Grilled Eggplant & Zucchini with Feta and Mint

 

The combination of the feta and mint adds a wonderful fresh note to the natural smokiness of grilled eggplant and sweet zucchini, with vegetables becoming completely transformed over a few hours as the dressing is absorbed into the flesh. This dish looks especially nice served on a platter, with the feta and herbs scattered overtop. 

Grilled Eggplant & Zucchini with Garlic-Cumin Vinaigrette, Feta & Herbs

Serves 4

Recipe courtesy of Fine Cooking

For the vinaigrette:

1 small clove garlic, minced

Kosher salt

1 1/2 tbsp fresh lemon juice

1 small shallot, very finely diced

3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 tsp cumin seed, lightly toasted and ground in a spice grinder

Pinch cayenne, more to taste

For the zucchini & eggplant:

1 large globe eggplant, trimmed and cut into 1/2-inch-thick rounds

2 zucchini, trimmed and cut diagonally into 1/4-inch rounds

3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, more as needed

Kosher salt

1/4 cup crumbled feta

2 tbsp coarsely chopped fresh mint

Combine the minced garlic paste and a tablespoon of the lemon juice in a small bowl and let sit for 10 minutes. Combine the shallot with the remaining lemon juice and a pinch of salt in another small bowl and let sit for 10 minutes. Whisk the olive oil, cumin, and cayenne into the garlic mixture. Season to taste with salt or cayenne, if necessary.

Preheat an outdoor BBQ to medium-high. Brush both sides of the eggplant and zucchini slices with olive oil and season with salt. Grill until golden-brown grill marks form, 3 to 4 minutes. Turn and grill until well marked on the second sides, about 3 to 4 minutes more, or until soft. Arrange the eggplant and zucchini attractively on a platter and top with the shallots, feta, and herbs. Whisk the vinaigrette and drizzle it on top, and serve immediately.

Ina Garten's BBQ Pork Ribs with Tangy Sauce

 

Millions of people love Ina Garten because she writes recipes that make home cooks look great, family and friends shower them with praise and yet the dishes couldn't be simpler to prepare using ingredients found in any grocery store. In Barefoot Contessa Foolproof, Ina takes 'easy' a step further, sharing her secrets for pulling off deeply satisfying meals that have the 'wow' factor we all desire. One of Ina's sensational summer recipes is her Foolproof Ribs with signature Barbecue Sauce. Her secret to perfect grilled ribs? Cook them in the oven first. "There are two great benefits of this method: first, instead of fussing with the heat of the coals, all I have to do is put the ribs in the oven, set a timer and forget about them; and second, I can make them ahead! Early in the day, I'll roast the ribs, and just before serving, I'll fire up the grill and barbecue them". She created this recipe after making three types of barbecue sauces: one mustardy, one tomatoey, and one Asian. When she tasted them, like Goldilocks, the first one was too mustardy, the second was too tomatoey, and the third was too Asian! So she decided to try combining the three, and it turned out being the best sauce she'd ever tried. This is the result, and it's her favourite to this day. For this recipe I used St. Louis Style for their flavour and generous rib size. With Ina's BBQ sauce, they're "finger licking good."

Homemade BBQ sauce made using Ina Gartens foolproof recipe

Rib racks lined with foil and seasoned with salt and pepper

Ribs generously smothered with sauce, then loosely sealed in the foil 

and placed in the oven for 2 hours at 350°F

Once the ribs have cooked for 2 hours, the foil pouch is opened and more sauce is spooned on top, 

in preparation for final grilling on the BBQ

Ina's Foolproof Ribs with Barbecue Sauce
Serves 6-8
Recipe courtesy of Ina Garten

Ribs:
5 lb Baby Back or St. Louis Style Ribs 
2 tsp Kosher salt
1 tsp ground black pepper

Barefoot Contessa Barbecue Sauce:
1/2 tbsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups finely chopped yellow onion
1 tbsp minced garlic, about 3 cloves
1 cup tomato paste
1 cup cider vinegar
1 cup honey
1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce
1 cup Dijon mustard
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 cup hoisin sauce
2 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp ground cumin


For the sauce, heat the oil in a large saucepan over low heat, add the onions and cook for 10 to 15 minutes, until the onions are translucent but not browned. Add the garlic and cook for one more minute. Add the tomato paste, vinegar, honey, Worcestershire, mustard, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, chili powder, cumin, and red pepper flakes. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes. Use the sauce immediately or pour into a container and refrigerate for several weeks.

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and place the ribs meat side up, then sprinkle them with 2 teaspoons salt and 1 teaspoon of black pepper. Pour the BBQ sauce generously on each rack and cover the ribs loosely with aluminum foil. Bake for 1 1/2 hours for baby back and 1 3/4 hours for St. Louis Style ribs, until the meat is very tender when tested with a fork. As soon as the ribs are out of the oven, spread them generously with additional BBQ sauce. They can be grilled right away or refrigerated to grill later.

