Irish Cream Tiramisu

My sister was hosting Christmas this year and she asked me to bring a dessert. I decided on bringing the tiramisu. I'm not really sure why I chose it, I guess maybe because I knew there was no way Husband and I would be able to eat this ourselves. It's pretty simple to prepare especially if you get the alcohol content correct...I didn't. I made this without paying close attention to what I was doing and I ended up pouring the entire cup of Bailey's in with the espresso that I dipped the savoiardi in...oops! but a delicious oops. It may have even been a subconscious effort to add more booze. Really you're supposed to reserve 75ml for mixing in with the mascarpone but I just added an extra 75ml. I'm not sure how much this effected the overall taste because my extra booze was in the coffee bath but this tiramisu was booze hound tiramisu - which means it was pretty yummy. It turned out fantastic I'd say, with the way it set and all so I think this is a great recipe for a tiramisu. You can of course control the level of booze flavour you want by adding more or less to the coffee bath and you could even replace the bailey's in the mascarpone with espresso coffee if you want no booze at all - but don't be a jerk and remove all the fun from the party.

In the end I'd say this dessert turned out much like my Christmas, very enjoyable and a little bit drunk.

Cocktail Sausages

Well, at this time of the year we are all looking for appetizers to take to parties. Cocktail Sausages are a classic dish but I find they are being replaced by the meatball. To me this is a little sad. I mean who doesn't prefer a little wienie over a little ball.

I took these to a Christmas exchange and they were a hit. I had lots of compliments on the dish and even a request for the recipe. I didn't taste any myself because of the whole meat thing but Husband ate about 1/3 of them all by himself. Next time you're thinking party meatballs try the party sausage instead!

Seasonal Fruit Salad

Remember that episode of the Simpsons where Bart starts singing 'you don't win friends with salad'? Well this recipe proves that wrong. Today was my office Christmas Pot Luck. I decided that nothing says work party like a boozey fruit salad. I started the prep on Tuesday night (2 days prior). What you do is you soak the sections of clementines in the booze overnight. But for me it was 2 nights. That made my clementines super-duper boozey. Now the booze that you're to soak these in is called Tuaca - that's not available in Ontario. Nigella seemed to know that this wasn't available all over the place because she suggests that if you can't get your hands on some Tuaca then you can use a mix of Brandy and Cointreau. Well, that wasn't working for me either as I'm too cheap to go buy more booze right now when, as I've mentioned before, we have crazy amounts of booze already. So I did some reading up on Tuaca. Seems this is a liqueur that originates from Tuscany and has vanilla and orange flavours. I have a large bottle of Grand Marnier in my stores and I also happened to have a vanilla bean on hand. So what I did was soak the clementines in Grand Marnier and a vanilla bean. Then this morning before work I took the Grand Marnier the citrus has been soaking in and added sugar (oranges removed) and brought to a boil. Here I will interject with a trick I picked up for all the North Americans driven crazy by not having caster sugar available to them. Just put some regular sugar in a food processor to make it a little more fine. - you're welcome.

So you boil your sugar and booze and then pour it back over the oranges and toss in pomegranate seeds. done.

At work this got rave reviews. The clementines were sooooo boozey. It was like doing a shot. The greatest was getting a new person to try some "fruit salad" and then watching their face as they bit into a mouth full of booze. It was hilarious. People's reactions were either "wooooohoooo!" or, a grimace followed by "That's gooooood!". It was always one or the other. Another person came over to me and said " Man, now this is what I'm talkin' about!!! This is a Christmas Party dish!"

This would also make a fantastic dessert salad. And I am highly recommending it.

Croque Monsieur Bake

This recipe is like a cross between a ham sandwich, french toast and lasagna. And it works! Husband was really excited about trying this recipe and I was indifferent. But we both ended up enjoying it. I'm not so crazy about the ham sandwich...but I do like me some french toast. This is a meal that you prepare ahead of time and then pop it in the oven once your ready to enjoy.

Basically you make 3 ham sandwiches and the pour beaten eggs and milk over them. Let that soak/marinate overnight. Then next morning grate some cheese, shake some worshtershire (sp?) and pop it in the oven for 25 minutes. It's not an earth shattering invention but it's a nice change from the ordinary. I'm giving this my vote of confidence, I think it's worth a try.

Holiday Hotcake with Eggnog Cream

My favourite Christmas special is Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. It's pure genius. Tonight was the first time I saw it this holiday season and I wanted to make it a really, really Christmasy experience. So I made Holiday Hotcake to eat while I watched this tonight.

I have to tell you that this maybe wasn't the best representation of this recipe. It was a last minute decision and so I just went with what I had in my cupboards. The main issue that I had was that of finding a jar of "mixed spice". Now I made an assumption that this was the English term for all spice but I didn't find any of that in my cupboard. What I did find though was "Jamaican Mixed Spice" this was a souvenir I picked up while on holiday in Montego Bay a while ago. I decided to go with it. I mean the jar said mixed spice so what if it said the word Jamaican in front of it right? I mean the English settled into Jamaica too. They could be the same thing for all I know. This is what I told myself but to be honest I wasn't really even buying my own bullshit. I decided I didn't care though. I'd roll the dice I thought...the Jamaican part of the mixed spice would make everything irie I decided.

