1 Prepare your grill for indirect heat. If you are using charcoal, put the coals on one side of the grill, leaving another side free of coals. If you are using a gas grill, fire up only half of the burners.

2 Remove neck and giblets from cavity of chicken, if the chicken came with them. Rub the chicken all over with olive oil. Mix the salt, pepper, and thyme in a little bowl, then sprinkle it all over the chicken.

3 Make sure the beer can is open, and only half-filled with beer (drink the other half!) If you want, you can put a sprig of thyme (or another herb like rosemary or sage) in the beer can. Lower the chicken on to the open can, so that the chicken is sitting upright, with the can in its cavity. Place the chicken on the cool side of the grill, using the legs and beer can as a tripod to support the chicken on the grill and keep it stable.

4 Cover the grill and walk away. Do not even check the chicken for at least an hour. After an hour, check the chicken and refresh the coals if needed (if you are using a charcoal grill). Keep checking the chicken every 15 minutes or so, until a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh reads 160°F – 165°F. The total cooking time will vary depending on the size of your chicken, and the internal temperature of the grill. A 4 lb chicken will usually take around 1 1/2 hours. If you don’t have a meat thermometer, a way to tell if the chicken is done is to poke it deeply with a knife (the thigh is a good place to do this), if the juices run clear, not pink, the chicken is done.

5 Carefully transfer the chicken to a tray or pan. I say “carefully” because the beer can, and the beer inside of it, is quite hot. One way to do this is to slide a metal spatula under the bottom of the beer can. Use tongs to hold the top of the chicken. Lift the chicken, beer can still inside, and move it to a tray. Let the chicken rest for 10 minutes. Carefully lift the chicken off of the can. If it gets stuck, lay the chicken on its side, and pull out the can with tongs.

Turkey Brine

Ingredients

• 1 liter vegetable oil for frying
• 1 cup flour
• 1 /2 cup beer
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• Salt, pepper, garlic powder and old bay seasoning to taste
• Cod fillets
• Onion, mushrooms, peppers, corgette, etc. sliced

Directions

1. In a large, deep skillet, heat oil to 180 degrees C (365 degrees F).
2. In a medium bowl, combine flour, egg, milk, beer, salt, pepper, garlic powder and old bay seasoning. Let this sit a while.
3. Just before starting, add baking powder and mix until smooth.
4. Dredge fish and vegetable slices in the batter, until evenly coated.
5. Deep fry in the hot oil until golden brown.
6. Drain on paper towels.

Ingredients

• 10 medium croissants cut in half lengthwise
• 150-200 grams (2 cups) shredded cheddar and white cheese
• 100 grams smoked salmon
• 2-3 chopped spring onions
• 8 eggs, beaten
• 1 ½ cups milk
• ¼ teaspoon salt and pepper
• 1 teaspoon ground dry mustard
• 1 tablespoon fresh dill
• 1 tablespoon fresh parsley

Directions

1. Grease a 9×13 inch baking dish with cooking spray or butter.
2. Place the croissant bottoms in the baking dish (bottom side down).
3. Sprinkle with the salmon, green onions and half of the cheese.
4. Beat together eggs, milk,, salt, pepper, mustard, dill and parsley.
5. Pour the egg mixtrure over the croissants.
6. Sprinkle with the remaining half of cheese.
7. Place the croissant tops in the baking dish (top side up).
8. Cover with foil and refrigerate for several hours or overnight.
9. Bring to room temperature.
10. Bake in preheated oven at 175 degrees C (350 degrees F) for about 30 minutes covered with foil and another 15 minutes uncovered (about 45 minutes total or until set).

Dutch recipes

I realise that I don’t have much Dutch food in my recipes. Actually, I think there is a reason for that, in that I don’t really care for Dutch cuisine. The cheese and pastries are good, but most of the main dishes are some variation of “smooshed food” or “stamppot” as they call them. I call them “piemel maaltijden” (penis meals) because there is usually a sausage involved. Here is a link if you want to read about Dutch cuisine, and I’ll try to update this with some of them as I get the time. The  picture is of the national dish Boerenkool (smooshed potatoes and kale). Stamppot is so popular that they even mentioned it in a song that was done for their king. Here is an article about This is it: the public-inspired song for king willy. 

