New Glazes!!!!!!!!!!

Yesterday, I did my first dayboard at an SCA event. What's dayboard? Usually, it's munchies and snacks to tide you over until the main feast. It was a cold and rainy day, so dayboard kinda ended up becoming just a munch-fest. I did a bunch of my specialities: fruit tray, veggie tray, grilled squash and grilled pineapple. As the day went on, I also made beef kabobs with onions and peppers and chicken kabobs with roasted tomatoes and mushrooms. What set everything off, was the glazes. I came up with two new glazes to brush or drizzle over the kabobs. For the chicken kabobs, I had a honey/orange juice glaze with a touch of creole seasoning. For the beef kabobs, however, I had a brandied plum sauce that went over like crazy!! Both are so easy to do, anyone can make them in no time flat!

Honey Orange Glaze

The juice of 6 navel oranges, minus the seeds
1/2 cup of honey
1 teaspoon of creole seasoning

Directions:
Slice and juice the oranges into a sauce pan. You can add some of the meat if you want, to help thicken it. Add in a half cup of honey and a teaspoon of creole seasoning. Turn up the heat to low, stirring with a whisk constantly. Once the honey thins out, you can turn up the heat to reduce it down by half. Once it gets to the proper consistency, take off the heat and put into a separate container. Brush or spoon over grilled chicken.

Brandied Plum Sauce

The meat and skins of 4 fresh plums, seeded
1/2 cup of ginger brandy
1/4 cup sugar (or to taste)

Directions:

Cut the meat of the plums away from the seed and place in a blender. Puree. Pour into a sauce pan. Add in 1/2 cup of ginger brandy. Stir in a 1/4 cup of sugar until it dissolves. Reduce by half. Place into a separate container and brush over grilled beef.

Seafood Chowder

Ingredients

1/2 pound sliced bacon, diced
2 medium onion, chopped
6 cups diced peeled potatoes
4 cups water
1 pound bay or sea scallops, quartered
1 pound fresh or frozen lobster, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 pound uncooked medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 pound cod, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 pound haddock, cut into 1 inch pieces
1/2 cup butter, melted
4 teaspoons salt
4 teaspoons minced fresh parsley
1/2 teaspoon curry powder
2 quarts milk
1 (12 ounce) can evaporated milk
Directions

In a large soup kettle or stockpot, cook bacon over medium heat until crisp. Remove with a slotted spoon to paper towels; reserve drippings. Saute onions in drippings until tender. Add potatoes and water; bring to a boil. Cook for 10 minutes.
Add the scallops, lobster, shrimp, cod, haddock. Cook for 10 minutes or until scallops are opaque, shrimp turn pink and fish flakes easily with a fork. Add the butter, salt, parsley and curry powder. Stir in milk and evaporated milk; heat through. Garnish with bacon.

Options: Try switching out the bacon for smoked oysters, and the lobster for some chopped clams!!!!