At Last

Summer has officially arrived.  At long last.  And according to conventional Pac NW wisdom, it turned up a day early, on the actual 4th of July.  What a pleasant surprise, after all that dreary rain.

With the lovely, hot days, we spend most of our time outdoors: playing, working, cooking, and (the best bit) eating.  Out comes the grill, the uber-simple meals, the ice-cold bevvies....good things are happening in the summer, no doubt about it.

Recently, I was visiting Jennifer Casa's lovely blog, J Casa *handmade, and was inspired by her post of a Martha Stewart recipe, for Mojo Pork Kebabs.  A quick-to-prepare, marinated dish of pork and veggies, that can be prepped early in the day and forgotten about, until hungry bellies grumble, and the heat has died down just enough to light the grill. 

I did alter things, just a wee bit.  The original recipe calls for cucumbers on the skewers, and I am not a fan.  I think it goes back to college days, when for a short time, I had a very odd, rather lurk-y roommate, who cooked cucumbers.  (I don't know which was more unsettling:  the creepy moments when you'd feel as if you were being watched, and looking up, there she was, just lurking quietly, for who knows how long...or the weird, cooked cucumbers.  Shivers.)  So.  No cucumbers for me, thanks.  Instead, we threw some onions and sweet peppers into the marinade.

I also added a pinch of ground cumin to the marinade.  Because why not?  Citrus, pork, garlic...it sort of wanted cumin for a friend, I do believe.

Here you go:

Mojo Pork Kebabs - adapted from Martha Stewart, via JCasa *handmade
-serves four to six

Ingredients
pork tenderloin, about 2 pounds, cut into 1 1/2 inch cubes
two large peppers, cut into large chunks
1/2 large onion, cut into large chunks
1/3 cup olive oil
4 garlic cloves, minced
3 Tbs freshly squeezed lime juice, from 2 limes
1/4 cup orange juice, from 2 oranges
1 tsp ground cumin
pinch red chili flakes
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Prepare the marinade.  Whisk together olive oil, lime and orange juices, cumin, chili flakes, salt and pepper.  Pour half the marinade over the pork, and refrigerate in a large ziploc bag, or covered bowl, for a minimum of half an hour, up to overnight.  I made mine in the morning, and grilled that evening.  Reserve the other half of marinade for veggies, and brushing on the pork while grilling.

Before skewering, toss the vegetables in the reserved marinade.  Again, reserve this marinade for brushing.

If using skewers, thread the pork and veggies onto them, just before grilling.  Or, if your skewers are packed away in boxes, as ours are, use a grill pan over the coals, to cook.

Preheat your grill, or barbecue.  When hot, grill everything until done, brushing from time to time with marinade.  Pork needs to be cooked to 165 deg F.

Serve up your Mojo Pork with some fresh, crusty bread, pita, or tortillas.

A perfect meal, for perfect summer weather.  At last.

Feed the Beast

Snacks are one of the (many) areas in parenting life that tend to get my goat.  Yes, I know, kids need to refuel.  Incessantly, it seems, sometimes.  "Mummy, I'm hungry!  Can I have a snack?"  Exactly how many times a day do I hear that phrase?  It's odd that it sometimes irritates me, given my love of food. But it does, I must admit.  I would far rather put my time and energy into preparing a meal, and I do. However, for some reason, those kiddos' bellies just don't stay full between mealtimes.  Perhaps it's all that moving around they do.  Perhaps I should make them stop.  Kidding.  Perhaps I should follow their example a bit more...

Back when we lived in New Zealand, and the Boy was a toddler (a toddler with a very good appetite, but a toddler-sized appetite!), I used to watch three neighbor kids after school, for about an hour a day.  I felt as if I'd been thrown into the lion pit, those first few weeks watching them, because until then, I'd had no idea how just how ravenous kids are, especially after school.  I'd scramble around my kitchen, hearing their cackles for "FOOD!" as if they were a pack of hyenas, set to devour anything I put in front of them, fangs dripping greedily.  No, I jest.  They were really cute, and they smiled and said please, even.  The gap between a toddler snack and a school age kid snack took me by surprise, though. Eventually, I learned from my friend, Jemma, the perfect, cheap, easy snack:  Popcorn.  You can make buckets of the stuff for pennies, and hey, I did.  Once I figured out that trick, I made it happily, every day.

The brilliant thing about popcorn is that it's pretty much a crowd pleaser, no matter what age group your crowd may be.  And on top of that, I never hear the "cha-ching" of my bank account decreasing as the kiddos annihilate it.  Feed the beast, I say.

A few months ago, I was searching for an appetizer for a Cajun feed that the gang was planning.  It was suggested that I bring a finger food, something light-ish, as the main meal was going to be rather on the filling side.  I combed through recipes online, trying to find just the right thing, and also dead set against anything deep-fried.  I am not the gal to attempt several batches of beignets.  It just wouldn't turn out well.  Then, I hit the jackpot, a la Martha Stewart.  Cajun Popcorn.  Oooo, boy, I was all sorts of excited about this one, let me tell you.

The recipe called for 1 cup of popcorn kernels, which makes about 2 very large bowls of popcorn.  You can easily halve the recipe, for one large bowl, though.  Make what you need.  And be prepared for the popcorn to be inhaled.  Definitely a crowd pleaser.

One more recipe note, before we get to the nitty-gritty:  It is spicy.  It calls for 1/2 to 3/4 tsp of cayenne, and unless you have a mouth of steel, which I don't, you just may breathe fire for a bit.  For the kiddos, I omit the cayenne altogether, or just put the tiniest of tiny pinches in.

Cajun Popcorn, adapted from marthastewart.com
-makes about 24 cups, or two large bowls

Ingredients
1 cup popcorn kernels
1/4 cup (1/2 a stick), unsalted butter, melted*

Spice Mix
2 1/4 tsp flake sea salt, or a larger grain salt, like kosher
1 1/4 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp garlic powder
3/4 tsp onion powder
3/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
3/4 tsp dried oregano, leaves crushed between your fingertips
3/4 tsp thyme leaves, crushed or ground in a mortar and pestle
1/2 to 3/4 tsp cayenne pepper (or adjust to your spice-tolerance)

*This recipe calls for a rather LOT of butter.  I usually halve it, especially when making it for the kiddos' snack, to keep things a bit healthier.  If you're going for an adult party appetizer, I advise that you go for the full amount.  Grown-ups don't usually make as much pigs of themselves in group situations as kids tend to.*

In a small bowl, mix the spices together.

Using whatever popping method you prefer, pop the corn.  I use an air popper, and make it in two batches. You can pop it on the stove, or however you desire.

Toss the popcorn in the melted butter, then throw over the spice mix, and toss to coat well.

How do you like that?  Couldn't be easier, and sure to please even the hungriest of snackers.  Just the thing to feed the beast.