Aj’s Pastitsio (a simplified version)

This is recipe from my friend Aj, from her late partner Diana’s greek family. I have modified it for smaller proportions which is about 6 servings, which I think is about 1/3 of the original recipe. I’ve also added vegetarian ingredients that we used.

Cream Sauce:

9 TBL butter   (3 TBL)                                         1 TBL salt (1 teaspoon)

1 cup plus 2TBL flour  (4-5 TBL)_                      6 whole eggs, lightly beaten (2 eggs)

6 cups hot milk (2 cups)                                     1/8 tsp nutmeg (1/8 tsp fresh grated and about 1/8 tsp paprika power)

Melt butter in saucepan. Add flour and cook, stirring until mixture is light golden. Gradually whisk in hot milk. Cook, stirring constantly, until sauce is smooth and thickened. Stir in salt and set aside to cool. When partly cool, stir in eggs.

(Often the sauce is a bit lumpy at this point, despite my best efforts. If it bothers you, pour through a strainer before cooling. I don’t bother for just us; I do if I’m making it for company. Probably no one would even notice).

Filling:

2 medium onions, chopped   (1 )                  salt and pepper

4 TBL butter  (2 tbl. olive oil)                          2 TBL tomato paste (75 gr)

2 LBS ground meat                                       ½ cup water (1/4 cup )

(175 gr minced tofu, 1/2 zucchinni 1/2 red pepper)

Dash of cinnamon (we skipped this,but added about 1 TBL of Cyprus oregano)

Sauté onion in butter until softened and slightly colored. Add meat and cook, stirring, until meat is browned. Add cinnamon and salt and pepper to taste. If the meat you are using is fatty, drain off the fat at this point, then move meat to one side and add tomato paste to bare pan ‘hot spot’, cooking for a minute or two. Add water and stir everything together to blend, cooking for 5 minutes. Set aside, or cool and refrigerate if making ahead.

Pasta:

2 LBS Number 2 Macaroni – see notes

(1/2 of 375 gr box)

6 eggs, beaten (2 eggs)

1 TBL salt (dash of salt)

About 4 cups of grated cheeses – I like a combination of cheeses: about 2 cups Asiago (or other mild cheese) for the melt factor, and about 2 cups Kefalotyri if you can get it (or Romano if you can’t).

(2 cups: 225 gr Halloumi and 150 gr Mozzarella, because we like a lot of cheese)

Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and rinse with hot water. When lukewarm, add the eggs and salt and mix well.

Put half the pasta in a buttered 11 X 17 X 3 pan (or whatever you have that’s close) and sprinkle with ¼ of the cheese mixture. Add the filling and sprinkle with another ¼ of the cheese mixture. Add remaining pasta and sprinkle with another ¼ of the cheese mixture. Bake in a 350 degree F oven for 10 minutes.

Top with cream sauce, sprinkle with remaining ¼ of cheese mixture, bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown (sometimes I finish the browning with the broiler).

[I used a 18 cm x 18 cm pan”, which it just barely fit in. I also cooked it all in one go in the oven at180 degree Celsius for 45 minutes]

Notes:   Milk – I generally use whole or 2% as skimmed just doesn’t have enough body. Doesn’t really have to be hot, it just speeds up the thickening process.

Salt – It seems like there’s a lot of salt in this dish, but the finished product is not salty.

Nutmeg – I have successfully substituted mace for nutmeg without being able to taste the difference.

To substitute fish for the meat: I think I used Pollack because it was firm-fleshed, mild flavored and inexpensive. I chunked it up (like, big bite size pieces) and cooked it for a few minutes after the onions and tomato paste mixture were done. I was a bit afraid it wouldn’t cook all the way in a casserole so I partially pre-cooked it.

Pasta – Greeks use Number 2 Macaroni, but it’s impossible to find where I live. Any hollow pasta will work if it’s not too big – I often substitute Bucatini if I can get it (that’s probably the closest thing to Number 2 Macaroni), or penne if that’s all that’s available. Ziti works well also.

