Post Tagged with: "delicious"

pizza sundays

pizza sundays

When we got back from Buenos Aires and stayed with our friends Sam & Graham for about a month we were introduced to the deliciousness that is homemade pizza dough. (I’ve talked a bit about this here).

Since then, homemade pizza has becoming a more and more frequent occurrence in our lives; to the point that we’re having homemade pizza pretty much every Sunday night.

This may seem like a serious endeavour, but in fact it’s actually pretty quick! I make a batch of pizza dough (enough for four crusts) once a month and freeze them in individual airtight tupperware containers after “keyhole-ing” them. If I defrost them for at least 5 hours at room temperature, they work perfectly.

After defrosting our crust, we roll out the dough, top our pizza, and toss it in the super hot oven for a super quick, super delicious Sunday night meal.

Since I last wrote about pizza—I’ve changed my baking technique a bit (Thanks Steph!). I place the rolled dough on the stone and bake for a couple of minutes before taking it out of the oven and adding toppings. While it may not be authentic, it makes for a super crispy and delicious crust.

Yesterday’s pizza was inspired by pinterest (and Joy the Baker). Hot italian sausage, pepper and tomato pizza. We simply fried up the sausage (and drained and blotted it), thinly sliced delicious sweet peppers and tomatoes, and arranged them in a pretty pattern on top of ((good) store-bought) pizza sauce. We topped it off with a bit of mozzarella and tossed it in the oven.

When it came out it was looking delicious. And it tasted even better.

Since I’ve just finished up my last frozen dough, I can’t wait to get my hands on the 3kgs of Tipo 00 pizza flour that Graham picked up for me a few weeks ago!

(See this post for pizza dough recipe, including instructions for freezing.)

September 24, 2012 0 comments Read More
oatmeal blueberry muffins

oatmeal blueberry muffins

These muffins are delicious. The secret(s)? Fresh blueberries and yogurt. Delicious (and nutritious) yogurt.

Seriously, they are so good that the thought of having more in my life got me up out of bed at 6:00 am Sunday morning to bake. And the best part? They are easy. And relatively healthy (minus the brown sugar and the butter, of course).

Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins Featuring Yogurt

From Taste of Home
Makes 12

Ingredients

  • 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup quick-cooking oats
  • 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg (I subbed cinnamon, still delicious)
  • 1 egg, lightly beaten
  • 1 cup (8 ounces) plain yogurt
  • 1/4 cup butter, melted
  • 1 cup (or a bit more) fresh blueberries

Directions

  1. In a large bowl, combine the first eight ingredients. Combine the egg, yogurt and butter; stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in blueberries.
  2. Coat muffin cups with cooking spray (or butter) or use paper liners; fill three-fourths full with batter. Bake at 400° for 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the muffin comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack. Serve warm. (Or cool. Whatever.)

August 6, 2012 0 comments Read More
debbies potato salad + jalapeno chicken

debbies potato salad + jalapeno chicken

Thanks to everyone who has expressed concern about my death cold. It’s slowly but surely going the way of the dodo bird, woohoo! Though at day number 11, I certainly wish it was just gone. But don’t worry, it didn’t stop me from shooting the heck out of a super cool trash the dress session on Saturday evening!

So, back to business: this post brings you not one but two delicious recipes, just in time for the heat of summer! The first up—one I can’t believe that I haven’t shared before—Debbie‘s Dilled Potato Salad.

I tasted this salad on my first trip to Ottawa in 2005 or 2006 to meet the future in-laws, and I’ve been making it (and sharing it) ever since. Anyone who tries this potato salad wants the recipe. It’s that good. But vegetarians beware, there is a secret ingredient (ok… bacon) that makes it veggie-unfriendly. For those of us non-veggies: well, that secret ingredient makes it seriously delicious. To top it off, we got new potatoes from our CSA this week. Farm fresh potatoes + Debbie’s Potato Salad = oh.my.goodness.delicious.

So, I was most excited about the potato salad last night. But I decided to go a little crazy and make a jalapeno potato chip crusted chicken inspired by this recipe I came across on (you guessed it) Pinterest. This is not your basic good-for-you chicken breast. Its second main ingredient? Crushed Miss Vickie’s Jalapeno Chips. I wish I could explain in words how delicious this chicken was. But I’m struggling, so I’ll just go with: so delicious I’m going to have to actively stop myself from making it every single week this summer. And the icing on the cake? It’s super simple.

Debbie’s Dilled Potato Salad

Note: This is the recipe that Debbie shared with me in 2005, the recipe in our wedding cookbook from Debbie (2010) uses less mayo (3/4 cup) and has a few additional ingredients (1 tsp of red wine vinegar, 1 tsp of lemon juice, and 3 tbsp of olive oil), but I prefer the simple flavours in the original.

