Glazed Chicken and Strip Loin Steaks

There hasn't been a lot of cooking in the kitchen lately. I kept the meals simple and pantry based the week before our vacation. The most creative meal I made was "Glazed Chicken". The idea came to me as I browsed the canning rack. There were a couple of jars of apple jelly to use up so I decided to experiment. I used one 250 ml (1 c) jar of apple jelly then mixed in about 1/3 c catallina dressing and about 1 tbsp Dijon mustard. I arranged chicken legs in a glass baking dish then poured the sauce over. Glazed Chicken I baked the chicken at 325^o F on convection setting for about 45 minutes. The sauce formed a very tasty glaze on the chicken and gave a nice flavour to the chicken. My husband loved it and had two helpings then patted his belly in approval. I served the chicken with baked potatoes and corn as I wanted to use up the potatoes before we left. I really think the chicken would go nicely with rice as well. Unlike the sweet & sour chicken I make, there was not a lot of sauce left for on top of the rice. So perhaps a wild rice mixture or saffron rice would be good choices.

We love grilling year round and will use the outdoor gas grill any time the weather permits. We have an indoor grill on the JennAir that serves as our back-up grill when we just have to have grilled food but it's snowing or raining. I haven't found too many things that I can't cook on the grill but my husband is the steak "king"! His favourite at the moment is buying a strip loin roast. Strip Loin Roast Our local grocery store has had a special on these roasts so he has stocked the freezer as well as us enjoying a meal or two. The average size of each roast is about 2.4 kg or about 5.5 lbs. My husband takes care of all of the prep work for the steaks while I get the salad, potatoes ready and saute mushrooms. One of our favourite ways of making potatoes on the grill is to sprinkle a little olive oil on them along with Montreal Steak seasoning then wrap them tightly in foil and grill. the cut strip steaks My husband slices the strip loin steaks about 1" thick. No marinade or seasonings are used. They are a gorgeous sight! We had strip loin steaks Monday night prepared the way he likes to do them. The steaks are grilled on the outdoor grill whenever possible. on the grill The indoor grill does a nice job as well. No seasonings are used during the grilling process. These steaks are so nice and juicy no seasonings are needed, just the pure taste of beef. I like using a little steak sauce (Heinz 57) but my husband has been working on that. For years, I would only eat steak well done but after tasting his rare steaks a couple of times I now prefer mine thick and medium rare.

I didn't get a picture of the latest grilled strip loin steaks when they were finished. This picture is from the last time we grilled the same type of steak using the same method a couple of weeks ago. We always have sauteed mushrooms and potatoes with these steaks. rare strip loin steak While my husband can eat an entire strip loin steak, my stomach is not so big. I generally eat half of one. The steaks warm up nicely the next day. A nice way to reheat is to cut the steak into pieces. Slice left over potatoes and add both to sauteing mushrooms. The steaks will reheat in the microwave as well but that isn't our preferred method.