Food on Friday ~ Summer BBQ
Friends, fun, beer, and BBQ ~ it’s what summer’s all about.
When you read this I’ll probably be in the air, somewhere over the Atlantic ocean, but I’m looking forward to sampling food like this when I eventually arrive at my various destinations in the USA; Orange County, Phoenix, Sedona, Flagstaff in AZ, and probably LA and San Diego Counties too.
From my Californian friends I know that it’s already BBQ season over there, so here’s an essential accompaniment to any grill, a potato salad. Except from Tieghan Gerard at Half Baked Harvest, here we have a wonderful looking pesto potato salad.
Pesto Potato Salad
Another potato side, this time from Diane’s Kitchen; simple twice baked potatoes, and the good thing about this dish is that, (if you need to), you can mostly prepare it the day before and finish it off in the oven or microwave.
Simple Twice Baked Potatoes
From Creme de la Crumb this is a fast, easy, and flavourful recipe you can just stick in the oven or broiler; sheet pan salmon, asparagus, and potatoes. Or you could just do the salmon and asparagus and have it with a dill salad.
Sheet Pan Salmon, Asparagus, Potatoes
Talking of a dill salad, from Julia Moskin at the New York Times, we have this soft herb salad, which just cries out for whatever fresh greens you have growing in your garden. This will go great with any BBQ’d salmon dish.
Soft Herb Salad
Your collection this week is from Olive Magazine which has 62 of the best BBQ recipes, and I especially like this very easy Miami-style blackened fish sandwich with smoked paprika mayo. Cooking fish on the grill is so easy and deliciously cool.
Miami-Style Blackened Fish Sandwich with Smoked Paprika Mayo
And to drink with your early summer BBQ garden party; Beer. Vine Pair has a list of the 50 best bottled beers of 2018, and at #1 the Sierra Nevada Brewing hazy little thing IPA. If I was still a drinking man I’d quaff a few tinnies of this stuff. IPA stands for India Pale Ale ~ Asian Indians, not the American kind.
Sierra Nevada Brewing Hazy Little Thing IPA
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jack collier
jack collier7@talktalk.net
clean, healthy, great with tequila
Food on Friday ~ Broccoli and Cauliflower
If you want to live a healthy life, eat more broccoli.
Both broccoli and cauliflower are very good for your health, being nutritious, full of fibre, low in calories, and packed with vitamins and minerals. However, broccoli is better for you as it has much more vitamins B, K and C, as well as containing vitamin A which isn’t in cauliflower at all. Broccoli also contains a lot of sulforophane, which is said to have anti-cancer properties.
The main thing with cooking any vegetable is not to boil them to death, because boiling will leach out up to 90% of the good stuff you’re eating the vegetables for in the first place. Anyhow, boiled broccoli and boiled cauliflower are tasteless, and more akin to bad prison / school food than anything you’d want to have at home.
There are some great recipes for these two cruciferous vegetables;
First for this week we have broccoli pesto pasta with whipped ricotta from Tieghan Gerard at Half Baked Harvest. This is a 30 minute dish that you can also take to work the following day ~ perfect for Meatless Mondays.
Broccoli Pesto Pasta with Whipped Ricotta
From Joy Wilson at Joy the Baker, there’s a cool recipe for roasted cauliflower and plantain tacos. I firmly believe that roasting cauliflower florets is the best way to cook this vegetable. However, I’m not certain about making tortillas from scratch.
Roasted Cauliflower and Plantain Tacos
In Diane’s Kitchen there’s a recipe for chicken stir-fry and ramen noodles, which includes lots of nutritious broccoli. This easy dish should only take you 30 minutes to prepare.
Chicken Stir-Fry and Ramen Noodles
From the Good Houskeeping test kitchen I found this kale and roasted cauliflower salad. Now that the weather is warming up a little, perhaps it’s time to start thinking about salads again ~ and you don’t get much healthier than this.
Kale and Roasted Cauliflower Salad
Well now, this is different from Jessica Merchant at How Sweet Eats broccoli cheddar tots ~ part of her Side Dish Sunday. I guess you can call these very healthy nibbles / appetisers ~ and very interesting.
Broccoli Cheddar Tots
Your collection this week comes from Olive Magazine with their 32 best ever broccoli recipes, including this broccoli and crispy chilli beef stir fry. I just love stir-fry it’s such a quick way to cook food, sealing in all the flavours and all of the goodness.