Ingredients

    Salad

  • 1/2 lb bacon
  • 1 1/2 lb small red potatoes (or new potatoes, if in season)
  • 1/4 cup sliced green onions (green and white parts)

    •  
    Dressing

  • 1 cup mayo (or 3/4 cup mayo, 3 tbsp olive oil, 1 tsp lemon juice, 1 tsp red wine vinegar see note )
  • 1 tbsp dijon mustard
  • 2 tbsp chopped dill
  • Optional (and delicious): 1/2 tsp celery seed or salt

Directions

  1. Cook bacon, let cool, then crumble. Cook and chop potatoes. Let cool.
  2. Meanwhile, mix ingredients for dressing.
  3. Combine bacon, potatoes, and green onion in a bowl. Pour dressing over salad and toss.

Jalapeno Crusted Chicken

Serves 4
Inspired by: Life as a Mrs.

Ingredients

  • 4 chicken breasts
  • 1 egg
  • pinch (or dash or several shakes) cayenne pepper
  • 1 bag crushed Miss Vickies (or Kettle) Jalapeno Chips

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 325F. Line a baking sheet with parchement paper and place an oven safe cooling rack on top.
  2. Beat egg + cayenne pepper in a shallow dish. Crush chips in a second shallow dish.
  3. Dip chicken breast in egg mixture and then in chips. Ensure there is a healthy (i.e., thick) coating of chips on all sides of the chicken. Place on cooling rack.
  4. Bake at 325F for 25-35 minutes until chicken is cooked through.

July 16, 2012 1 comment Read More
Browned Butter Pasta

Browned Butter Pasta

In my quest to become the Richmond food blogger, I’ve become so busy thinking about restaurant reviews that I haven’t posted a recipe post in… well… a long time. And while it is true that eating at this many restaurants means I’m not cooking as much, I’m still cooking a lot, and becoming ever more adaptable to cooking with what is available in Buenos Aires.

Dinner on Monday night was decidedly gourmet, and about half way through cooking it – I realized I was going to be blogging it. This means that I don’t have a lot of prep images (any, in fact), but I do have a handful of images of our delicious browned butter pasta with a red wine-balsamic vinegar reduction accompanied by garlic roasted brussels sprouts in a garlic cream sauce.

As spring approaches for most of my readers, this recipe is going to seem a wee bit out of place. But this week in Buenos Aires it’s been clear… fall is coming. Monday especially was cold and windy and all we felt like having for dinner was comfort food. So pin this recipe or or otherwise save it for later, and then when fall comes… you’ll thank me.

This meal was inspired by: this pin, the fact there were brussels sprouts in the grocery store, the delicious looking fresh pasta in said grocery store, and the fact that I had planned on making a browned butter cauliflower pasta a few weeks ago, but couldn’t find a cauliflower and have been craving browned butter since.

Some days the random stars align to create something delicious.

Browned Butter Pasta with a Red Wine Balsamic Reduction

Serves 2

Ingredients

  • 2/3 cup red wine
  • 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
  • 2 tbsp butter
  • Fresh stuffed pasta
  • Italian parsley (for garnish)
  • Parmesan cheese (to taste)

Directions

  1. Combine red wine and balsamic vinegar in a small sauce pan and bring to a boil. Simmer over medium heat (stirring frequently) until the mixture has reduced.
  2. Bring water to a boil and cook pasta according to package directions.
  3. Meanwhile, heat your butter over medium heat until it browns (learn about browning butter here).
  4. Mix your cooked pasta into the browned butter.
  5. Serve with a drizzle of the red wine reduction, parmesan cheese, and italian parsley.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts in a Garlic Cream Sauce

Serves 2

Ingredients

  • Brussels sprouts
  • 2 cloves garlic, divided (I use 4, but I always double my garlic)
  • 2 tbsp cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/3 cup heavy cream
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut off brown ends of brussels sprouts and cut in half length wise. Toss with 1 clove crushed garlic, olive oil and salt and pepper to taste.
  2. Pour brussels sprouts on a baking sheet and roast for 35-40 minutes until crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. Monitor and shake pan as needed.
  3. Meanwhile, combine heavy cream, 1 clove crushed garlic, and a few sprinkles of salt. Let warm to room temperature while brussels sprouts are roasting.
  4. Serve brussels spouts garnished with the garlic cream sauce.

March 29, 2012 0 comments Read More
dark chocolate pom drops

dark chocolate pom drops

pom-1

Several years ago I was searching for a dessert that combined the flavours of pomegranate and dark chocolate. Little did I know at the time, the most perfect recipe required only those two ingredients.

