S'mores brownies

Ask any kid, or anyone who was a kid what their favorite childhood camping memory is, and 9 chances out of 10, they will tell you sitting around a campfire, singing and eating S'mores.  Ah, s'mores.  The ooey gooey confection consisting of chocolate and a roasted marshmallow sandwiched between two graham crackers has been popular since the 1920's and is still going strong.  The US even has a national s'mores day, on Aug 10th.

In our province, there has been a huge forest fire burning for over 3 weeks, so campfires are banned in that region.  In other regions there has been a lot of rain, so campfires would be difficult to enjoy.  So what to do if you can't go camping?  Bring the best part of camping to you, of course.

Here is a recipe for s'mores brownies, for when you can't sit by the fireside.

S’MORE BROWNIES

 

Ingredients:

 

12 Graham crackers - broken in pieces

 

½ cup Butter

1 cup Sugar

2 Eggs

1 tsp Vanilla

1/3 cup Cocoa Powder

½ cup Flour

¼ tsp Salt

½ tsp Baking Powder

 

2 cups Milk chocolate chips or chunks

2 cups Miniature white marshmallows

 

 

Directions:

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

 

1)   Line a 9 X 13 inch baking pan with aluminum foil leaving an overhang on both sides. Spray foil with non- stick cooking spray.

2)   Place graham cracker pieces on the bottom of the pan to act as a base, overlapping slightly. Break remaining pieces into ½ inch chunks and set aside.

3)   In a large saucepan, melt 1/2 cup butter. Remove from heat, and stir in sugar, eggs, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Beat in 1/3 cup cocoa, 1/2 cup flour, salt, and baking powder. Spread batter over graham crackers in the pan. Bake for 25-30 minutes until the brownie starts to set, do not over bake.

4)   Preheat Broiler. Sprinkle remaining graham cracker pieces and marshmallows over warm brownies; broil until marshmallows are toasty and brown.

5)   Remove from oven and let it cool for 10 minutes before slicing into yummy, ooey, gooey, bars.

Canada Day recipes

Happy Canada Day!

Hope you had a wonderful day and enjoyed the celebrations.  In our family we always celebrate Canada Day by having a backyard BBQ with friends and family followed by heading down to the lake to see the fireworks display.  This year, I celebrated the occasion with some Maple BBQ sliders with maple and BBQ flavor infused into the meat, fiesta four bean salad, grilled lemon chili corn and bacon parmesan potato salad. 

 

Here are the recipes for you to try out at your next BBQ.  Enjoy, ‘eh?

Maple BBQ Sliders

Ingredients:

2 lbs       Lean ground beef

4 Tbsp   BBQ sauce

4 Tbsp   Maple Syrup

3 tsp      Garlic, minced

½ cup    Panko crumbs

1              egg

Salt & Pepper to taste

1 bag     Slider buns         

 

Directions:

 

Mix together the ground beef, BBQ sauce, maple syrup, garlic, panko crumbs, egg, salt and pepper in large bowl.

Let flavors marinate for a couple of hours. Then form into 2.5 oz little patties and set aside on parchment paper.

Make sure to preheat your BBQ to medium low heat and grill the burgers nice and slow so the burgers don’t burn up.

Continue to flip the sliders until the internal temperature reaches above 165 F.

Serve with your favorite condiments!

 

 

 

 

 

Fiesta Four Bean Salad

Ingredients:

1 cup                     Black beans, cooked or canned

1 cup                     Chick peas, cooked or canned

1 cup                     Kidney beans, canned

1 cup                     Lima beans, cooked or canned

2 stalks                 Green onions, chopped

1 small can          Corn, drained

1 medium            Red pepper, small diced

1 large                   Shallot, chopped small

2 cloves                                Garlic, minced

½ cup                    Cilantro, chopped

1 tsp                      Chili powder

2 Tbsp                   Extra virgin olive oil

1 Tbsp                   White wine vinegar

1 Tbsp                   Honey

2 tsp                      Whole grain Dijon mustard

Tabasco sauce to taste

Salt & pepper to tase

 

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in a mixing a large bowl and mix well.

Place it in nice salad dish and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate overnight for flavors to combine.

Transfer the bean salad into a nice serving dish and enjoy at your next BBQ!

 

Bacon Parmesan Potato Salad

Ingredients:

3 lbs                       Baby Potatoes, washed, chopped

½ lbs                      Bacon, cooked and crumbled

1/3 cup                 Parmesan cheese, shredded

2 stalks                 Green onions, chopped

1/3 cup                 Light Mayonnaise

2 cloves                                Garlic, minced

¼ tsp                     Black pepper, freshly cracked

2 tsp                      Whole grain Dijon mustard

1 tsp                      Apple cider vinegar

1 tsp                      Honey

 

Directions:

Bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Parboil the potatoes for 8 minutes, set aside and let it finish cooking in the hot water for another 5 minutes. Then strain and let it cool.

Meanwhile, cook the bacon in a medium frying pan on medium high heat until crispy. Let it cool then crumble into pieces and set aside.

In large bowl, combine the potatoes, bacon and all the other ingredients and mix well.

Wrap the potato salad with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnite.

Serve it the next day in a decorative salad dish.

 

 

 

 

 

Grilled Lemon Chili Corn

Ingredients:

6              Corn on the cob, chopped in half

2 tsp      Extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp      Chili powder

1 Tbsp   Lemon juice

Salt & pepper to taste

 

Directions:

Parboil the corn in boiling water for 10 minutes and strain into a large mixing bowl.

Add the extra virgin olive oil, chili powder, lemon juice, salt and freshly cracked black pepper to the corn and mix until all the corn is well seasoned.

Grill on the BBQ on medium high heat until the corn starts to caramelize and sweeten.