Broccoli and Crispy Chilli Beef Stir-Fry
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jack collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
there are dozens of cool ways to cook a cauliflower
click the link to check some out
Food on Friday ~ Spicy
food for the body is not enough ~ there should also be food for the soul
Everyone’s definition of what constitutes spicy food is different. Some people think a dash of black pepper is sufficient, whereas others like the red hot chili peppers, (and that’s a very overrated band).
Personally I prefer a little subtlety in my spice palette.
First up this week we have a dish with good old-fashioned mustard from Diane’s Kitchen. I think you should be able to make this Honey Mustard Chicken in about a half-hour, maybe serve it with a baked potato.
Honey Mustard Chicken
Next we have a vegan recipe from Cookie + kate, and this Spicy Black Bean Soup with a Cuban twist should be in your bowl in about 45 minutes. Obviously this would be great to take to work the following day, and Kate says it freezes well in Mason jars ~ hmmmm, I’d never freeze a glass jar.
Spicy Black Bean Soup
Jessica Merchant at How Sweet Eats has this brilliant recipe for Ginger Scallion Noodle Bowls ~ ginger is the Queen of Spices, it’s good for just about whatever ails you, as well as providing a great pick-me-up.
Ginger Scallion Noodle Bowls
Half Baked Harvest is a site for some really pretty dishes, and this 30 Minute Vietnamese Beef and Crispy Rice Bowl is no exception. I really like the look of this recipe and it’s on my list to try in the very near future ~ I like 30 minute recipes.
30 Minute Vietnamese Beef and Crispy Rice Bowl
Next to last for this week, from Amanda at Chez le Rêve Français, there’s this Chilli and Ginger Glazed Salmon ~ what’s not to like about this dish?
Chilli and Ginger Glazed Salmon
This week’s collection is from Olive Magazine, with their 25 Best Ever Hot and Spicy Recipes. I’ve chosen to feature this Sri Lankan Veggie Curry partly because it’s vegetarian, but mostly because I love Sri Lankan food ~ it’s far, far better than Thai.
Sri Lankan Veggie Curry
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jack collier
jackcollier@talktalk.net
Chinese 5 Spice Beef and Ginger Stir Fry
from Vacation Food
Food on Friday ~ Easy Lunches
Time is an illusion ~ lunchtime doubly so…..
So many people either grab something from the deli, or supermarket, or just eat out at lunchtime. Actually, at weekends there’s no reason even a working person should do that. It’s perfectly possible to prepare and cook a great lunch in about 30 minutes at home, and that way you know exactly what you’re eating without having to puzzle over just what’s in your lunch burrito. And, if you make lunch, (or supper), at home, then you’re going to have some great leftovers to take to work the following day.
From Dianes Kitchen there’s this wonderful-looking crab meat Frittata. Now, while I like both frittata and crab this is a combination I’ve never thought of. I agree with Diane, this dish would be great at breakfast, lunch, or supper ~ or for something to take to work the following day.
Crab Meat Fritatta
Chungah at Damn Delicious has a recipe for creamy red pepper shells, I think this dish would make a wonderful lunch along with a glass of Italian or Californian red wine, and maybe a hunk of crusty bread. I think I could whip this together in 30 minutes, and it’s another dish to take to work the following day.
Creamy Red Pepper Shells
Well then, Tiffany at Creme de la Crumb invites us to try this dish of Southwest Stuffed Poblano Peppers, which she assures us are the BEST healthy stuffed peppers you’ll ever eat. If you don’t want your peppers too hot, then choose green and not red. As well as ground beef and rice you could use a host of similar Southern and Californian ingredients to make you stuffed peppers luncheon. I guess you could make this dish in 30 ~ 45 minutes.
Southwest Stuffed Poblano Peppers
Here’s an awesomely artistic dish from Tieghan Gerard at Half Baked Harvest; Spicy Turkey Taco Salad with Baja Dressing. This is big, green, nutritious, filling, and healthy. OK, so this may be a 40 minute recipe, but there are so many cheats and shortcuts into making this that I think preparing this dish just takes as long as you want to take.
Spicy Turkey Taco Salad with Baja Dressing
I am very well aware that you American guys like your mac and cheese, so just for you here’s a recipe. Found for us by Elise Bauer at Simply Recipes this dish, by Aaron Hutcherson, combines two classic American comfort foods into Chili Mac and Cheese.
