Mango and Brie Quesadilla with Sour Cream and Lime Dipping Sauce



My brother Jamie wound up his day at the Toronto Eggfest by whipping up a batch of Mango and Brie Quesadillas. An easy but impressive appetizer that was a real crowd pleaser at Eggfest. The recipe came from the Food Network website (link below). Enjoy!

Mango and Brie Quesadilla with Sour Cream and Lime Dipping Sauce (Food Network)

Pulled Pork Peroshki

My maternal grandparents were German-speaking Mennonites who were chased out of the Ukraine by the Bolsheviks during the Russian revolution. Food has always been central to Mennonite culture and although they left the Ukraine with not much more than the clothes on their back, one thing my grandmother brought with her was a number of traditional dishes including the Mennonite equivalent of the empanada which is called peroshki. My grandmother's peroshki was a sweet bun filled with a savory ground beef and onion filling. In my North Carolina meets Mennonite version I substituted pulled pork laced with a North Carolina style vinegar sauce for the beef and added a sweet BBQ dipping sauce. Served hot off the egg they are delicious although traditionally they would be served cold as part of the Mennonite tea called Vespa or as part of a cold meal on the Sabbath, typically a day when no cooking would be done.

Enjoy!

Dough

I made the dough using the dough cycle of my breadmaker but you could just as easily make it using a food processor or by hand. Either follow the hand made instructions or forget the warm water, add an extra 1/4 cup of warm milk and ignore the 1 tsp of sugar and yeast proofing business - just dump all the ingredients in your bread maker and let 'er rip.

1/4 cup warm water
1 tsp sugar
2 tsp yeast
approx. 4 cups all purpose flour (add extra to get a sticky but not wet dough)
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
1 cup of warm milk
6 tbsp melted butter
4 eggs

1. Combine the water, teaspoon of sugar, yeast and let it bubble.

2. In a large bowl, beat the eggs. Mix in the milk, butter, sugar, salt, yeast mixture and 2 cups of the flour.

3. Add the rest of the flour slowly mixing with a wooden spoon until it becomes smooth and does not stick to the side of the bowl.

4. Dump out on a flour covered surface and knead a few times by hand then form dough into ball, place in bowl, cover with a clean tea towel and place in a warm place until it doubles in size.

5. Punch down dough (or remove from bread maker at end of dough cycle). If you have a patty maker gizmo, roll out as thin as possible and follow instructions for the patty maker using pulled pork as your filling.

6. If you don't have a patty maker, pinch off walnut sized pieces of dough and roll out, place some pulled pork on the centre and fold over and pinch the edges to seal.

7. Place on a floured pan, cover with a clean tea towel and allow the peroshki to rise again for approximately 30 minutes.

8. Brush the tops of peroshki with an egg wash (egg beaten with a little water) and bake on your pizza stone with at a dome temp (or oven temp) of 400 F for 10-15 minutes.

9. Serve warm or cold with your favourite BBQ sauce ( I used Apple City Barbecue Sauce).

I made my pulled pork using the North Carolina Style Pulled Pork from the Naked Whiz website. I used the Traditional North Carolina Sauce (A) to moisten the pork before stuffing the peroshki.

Waterloo County Ribs


Picked up a couple racks of pork back ribs for a good price so going to try to create a distinctly Waterloo County rib recipe using local maple syrup and Dr. BBQ's Big-Time Championship Rib Method. If it works out, we'll serve it at the Toronto Eggfest this June.

Advanced Prep - make the rub, rub the ribs and make the glaze the evening before. Total time in the cooker - approximately 5 hours.

1. Remove the membrane from the inside of each rib rack. I usually just use my fingers or needle nosed pliers if it doesn't cooperate.

2. Mix up the rub and apply generously to each rack. Wrap in plastic wrap and put in fridge overnight. Might substitute turbinado sugar next time as I suspect the maple sugar adds little maple flavour to the rub - the maple flavour comes from the 3/4 cup of syrup in the glaze.

Rub Recipe
1/4 cup maple sugar
1/8 cup brown sugar
1/2 tbsp granulated garlic
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp kosher salt
1 tbsp fresh ground black pepper
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tbsp dried thyme
1/2 tbsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
















Rubbed and ready to rock.


3. Good idea to make the glaze while you are waiting. Combine all the ingredients and bring to a boil. Simmer until it reduces a bit and thickens.

Glaze Recipe
3/4 cup maple syrup (medium or amber grade if available)
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp ketchup
1 tbsp cider vinegar
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp dry mustard

4. Next day set up for indirect grilling at 275 F using the smoking wood of your choice - I'm using a couple chunks of hickory and a little cherry. Put the ribs in meaty side up for 2 hours. Flip and cook for another hour.

5. Remove the ribs and get enough foil to double wrap each rack of ribs. Place each rack on the foil, sprinkle with a little maple sugar and drizzle with maple syrup. Flip and repeat on the other side. Pull up the edges of the foil then add about 1/2 cup of apple juice to each packet and seal. Return to cooker and cook for another 90 minutes. Check after 60 minutes and add more apple juice if needed. This step uses a lot of foil - about six feet of BBQ foil for my four half racks. Next time I think I'll try using the covered roasting pan that fits my grill for this step.

6. Open each packet carefully (watch for the steam) and just let any liquid run into the drip pan. Raise the temperature of your cooker to 350 F. Brush the ribs with the glaze and flip until well glazed - about 20 minutes.

7. Remove from the cooker, cut up and enjoy!















Smoked and ready to eat!