So what you do when you make this is mix everything in a bowl except for 200g of sugar,1 tsp each of ginger and the mixed spice and the boiling water. Get it all combined and pour into a greased cake tin. Then you mix together your sugar and spices and put over top the cake batter. dollop with butter and then pour boiling water over everything in the cake pan. I screwed that part up. You see what I did was speed through the reading and pour the boiling water in with the sugar and spices. Then I realized that was wrong. At this point I considered dumping my bowl of boiling spicy sugar but then I thought no effing way. That's way too much ingredients to waste. I'm gonna roll the dice again and just dollop butter on the cake mix and pour this shit over the batter. So that's what I did. And I think it turned out pretty okay. It looked cakey coming out of the oven. It looked like a cake in soup coming out and I was tempted to put in back in the oven, but Nigella says let it rest for 10 minutes so I decided to so see how it looked after a short rest. That turned out to be a good decision because when I went back 10 minutes later everything looked tip top.

Making the Eggnog Cream was a little confusing for me. It's just whip cream with advocaat but it wouldn't whip for me. It did eventually but it took a while and I also realized it would never truly whip - it just becomes a very thick cream. Thick but still soft, Nigella describes it as.

So I scooped out some cake, spooned the sugary sauce at the bottom of the cake pan over top and then topped it all off with the eggnog cream. It was festive and delightful. I'm sure it would be even better if I'd used real mixed spice and not Jamaican mixed spice but I was happy enough with the result. Happy enough for 2 helpings as a matter of fact. Everything did turn out irie after all.

Snowball

Well, I've found you the perfect drink to serve this Christmas. Or rather Nigella has found it for all of us. The Snowball is AMAZING!!!! How did this drink fall off people's radars???? This drink has retro chic appeal - it's the ultimate egg nog-ish drink. To make this drink you put one part advocaat, 3 parts lemonade and then a dash of lime juice. Advocaat - for those who don't know is an egg based liqueur. When I poured it out into a shot glass I was not impressed. It looked thick and gross. But I am so glad I didn't let that deter me from tasting this drink because as soon as this drink hit the back of my throat, music came on in my mind and it was 'Cheek to Cheek'...♫♪Heaven, I'm in Heaven♪♫ you know the one. So go make yourself a snowball to put you in the Christmas mood - or even just the winter mood - this is the best drink for Christmas gatherings for sure. If you serve this at your party everyone will be blown away because it's not the norm for these days but we can start a movement to bring it back! I'm mad about retro these days and this drink has it all for me - retro flare, amazing taste and it's a Christmas classic!
Here's a little video to get you in the right mind frame.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yyhOtPAXK4&feature=related

High-Speed Hamburger with Fast Fries

Okay, this is a good burger recipe no doubt about it. But the smell of hamburger is clinging on me like a bad case of B.O. . I can't shake it. I made this burger for Husband pretty much as soon as I got home from work tonight and 3 hours later I still smell like a burger. Now some of you may say "Sweet! Nuthin' smells as great as a nice burg." But you're wrong. I smell like a pile of greasy nast. And do you know where I spent my night? In yoga class. That's right, I've spent the past hour doing the downward dog and trying not to puke all over my yoga mat because I've a cloud of burger grease around me. Here's how bad it was - when I was doing deep bends I was actually glad to smell my feet because they didn't smell like grease!

All night I've felt like Pig Pen from Peanuts with a constant cloud of stink around me. But apart from that this recipe is aces. I mean sure maybe it's my fault that I waited to make this until a day that it's -14 outside so I didn't bbq it...but I'm just saying. Don't fry this bad boy inside - this is a bbq meal for sure. Makes a tasty burg - Husband gave it an 8 out of 10.

Now the other half of the meal -the Fast Fries. I'm going to advise against Nigella's method of bashing your potatoes in a freezer bag and suggest that you take the 45 seconds to slice your potato into strips. Because when I did the bashing on my 3rd whack the freezer bag burst open and potato went shooting in every direction in my kitchen and all over the floor. These I just picked up and rinsed off before frying and feeding to Husband. Yeah I know it's not the cleanest dinner but they were washed...and you won't feel so bad for Husband when I tell you that 3 years ago Husband made me a great BBQ dinner. Then 2 hours after I had eaten he tells me the story of how he found a dead unidentifiable animal in our bbq, removed the animal and then made me my dinner WITHOUT cleaning the bbq first!!!!! How disgusting is that???? So you see folks a little washed off floor dirt is nothing at all. At least I had the decency to wash the dirt off.

All traumatizing bbqs aside, I'm sure this recipe will make for some great memories in the back yard. But I repeat do not fry inside...unless of course you want to smell like burger grease.