About 40 minutes before you want to serve, heat an outdoor grill to medium-high heat, and brush the cooking grate with vegetable oil to keep the ribs from sticking. Place the ribs on the grill ribs-side down, and grill lid-down for 5 minutes. Turn the ribs meat-side down, put the lid back down, and grill for another 4-5 minutes, until nicely browned. Place on a cutting board, cover tightly with aluminum foil, and allow the ribs to rest for 10 minutes. Cut into ribs into serving portions and serve hot with extra BBQ sauce on the side. Delicious served with homemade potato salad and creamy coleslaw.

ONE Restaurant at The Hazelton in Yorkville

 

Chef Mark McEwan’s trendy Yorkville hotspot located at the chic Hazelton Hotel, ONE Restaurant has a lovely tree-lined outdoor patio perfect for a leisurely weekend brunch or lunch. Celebrating our anniversary with family on a beautiful sunny Labour Day Long Weekend, the food was delicious from the perfect warm flakey croissant, excellent Avocado Toast with smashed avocado, poached eggs, blistered heirloom cherry tomatoes and fresh ricotta to the thick and juicy Jerk Chicken Sandwich and decadent golden Frites. Spending the afternoon at ONE was made even more exciting with the Canadian Forces Snowbirds taking to the skies and booming overhead as part of Toronto's spectacular Annual Air Show.

Each of the servers wore masks while serving all the outdoor tables 

A tall and frosty Berry Smoothie

'Elder Advice' Cocktail made with Absolut Vodka, St. Germain elderflower liqueur, 

Lillet Blanc and lemon juice

Mimosa with champagne and fresh squeezed orange juice

The Brunch and Lunch menu at One

Hot flakey and delicious croissant

Avocado Toast with smashed avocado, blistered heirloom cherry tomatoes, and fresh ricotta topped with two poached eggs and garnished with chili and olive oil 

Cobb Salad with grilled boneless chicken breast, avocado, hard-boiled egg, blue cheese, sun dried cherry tomatoes, bacon and mixed greens with crème fraîche dressing

Jerk Chicken Sandwich with avocado and coleslaw on challah bread

Plump, juicy and pretty darn delicious

Bowl of golden frites

mcewangroup.ca/one

Scallop Crudo
Serves 6
Recipe courtesy of Mark McEwan

1 lb large dry-packed sea scallops
2 thin slices of Serrano ham, thinly sliced
2 tbsp Marcona almonds, crushed
6 oz macerated green strawberries or seedless grapes, thinly sliced
8 oz heirloom cherry tomatoes, thinly sliced
1 red chili, julienned
1/4 cup Spanish muscat vinegar
Juice of half a lemon
1/4 cup good-quality Spanish olive oil
Smoked Maldon sea salt
Handful of cress, basil, arugula or red sorrel, depending on preference
Kosher Salt


Place the sliced tomatoes and strawberries in a small bowl and sprinkle with a pinch of kosher salt. Add the vinegar and lemon juice, keeping everything submerged. Leave the bowl at room temperature for 30 minutes. With a very sharp knife, slice each scallop crosswise into thin slices. Distribute the slices onto six chilled plates, laying them in an angular pattern. Scatter the tomatoes and strawberries over and around the plated scallops. Lightly drizzle the liquid over top, making sure not to use all of it. Scatter a pinch of smoked salt over each plate. Scatter the ham, chilies and crushed marcona almonds evenly among the six plates. Garnish each plate with a little cress and drizzle a generous amount of olive oil on top.

Coronation Chicken Salad: A Summer Classic

 

Originally, Coronation Chicken, or Poulet Reine Elizabeth, was made for the coronation banquet of Elizabeth II in 1953, but it is said to have been partly inspired by a similar and earlier recipe known as Jubilee Chicken, made for the Silver Jubilee of George V in 1935, which mixed the chicken in mayonnaise and curry. Created by the founder of Le Cordon Bleu cookery school, Rosemary Hume – rather than her better-known business partner, celebrity florist Constance Spry, as is often claimed – Coronation Chicken was a deliberate and tactful compromise between the luxurious and the thrifty for a country still under the dreary yoke of postwar rationing. The original recipe was published in the newspapers ahead of the coronation so that the 'common' people might partake of what their new queen would be eating on her very special day.

