long weekend

it's the long weekend - yahoo! and you know what that means? bbq season is officially upon us. i've noticed a marked increase in sales of bbq sauce over the past couple of weeks and i'm hoping it goes nuts this weekend. i have a fresh batch of chipotle lime simmering away right now, just getting up to temp before i can jar it. should make about 24 bottles, which is good because it's my best seller!

i also have to get all of my baking finished because i need to make another trip to home depot, canadian tire, kent & rona this afternoon (i like to go to them all and compare prices...). i'm in the market for lots of wood chips, cedar planks & even some new cast iron grills for the old 'que. can you tell i like bbq? it's great, you don't have to worry about causing small fires in the kitchen or setting off the smoke detector, you don't have to wash any pots or pans, you get to chill outside all afternoon and it tastes pretty darn good.

i'm sort of obsessed with making smoke pouches, using planks, firing up the rotisserie and cooking low & slow over indirect heat - i was the resident bbq expert at the urban element ;) so i'll make sure to post lots and lots of pictures, tips & tricks throughout the summer, commencing on monday... as long as the rain holds off. 

but first, i have to make it through the weekend at the market. this week i made a few fishcakes.

183 to be exact. so they're all fresh but i froze them right away - no space in the fridge.

i also made traditional shepherd's pie with some fresh, ground, spring lamb from shani's farm.

i cooked the lamb with lots of onions, garlic, carrots, celery, peas, dark beer & a splash of worchestershire. then it gets topped with cheddar & chive mashed potatoes - the flavour combination sort of reminds me of a welsh rarebit, rich & tangy at the same time.

the chives were also the first thing i've harvested from the garden (if you can really call it a harvest).

but exciting nonetheless.

the rhubarb is also ready for picking. i'm thinking a rhubarb/apple/raspberry crumble on monday and then some cupcake experiments next week...

this week i have a pretty extensive menu, i have one regular freezer, one stand up freezer and one chest freezer full of product... i'll write the menu out here because undoubtedly i will forget something when i'm rushing to write the blackboard tomorrow morning.

fishcakes & baked beans $12

lamb shepherd's pie small $10 large $20

lobster mac & cheese small $10 large $24

quiches $14 (bacon, onion, asparagus & parm, or tomato, goat cheese, spinach & arugula)

creamy british fish pie $18

bbq chicken & rib combo $20

sausage & cheese curd baked penne $7.5

curried chicken with chickpeas, cauliflower & squash $16

chicken, leek & broccoli pie $15

for soups i have:

curried butternut squash

carrot, apple, ginger

thai turkey & rice

roasted, red pepper, tomato & sweet potato (spicy)

mexican pork posole (spicy)

seafood chowder

french onion

vegetarian chili

creamy root vegetable puree

red lentil dahl

vegan vegetable stew

for sweets i have:

snickers brownies

lemon meringue tarts

oatmeal, white chocolate & cranberry cookies

chocolate & coconut macaroons

red velvet, chocolate, carrot & lemon cupcakes with

raspberry, chocolate, cream cheese & blueberry frostings

today i'm also experimenting with a caramel poundcake cupcake so i may have that tomorrow as well (with chocolate buttercream), depending on how experimentation works out...

now i'm off to the races!

a demain.