Spicy Chicken and Veg Kebabs

Summer is the ultimate time for barbecuing with friends. So before it gets too cold, try to use the barbecue as much as possible. Kebabs are of one of my favourite things to barbecue, they're easy to make and you can customize whatever meat or vegetables you want on it. Also, if you have a vegetarian over, you don't have to make a whole different meal for them, just make their kebab all veggie! Kebabs are great.

I do like things spicy, so if you don't, just don't add the chili flakes, or maybe just add a little. But I highly suggest you do, they will taste that much better.

Spicy Chicken and Veg Kebabs

Serves 4

• 4 chicken breasts
• 1 green pepper
• 1 red pepper
• 1 red onion
• 80z of mushrooms (about 12 mushrooms)
• 1 clove of minced garlic
  
• 1-2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 tsp of dried thyme leaves
• 1 tsp of paprika
• 1/2 tsp of garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp of onion powder
• 1/2 tsp of cayenne flakes

Directions:

1. Cut chicken, peppers and onions into bite size chucks and around the same size. Place them into a large bowl.
2. Into the bowl add the rest of the ingredients and mix together well.
3. Preheat the barbecue to medium high heat while you skew the chicken and vegetables.
4. Grill the skewers for about 10 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through. Turn the skewers occasionally.

Balsamic BBQ Sauce

Giada De Laurentiis is one of my favourite chefs. Her dishes are simple, delicious and full of flavour. Her enthusiasm and love for food makes you believe that you can recreate any of her dishes that she features on her shows. To me, the food she cooks is very attainable, not complicated, with simple ingredients and cooking techniques that anybody can do.

This BBQ sauce was featured on her show Everyday Italian and is also found on the food network website. This recipe makes quite a bit of sauce which you can package up in glass jars and give to your friends and family as a gift. Homemade BBQ sauce is a great gift for anyone who wants change up the flavour of their regular chicken or steak meals.

Balsamic BBQ Sauce

For the Balsamic BBQ sauce:

• 1 cup balsamic vinegar
• 3/4 cup ketchup
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

For the chicken or steak:

• 4 pieces chicken (any combination of breast or leg-and-thigh pieces) or 4 pieces of New York strip or Club strip steak
• Salt and freshly ground pepper

1. Combine all the ingredients in a small saucepan and stir until all the ingredients are incorporated and the mixture is smooth. Simmer over medium heat until reduced by 1/3, about 15 to 20 minutes.
2. For the chicken or steak: Place a grill pan over medium heat or preheat a gas or charcoal grill. Season the meat with salt and pepper. Lightly coat with some of the BBQ sauce using a pastry brush. Place the meat on the grill. Place the remaining BBQ sauce, still in the small saucepan, over low heat or on the edge of a gas or charcoal grill and allow to gently simmer while the meat cooks.
3. Cook the chicken about 8 minutes per side. Cook the steaks starting at about 4 minutes per side until a meat thermometer reads the desired temperature, 120 degrees F for medium rare, 135 degrees F for medium (about 6 minutes per side), 155 degrees F for well done (about 9 minutes per side). Continually brush the meat with BBQ sauce every few minutes. Remove the meat from the grill and let rest for at least 5 minutes. Serve with the heated BBQ sauce alongside.
4. Alternately, the chicken can be baked in the oven. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Place the chicken skin side up in a baking dish and bake for 25 minutes. Remove the baking dish from the oven and spoon the BBQ sauce all over the top of the chicken. Return the baking dish to the oven and bake for another 15 minutes.

Mitzi's on College

After hearing and reading reviews of bad service at Mitzi's on College, I was reluctant to go. A few friends had said the food was great but the service was horrible. Blog TO had mentioned the same thing. I have been to this restaurant four times now, three times in one week, and I have yet to discover where people are getting this bad service.

The staff is lovely and they make you feel as if you are over at a friend's house for brunch. The patio's relaxed atmosphere is a great place to recharge from a late night out while people watching from your seat.





Their menu will also aid in revitalizing your body with fresh fruit juices or homemade granola and yoghurt. But if you are like me, and need to fill your stomach with hearty food, you should try their famous sweet oatmeal pancakes, usually topped with seasonal fruit coulis or sauces. They also serve your regular bacon and egg breakfast and scrabbled egg specials that are fantastic.







Another great reason to try Mitzi's is that it seems their menu changes almost weekly, so you know the food you are getting is fresh and in season.





Mitzi's on College
890 College Street
Toronto, ON
(416) 533-7400

Roasted Tomato and Basil Bruschetta

This summer, I found I was not eating as much meat as I normally do. Don't get me wrong, I love meat. Growing up with parents from Taiwan and Malaysia, we include meat in all our dinners. I think eating less meat this summer has something to do with the fresh vegetables in my garden. I will have finished my dinner and think, whoa, I didn't have meat today. Also, I just realized that this whole paragraph is dedicated to me talking about meat. See, I do love meat.

Part of the reason why I feel I need to include meat in my dishes is because I don't feel full or satisfied if I just eat vegetables. I could never just have a salad and be satisfied, it would have to include at least chicken or shrimp.

However, this roasted bruschetta has definitely left me satisfied, and there was no meat involved. Hopefully it will satisfy you as well.

Roasted Tomato and Basil Bruschetta
Makes 10 pieces

• 4 tomatoes
  
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 10 basil leaves (or a hand full)
• 3 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil (extra for brushing)
• 1 small/medium baguette
• Dash of oregano

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
2. Dice the tomatoes, garlic and basil and mix into a bowl with 3 tbsp of olive oil.
3. Spread the vegetables onto a sheet pan and sprinkle oregano on top. Roast for 15-20 minutes.
   
