Kabobs and dog biscuits.

Two nights, two very different styles of kabobs. Yesterday was the Chicken Souvlaki, tonight the Moorish Pork. Both were equally delicious, albeit very different from one another. Both yesterday's and today's dishes allowed us to use ingredients that we normally don't, namely wine and vinegar. I've learned quickly that white wine, if used to marinate too long, will dry out meat. If it's used for the correct amount of time, it can be such a great addition to food.

The souvlaki was marinated a tad bit too long. My guess is it was not just the white wine, but the lemon juice that led to the dryness to the chicken. It could also be that I cut the meat into too small of pieces. Even with it being slightly dry, the flavour was amazing. Fresh, clean and with a hint of citrus and oregano. Just a marvelous pairing with the deep flavours of the sun dried tomato and mushroom couscous. It was only the second time that I've had couscous, and I LOVED it! I don't understand why more people don't make it; boil water, pour in dry couscous, let set for 5 minutes and you're done. How easy and quick is that? And to be a pasta dish, it has such a light texture. It's deceptively filling.

The recipe for the couscous came from AllRecipes.com. You can find it here.



Chicken Souvlaki
From the Williams-Sonoma Grilling & Roasting Cookbook

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons dry white wine
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 cup minced onion
1 clove garlic, minced
2 chopped bay leaves
1 teaspoon dried oregano
salt and pepper to taste
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken cut into 1 inch cubes

1. In bowl, combine olive oil, wine, lemon juice, onion, garlic, bay leaves oregano and salt and pepper.
2. Add chicken to coat and allow to marinate for 1 hour up to overnight.
3. Thread chicken cubes on to pre-soaked bamboo skewers.
4. Cook over medium hot grill, or under broiler in oven.


For every bit that yesterday's chicken had a clean and citrus flavour, today's Moorish Pork had a deep earthy and spicy flavour. Such a change from the norm that I make with pork. And coupled with the Roasted Potato Salad, it was pure bliss! Staci also added in some wonderful french bread that she picked up today, and some soft garlic cheese. I can't help but be happy that we've not had a "bad" recipe yet. Everything has been delicious, hearty, and full of flavour, so much so that I'm having trouble picking new recipies, because I want to keep making this stuff over and over. The Roasted Potato Salad will definately be a regular in the house. It was easy to make, thought it takes a while, and the texture is so very different from the normal mayo or sour cream based potato salads. The tartness that the vinegar brings to the mix only adds to the earthiness of the potato.



Moorish Pork Kabob
From the Williams-Sonoma Grilling & Roasting Cookbook

2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon coriander
1 teaspoon paprika
3/4 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon dried pepper flake
ground pepper to taste
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
1 pound lean pork cut into one-inch cubes

1. Mix together the garlic, salt, coriander, paprika, cumin, thyme, pepper flake, olive oil and lemon juice. Add ground pepper to taste.
2. Mix in pork cubes and allow to marinate for 1 hour, up to overnight
3. Thread marinated pork on to pre-soaked skewers.
4. Cook over medium-heat grill, or under broiler.


Roasted Potato Salad
From the Williams-Sonoma Grilling & Roasting Cookbook

3 pounds baby red potatoes
2/3 cup coarse salt
2 tablespoons dry white wine, divided
2 tablespoons extra vergin olive oil
3 tablespoons sherry wine vinegar, divided
1 shallot, minced
3 tablespoons tarragon
3/4 cup pure olive oil
2 tablespoons dijon mustard
pepper to taste
3 green onions, chopped
2 tablespoons parsley, chopped

1. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees F. Wash potato, and place on baking sheet whole. Cover with coarse salt and bake in the oven till tender but firm.
2. Remove potatoes from oven, clean off salt from skin and slice while still warm. Add slices to bowl and toss with the extra virgin olive oil and 1 tablespoon of the vinegar.
3. Add shallots and tarragon to the potatoes, stir gently and set aside.
4. In small bowl, combine the pure olive oil, 2 tablespoons vinegar and mustard. Season with Pepper to taste. Pour over the potato mixture and stir gently. Cover and refrigerate for one hour.
5. Before serving, toss in green onions and parsley.


Of course, with all of this good food, our poor Scottie dog, Finnigan, has not had his share of "the hooman food", so I thought I'd make a homemade dog-treat for him. The Peanut Butter and Banana Dog Bisucits that I found on AllRecipes.com sounded like an easy, and good treat to make for him. He's eaten 5 small biscuits, and is begging for more. I think they're a hit. (And for those of you that are wondering, yes I tried one; they taste like stale banana bread.)

Try It! You might like it...or maybe you'll order pizza.

Stop loafing and eat your meat.

I realized yesterday as I was doing some prep work for today that I had completely thrown off all of the side-dishes that I had planned for the week. Due to my rotation, I was left with the ingredients for rice pilaf to accompany the meatloaf. Rice and meatloaf? I think not. So I opted for the quick cheat tonight and put some fake-mashed potatoes and green beans as the side. The rice pilaf will have to wait for tomorrow and the spiced beef and asparagus stir fry.

Tonight's meatloaf also came from the Atkins for Life recipe box. (I promise in the future I'll expand the recipe genre and cook other things!) It's called "Not your Mama's Meat Loaf", and I'd agree with that. I wasn't really feeling the flavor tonight, though Staci said that she thought it was great. I don't normally make my meatloaf with much more than regular hamburger, so the addition of pork and veal was nice for a change, but not really my cup of tea.



Not Your Mama's Meat Loaf
1 red bell pepper halved and seeded
1 plum tomato halved
1 cup bread crumbs
2 lbs meat loaf mix (beef, pork and veal)
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 large egg
2 tablespoons coarse-grain mustard
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
1 large garlic clove
1 teaspoon salt

1. In oven, broil pepper and tomato, cut sides down on large foil covered pan for 8 to 10 minutes until skin is charred and vegetables are tender.
2. Wrap foil around vegetables and let stand to cool. Remove and discard skin.
3. Puree the pepper and tomato in processor till smooth.
4. In large bowl combine all remaining ingredients, reserving ahlf the pepper and tomato puree.
5. Form a 9X4 loaf on an open pan. Bake for 50 minutes or until done. Pour remaining puree on top of meatloaf and bake for an additional 10 minutes.


If I try this recipe again, I'll probably get a better mustard, and use less of the puree. I'm waiting to see if the meatloaf gets better as it cools; I'm hoping for a great meatloaf sandwich!

On a side note, I found an interesting article posted today by NPR about eating more whole grains. It's a pretty nice read with some great information on lesser-known grains that should be more frequently used. I've bookmarked the page, and am excited to try out some of the recipes that they've posted. As soon as I try some, I'll give a review here.

Try it! You might like it...or maybe you'll order pizza.