Pan size – I used to have a crockery lasagna pan but I broke it. Still have not replaced it, so I buy a cheap disposable foil pan and line it with a double layer of heavy duty aluminum foil (which also makes it easy to lift the whole thing out of the pan).

Make it ahead – I usually make the meat ahead and refrigerate it, then make the macaroni and sauce when I want to assemble it (still usually the day before I serve it). I bake it, cool it, then cover it with foil and refrigerate it. In the directions, the oven temp and cooking time are geared to the already hot food, so since I’m usually putting it into the oven cold, I drop the oven temp to 325 F and bake it covered for 45 – 60 minutes.

Gogonzola, Smoked Salmon, and Spinach Pasta

This is one of Rob’s favourite meals, and one of my favourites because it is an easy one-pot meal. We make a lot of variations of it, and there really is no set recipe. We often make this and only use half of the smoked salmon and put 1/2 of the pasta with sauce in a microwave dish and warm it up the next day and then add the other half of smoked salmon.

Serves: 4, Prep: 10 mins Cook: 15 mins

Ingredients

• 250 gr fresh or dried pasta
  Note: We like 5 cheese ravioli but often try others. If we don’t have fresh pasta we use about 250 gr of Penne rigate. Really, any kind of pasta will work, as well as Gnocchi made from potatoes.
• 200 gr smoked salmon slices cut into bite-size pieces or cubes
  Note: If you don’t like smoked salmon, I think fried bacon would be a good substitute.
• 150 gr Gorgonzola cheese cubed
  Note: Gorgonzola is  Italian blue cheese from the Milan area in Italy. It is made from unskimmed cow’s milk. It can be buttery or firm and crumbly and quite salty, with a “bite” from its blue veining. We use a type that is buttery and soft. Roquefort cheese, may also be used.
• 125 gr fresh Mozzarella cheese cubed.
  Note: We usually use Mozzarella Fior di latte, which is made from cow’s milk and often sold commercially as “buffalo” but it is not. Mozzarella di Latte di Bufala and Mozzarella di Bufala Campana, which are made from the milk of Italian buffalo are even better. I also think Mozzarella affumicata (smoked mozzarella) would be nice, but have yet to find it locally. We often substitute grated low-moisture part-skim Mozzarella cheese, in which case a little less is needed (about 1/3 cup).
• 200 gr fresh spinach chopped  (a few big handfuls or frozen spinach)
  Note: Bimi, peas and kale are also nice, but need to be cooked longer with the pasta.
• 2 tablespoon of fresh Italian herbs (oregano, basil, thyme, etc.) or about 1 tablespoon dried herbs.
• 1-2 garlic cloves chopped (or about 1 teaspoon minced or powdered garlic)
• A dash of red chili pepper flakes. Sometimes I also add a little nutmeg.
• Freshly-grated pepper Usually additional salt is not needed because the smoked salmon and Gorgonzola cheese are salty.
• Parmesan cheese to top

Directions

1. About 1-2 hours before cooking time, mix the Crème fraîche with the herbs and let it sit at room temperature. If using dried garlic, also add that so it can mix in with the Crème fraîche.
2. Boil pasta in large pot of salted water until “al dente” (tender, yet still firm based on the packaging instructions).
3. About 1-2 minutes before the pasta is done, add fresh spinach. If using frozen spinach, or other vegetables, add them earlier and adjust the time for cooking the pasta.
4. Drain the pasta and spinach in a sieve and let it sit while you make the sauce.
5. In the same pot, Lightly saute the fresh garlic.
6. Take the pan off the heat and add the Crème fraîche mixture, Gorgonzola and Mozzarella cheese.
7. Cook over medium-high heat until it is a good consistency — a few lumps of cheese is often nice.
8. Add the smoked salmon, pasta and spinach to the sauce and toss well to coat evenly. We usually serve the smoked salmon cold on the side because Rob likes it that way.
9. Top with freshly grated Parmesan cheese and serve.
   Note: We like Parmigiano-Reggiano.