Frittata Party

This party was for one because Husband wasn't home from work to join in. So me and Lloyd put our party hats on and fried some omelettes. (Lloyd's my cat btw) Obviously this is really easy to make - they're just omelettes. If you haven't made a cheese omelette by now you should be shot. Making it with emmental is a nice change. Give it a try. The green omelette was really nice too. It tastes green so you feel healthy eating it. The ham omlette is a sin. And the chili omelette set my mouth a flame. If you can't take heat don't even think of making this. If you don't mind some heat then I'd use maybe half a chili instead of a whole one. The use of ginger and coriander is really nice though.

This recipe isn't a revelation but it made for a decent meal.

Chicken Liver (or Tofu!) Salad

Have you ever watched a movie that you knew was going to be bad but it was on TV or your friend wanted to watch it so you watched it anyway but then ended up loving the movie - that is this recipe for me. I was fully expecting not to like this but I ended up loving it.

My sister was visiting this weekend and she was wondering what recipes I had left when she saw this one she said "Whose going to eat the chicken liver for you?" I said "No one, I'm just gonna use chicken for Husband. " To which she scoffed. So then I thought screw it - I'm gonna use tofu, the ultimate replacement for any meat. In my Metro I came across a smoked tofu that I thought looked full of potential so that's what I picked.

Back at the ranch, I came home from dinner tonight and whipped this together. I fried the tofu in oil like I woulda done the liver (plegh) and it made it all crispy and nice. Then you add the vinegar, maple sugar and deglaze. Then you put it over the arugula and voila. A lovely warm salad that is yummy, yummy, yummy. Even if you aren't a vegetarian. I highly recommend trying this with smoked tofu as a replacement for the chicken liver. It is sooo soooo good. This recipe won me over for sure.

Scallops and Chorizo

It has been exactly one year since I made my first recipe for this blog. It feels like I've been doing this forever. I still have around 40 recipes to make so it's going to be a while yet. But crickey I've made a lot of food so far. I was hoping to be done within a year but it wasn't too long before I realized that wasn't going to happen. I have to say though that I've come a long way since that first disastrous recipe. I definitely have a greater understanding of "Nigella Talk". Perhaps it's just the difference between North American and Proper English but I've got a much better idea what Nigella means these days in regards to instructions. This Scallops and Chorizo recipe though is so straight forward that it won't matter whether you've spent the last year decoding the Brits or not. Fry sausage, remove from pan. Fry Scallops - return sausage to pan add lemon juice, let bubble, plate and garnish. Ta-dah! You've just made dinner. I bought fresh scallops as opposed to frozen and the lemon juice and parsley really compliment the natural flavour of the scallops. I'm going to pat myself on the back and say I cooked the scallops perfectly too. They were sooo good. Husband had the sausage with the scallops and when I looked over his plate was clean so I think it's safe to say he loved it. I highly recommend this to you it's a little more expensive a meal - if you're a main lander like myself - but well worth the extra pennies. Mmmmmmm yummy!

Cherry Cheesecake

I know my last few blogs have been hurried and brief. That's because I have been so busy lately. Cooking is not my only talent - I've been sewing a dress the past week or so and also preparing for a bake sale. The dress is for a Christmas party this weekend and the bake sale is the brainchild of my girlfriends at work and myself who wanted to do something to give back and have a reason to bake, all at the same time. We started 6 years ago with a wee little table or two in our work area with proceeds from the bake sale going to the Children's Hospital in Toronto. Now, 6 years later, our bake sale is the stuff of legends and there are legions of people lined up. It's about 7x six foot tables jam packed full of home baked goods. The bake sale has taken on a life of it's own. It is at this point it's own entity. The truly amazing thing is that over the past 6 years we have managed to donate over $12,000 to the Hospital. Can you believe that??? Through the power of a cookie we are literally helping to save lives. It really blows my mind when I think about it. And it also goes to show you that you can make a difference just by doing the smallest of things.

Anyhow, I made this cheesecake for our bake sale and I had numerous reports back that it was amazing, so I'm quite pleased about that. It really was pretty simple to make. I was making fudge and squares and this cake the night before the sale (the cookies I made ahead of time and froze them). So it was great that this recipe was so straight forward. First I made the crust which is digestive biscuits and butter. Then I made the cheese part - whip cream, vanilla, icing sugar and cream cheese. Oh, and lemon juice. I thought I'd be the hero and hand whip everything. That lasted about 2 minutes before I went downstairs and got my kitchen aid mixer. It was this moment in life I realized a) what a good investment those mixers really are, and b) how much respect I have to people who lived in the age when such items either did not exist or were unattainable by the middle class. Those were some strong women making cheesecakes. Definitely not someone I'd talk back to. Actually maybe that's what's wrong with the stories of off these sassy teenagers and children these days. You see your mom making her cheesecake with a sissy mixer and you think - God that woman can't even whip cheese. But if your mom's standing in the kitchen whipping cheese around a bowl like it ain't no thang then you think to yourself 'I'd better do what this woman says or else she could take that massive forearm muscle and back-hand me across the face which would hurt like a bugger but not leave a mark...' . I don't know, maybe I'm on to something, maybe I'm not. But either way I'm just an Aunt so I can use a stand mixer all I want.