4. While the tomato, basil and garlic roast, heat up a frying pan to medium heat.
5. Slice the baguette at an angle, 1 inch for each slice.
6. Brush the extra virgin olive oil on to each side of the baguette slices and toast in the pan until golden brown.
   
7. Top the roasted vegetables onto the toasted baguette slices and sprinkle with freshly grated parmigiano reggiano if desired.

Lahore Tikka House and Athens Pastry Shop

Lahore Tikka House reminded me of my Thailand dining experiences. Fabulous food, terrible service. However, this did make it feel more like an authentic dining experience in India, and if you're into authentic, then you should definitely come here for dinner. Also, the restaurant is right in Toronto's Little India.

The terrible service came from a few things. First of all, we did not know that we had to go up and order our food, we had to wait 15 minutes to figure it out after hailing down a server. Second, we did not get the extra nan bread we ordered, thankfully we were full with what we had. And thirdly, we had to wait forever for our bill, until we realized that we also had to go up and pay.



Besides the bad service, the butter chicken was delicious. The great thing about it was that they made it spicy and too often restaurants don't make the butter chicken spicy enough. Along with the good food, the outdoor atmosphere, with Indian music in the background, also made up for the bad service.

After our trip to India, we headed to Greece for dessert.



We went to Athens Pastry in Greektown, where I was craving the loukoumades I had from the Taste of the Danforth Festival. I was with one of my friends who is half Greek and half Australian and she knew to order Galaktoboureko. Galaktoboureko is a Greek custard pastry wrapped in phyllo with cinnamon sprinkled on top. A bite of this pastry will satisfy any sweet cravings you have as the custard is very rich and sweet.



My loukoumades :)




This is one of the great things about living in Toronto, a great food culture. I feel like I can go from Italy to India to Greece, then back to Italy (my area) all in one night.

Lahore Tikka House
1365 Gerrard St. East, Toronto ON.
Tel: 413-406-1668

Athens Pastries Pies
509 Danforth Avenue, Toronto, ON.
Tel: 416-463-5144

Cari's Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

A good friend of mine, Cari, is one of the best bakers I know. I have tried to make these cookies taste exactly like hers, but it has never happened. Don't get me wrong, they still taste delicious, but they will never be Cari's cookies.

Which is why I don't understand why people will not share their "family secret" recipes, because you can never make it taste exactly like theirs. People have different ovens, measure differently, stir differently, really, people should just all share their recipes and it would solve world hunger.

I am not really sure of this theory, but if the day comes where everyone starts sharing their recipes, we'll see if world hunger has ended.

Enjoy :)

Cari's Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

• 1 cup butter
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 3 cups oatmeal
• 2 cups choc.chips

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
   
2. Cream the butter and then add the sugars. when that is mixed add the eggs.
3. Combine flour, salt, and baking soda and then add to the mixture.
4. Add oatmeal and then chocolate chips (you may need to add a little at a bit so it can mix well).
5. Bake for about 7-10 minutes. Every oven is different so you should watch it and take them out when they are still a little white (but not too white or they wont come off the pan nicely). Even if they don't seem cooked they will harden when cooled.
   

Spicy Lemon Roasted Shrimp Rotini

Pasta is one of my favourite dishes to make. It's quick and easy and the variety of different pastas and sauces is endless.

Having a garden in the backyard allows me to create a variety of pasta dishes, fresh daily, without having to worry about the vegetables going bad. Because of this access to fresh and very local vegetables, it influences me to create dishes based around the garden.

I had shrimp in the freezer, half a lemon and the fresh vegetables in the back yard. I decided on making a shrimp pasta with tomatoes and basil. Lemon is so great with seafood, which is why I wanted to add it to the shrimp. Also, the lemon just turns it into a summer dish by making it taste so light and fresh. Apparently, hot tea in the summer helps you cool down, so maybe this spicy dish will help you cool down too.

So here is the recipe...I am kind of guessing on the measurements...but it's cooking, not baking. So really, you can add whatever amount of tomatoes or garlic, or chili flakes you want.

Spicy Lemon Roasted Shrimp Rotini

Serves 4

• 1 lb of shrimp (about 32, 8 shrimps per person) peeled and deveined
  
• 5 tomatoes, diced (mine are from the garden so they are not as big as grocery store ones)
• 8 fresh basil leaves
• 1 lemon
  
• 4 cloves of minced garlic
• Chili flakes
  
• Good olive oil
• 450 g of pasta
• salt and pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
2. In a bowl, add the shrimp, half the lemon juice, half the garlic, a bit of salt and pepper and drizzle with olive oil, about 2.5 tbsp. Sprinkle on the desired amount of chili flakes, you don't need a lot to make it spicy.
   
3. Mix all the ingredients in the bowl and place them on a sheet pan. Bake in the oven for about 7 minutes, or until it is pink with a bit of brown at the tips. Make sure you don't over cook the shrimp.
4. While the shrimp is baking, bring a pot of salted water to boil and cook the rotini until al dente. Save some of the pasta water for the sauce.
   
5. For the sauce, heat up a pot to medium heat with about 2 tbsp of olive oil. When the pot is hot enough (throw in a piece of garlic, if it sizzles, it is ready) throw in the tomatoes, basil and the other half of the garlic. Let it cook for about 2-3 minutes then add in the other half of the lemon juice and a pinch of chili flakes. Also add in 1/4 cup of the pasta water. If you want to add more you can continue to do so till you get the consistency you prefer.
   
6. Cook the sauce for about 15 mintues and let it simmer on low heat for about 5 minutes.
7. Add in the pasta and shrimp to the sauce and toss together. Serve with Parmigiano- Reggiano freshly grated on top.

This photo shows one serving of shrimp.