Chili Mac and Cheese
This week’s collection is brought to us by Good Housekeeping who have no less than 70 Healthy Lunch Ideas That Will Actually Keep You Full Until Dinner ~ wow! From this collection I’ve chosen to feature a Kale and Roasted Cauliflower Salad ~ even I like to be healthy sometimes. Anyhow you can make this dish in 25 minutes, and as well as being a good lunch or supper, it will make a good side for any of the other dishes featured in this weeks Food on Friday.
Kale and Roasted Cauliflower Salad
~
jack collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
Marmaduke isn’t a big fan of Mac and Cheese
and then again, neither am I
Food on Friday ~ New Year’s
What the New Year brings to our tables will depend on what we bring to the New Year.
Next Year I will have a new focus for each week’s food on Friday ~ concentrating on recipes, foods, and dishes to enhance our wellbeing, health, and happiness. I have no doubt whatsoever that the great cooks I have featured thus far in this series of blog posts will be more than up to the challenge of our creating a healthier lifestyle, while still retaining each of their unique signature styles.
But, for this last Food on Friday of 2018, I want to show you some recipes and dishes which will be great to offer your guests at whatever New Year’s get-together or wild party you are hosting.
No part would be complete without a great cheese board, so from San Diego cook Averie Sunshine we have ideas on just how to make the best cheese board. I really like that Averie uses prosciutto on her cheese boards! Me, I like to have a soft blue cheese, or maybe just a good old English Stilton. There are as many wines to drink with cheese as there are cheeses, but with Stilton it should be a good warm port.
The Very Best Cheese Board
Should you want to drink beer at New Year, then what about having these spinach and artichoke stuffed soft pretzels to go with your brew? From Tieghan Gerard at Half Baked Harvest. Of course, what we English call beer and the fizzy pop the rest of the world drinks are two very different ales.
Spinach and Artichoke Stuffed Soft Pretzels
So, if you live by the sea, then you should serve a dish that reflects that. I guess none of you live on the Chesapeake, but from Dianes Kitchen I offer you this Chesapeake Crab Strata. Serve it like slices of pizza. Here in the North East of England we get some really great crab from the cold North Sea. Some say you should drink a Pinot Grigo with crab, but I would always prefer a cold Verdicchio.
Chesapeake Crab Strata
After my recent trip to Albuquerque I said that I would never eat meatloaf again ~ but brought to us by Elise Bauer at Simply Recipies here’s an idea for bbq meatloaf bites. Now I know that the chef, Nick Evans, intended these to be part of a meal for kids ~ but after a few drinks all men are just kids anyhow. As far as I’m concerned you can drink whatever the fuck hell you like with meatloaf….. personally I would choose a red Cotes du Rhone Villages.
BBQ Meatloaf Bites
From Chungah at Damn Delicious there’s this new recipe collection; 15 best quick and easy New Year’s Eve appetisers….. My favourite dish here is this really clean-looking dish of lemon garlic shrimp kabobs ~ try these with a really cold vodka martini.
Lemon Garlic Shrimp Kabobs
And finanally for 2018, from Country Living Magazine, we have a collection of 40 unbelievably easy New Year’s Eve appetisers. From this collection I like the look of these smoked salmon and cream cheese cucumber bites. Just how easy is that? If you want to show some real class, then you drink single malt whisky with smoked salmon and cream cheese.
Smoked Salmon and Cream Cheese Cucumber Bites
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jack collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
not many are man enough to drink Laphroaig
Food on Friday ~ Comfort Food (Soups)
Comfort food is absolutely moving upscale.
Here in England the weather outside my garret is cold, dark, frosty, wet, and very windy. Like a lot of people around here I’ve just got over the flu, and I still feel cold and shivery. What I need to eat most is something hot, nourishing, and comforting ~ like a bowl of home-made soup.
These great soup recipes are mostly easy to make, don’t cost so much, but are absolutely upscale meals you could serve to any guest.
Ergo, first up this week, from Jessica Merchant at How Sweet Eats, we have this silky ginger sweet potato soup. I love the idea of adding fresh ginger to a soup recipe. This recipe is vegan I think.
Silky Ginger Sweet Potato Soup
Another pretty soup, this time from Petra at Food Eat Love; celeriac and cumin soup with watercress. This looks as though it would keep us warm in the cold winter nights. Cumin is an interesting spice with lots of health benefits.