Also either way, parent or not, mixer or not, I suggest you try this cheesecake. It's light, creamy and a no bake dream.

Goujons of Sole with Dill Mayonaise

Now here is a recipe!!! I don't think I'll ever buy frozen battered fish ever again. This is the ticket. Now I know, I know, battering fish isn't the stuff they're doing over at NASA but if you're like me you just never thought to do it yourself before. But this was soooo easy and it really was delicious. And Nigella even tells you the spot at which you can freeze these and then have your own homemade fish sticks. That is what I think I'll do. There is one thing that I will do different though. That is in the future I think I will bake the fish as opposed to frying it. But the frying was fairly easy..it's just the health reasons that I'll be baking...not the taste reasons.

The Dill mayonnaise is uber simple to make is a fabulous with the fish too. I actually even dipped my chips in the dilly mayo too.

All in all I give this an A+. I really liked it, it's easy and I like the freezing option too.

Roly Poly Pudding

I made this along time ago and thought I posted it already!!!! Sorry! I guess I've just been too busy to keep track. Well, this is easy to make but it's not the greatest. I'm not really much of a fan of the store bought pie crust..maybe that 's why??? I' don't know. It didn't really look good to me on the page in the book. I am a pastry girl but this just wasn't my thing. If you're into sweetened lard then give this a try otherwise, flip the page to find yourself another dessert.

Seared Salmon with Singapore Noodles

Well I'd been himming and hawing over this recipe for a while. I wasn't sure what to think about it. But I'm getting down to the nitty gritty and having to make the recipes I've been flipping past for one reason or another. This recipe just didn't really jump out a me but it was much better than expected. The singapore noodles I'd say are just okay - not fabulous. But the seared salmon is AMAZING!!! I loved it. Curry crusted and and seared to perfection. You really get a nice hard crust on the fish and it's so tender inside. Also, Husband hates salmon but he loves pork chops so I dredged a pork chop in the curry mixture and baked it in the oven for him. Something of a curry shake and bake. Husband loved it. So if you don't like salmon either or your just looking for a new way to have your pork chops this is something to try.

There are a lot of ingredients for this recipe which was a bit much to handle so I'm going to recommend to you that if you do make this be sure to prep everything ahead of time - don't be chopping as you're cooking. Chop and measure everything a head of time so you can just toss things together as you go. It will make life a lot easier. Next time you're thinking shake and bake make this instead.

Lazy Loaf

Right away you know you can make this because it has the word LAZY in the title. That's enough to sell me right there. Because I like being lazy a lot of the time. It's great when some one says "So what'd you do today?" and you say "Oh, not much - I made a loaf of bread." and they're thinking 'making a loaf of bread is not much???' but with this recipe it's the truth. Add wet to dry and toss it in the oven.

What's most important is getting a good museli. I picked one from the organic section and made sure it had ingredients that would be good in a loaf - ie no tropical fruits. Other than that you just need to stir and set your oven at the proper temp. This makes a really dense loaf and it has a pretty hard crust. But that also made it good for taking out of the loaf pan - it just slide right out no muss no fuss. I'm really enjoying this loaf and I think you will too.

Mouclade and Cheese Fondue

Well the world's greatest wife made the world's greatest Friday night dinner today. I have wanted to make both these recipes for a while but fear and budgeting held me back. I'll start with the Mouclade.

First let me say I hate mussels as a general rule. It's not so much the taste of them. It's much, much more the look of them. I cannot help but notice the strong similarities between and cooked mussel and the female sex organs. And I've gotta tell ya..I just feel weird about eating something that makes me think of that. I feel so much more relaxed with a nice tofurky sausage. It just feels more natural. I guess if nothing else this is confirmation for me that I have joined the proper team by marrying a man. All my life people have been telling me "But mussels are so good how can you not want to eat them?" and I just squirm in my chair and say, no-no it's okay really. But this past summer while on holiday in Nova Scotia I was feeling a little adventurous or experimental shall we say and decided the time was ripe for me to try mussels. If you're going to have mussels the East Coast is the place to try them right? So we ordered mussels and I really, really liked them. Who knew?

Well, that experience got me over my initial fear so making the Mouclade wasn't quite as terrible as it would have been pre-holiday. If I could make these you could make these. It takes no time at all and even with me not being a big fan of the curry - I still liked these. (must be the 500ml of wine) And yes if you do think like I do regarding mussels and have some nerves, the wine will help loosen you up to help you take the plunge. However, I think I'm still gonna stick with the tofurky, sorry mussels but I'm just too straight for you.

