Ancho-Marinated Pork & Mango Skewers

Hi friends! I recently remembered I have a blog and I haven't updated it much (other than mandatory posts) in the last little while. ;) I thought I would show you what I've been up to and share my favorite recipe that I tried while I was back home in Northern British Columbia visiting my family. It was a big hit all around! My favorite dinner was Ancho-Marinated Pork and Mango Skewers. I found the recipe in the Best of Fine Cooking magazine's Summer Eats 2012 issue (there are sooooo many good recipes in there so best to check it out if you haven't already! Its well worth the 12 bucks!).

My favorite part about this recipe was learning to barbeque! My hubby always mans the BBQ when we are home, but since he didn't come up north with me, and it was just my Mom and I out at their cabin, I had to "man up" and figure out how to light the BBQ and do the grilling. Surprise, surprise, it went just fine! And I was pretty darn proud of myself for figuring it out. :)

Ancho-Marinated Pork and Mango Skewers
Recipe from The Best of Fine Cooking Summer Eats 2012

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup fresh orange juice
• 2 tbsp fresh lime juice
• 2 tbsp olive oil and more fore the grill
• 2 tsp dark brown sugar
• 2 tsp ancho chile powder
• 2 medium cloves garlic, minced
• pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
• kosher salt
• 1 lb pork tenderloin trimmed and cut into one inch cubes
• 2 medium ripe mangos, peeled, pitted and cut into 1 inch cubes
• 6 metal skewers
• 1 tbsp fresh cilantro for garnish (optional)

Method:

1. In a medium bowl, whisk the orange juice, lime juice, olive oil, sugar, ancho chile powder, garlic, red pepper flakes and 1/2 tsp salt. Add the pork, toss to coat, cover and refrigerate for at least one hour and up to 4 hours (I did two hours and it was plenty).
2. Thread the pork and mango cubes onto the skewers, alternating them and beginning and ending with a piece of pork. Each skewer should have about 5 pieces of pork and four pieces of mango.
3. Heat BBQ to medium heat and rub down with a paper towel dipped in oil o grease the grill. Cook the skewers, turning once or twice, until the meat is nicely browned on the outside but still slightly pink in the center, about 8 minutes per skewer (may vary depending on the temp of your grill). Serve garnished with the cilantro if desired.

I served mine over an avocado and blackberry salad dressed with a roasted garlic dressing and some yummy feta cheese!

While I was up north visiting family, I got put to work. Turns out my timing was perfect and I was in time for haying! So I drove the tractor, slung some hay bales and otherwise worked my butt off!

I also got to hang out with my momma lots (and Dad too, but he had to work while I was there, so didn't get to spend as much time with him)!

We had some sweet camp fires out at the cabin at the lake in the evenings and even made S'Mores a coupla times. Let me tell you - we discovered some delicious chocolate to use in S'mores - one was a coconut & toasted almond milk chocolate bar and the other was a dark chocolate with sea salt. Both were spectacular, but definitely the favorites of the week!

Also got to take in a hike with my sister and my cousin! It was a great hike to Clearwater Lake & Upper Clear Water lake. Somewhere I had never hiked before. What a beautiful lake! And a beautiful day too.

And finally, I just got some time to sit and relax and enjoy the sunshine. It was a much needed break and was so lovely that my parents shared their beautiful place at the lake with me. We laid out on the dock and soaked up some rays!

 And also enjoyed some of the beautiful evenings!!

Thats all I have for you today! But stay tuned for a super special post tomorrow. I have something really neat and delicious to share with you. :)

Happy Cooking my Friends!

Kabobs: Thai Coconut Curry Pork Kabobs & Satay Chicken

I've never made kabobs before. Don't get me wrong - I like a good kabob, and I've tried a few of the recipes before, but I've never actually gone to the effort of actually cutting up the meat and threading it onto skewers. I'm torn about whether I would go through with the effort again. It was kind of neat, but I'm not that excited about eating off a skewer - I'm find with little chunks of meat that I can just eat with a fork. So you can decide what you want to do with these recipes - you can cut the meat up, marinate and then cook, or thread it onto skewers and cook it that way!!

We'll go easy on the blabbing today because I have two recipes to share with you!! Hope you enjoy.

Pork Skewers with Thai Coconut Curry Sauce
Recipe from the Guy Can't Cook by Cinda Chavich

Ingredients:

• one 398ml can light coconut milk
• 2 tsp hot asian chili paste
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
• 2 tbsp oyster sauce
• 2 tsp curry powder
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 pork tenderloin (about 500g), cut into long, thin strips

Method:

1. In a food processor or blender, combine the coconut milk, chilipaste, cilantro, oyster sauce, curry powder, brown sugar, and garlic. Whirl until pureed.
2. Place the pork strips in a ziploc bag and add half of the marinade. Marinate the pork in the refrigerator for several hours. Cover the remaining marinade and refrigerate.
3. Thread pork, accordion-style onto wooden skewers. Grill pork over medium-high heat for 8 minutes, turning several times, until its just cooked. Be sure to soak your wooden/ bamboo skewers in water for at least 30 minutes prior to cooking so they don't burn on the grill.
4. Meanwhile, put the reserved marinade into a small pot and boil for 10 minutes to thicken. Brush some of the curry sauce over the pork as it comes off the grill. Serve the pork skewers over basmati rice, drizzled with the remaining curry sauce and sprinkled with more fresh cilantro.

This one was definitely my favorite - I just can't resist a yummy thai curry sauce (actually, pretty much any thai food is irresistable to me).

Satay Sticks with Peanut Sauce
Recipe from the Guy Can't Cook by Cinda Chavich

Ingredients:

• 1 lb boneless, sinless chicken, pork, or lamb, cut into thin strips
• Marinade:
• 1/4 cup kecap manis (sweet indonesian soy sauce)
• 1 tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 tsp honey
• Peanut Sauce
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup natural peanut butter
• 1 tbsp kecap manis
• 1/4 cup chicken broth or water
• 1 tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice
• 1/2 tsp asian chili paste

Method:

1. In a large ziploc bag, combine the meat with the marinade ingredients. Seal and marinate in the refrigerator overnight.
2. Drain the marinated meat and thread onto skewers. Grill over medium-high heat until browned on all sides, about 10 minutes in total.
3. To make the sauce, whisk the garlic, peanut butter, kecap manis, chicken broth, lime juice, and chili paste together in a small bowl.
4. Set the sauce in the center of a round platter, and arrange the skewers like spokes around the edges if you are feeling artistic & fancy.

Both of these recipes are quite simple, just be sure you allow time for the meat to marinade because that's where the flavour comes from. You could probably bake the kabobs in the oven too if your weather conditions don't allow you to grill outside. :) Bake on a fairly high heat and broil a little at the end to get a little bit of browning on the meat.

Happy Cooking my Friends!