BBQ Chicken with Jamaican Pumpkin, Rice, Bean Salad and Coleslaw

Drew's Mom is stopping over for the evening on her jetsetting way to Thunder Bay to visit her brother and youthful stomping grounds. Raul is feeling the pressure to produce a gourmet but traditional dinner, so while Drew and his mom wander the nearby Danforth and thrift stores - though mainly they are just visiting and catching up - Raul works in the kitchen.

He rubs chicken breasts with his favourite combo of spices - paprika, Greek oregano, pepper and, for Drew's Mom's tastes, just a touch of garlic powder (he omits the usual salt) - and sets it aside to marinate for bbq'ing. He puts brown rice in the rice cooker and is confident having ascertained that brown rice requires a bit more water and some extra cooking time to be perfect and for the grains to not clump. The bean salad and coleslaw are already prepared.

Raul has purchased a large slab of Jamaican pumpkin after the eventual success of Drew's spaghetti squash debacle. Drew's Mom loves squash and this will, hopefully, be a taste treat with a bit of a difference. He slices the squash into inch and a half squares and then tosses them in olive oil and cumin. The pumpkin bakes in a glass baking pan for 45 minutes at 350 degrees.

Drew's Mom has brought carrot cake so the pressure to bake dessert is lifted. He plans to serve the cake on the Halloween plates that were a gift from Drew's Mom from one of her nostalgia trips to the shopping mecca of Thunder Bay.

The meal is a big success and the pumpkin is flavourful and tastes of the best of autumn and the tropics. Drew's Mom has nothing but praise and Raul is proud and relieved. Now if there was only space for a proper dining room table so that she didn't have to eat on the coffee table . . .

Pulled Pork Sandwiches and Coleslaw

Raul finds pork loin roasts for $1.68 a pound at No Frills, and buys as much as the freezer will hold. He trims the silverskin and fat, and re-packages them for the freezer but can't resist cooking up one. "Pulled pork," he announces. "I've been wanting to try to make pulled pork."

He puts the roast into the pressure cooker, his favourite tool, with a coarsely chopped onion, a carrot, a stalk of celery and enough water to cover the pork loin. He heats it to 12psi and cooks for 30 minutes.

The rest is easy. He sends Drew to the Milk Mart on the corner at 1028 Pape Ave for two of the crusty buns that arrive fresh daily and that the proprietor Emir keeps in a rolling plastic bin at the back. Raul digs into the roast with his bare hands. "You have to pull it apart while it is still hot," says Raul, "to get it to shred properly. The nice thing about a loin is that you don't have to pick out the fat. A shoulder will be cheaper," he adds smugly, "but it is more work and we got this for the same price."

Once the pork is shredded, he browns it in a greased cast iron frying pan and adds a healthy helping of Selections Tequila Lime Habanero Barbecue Sauce that was a birthday gift from Drew's Mom. "Shouldn't you put in some caramelized onions for texture and flavour?" asks Drew.

"There was an onion in the pressure cooker," says Raul. "The flavour should already be infused into the meat. And, no. It does not need any wasabi."

Raul plates the sandwiches in two different ways. He has his serving of coleslaw beside his sandwich, but he puts the coleslaw right into Drew's sandwich. For texture.

The pulled pork is delicious and Drew is happy with the crunch of the coleslaw that complements the flavour perfectly. "There is tons left," muses Raul. "Burritos? Stuffed buns? Fritattas? With baked beans? The possibilities are endless . . ."

Drew wipes a dribble of bbq sauce off his chin and nods that he is happy with any possibility.

Pork Satay with Rice and Coleslaw

It is an overwhelmingly hot and humid day, very uncharacteristic of September, so the pork chops that Raul has thawed will not work as chops. And Drew's dream of dirty mashed potatoes is utterly inappropriate. Raul trims all the fat and bones off the pork chops, chops them into cubes and then rubs them with his favourite bbq combination of Greek oregano, paprika, salt, black pepper and garlic powder. They sit for a few hours and then are skewered.

The rest is simplicity: rice and the last of Drew's sister's coleslaw.

Drew offers to make a peanut dipping sauce while Raul grills the pork but, considering the heat, Raul digs in the fridge and finds an unopened jar of Thai Kitchen Peanut Satay Sauce. Dinner will be less gourmet and more convenience. Maybe less gourmet but all delicious.

"Watch the photo!" warns Raul. "I put the sauce off to the side because it has slopped around in the ramekin. We can NOT put that on the blog!"

"Too late," says Drew who is eager to eat. "It looks lovely otherwise but I want to taste." Fortunately the taste is not sloppy in the least but a perfect summer meal - light, slightly spicy and with contrasting textures. The skewers are unskewed and the sauce dribbled over and while the visual is messy, the meal is magnificent.

Mrs D's Everlasting Coleslaw

Drew grew up on Mazinaw lake in the wilderness near Bon Echo Park. In the summer there was a marina, grocery store, craft shop and take-out restaurant that was about a half mile away by either car, foot or boat. It was run by the Douglas family and walking up for ice cream after dinner was a treat, especially after Drew's niece and nephew were born. Drew's sister worked at the marina in the summers of her youth - years before the arrival of the niece and nephew - and the Douglas family became friends. Mrs Douglas, always known as Mrs D because she was the jovial matriarch of the entire lake's summer population, is also a renowned cook and her coleslaw recipe was a summer staple for Drew's mom.

It is the recipe that Drew's sister made for a dinner during one of Drew's visits and the leftovers that were used in Raul's Spaghetti Squash, Chicken and Coleslaw with Guyanese Chow Mein Noodles but is delicious on its own or as a side. Drew sends his sister an email and she forwards one from Drew's mom promptly.

Makes16 servings - keeps for 8 days in the refrigerator
1 lg cabbage, shredded (Drew's sister substituted red cabbage for more colour)
1 lg Spanish onion, finely shredded
4 carrots, shredded
Combine vegetables in lg bowl
Combine the following and heat to boiling.
Cool. Pour over vegetables.
1/2 c white vinegar
1/2 c b sugar
1/2 c salad oil
1 t salt
1 t dry mustard
Let stand, stirring occasionally for 8 hours.
Store covered in refrigerator.

Like the summer, this coleslaw isn't really 'everlasting' but eight days isn't bad. Raul intends to use it all up well before that deadline so that he can make a batch of his own.

Spaghetti Squash, Chicken and Coleslaw with Guyanese Chow Mein Noodles

There is still more spaghetti squash to be consumed so Raul decides, uncharacteristically, to improvise. He dry rubs two chicken breasts with paprika, Greek oregano, garlic powder, black pepper and salt, and sets them aside. He chops some green onions and carrots, and thaws a handful of frozen chopped vegetables. The chow mein noodles, imported from Guyana, are from the Danforth Variety & Fruit Market and are infused with turmeric for extra oomph. The noodles are boiled and stir-fried with the vegetables while the chicken breasts grill on the bbq. A dash of Nuku Cham (misspelled or mistranslated on the bottle R&D use - it is actually called Nuoc Cham) Vietnamese Salad Sauce in the stir fry, a handful of spaghetti squash for calorie light bulk and a sprinkling of Drew's sister's leftover coleslaw to add some vivid colour and the base is ready for the chicken. Raul chops the chicken into bite-sized pieces and layers on top.

"I wanted to play with different temperatures," says Raul of the way the cool squash and crunchy coleslaw contrast with the hot chow mein which is tasty and bursting with subtle flavour.

"Hmmm," says Drew. "A different explanation from my lukewarm spaghetti squash . . ."