Now the cheese fondue, this is the ultimate for me. Me and cheese are like peas and carrots, we just go together. I watched a little video of Nigella making this on-line today but to be honest I didn't have much time so I speed thru it pretty quick as in I watched the first 20 seconds and then skipped to the last 20 seconds. There were a bunch of reviews of the recipe on line too and it was about half and half with good/bad.That made me a little nervous. I omitted the kirsh because I read about how expensive it is and most people seemed of the opinion you can have a perfectly good fondue without the kirsh - so I trusted the word of strangers. This was incredibly simple to make - you just have to keep an eye on the melting cheese and give it a good stir every once in a while. This recipe also makes a TON. But I'm glad for that because now I have left overs that I can enjoy tomorrow. We dipped apples, bread and artichoke in the fondue and my god, it is heavenly. The people giving this a bad review have obviously no and I mean NO cooking skill. Or maybe they're illiterate and can't read the instructions ( not that I haven't done that before!) but you can't blame the recipe when you're the one whose the spaz.

Anyhow, making these 2 recipes together made for a perfect Friday night meal. Husband and I cozied up in front of the TV where we watched TMZ and laughed at people who are richer than us. This really was a perfect casual, but out of the ordinary meal and I highly recommend both these recipes to you whether together or separate. And whatever your sexual orientation.

Pollo Alla Cacciatora

Every Monday I'm disappointed. Every Monday I face a another week of employment and not cuing up at the OLG to collect my $50 million in lottery winnings from the past weekend. Honestly, every week there's a big part of me that just cannot believe that I didn't win the lottery. How is it possible? I've bought so many damn lottery tickets and still I haven't won. The math must start working in my favour at some point. Surely my time is coming soon. I think this is why everyone hates Mondays. Sorry Monday but it's true, none of us can stand you because you're the jerk who reminds us we do have to work for a living and we aren't in that 1% of the population who gets to put out a sex tape and never do another day of work for the rest of their lives. This is the reason no one talks on Monday and why everyone is a little more bitter on Mondays. Because we face yet another week of middle class poverty. Don't get me wrong - I'm a lucky person and I do have everything I need but doesn't everyone want to be just a little bit luckier? As in $50 million dollars luckier?

So anyhow to soothe my soul from the Monday blahs I need a hearty comfort food meal to rouse my spirits for the rest of the week. This dish title just might be Italian for comfort food. I'm highly suspicious. It's beyond easy to make I barely paid attention to what I was doing and everything turned out tip top. Husband was served the true version of this where for myself I made this (sorta) a veggie dish ( I can't really call it veggie because it was cooked in with chicken and bacon) by using the saucey stuff to cover some fusilli noodles and then topped with sliced tofurky. I loved my dinner. It was exactly what I needed tonight. Husband even thanked me for his dinner tonight which is more than I usually get so he must have liked it. - and yes that is a hint for all husbands/wives out there who have perfect wives/husbands like me making you dinner every night. We do want to be thanked for making you dinner every day.

Anyhow this makes a great dinner and you can leave out the chicken and bacon and have yourself a yummy pasta sauce! Buon Appetito!

Instant Chocolate Mousse

Okay, so after making this recipe I now have only 50 recipes to go. I'm in the home stretch. But at the same time - I've been doing this for nearly one full year and I still have 50 recipes to go!?!?!? How is that even possible? How can one person come up with this many recipes? Honestly, this is just one cookbook out of how many? 8 - that's how many. That's insane. I could never to that. I'd start putting in recipes of mixing different cereals together for breakfast. It's a little mind boggling when you think about it. But the countdown is on for me T-50 and counting.

So let's see..I invited my friend over to a birthday tea last night and true to form she bailed on me. I had made this Instant Chocolate Mousse for us to eat in celebration of her big day but instead I was left alone with me and 3 serving of chocolate mousse to myself. Well, that's not true. Husband has been home but somehow I sunk my spoon into all 3 dishes before he got a chance to. Not that I ate them all at once...here's the story.

I come home from work and there is no food in the house. I don't know what to make for dinner but I decide I should make something for when the birthday girl arrives to have with tea. So I checked the cupboards and just as I suspected I have everything I need to make a half recipe of Instant Chocolate Mousse. So I whip this together and put it in the fridge to set. Husband comes home and I tell him there's no food for dinner. I suggest to him he make one of his cans of chili that makes me gag at the thought of (there's something inherently wrong about canned beef) but he says he's not in the mood. After scouring the cupboards, fridge and freezer I decide we've got the means to make French Toast and breakfast dinner is in order. Though honestly all we have is wonderbread which I hate so I'm still not satisfied. At this point Husband announces his intention to order a pizza. I do nothing to deter his decision and instead spout of what I'd like on my half while putting the bread and eggs away. At this point I go to the computer and via FB discover that my friend is no longer coming over as she feels ill after a flu shot. So at this point the mousse is just for Husband and me.