Coronation Chicken Salad
Serves 6

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 tbsp mild curry powder
2 tbsp sunflower oil
1 tsp Maldon salt 
1 tsp fresh ground black pepper
1 cup red seedless grapes, halved
6 stalks celery, very finely chopped
1 container of onion, pea or clover sprouts
1/2 cup pecan, toasted

Dressing:
4 tbsp mayonnaise
1 cup Creme Fraiche
1/2 cup mango chutney
2 tbsp curry powder

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Rub the chicken with oil, curry powder, salt and pepper. Place on a baking tray and bake in the oven for 20 minutes until cooked through. Allow to rest for 10 minutes then pull into bite size pieces. Allow to cool completely before adding to your salad. In a large bowl, mix the ingredients for the dressing very well. Add the cooled chicken, celery, grapes, and half the onion sprouts with the dressing, and chill until ready to plate. Serve the Coronation Chicken Salad on its own or over mixed salad greens and garnish with additional onion sprouts and pecans.

Guy's Caesar Salad with Homemade Dressing

 

One of the most popular and well known salads in the world, the ingredients and preparation of a Caesar Salad is very simple: romaine lettuce dressed with lemon juice, olive oil, egg, anchovies, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, Dijon mustard, Parmesan cheese and fresh black pepper. The salad's creation is generally attributed to restaurateur Caesar Cardini, who operated restaurants in Mexico and the United States. Cardini was living in San Diego but was also working in Tijuana at the time, which was a popular tourist destination that attracted Americans frustrated by Prohibition. His daughter Rosa said that her father invented the salad at his restaurant Caesar's at the Hotel Cesar, when a Fourth of July rush in 1924 depleted the kitchen's supplies, so Cardini made do with what he had, adding the dramatic flair of the table-side tossing "by the chef." Cardini's daughter also said that the original recipe included whole lettuce leaves, which were meant to be lifted by the stem and eaten with the fingers. Although the original recipe didn't contain anchovies, modern recipes typically include them as a key ingredient. This delicious Caesar Salad recipe created by my husband doesn't use Worcestershire sauce, but is absolutely fabulous. He also chills the salad plates and forks for the full 5-star luxe treatment.

Guy's Caesar Salad 

Serves 2

1 head Romain hearts, washed and dried

1 cup fresh grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

Dressing:

3 tbsp olive oil

1 1/2 tbsp fresh squeezed lemon juice

1 egg yolk

1 large clove of garlic, minced

2 anchovy filets, minced

1 tsp Dijon mustard

Fresh ground pepper, to taste 

Whisk the dressing ingredients in a small bowl and set aside. Tear the romaine hearts into bite size pieces and place in a large salad bowl. Pour the salad dressing and grated parmigiano over the salad and toss to coat. Serve on chilled plates with chilled forks for a extra panache.

Cauliflower Mash: A Guilt-Free Silky Smooth Purée

 

This fabulous guilt-free recipe from the South Beach Diet Cookbook is my 'go-to' resource when trying to shed a few unwanted pounds. Wonderfully flavourful in it's own right, Cauliflower Mash is absolutely delicious as a silky smooth purée, perfect with grilled steak, nestled under pan-seared scallops, or served with any kind of fresh grilled fish or seafood.

Cauliflower Mash

Serves 2

3 cups cauliflower florets
1 tbsp butter
2 tbsp whole milk or light cream
pinch of salt and freshly ground black or white pepper

Fresh chives, finely chopped for garnish

Steam the cauliflower until very soft then purée in a food processor. Transfer the mash into a medium saucepan and add the butter and milk to taste. Season with salt and pepper, then cover and keep warm over low heat until needed.

Gobi Matar: Carb-Free Indian Cauliflower & Peas

 

A classic Punjabi dish, Aloo Gobi, or cauliflower with potatoes and peas, is a simple and delicious southern Indian vegetarian curry, shining through with rich textures, complex flavours and intoxicating aromas. A staple in most Indian restaurants, Aloo Gobi can also be adapted without potatoes for a sensational Gobi Matar, an equally delicious yet low-fat carb-free version of the original.

Gobi Matar 

Serves 2 

1/3 cauliflower 

2 tbsp vegetable oil 

1/8 tsp asafoetida 

2 tsp black mustard seeds 

12-16 kari leaves 

1/2 cup peas, fresh or frozen 

1/4 tsp turmeric 

1/8 tsp salt, or to taste 

Separate the cauliflower into small florets. Warm the vegetable oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat. When hot, add the asafoetida, then a second later, add the mustard seeds. When the mustard seeds begin to pop, add the kari leaves and stir to combine. Then add the cauliflower, turmeric and some salt to taste. Cook for 5 or 6 minutes, stirring occasionally to ensure the cauliflower is well coated with the spices and begins to brown slightly. Add 1/4 cup of water, and as soon as it starts to bubble, add the peas, cover the pan and turn down the heat to medium-low. Cook 10-15 minutes more until the cauliflower is soft and cooked through. Serve immediately.