Plantation XO Barbados 20th Anniversary

Today I'm going to go away from the whole food thing and go to one of the other things I like in life and that's a good drink. I'm a single malt kind of guy, but this rum is absolutely amazing and both run or whiskey lovers can enjoy. It's a rum that is aged in oak barrels which gives it a spectacular taste.

Plantation XO Barbados Bottling Note

A superb-looking decanter bottle of XO rum from Barbados, aged in bourbon barrels before being shipped to France for a secondary maturation in Cognac Casks from the Ferrand house... The result was awarded 94 points from the Beverage Testing Institute.

Taste

Nose: Hints of spicy oak on the nose, with guava, a little desiccated coconut and dried banana. Buttery.

Palate: Spiced, creamy palate entry, with sweet vanilla notes and caramel. Oaky spices.

Finish: Caramel. Toasted oak.

A little tip for this would be to get yourself a good whiskey stone. This is a premium drink and should not be ruined by watering it down by the same way you don't water down a good whiskey. 

If you can't find good whiskey stones give me a heads up and I can help you. 

Nacho plate

This is a simple meal or snack that anyone can make.

Ingredients 

• Lean ground beef
• Taco seasoning 
• Onion chopped 
• Nacho cheese
• Salsa 
• Sour cream 
• Nacho chips
• Water 
• refried beans recipe

Fry ground beef chopping into small pieces. When beef is done, drain off fat and put beef back in frying pan. Turn to medium heat and add taco seasoning and water. 

Preheat oven to 175C. 

Put baking paper on a baking sheet. Lay out a layer of chips. When beef is done, put a couple tablespoons of meat on the chips. Spread out some nacho cheese, chopped onion and put the tray in the oven for 5 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the edges of the chips are starting to turn brown. 

Warm the beans in the microwave or along with the beef. 

Top nachos with salsa. In one corner put a few spoons of sour cream and refried beans.

Best Chocolate Brownies

 Best Bistro Style Chocolate Brownies

This is an amazingly easy recipe for Brownies. Great if you are simply feeling a little peckish or if you have someone drop in and you want something delicious to serve with a cup of hot tea.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup melted butter
2/3 cup pure cocoa
1 cup sugar
2 whole eggs
1/2 cuo of all purpose flower
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
optional: you can add some chopped walnuts into the batter.

Preheat over to 175 C.

Mix all ingredients in a bowl until everything is combined. prepare an oiled baking form and spread the batter evenly. Put the form in the oven and bake for 25- 30 minuted. check with tooth picks after the 25 minutes.

 

 

after testing I needed another 5 minutes to get it done.

Chicken and Bean Burritos

For those who know me they will tell you that I love my Texmex. Today I made Chicken and refried bean burritos.

Chopped chicken Fillet
texmex spice
Refried beans recipe
Salsa
sour cream
burrito wraps
grated cheddar cheese

Put some texmex spice on your chicken and fry using a little olive oil. When the chicken is almost done you can warm your beans in the frying pan or warm them in the microwave. Heat your wraps to make them more flexible. lay some chicken and beans in the middle of the wrap in a straight line. Add some grated cheddar, sour cream and salsa. I like some hot sauce as well. Fold up the bottom of the wrap and than roll it together. Dinner is done.

 

Bacon and Jalapeno wrapped chicken

This is a very simple meal to make.

ingredients

1 chicken fillet per person
1 Jalapeno per chicken fillet
sliced bacon
your favorite BBQ seasoning.

Cut the chicken fillet into two even slices. Lightly spice. Cut Jalapeno in half and remove the seeds. Place half of a Jalapeno on each slice and then wrap with bacon. I usually use 2 slices of bacon for each piece. Use tooth picks to hold the bacon, jalapeno and chicken together. Place on hot grill and grill about 3 minutes on each side (all 4) Bacon should be starting to get crispy when they and that's when you know the chicken is done. Makes sure to get the bacon on all sides grilled. The tooth pics will help with standing the pieces on their sides.

Today I made oven baked potato wedges, roast onion and roast carrot to go with the meal.

Oven baked potato wedges recipe

 

Banana Bread Recipe

Banana Bread Recipe 

 

 

I'm a little fussy when it comes to bananas. I think they taste best when they are yellow but before the skin starts getting spots. I really don't like them once they get soft. So banana bread is a great solution. This is an easy recipe from my favorite cook book.

Ingredients

• ½ cup of butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 medium eggs
• 3 medium sized over ripe bananas mashed
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• ¼ tsp salt
• 1 cup sour milk*

Cream the butter and sugar together thoroughly. Beat the eggs well. Add eggs to mix and beat well. Sift the flour, baking soda and salt into the batter and mix. Add banana and sour milk to the batter and beat thoroughly. Grease a bread pan and pour mix in evenly. Bake in  oven preheated to 175°C for 60 minutes or until bread tests done.(use toothpick test)

*to make sour milk add ¼ teaspon lemon juice to milk and let stand for 20 minutes.

 

 

I've been BBQing all week. So what if it's raining every day.

grilled salmon

grilled strip loin

Homemade burgers

There are a few things that are important to insure that you get good burgers, the quality of ground beef should be the highest on your priority list. Get very lean beef that is freshly ground. Another big contributor is to make sure you don't over mix your burgers before pressing them. If you mix them too much you will end up with tough burgers. Another big thing for me is that you should NOT use bread crumbs.  Use freshly ground Parmesan instead.

recipe

• 4 pounds lean ground beef
• 3/4 cup grated Parmesan
• 1 onion grated into juice
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 pinch oregano
• 4 tbs tomato paste
• 4 tbs Heinz ketchup
• 5 egg yolks

Put all the ingredients into a mixing bowl and  mix until ingredients are mixed together. You can use a kitchen assistant or a hand held mixer with the dough hooks. Weigh your burgers and press them. I like to weigh mine in small freezer bags so they can be pressed in the bags and then frozen. This prevents the burgers sticking in the press and they will if you put them straight into the press.

If you don't have a a burger press you can cut the top ring off a plastic container and use the bottom to press the burgers in the ring. for every day burgers 100grams is a good size to aim for. I like to do some super burgers that can be used with or without bread at 225 grams. But burger size is a personal preference things. Test and see what you like.

Amazing full moon this week