FOOD

Merry Monday All!

Welcome to another week and the second week of June already! Crazzzzzy!!! Time certainly flies and the weekend even more so. My weekend was pretty quite, but this post is not entitled 'FOOD' for nothing.... so you can guess what I was up to all weekend ;) I figured I put my culinary skills to use for the first time in a while, and really enjoy being back in the kitchen. First things first, cookies!!! My ULTIMATE Peanut Butter cookies to be precise. 

First one MUST make as big a mess as possible on the counter.

Then fend off the puppies who are addicted to PB... Blue decided to visit at the right time hehe

Rolling the the little drops of deliciousness in your hand and press with a fork. 

Bake the critters off for 10 mins and you get the most golden and moist PB cookies ever!

... a tragedy occurred in the transfer to the cooling rack. One poor cookie didn't make it...

Now didn't those look absolutely divine????! If only they had Nutella in them...  I'll list the recipe at the end of my post if anyone is interested in having a go at them :) 

Next up on the menu - Beer Can BBQ'd Chicken. Now this is something I LOVE sinking my teeth in. The profanity of having a beer can shoved up into the poor chicken's insides is all worth it when you get to have a taste of this baby. In fact, the chicken doesn't really retain the flavour of the beer so much as the moisture. On the other hand, the chicken does hold on to the flavour of the herbs and garlic that is used. I promise you'll start to drool as soon as the scent hits your nose... I know I am right now just looking at the picture lol.

Good ol' Nova Soctian Alexander Keiths going to work!

A shot of the Chives, Rosemary and Garlic.

Whewwww, making meals is no easy task!  But the results are soooooo rewarding. 


While I'm on the subject of food - check out my friend Dawn's blog "The Scoff." She's new to blogging but judging by her last couple of posts she definitely knows her food. And for those of you who do not know what the word 'Scoff' means here's a little explanation. It's primarily an old Newfie word (perhaps English in origin... but I really have no idea) that means to have a big old party and a feed of food. Basically a scoff entails good times and lots of good food. 

Now! Moving on...

When I wasn't in the kitchen this weekend, I was stitching and gardening (which I'll have photo's of a little later when things look a little more presentable). I'm happily stitching away at the Friendship Sampler I've been at for the past month. It's certainly coming along and soon I'll be half way there when the empty block you see below is filled. The only complaint I have at this stage is that I have had to correct numerous mistakes in the chart. They're not a big deal and easily corrected... but if I wasn't paying attention then I would have added a whole unnecessary row to the chart that would have made all the blocks on the right side uneven. I feel like I have to be constantly on the look out while stitching and I hate it... but I had inconsistency even more so I'll deal with adding/subtracting a stitch here and there. However, I want to you all to know I do LOVE this piece and the small errors would not prevent me from purchasing the chart if I had known about them in hindsight. The design is just to beautiful to give up on that easily :) AND, like I've been saying in just about every post this has been in, I am LOVING stitching this peace.   

Sorry for the poor lighting...

Anyways, folks - that's it for me today! I hope you all have a grand week!

Ciao!

Melissa

Recipes 

Ultimate Peanut Butter Cookies

1/2 cup of Butter (room temp.)

1/2 cup of Brown Sugar (packed)

1/2 cup of Sugar

1 egg

1 cup of Peanut Butter

1/2 tsp of salt (if using unsalted butter)

1/2 tsp of baking soda

1/2 tsp of vanilla

1 1/2 cups of flour 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.


(1) Beat butter until light and fluffy.
(2) Gradually add sugar and brown sugar - continue beating.
(3) Beat in egg.
(4) Add peanut butter, salt, baking soda and vanilla. Cream these ingredients together in the mixture with a wooden spoon or spatula.
(5) Gradually mix in the flour.
(6) Once the dough has come together, spoon a drop of the dough onto the palm of your hand and roll into a ball. Place onto greased cookie sheet or parchment paper (also on a cookie sheet).
(7) Press a fork onto the top of each ball of dough to flatten the cookie slightly.
(8) Bake for 10-12 mins, or until lightly golden brown. Be careful to not overcook them or the cookies will dry out. 

Beer Can Chicken

1 Full Chicken (small) -  make sure the inside cavity is empty. 
1 tablespoon of fresh or dried chives
2 tablespoons of butter (room temp)
3-4 Sprigs of Rosemary
5 Cloves of Garlic
1 Can of Beer
Salt and Pepper


Start BBQ and preheat on medium heat, roughly 300-325 degrees F.

YES! You can make this even if you don't have the device in the pictures above to do this. I often make two chickens and just shove the chicken onto a beer can on a small baking sheet. This works perfectly fine, but you may have to balance the chicken a little. 


(1) Mix together butter and chives. Add a dash of salt and pepper if desired.
(2) Clean the chicken and pat dry. Insert your index finger inbetween the skin and the meat at the bottom of each chicken breast. Loosen the skin for the meat but do not tear. Only a small corridor is needed.
(3) Using your finger or a small spoon work the butter/chive mixture into the space between the skin and meat you have just created. THIS WILL BE A LITTLE MESSY but soooo worth  it I promise ;)
(4) Rinse off the can of beer with some water, and pour half of it's contents into a measuring cup.
(5) Place the beer can onto a small baking sheet (I use a 9'' round pie sheet). Then place the chicken over the beer can, inserting the can into the chicken's cavity. You may need to manipulate the legs of the chicken into such a way that the chicken is balanced. I usually put one leg in front and twist the other leg to the back. 
(6) Place some of the rosemary sprigs and garlic into the hole at the top of chicken, scatter the rest into the baking sheet. Pour the beer you set aside earlier into the baking sheet.
(7) Rub the remain butter onto the skin of the chicken and season with pepper.
(8) Transfer your bird on the baking sheet to the BBQ. 
(9) Roast for 45mins - 1hr or until juices run clear and meat is no longer pink. A meat thermometer will come in handy here if you have one, that way you will not have to puncture the meat too much as you would with a knife.


ENJOY! 


PS: If you have any questions drop me an email at k73mmf@mun.ca


Have a great foodie week :)