Celeriac and Cumin Soup with Watercress
Chungah at Damn Delicious has this great recipe for roasted cauliflower soup, with lots of garlic and herbs. Looks fabulous to me!
Roasted Cauliflower Soup
From Amanda at Chez Le Rêve Français we have a recipe for fat-free potato and leek soup ~ and I do love leek and potato soup. This recipe is pretty easy, fat-free, and gluten-free. Oh so warming on a cold winter’s day.
Fat-Free Potato and Leek Soup
Dana at Minimalist Baker has a fantastic recipe for a 1-pot everyday lentil soup ~ and I do love one-pot recipes. This recipe uses just 10 ingredients and should only take you 30 minutes to make. If you don’t like lentils you could use white beans or chickpeas instead.
One-Pot Everyday Lentil Soup
Here’s a very interesting and filling soup from In Diane’s Kitchen; Cajun shrimp, hot sausage & pasta soup ~ Wow! This recipe is chock full of noodles, hot Italian sausage, shrimp, and a really great broth.
Cajun Shrimp, Hot Sausage, and Pasta Soup
And last but not least for this week we have a cool recipe from Averie Sunshine at Averie Cooks; easy 30-minute homemade chicken noodle soup. I like easy recipes you can prepare in 30 minutes or less.
Easy 30-Minute Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup
A big thank you to all the great cooks featured in this week’s Food on Friday.
~
jack collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
Marmaduke’s comfort food is
a couple of soft-boiled eggs
Food on Friday ~ Winter Soups
The most beautiful foods for this cold winter season.
We have just had the winter solstice and the shortest day of the year in the northern hemisphere. When winter comes howling in like a wolf perhaps only a hot, nourishing bowl of soup will do.
These days we don’t have to rely on ‘seasonal’ vegetables, our stores hold a wide range throughout the year, so these recipes include things that my mom couldn’t have made in winter when I was are kid.
So everyone, here are some totally smashing recipes for winter soups.
I know that in Southern California you can still get squash at the store. So perhaps my friend in Orange County will like this recipe for butternut squash soup with toasted seeds and crispy sage leaves from Yvette’s Gourmet Kitchen. I’m pretty certain this dish is vegan.
Butternut Squash Soup with Toasted Seeds & Crispy Sage Leaves
This is a real ‘stick to your ribs’ recipe from Heather Christo; roasted sweet potato and butternut squash soup with cilantro sauce. Just the job for this freezing cold weather. You could make this as a vegetarian dish if you used vegetable stock rather than chicken stock. Just how colourful is this!?
Roasted Sweet Potato and Butternut Squash Soup with Cilantro Sauce.
Another sweet potato soup. This time Cookie + kate have a sweet potato, kale, and chickpea soup. Kate says this is a hearty and delicious one-pot meal, and I like one-pot recipes. As far as I can tell this recipe is vegan and gluten-free, and will only take you 45 minutes to make.
Sweet Potato, Kale and Chickpea Soup.
For a healthy, colourful, and easy to make soup, you could try this creamy roasted red pepper tomato soup from Dana, the Minimalist Baker. This 30 minute recipe is vegan, (it uses coconut milk), full of antioxidants, and looks delicious. If you check out this recipe there are also links to a half-dozen more soup recipes from Dana.
Creamy Roasted Red Pepper Tomato Soup
I absolutely love the look of this french onion and potato soup from Tieghan Gerard at Half Baked Harvest. And, you have just got to do the cheesy bread topping. What a great lunch, or maybe you could have it as a starter, (without the cheesy bread topping).
French Onion and Potato Soup
If you want a filling soup that really is a meal all by itself then you couldn’t do much better than this creamy tortellini soup from In Dianes Kitchen. Seems that this is version #2 of this soup ~ maybe you should check out version #1 too. Diane also has a recipe for a delicious creamy potato soup, and a really rich loaded potato soup.
Creamy Tortellini Soup
This week’s collection is from delicious magazine. Their winter soup recipes include this fabulous looking and great sounding smoked bacon, leek, and butter bean chowder from Debbie Major. I have to try this recipe.
Smoked Bacon, Leek, and Butter Bean Chowder
~
jack collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
Marmaduke and I
Wish You A Merry Christmas
Sponsored by: http://www.amazon.com/shops/salinevalleyenterprises
