The Last Supper

My boys are grown.  One is finishing up school in the States and the other lives about an hour away with an opposite working schedule to us.  My husband's daughter lives in western Canada and his son lives in the same city, but also has a work schedule that conflicts with visiting us regularly. 
 
Home cooking is important to all four.  I know this because they eat a lot when they are here.  I cook a lot when they are here - Doggie bags etc.   It's the least I can do.  My Mom would have done nothing less!

The kids have come home during the last month and boy have I cooked.  There is a sense of satisfaction when you prepare food for your kids.  I am always wondering how they are eating when they are away from home.  When I cook a meal that is especially good, I wish the kids were at home to taste it.  There were days I didn't feel like cooking during their visits, but I did because there will be days that I wish they were home so I could cook for them.  It's like when my one of my boys visits and I hug them extra for all the times I wish I could hug them!

My baby boy will be heading back to The United States in a couple of days and today was my last day to cook for him. 

I made something so simple (never made it before), but I will certainly make it again.  It's such a compliment when your son takes a picture of the food you made (who knows where the pic ended up - Instagram - Twitter - Facebook, or just in his phone.  Or, perhaps, he took the picture to remember how I cooked it and will make it for his lovely girlfriend!  Now that's a compliment).


THREE INGREDIENT CHICKEN:

1.  Boneless Chicken Breast - however many you    like
2.  Sundried Tomato Salad Dressing  (not low fat)
3.  Asiago cheese cut into slices

Seasoning and spices do not count as ingredients !!

Method:

* Season both sides of chicken breast with salt, pepper, and  garlic powder.
*  Pour enough salad dressing in the baking dish to cover the bottom of the dish.
*  Place chicken in the dish - sprinkle each piece of chicken with dried Rosemary.
*  Bake at 350 for 45 minutes at the Convection setting uncovered or 1 and half hours at 350 at the normal oven setting uncovered.
*  Turn chicken over every 10 minutes.  Really do this!!..the chicken stays so moist from this exercise!
*  Top chicken with Asiago cheese (sliced or grated) and cook for another 5 minutes until the cheese melts.
                               TA DA!!!!

Serve with pasta or rice or roasted potatoes. 
 
 
You can even put it on a lightly toasted bun with some basil mayo.  That would be delish as well.




When you least expect it, someone goes to the garden and picks flowers for you because you showed your love by cooking for them.

Food is love.

Annette

Give Up The Bottle!

We are right in the thick of  BBQ season.  A tasty barbeque sauce is imperative.  You need that one sauce you can always count on.  A barbeque sauce  that is full of flavour and versatile.  Wow, there are so many bottled barbeque sauce brands, types and flavours at your local super market and gourmet food shop.  How do you choose?  Which one should you get?  I bet you wonder what it tastes like and if it's going to be better on chicken than on pork and you become worn out from reading all the labels. Why not do what I do? - MAKE YOUR OWN!!!
I watched my Mom make this sauce for years.  It's tangy, sweet, and bright in flavour.  The bonus is that the ingredients are already in your pantry, so you can whip it up and not have to worry about running to the grocery store to pick up some item you have never heard of!  The colour is nice to.  Why is that important you are saying to yourself?  Well, how food looks wakens your appetite, so a rich coloured sauce is a beautiful thing.

Here is the recipe:

2 cups of ketchup
3/4 cup of prepared mustard
1/2 cup of brown sugar ( you can always add more it you like it sweeter)
1/4 cup of white vinegar ( you could also use apple cider vinegar but don't use red wine vinegar)
5 shakes of Worchestershire sauce
1 teaspoon of onion powder
1 tablespoon of garlic powder
Shake in some hot sauce - your preference on how much

Mix it all up and you are done...
Now...please add more vinegar if you need or use any mustard you have (bold, honey, etc)
You can not screw up this recipe...It's stood the taste of time!

Put on ribs or chicken as you are barbequing.

Helpful Hint:  My ribs or chicken are par - cooked before I barbeque...adding the sauce too early, on raw meat for example,  will cause the sauce to caramelize too fast and will burn.

Enjoy!

Food is love,

Annette