Summer Meal

Since I can’t cook for all my friends, especially since they live all over the world, I can at least share recipes and pictures. These are from a meal I prepared last Tuesday with Kathleen & Stacia as part of our monthly volunteer cooking for Roberts Creek Cohousing. Close to fifty people showed up – whew! That was a lot of one heck of a lot of chopping, deseeding and such, but we made it through – in spite of those killer Margaritas that Kathleen served us.

In keeping with the frequent theme of this blog site, the grill is a JACKSON barbeque – made on Vancouver Island.

 GRILLED PEPPER SALAD 

I have written out this recipe and posted it in the previous piece in my blog.

  CHICKEN THIGH POLLARDS. 

This is so easy to do, no recipe is required. Just marinate chicken thighs for several hours in a mix of fresh rosemary and olive oil, lemon juice & salt & pepper. Don’t stint.

  CUBAN TOFU

This tofu looked pretty darned toothsome when we set it out, but I wasn’t thrilled with the end result. Even though the marinade was totally kick ass – and could be used for other things - I think it would have worked better if I had sliced the tofu into thinner pieces, and also had marinated it overnight rather than just for a few hours. Live and learn. Even so, the marinade it worth passing on:

CUBAN TOFU MARINADE:

2 lbs    Extra firm tofu

½ c      Olive oil

8 lg      Garlic cloves

1tsp     Cumin – ground (best if roasted first

1/3 c.   Lime juice

1/3 c.   Orange juice

1 ½ tsp  Salt

½ tsp   Black pepper

½ tsp   Ground oregano

¼ c.     Fresh mint

1  Orange for garnish – use a zester to make long strands of peel to toss on top after cooking.

SALAD

We are lucky to have gardeners who grow lots of what goes into the salad. We just riff on what we have. Stacia is our salad dressing maestro.

SPUDS

Stacia also taught me a new potato trick – toss them in olive oil & salt and pepper them before baking. It makes the skins crispy and the inside moist. When cooking for the multitudes, we have learned that it is best to start on the early side. If the potatoes are ready too soon, they will keep, but there is nothing worse than an underdone spud.

QUEEN ELIZABETH CAKE. The funny thing is that even though I have made this cake a number of times, I don’t have a picture of it. Since I don't have that, at least I can share the recipe.We did wonder how the cake got its name, and I found a site that solved the mystery.  Apparently, it is a cake that the actual Queen Elizabeth bakes herself – and it is the only one that she ever does cook. Hmmm. I hope this is true, but it does sound like a stretch. Apparently, it is supposed to be sold – accompanied with a clipping of the recipe – for the sole purpose of making money for the Church of England. I guess I will just have to get myself invited to Buckingham Palace to check this out. Inquiring minds need to know. I will add it to my to do list, for sure.