I can’t remember where I found the recipe, and it is so simple that it now lives in my brain. So, thank you to someone on the internet for this awesome recipe!

This recipe is literally made out of dark or semi-sweet chocolate and pomegranate arils. It takes minutes to prepare, can chill while you are eating dinner, and won’t last very long!

Now, in making any pomegranate recipe, the first thing to do is get to the delicious arils (the fruit). Melissa has the a great tutorial on her blog, so I’m going to send you over there if you don’t know how to do it already!

pom-2

Making the drops is easy, you first melt your chocolate (I would recommend a semi-sweet or dark chocolate, otherwise you might be in for a sweet explosion!) over a double boiler (or, if you are in the middle of packing like me, in a saucepan) and once it is almost melted mix in your pomegrante arils.

pom-3

You can tell from the next picture that I overheated my chocolate – likely because I used a saucepan instead of a double boiler. If you are using a double boiler, melt your chocolate over simmering (not boiling) water and you avoid chunky chocolate.

Once your arils are mixed in, arrange in drop form on parchment paper and chill in the fridge. Again, if you don’t overheat your chocolate the drops will be smooth, not crumbly.

pom-4

Once they are cold, enjoy (you can also enjoy at room temperature, but I prefer them cold.) Printable recipe below.

pom-5

Dark Chocolate Pomegranate Drops

Serves as many as you like!

Ingredients
Equal volume:

Directions

  1. Line a plate with parchement paper.
  2. Melt chocolate over a double boiler (be sure the water is simmering, not boiling, otherwise your chocolate will “burn”.)
  3. Stir in arils.
  4. Using a teaspoon, form bite-sized drops on lined plate.
  5. Chill in fridge. Remove immediately before serving.

November 23, 2011 2 comments Read More
As if we never said goodbye!

As if we never said goodbye!

coffee 001

In August 2008 I quit coffee. Not only coffee, I actually quit most caffeine. When I mention this, everyone always asks “why”. And there were a lot of reasons, some of which include: I was on my way to Africa, where I was worried about only finding instant coffee; I was already going to have brutal jetlag so I would already be in wacky withdrawal land; I was a little worried about osteoporosis; and I wanted to see if I could do it.

It turns out I could do it. It was actually pretty easy. I didn’t miss it, I didn’t crave it. I had a few sips of the hubs’ coffee and didn’t even really like it. And for more than 2 years I identified myself as someone who didn’t drink caffeine.

About 6 months ago, mostly due to the fact that my office is cold and I was totally over herbal tea (there’s only so much mildly flavored hot water a girl can drink), I reintroduced caffeine. But only in the form of green and white (ok, and a bit of black) tea. I figured the anti-oxidants I was getting counteracted any of the “bad” effects of caffeine. (And to answer your question, yes, I blindly turned my mind from all of the studies espousing the caffeinated beverage, like this one or this one. For more than two years.)

So, I was plugging along quite well with my green and white (and sometimes black) tea. Lots and lots of this tea. Until April. In April I started dreaming about Americano Mistos. A lot. More than three times. (And to answer your question, no, I’m not pregnant). When I wasn’t dreaming about these delicious coffees, I was awake and thinking about them. For almost three weeks. Until I decided I wanted to give in.

The hubs wasn’t sure I should do this. Though he actually sort of wanted me to go back on the good stuff, so we could reprise our morning coffee ritual. But he thought that was pretty selfish, and he told me he wasn’t sure I should do it. Somehow, though, I knew it was time.

So, on May 7, 2011, almost exactly 2 years and 8 months after I went off coffee the hubs and I went to Starbucks and I ordered my very own tall Americano Misto. It was like the orchestra came out and started playing “As If We Never Said Goodbye” from Sunset Boulevard.

Now, to be honest, this may or may not have been related to Glee’s (awesome) rendition the prior week…

To my credit, I did have Glenn Close’s version running through my mind. Especially the verse that goes:

Feel the early morning madness
Feel the magic in the making
Why, everything’s as if we never said goodbye
…
I’ve spent so many mornings just trying to resist you
I’m trembling now, you can’t know how I’ve missed you

Come. On. How Perfect?

And the song ran through my head for the last month. Every single morning I sing to my coffee. “I’m trembling now, you can’t know how I’ve missed you, Yes everything’s as if, we never said goodbye!” Sometimes it’s a little embarrassing – like in Montreal, where the hubs and I drank delicious coffee at L’Avenue. I don’t think the hubs was a fan of me serenading my mug.

coffee 002

So happy Sunday folks. I’ll be singing to my coffee.

June 12, 2011 0 comments Read More