All the ingredients in the recipes, other than seasonings are grown and produced on Vancouver Island.
Not long ago it was popular to cook with imported, exotic ingredients. These days it has become far more in vogue to use locally grown food. Great chefs are going out to their local farms and seeking out the best and freshest to feature on their menus. Friends treat finding a new local ingredient like a prize to share with their foodie friends at their next gathering. More and more people are recognizing that buying local is not only good for our economy but really tastes better and if we keep supporting local farmers they'll keep growing more. What could be better! We don't all have to be purists (I can live without citrus but I'd rather not). We can however make big changes in our food supply by just adding in local ingredients wherever possible.
Red Curry Chicken Legs
Same idea as Tandori chicken but with a Thai flavour. Traditional Thai food uses coconut milk but since coconuts do not grow on Vancouver Island I tried yogurt. Yogurt is a natural meat tenderizer, makes a nice tangy crust and adds very little fat, making these legs a very tasty guilt free treat.
8 Island Farmhouse Chicken legs, skin removed
Red Curry Marinade:
1 cup Island Farms plain yogurt
1 - 3 teaspoons of Thai red curry paste - to taste 3 being very hot!
1 tablespoon of fresh grated ginger
juice and rind of one lime
1 clove of garlic finely chopped
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
Mix all the marinade ingredients well. Score the legs with three cuts diagonally across each leg and place in marinade. Refrigerate for up to 24 hours. Cook in a very hot oven 450F or BBQ for the first 15mins and then reduce heat to 350F until juices run clear.
Grilled Chicken with BC Peaches (or Nectarine) and Berry Salsa
This is a great summer time recipe when peaches and Nectarines are amazing. For a taste of summer in the winter you can use canned BC peaches and frozen blueberries.
6 Island Farmhouse chicken breasts, boneless, skinless
2 Tablespoons of Olive Oil
Juice of one lemon
Salt and Pepper
Salsa
3 fresh peaches or nectarines
1/2 cup fresh blue berries (or cherries pitted and halved)
Juice of one lime (depending on the lime you might need two)
1 fresh jalepeno pepper
1 small red onion
1/2 cup cilantro
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
Peel and roughly chop peaches (about thumb tip size pieces) place in large bowl. Add chopped red onion, finely minced jalapeno (seeds removed) and chopped cilantro, lime juice sugar and salt. Mix well and add berries and set aside. (You can make this a couple of hours ahead of time if you like)
Preheat BBQ. Toss chicken, oil, lemon and salt and pepper in a bowl. Grill chicken until cooked through and arrange on a serving platter in a flower pattern and spoon salsa in the centre. Garnish with cilantro.
Grilled Chicken with Blackberry Sauce
One thing we have a lot of on Vancouver Island is blackberries! You can also use frozen blackberries. In the summer I drive my kids crazy by stopping to pick blackberries when we're out for bike rides (always keep a ziplock bag in my backpack) but I don't hear anyone complaining when there is frozen blackberries in the freezer and blackberry syrup for pancakes available in the winter.
6 Island Farmhouse chicken breasts, boneless, skinless
2 Tablespoons of Olive Oil
Juice of one lemon
Salt and Pepper
1 1/2 cups blackberries
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 cup onion
1/2 cup dry red wine
1 tablespoon lemon juice
3 to 4 tablespoons blackberry jam, seedless
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
whole blackberries for garnish
Press blackberries through sieve to remove seeds and place in small bowl. Heat butter in a small sauté pan or saucepan over medium-low heat. Add onions finely chopped onions and cook until tender. Add the red wine and lemon juice. Bring to a boil; lower heat and simmer until reduced by about 1/2. Combine the blackberry pulp, jam or preserves, pepper, and salt; add to the wine mixture. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.
Makes about 1 cup.
Preheat BBQ. Toss chicken, oil, lemon and salt and pepper in a bowl. Grill chicken until cooked through and arrange on a serving platter, spoon on blackberry sauce and garnish with whole blackberries
Island Thunder Drumsticks
Drumsticks make great party food, compared to wings they have more meat, much less fat and are half the cost. Since Island Farmhouse Chicken is European Style air-chilled, which means no added water or bleach, the skin gets nice and crisp when cooked.
Season drumstick with salt and pepper and place in hot oven, 450F for 10 min then reduce heat to 350 until cooked through. Toss in one of the following sauces while still hot.
Honey Garlic - for 12 drumsticks
1 tablespoon of butter
1 - 2 cloves of finely minced garlic
1/2 cup of Vancouver Island honey
Cook garlic in butter over medium heat, careful not to brown the garlic, remove from stove and add honey, return to stove on low heat until honey is heated through. In a large bowl toss cooked hot sticks in honey sauce until well coated. Transfer to warm serving dish and drizzle with any left over sauce.
Buffalo style
In a large bowl toss drumstick in your favourite buffalo style hot sauce until well coated
Chicken and Hazelnut Pate
Many chicken recipes use pistacios. Since hazelnuts grow on Vancouver Island I thought I'd give them a try. The flavors go great together and it's economical too!
6 Island Farmhouse Chicken thighs, boneless and skinless
1 small clove of garlic
1/2 small onion chopped
1 tablespoon butter
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon dried tarragon
1 teaspoon salt
2 slices of good deli ham
2 Tablespoon Cognac
1 cup Island Farms whipping cream
2/3 cup Vancouver Island Hazelnuts (roasted)
Preheat oven to 325F
Melt butter in sauce pan on medium heat and add onions, cook until transparent but not brown, add garlic and cook until just slightly browned. Cut thighs into 1 inch pieces and place in food processor
and pulse 3 - 4 times. Add rest of ingredients except for nuts, cream and ham. Blend throughly slowly add cream until well blended. Roughly chop Hazelnuts and ham. Add half the nuts and all the ham and pulse 3 - 4 times. Add the rest of the nuts and mix well by hand. Pack mixture into a buttered loaf pan and cook for 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Cool overnight in refridgerator, slice in 1/4" slices and serve with grainy mustard, your favorite preserves and bagette or crackers.
Yummy Drummies with Candied Yam fries and Zooooo Sticks for fussy kids
My son doesn't know this but there are no actual candy in the yam fries, just yams full of beta-carotene. Chicken dark meat, like drumsticks contain more vitamins A, K, B6, B12, niacin, folate, pantothenic acid and minerals as selenium, phosphorus and zinc than white meat. So not only do they come in a perfect kid size shape ...... they're good for kids too.
10 Island Farmhouse Drumsticks
2 tablespoons Mayonaise
1/2 teaspoon poultry seasoning
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper (more or less to taste)
1 cup of flour
parmesan cheese
Pre-heat oven to 375F
In a large bowl mix drumsticks and mayonaise until well coated. In a separate bowl mix dry ingredients except parmesan cheese. One a time, gently toss drumsticks in flour mixture and place on cookie sheet. Sprinkle each drumstick with parmesan cheese and place in oven.
2 large Yams
cooking oil
salt
Peel yams, cut into strips and toss in a large bowl with cooking oil, spread onto cookie sheet, add a little salt to taste and place it in the oven with the drumsticks. The yams don't need to cook as long as the chicken and I find by the time I prepare the yams the chicken has had a good head start.
Fresh seasonal veggies and sour cream - Zuccini sticks (Zooooo sticks), cherry tomatoes, red peppers are always a favorite in our house.
