Bottom of the Bottle Dijon Dressing

I love this idea. Whenever you`re left with just a teeny, tiny, scrapethebottomofthejar bit of mustard, don't throw it out. Instead, toss in a few ingredients and shake a tangy Dijon vinaigrette right in the container. Bon appétit!

Ingredients:

Up to you really: I usually go with 1 crushed garlic clove, some chopped fresh herbs (whatever I have on hand: tarragon, shallot, thyme, basil are all good), some balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper, a touch of sugar, freshly squeezed lemon juice

Directions: 

Mix all of your ingredients directly in the bottle, close the lid and give it all a good shake. Add olive oil (2 parts oil to 1 part vinegar ... I personally like less oil and more vinegar so go with what you like); shake again to emulsify the dressing. Play around with the flavours - there`s no real `recipe` here really. Drizzle over your favorite salad and enjoy. With a tightly sealed lid, the dressing will keep in the refrigerator for up to one week.

Overnight Curried Honey Chicken

This chicken recipe is perfect for those days when you know you won`t have a lot of energy to prepare dinner. While making the night before, quickly throw together the marinade for this recipe (seriously, the first step takes no more than 5 minutes). Then when dinner rolls around the next day, put the chicken in the oven and throw some green beans in the steamer, maybe a salad, and dinner is ready. This chicken is my favorite combination of sweet and savory. The marinade becomes a sauce and the chicken is incredibly tender. Really, you need to make this. Bon appétit!

Ingredients:
1/2 cup honey
1/3 cup Dijon mustard
1 Tablespoon curry powder
4 Tablespoons soy sauce
4 chicken breasts

Directions:
1. Mix together the honey, mustard, soy sauce, and curry powder.

2. This is so easy, it is ridiculous. Put the chicken and marinade in a plastic bag or glass container and marinate overnight.

3. The next day, put the chicken and the marinade in a pan and bake in a 350 degree oven for one hour covered with tin foil.

4. Uncover the chicken and baste. Cook another 15 minutes. Slice and top with some of the remaining sauce.

- recipe cred to Baked Bree

Maple Mustard Pork Chops

Well, I am now home recovering from round #6 of back surgery. When will it end? The only upside to going through these procedures is that my mum comes up to visits and takes really good care of me for a few days. On the way home from a walk today, she picked up a boat load of nice, fresh pork chops from Metro that were uber on sale. We split them all up into individual freezer bags and are now all set to go for weeks of delicious bbq'ed chops. This is a nice little recipe that I came across while perusing Canadian Living online. Yum, yum. The maple/mustard combo would be delicious on chicken too. Remember not to heat your grill too, too high as the sugar in the maple syrup can cause the ribs to char too quickly. Nice, slow steady heat will do it. We served these pork chops up with a yummy pasta salad and french bread. Bon appétit!


Ingredients
4 pork loin chops
2 tbsp honey or maple syrup
2 tbsp Dijon mustard
2 tbsp grainy mustard (or perhaps a few tbsp of mustard seeds)
1/2 tsp each salt and pepper

Directions
1. Heat grill to medium; lightly oil grates. Trim any fat from pork chops. Combine honey, Dijon and grainy mustards, salt and pepper; brush over both sides of pork chops. Save a tablespoon or 2 of sauce to brush on top when the chops are fully grilled.

2. Place on greased grill over medium heat or under broiler; close lid and grill, turning once, until juices run clear when chops are pierced and just a hint of pink remains inside, 8 to 10 minutes.

3. Brush with leftover sauce and serve. Enjoy!

Recipe cred: Canadian Living, photo Kalatogas

LONG LIVE THE BARBEQUE!