After eating take out pizza (maybe a once a year occasion at our house) I saved some space for the mousse. So I'm really looking forward to giving it a try. It turned out very well but to be completely honest I felt it was too sweet for me. I only ate about 3 bites and I was done. I'm not one to take kindly to a very rich and sweet dessert. I'm more the savoury type. I told Husband I thought he would like it though.

Then this morning after a run, I come home and have left over pizza for breakfast only I was still hungry....the only other thing to eat was the mousse. So that's what I ate. It was still very sweet but I was warming to it. Then this afternoon I returned home from my glorious 15 second encounter with Nigella herself famished...I go to the fridge and what is staring me in the face???? Chocolate Mousse....and that is how I ate 3 helpings of this recipe and Husband, is just going to have to take me word for it that he would have really liked it.

Choco-holics...you may want to write this one down.

Mrs K Meets NIGELLA !!!!!!!!

Can you believe it???????? I still can't. Here's how it all started.

My sister emailed me a notification she received about different celebrity chefs doing cook book signings at the flagship store in Yorkville. Nigella was one of the people coming to town. Saturday at 2pm - I found this out on Thursday. I've got to tell you I'm not one of those people who values autographs. I'm of the mind walking up to someone and asking them to sign a picture of a piece of paper is really bizarre behaviour. So I was torn. Do I do this or no? I also work a TV station and see stars and TV personalities all the time so I'm very aware that these are just regular people with irregular jobs. I'm not really fazed by celebrity. However, circumstances are a little different with me and Nigella. I've been cooking from Nigella Express for just shy of a year now. There's hardly been a day in the last year that I haven't thought about what recipe I'll make next or how I'm going to do the next recipe. So I had to go meet Nigella. I just had to.

I drove to Toronto this morning and found the Indigo on Bloor street with my Nigella Express in hand. I got to the store and found there was a line up for Nigella. So I go to the back of the line and ask the staff if Nigella will sign books other than her new book. I was told no. I begged I pleaded I said what if I buy the new book and still ask her to sign Nigella Express. I'm told no. Either way I had to buy the new book -panic was starting to set in but I made my way thru the store and got in line for the book. There were 4 books up on the register in a display, I didn't want to take one until I was at the front of the line so I stood in line empty handed scanning around me fore more Nigella Kitchen books. There weren't any. Then a woman goes to the display and take 2 of the 4 books. Panic set in . There were only 2 books left and I was 4 people back in the line. Every person that walked by I willed not to touch the display. It was the longest 3 minutes of my life while I waited to get to the display. Every second I was in this line I was losing my spot in the autograph line. I'd come all this way - I couldn't not get this.

So finally I got to buy the book and headed to the end of the autograph line. I was chatting with the people in front and behind me. The guy directly behind me left when he heard she'd only sign the new book because he'd brought Nigella's Christmas book. Maybe he did like I did but I never saw him again. So instead I had a kindly older gentleman behind me who was lining up to get the book signed for his neighbour who just started cooking and makes only Nigella's recipes. It was so sweet of him. I told him she'll surely appreciate it and it will make a great Christmas surprise. Even I'm excited for him to give the present. So after about a hour of waiting in line me and the nice man behind me are finally getting to the front of the cue. We were told that there would be someone who would take a picture for us if we had our camera ready so I got mine out. I was all nervous about what would happen when I got up there. A lady came around to make sure we had a books open and at the right page and without sticky note of who we wanted it made out to. I had Nigella Express out and Kitchen both open to be signed. I asked this woman if I could get Nigella Express signed (with some pleading in my voice) and she replied "Of course, you've waited in line so long she'll sign both" to which I replied "Oh my God thank you!! I'm sooo excited!" which made her very pleased. (She was from the publishing company). So I'm just 5 people away from Nigella and I start to get really nervous. My sister and the man in the line with me told me I have to tell her about my blog but I was timid about doing this - I mean how much can you say in 10 seconds? I didn't want to be a babbling idiot and have Nigella think "Craaaa-zzzzzyyyy" while I was talking to her. And I was also panicking because I didn't see who would be able to take a picture for me. Everyone seemed to have their friend or partner taking the photo but I was a lonesome dove. I couldn't ask my new friend in the line to do it because he'd be getting shoved and shuffled along behind me. So I thought - "Better snap a photo now in case this is my only chance." As I took my photo on Nigella a staff member turned and said to me " Would you like me to take your photo with Nigella?" ..."That would be fantastic!" I replied.

So I handed over my camera, ans shuffled along with a knot in my stomach. When it was my turn I stepped up to Nigella and said " Um, I just wanted to tell you that I've been blogging my way thru Nigella Express." as she signed Nigella Express for me. She looked up and said ...

Nigella: "Oh are you? And where are you blogging at?"

Me: "MrsKcooks, that's why I've asked for Mrs K (to be signed). It's so much fun.

Nigella: "whawhahwhawhawha" - I don't comprend a word she says to me because now I'm shaking.

