It has been a *very* productive weekend in terms of culinary endeavours: first there was the marmalade mishap and the marmalade recovery (I don’t have the energy to write about this tonight–but rest assured, its coming), then there was the marmalade cake (because I had to make *something* for valentine’s day) and last but not least, there was the dutch oven. I suppose I should elaborate. The marmalade was something I’d been wanting to do for a long time, and…
Chicken thighs are underrated. Or rather, chicken breasts are overrated. In truth, since I discovered the difference in the juiciness and taste, I have only bought chicken breasts for grilling purposes (actually, chicken thighs grill up quite nicely too, but they’re smaller, so you have to be a bit more diligent about flipping them). When it comes to stovetop cooking though, chicken thighs (bone in or out) are the perfect size. Big enough that they don’t disappear, but small enough…
A variation on an old theme tonight: Brussels sprouts sauteed with lemon, toasted pine nuts, shallots, and butter. I have come to the conclusion that you pretty much can’t go wrong once you’ve gotten as far as sauteeing the sprouts with shallots and butter, and throwing some lemon zest or juice or both on at the end. The most impressive part of this recipe I thought was how quick it was. Unlike Fine Cooking’sbrussels sprouts with hazelnut butter or brussels…
Most restaurant critics or reviewers rate restaurants (and movies, hotels and other things for that matter) on scales that don’t really mean very much. Some critics will give scales of 1-10. But this raises a whole slew of questions. It is very hard to know what a restaurant being a 1 means or what a 10 means. If you give a restaurant a 5.0 score, does that mean you liked it or that you thought it was average? What does…
Top 5 signs of a good Indian recipe: 1. Garlic is measured in heads. not cloves.2. Spices to actual ingredients ratio is at least 1 to 1.3. Two words: Serrano Chilies (ribs, seeds and all).4. The house begins to smell like an indian restaurant about halfway through the prep process and continues to smell that way for a week.5. Involves creating a paste of herbs, spices, garlic ginger, peppers etc. that looks and smells like a medieval cure for pneumonia….
before after The veritable veggies, clockwise from top-left: Brussels sprouts with hazelnut butter, maple-cardamom roast turnips, sauteed kale, Swiss chard and feta pie. I have been trying to write this post for about 2 weeks. In fact, I think I have been trying to write it for so long that I think most of the veggies I intended to write about are no longer in season…well, ok maybe it hasn’t been *quite* that long. So, at the time of year…
The magnetic knife rack is a brilliant invention. In addition to keeping knives sharper and cleaner than its predecessor the large-wooden-block knife rack, it also is a small, and easily implementable step towards my dream kitchen (which in case you were wondering, looks something like a cross between Julia Child’s kitchen, with her ever-so-functional peg boards, and the classic Ikea kitchen, with stainless steel everything, and the metal bar on the wall that you can hook things over or hang…
I believe xkcd said it best: This is where I have been for the past week, although lucky for me, my cycle has involved more diverse (and nutritious) fare than cheese and chips. It all began with a butternut squash soup that I made before I started my new job last week (figuring it would be the last chance I’d have to cook for a while). I bought a fairly massive squash, and ended up using only half of it…
First of all, can we all just take a moment to admire the awesomeness of my new kitchen? I am fairly certain that this kitchen has more counter space, and more cabinet space than all of my previous kitchens combined. Not to mention a gas stove! Prior to this weekend, I had only attempted minor cooking feats in this kitchen. But even on a small scale, I was impressed by how quickly and easily things got done. Pasta was once…
Summertime visits to the Jean Talon market usually leave me with two thoughts:1) I should come here more oftenand2) I should do more interesting things with my veggiesOn this particular visit, I decided to focus on what was most in season, which happened to be veggies. Although the summer fruits –peaches, nectarines, apricots etc–were beginning to appear, it is still a bit early for the locally grown stuff. So aside from the requisite bag of Alphonso Mangos (which I have…