would do it again in a heartbeat. 🙂

BBQ Burgers and Family Time

Posted on August 2, 2015 by Our Growing Paynes

Every summer there is nearly a month when the kids are gone. A bit hard on the parents but it means the kids are off on adventures. They do a two week overnight camp and then we usually get them for a couple of days then they are off to Florida to see grandparents with their mother and stepfather.

While we get a break from the usual back and forth of getting the kids round we miss them like crazy. We picked them up from camp Friday evening and they had so many stories to tell. It was non stop and it was fabulous. But they were looking forward to home cooked food.

Our daughter must have missed the kitchen as she made breakfast each morning this weekend and baked cookies. Yesterday morning she kicked us out and set the table with flowers and candles. She really loves going all out.

When we picked them up they mentioned they were sick of cheeseburgers. Shoot, as that was what I was making for last night! Our daughter said oh we love your burgers so that’s ok. Phew!

It was time for something different so I thought I would make BBQ burgers. Our poblanos are coming in and I wanted to use them. Our garden has been a struggle this year but our peppers are doing us proud. I see a lot of hot pepper jelly in our future. Unfortunately we’ve used up all our Peach BBQ sauce I had made so I had to use, gasp, store bought. Peaches are showing up in the shops now so it is on my list to make another batch.

I had a pound of ground beef which is more than enough for the four of us. The only issue is it’s impossible to find decent buns that aren’t enormous. So the buns tend to dwarf the burger. I think a quarter pound of meat is more than enough but I think I’m in the minority in this country. My husband and I went without the bun. In a bowl add the meat. Mince 2-3 cloves of garlic and add that with a few teaspoons of fresh thyme. I didn’t have enough cheddar to do slices on top but I did have enough to grate for the actual burger. The amount I added was about a quarter of the meat in volume. Then add a few tablespoons of BBQ. Mix well and form into patties. Set aside. Cook up several rashers of streaky bacon and set that aside as well.

My husband brought home some fresh corn yesterday. So exciting! I love having them grilled. Very easy to do, just soak for about 20 minutes in water. Then grill for 5 minutes on each side until cooked through. When these were halfway cooked I added the burgers.

Once you flip them add sliced onion that have been prepped with olive oil and seasoned with sea salt and pepper. Add the poblanos after deseeding them. You want the peppers to blister a little but don’t go crazy. You want to grill the onions so they have the grill marks but aren’t burnt. When the burgers are almost done add slices of cheddar or jarlsberg to the burgers to melt.

Layer with BBQ sauce, bacon, onion, and pepper. Butter up that corn and enjoy! My husband did up some sweet potato and regular potato chips (fries) to round out the meal. I was stuffed. I think a bun would have sent me over the edge. I didn’t even have room for ice cream!

Tarragon Steak and Rosemary Roasted Potatoes

Posted on July 26, 2015 by Our Growing Paynes

Yesterday was very frustrating. We like to make cheese so we bought quite a bit of raw milk at a local farm. Grand plans were made. Grand plans failed in a spectacular fashion. The cheddar may turn out ok but the camembert I tried didn’t get off the ground. The pH seemed to be too low and the curd didn’t break properly. We had issues with the cheddar as well. Like I said very frustrating.

So being tired and feeling grumpy I needed a good dinner that wasn’t too complicated. And it had to be quick! There was wine to be had at the end of a long day.

We grow tarragon in our garden, though it’s currently getting overshadowed by hops. If you ever grow hops put them somewhere by themselves. We grossly underestimated their takeover talents. So I waded in to find the tarragon and took a handful for this marinade.

Chop up a handful of tarragon and a few cloves of garlic. In a bowl add a few tablespoons of olive oil and one or two tablespoons of white wine vinegar. Shake it up to mix. Season the steak with sea salt and pepper then add it to the marinade. Let it marinate for at least an hour.

For those that follow my blog know I’m a huge fan of roasted potatoes. I thought rosemary and lemon would be a nice touch for this meal. Cube the potatoes and microwave them for 8 minutes. Do not cover them with plastic or cling film. That just leaches chemicals into the food. In a baking dish add a few tablespoons of olive oil and a tablespoon of lemon juice. While the potatoes are in the microwave preheat the oven or toaster oven to 375F/190C with the baking dish in it. Add the potatoes to the hot oil, stir well and season with sea salt and pepper. Stir occasionally as it cooks. Once it is cooked halfway add a couple of tablespoons of rosemary, finely chopped. Heat the grill to medium high. I picked skirt steak which is pretty thin so it cooks quickly.

Given that it’s summer a salad is called for! Make up the salad while the steak is resting. Then slice the steak and top the salad. Drizzle with olive oil and white wine vinegar. Serve with the potatoes.

We were lucky that there was low humidity last night so we had a lovely dinner outside on the porch. The only interruptions we had was when we had to take turns chasing off the rabbits in our back garden. They are showing no fear!

Our Growing Paynes

A journey about cooking, traveling, gardening, and crafting.

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