Me: " I'm shaking."

Nigella: "Don't shake dear."

Staff member: "For someone who's shaking you seem very calm."
Me: "I have a photo, camera, thing."

Then we smiled for the photo and with that I took my 2 books, got my camera back, took a deep breath and walked out of the shop. Once outside I tried to gather my thoughts and calm myself
"Grab a hold of your self for crying out loud" I thought. But I was still shaking because I thought honestly who does this happen to? I'm down to 50 recipes to make, I've spent a year working on this blog and making Nigella's food and I get to meet her and have her sign the very book that I'm working from. Who is this lucky???? seriously? Me that's who. I'm one lucky duck.

PS - I just want to say Nigella is just a beautiful in person as she is on TV and in her books.

Gravlax Sashimi

This recipe put some fear in me. Not because of preparing it but because I have a lot of trepidation about eating raw fish from my Metro. I prepared the meat on Saturday morning. Remove the skin, mix the marinade and coat the meat. Then you put it in the fridge with weights on it and patiently wait. Minimum 2 days, Maximum 5. I waited 4. I pulled it out of the fridge and wasn't filled with confidence. I wiped the marinade off the meat and sliced it up. Husband walked in the room and announced he was getting take out. I wanted to put in my order but I held strong. I picked up the chop sticks and was pleasantly surprised. This was actually really, really good. But I was still wondering if I'd be puking in a few hours.

If you have a sense of adventure and a brave heart I suggest giving this a try.

Rocky Road Crunch Bars

Well, my sweet little Doodlebug turned 2 on Friday. This weekend was her birthday party and on the same day one of my oldest friends had her baby shower. So my weekend was filled with parties and presents and loved ones. What more can one ask for? Well, I guess I could ask not to have had PMS and cramps all weekend but you can't have it all I guess, can you?

So, for Doodlebug's party I made nothing. I did come a day early and help (sort of) with the food prep and decorating. For my friend's shower I brought chocolate dipped strawberries and Rocky Road Crunch Bars. If you ever need to take some dessert bars anywhere take these. People love you for making these. And it's totally undeserved, because you really didn't do much at all to make these. But take the praise and the adoration anyhow. You did something at some point in your life that no one cared about and you thought was a magical feat - just take this praise in place of the crickets and tumbles weeds that blew through then.

Rocky Road Crunch Bars are a classic dessert but everyone forgets about them. Remind your friends or family that these bars are bitchin'. - Or wait, it's me whose bitchin' on PMS...these bars help stop the bitchin' with their chocolately goodness. They're super easy to make - stove top only - and I think if you could get your hands on homemade marshmallow you might knock some one's socks off literally. You can replace the golden syrup (aka corn syrup) with honey or raw agave and it won't be quite so terrible for you. But honestly, everyone needs a treat now and then...especially if you have cramps.

Eton Mess

Well, today has been something of a mess so this dessert was fitting. Some A-hole dumped their garbage at the end of our drive way so now Husband and I are dealing with that. Neither of us wants to do anything with it and are trying to shove it off on the other. I wish I could find the jerk that did this and go punch them in the crotch. I mean if you're going to dump garbage somewhere dump it in a plaza or something!! Not in a private residential area. It makes it look like it's our mess all over the street.

Anyhow, to make Eton Mess you need meringue nests. I didn't know where to buy these so I just made some. I googled a recipe and went for it. One hour later my meringues were ready and I started on Nigella's recipe. Which is pretty freakin easy to make (which is good because by now my nerves are shot after my day at work and the garbage debacle). Whip the cream ,crumble in meringue, fold in strawberries and serve. Simple. I used fresh squeezed pomegranate juice and decided to add the seeds to the strawberry mixture too.

This dessert is very delicious and very, very sweet. My goodness, I felt diabetes setting in halfway through my bowl. If you make your own meringues I might add a little less sugar. But if you've got a real sweet tooth then you'll love this.

Turkey Tonnato

If revenge is a dish best served cold then this the the dish you should serve to the mother effer you're seeking revenge upon. I found this pretty gross. But in an interesting twist Husband said it wasn't bad. To be fair I put the sauce over pasta because being pescatarian the turkey wasn't happening for me. I gotta tell you though - the anchovy was too strong for me today and it was a little odd eating pureed tuna. It just felt wrong. But I did finish it..not without disgust though.

Husband seemed to power through though. I don't know exactly how he found this to be enjoyable but I guess he did. I thought for sure he would have not liked it. Taken 2 bites and dumped the rest. But he ate it all???? I'm filled with questions I'm too lazy and apathetic to ask.

Bottom line, my advice only make this for someone you never want to accept a dinner invitation to your house again.

No Churn Pomegranate Ice Cream

So after the huge disappointment of the Margarita Ice Cream I didn't have much faith in this recipe. I decided to make this last night and googled the ingredients to pick up on my way home from work. I found a video of Nigella doing a demo of this recipe for the Today Show. In her printed recipe she lists 500ml double cream - that heart stopping impossibly thick cream that spreads like butter. But on the today show they used heavy cream. So I decided to go ahead with the heavy cream; A) it's cheaper B)it's lower fat. So I picked up some 18% table cream...but while in Metro I was having a hard time deciding between that and the whipping cream. I should have got the whipping cream. This is supposed to form soft peaks after a good whisking and that just didn't happen with the 18% cream. So last night after 10 minutes of non-stop, done by hand, whipping I still did not have any soft peaks. So I just decided that enough was enough and it was never going to happen. I put the still liquid cream in the freezer and hoped for the best. I let it set for 24 hours and after dinner tonight scooped myself a bowl. It was frozen but it wasn't creamy. It was too crystallized. I think my container was air tight enough..but maybe it wasn't??? I don't know. If I were to make this again I'd make it with whipping cream for sure. I think it'd be much better. But even still apart from that Nigella's ice creams are just way too sweet for me. The powdered sugar is so intense and it's way too much for my palate.

If you want to try making ice cream and you don't have an ice cream maker then give this a try. But you most definitely should be using whipping cream..and you may want to ease up on the sugar. Now after eating all that fatty ice cream I'm going to watch the biggest loser!

Carmel Croissant Pudding

Well, I have to tell you Lloyd totally ruined my pudding experience tonight. There I was sitting on my couch enjoying a bowl of steaming croissant pudding straight from the oven when Lloyd walked into the living room with something else steaming for me. Lloyd is my cat - my long haired Flame-Point Himalayan cat. And do you know what can happen to cats that have long fur??? Let me enlighten you. They get cling ons. Poo cling ons. So in walks Lloyd with his fur pants covered in 2 giant logs. It wasn't very appetizing.

So I had to leave my glorious pudding and grab up Lloyd before he started redecorating. I took him upstairs for a clean up - which isn't the easiest because if you think a cat doesn't mind having their nether region poked and prodded you can think again. There was a lot of escape attempts and plenty of low tone meows - if you can call them meows. But in the end Lloyd was clean and I was dirty. So then I had to wash myself up before I could return to my pudding.

Once I did get back it was still warm and comforting and I was even more glad for the strong boozy flavour of this dessert. However, even though this is a good dessert I can firmly say I will never make this again. I don't even want to know how many calories this has. Croissant plus double cream...heart attack city. It's great maybe for once a year but eat this any more often and you'll be buying new jeans because your ass won't fit in the ones you're wearing now.

Chowder with Asian Flavours

I really, really love making soups. It's so therapeutic for me. Baking is therapy for me too. If ever I feel stressed or stretched too thin if I can do some baking or soup making somehow I feel like all is right again after spending an afternoon in the kitchen creating. I was really looking forward to tasting this chowder. This soup kind of fooled me. I started with a huge pot and then it seemed ridiculous to have such a big pot, so I transferred to a smaller pot. Then in the end my medium sized pot was literally brimming so stick with your large pot. This came together without any problems. The taste was a little disappointing though. Perhaps it's because I just got regular cod instead of the smoked cod (because Metro doesn't have it) but I'm not really sure. This soup is good but I wasn't blown away by it. I really wanted to fall in love with this soup but I didn't. It is good and hearty but I think you can find a better chowder out there.

Green Apple Martini

Me and Green Apple Martinis have a long and sorted history. The most infamous encounter between me and the Green Apple Martini is my house warming party. I had about 6 too many. You can imagine what the house tours were like....plenty of swearing and pointing out everything that's wrong. The highlight of the tour being when I'd point out the exact spot that my cat had shat on the floor earlier that day. Yes it was a fabulous housewarming party. I had a chocolate fountain and I was sooooo hung over that I couldn't believe I'd have to clean that up with all the pain I was in. But when I finally made it downstairs the next "morning". I had a moment of clarity in my life. Husband and cleaned up everything from the house party!!! Including the chocolate fountain (which is awful to clean)!!! It was that exact moment in my life that I knew I married the right person. He knew I was terribly hung over, and rather than make me suffer through the pain and humiliation of cleaning everything up, he did it all for me. It was that moment that made me think "My God, I married the right person." And then I went back to bed to wallow in my hang over.

This recipe for Green Apple Martini differs from the one I'm used to because it uses a Green Apple Syrup. I couldn't find a Green Apple Syrup and I've been looking for months. So I decided to just go ahead and make this without the syrup. I used vodka instead of gin for this because vodka is my thing. So 1 part Vodka, 1 part Sour Apple and then I decided to use the iced apple cider in place of the syrup. I figured it's sugary and apple flavoured. Well I decided wrong. I wasn't good. I couldn't drink it all. So overall I can't tell you that this is good or bad because I never really made the true recipe. I'm sure if you can find some green apple syrup that it would be good. But what I can do is give you the recipe for the House Warming Green Apple Martini.

1 part vodka
1 part Sour Apple Liqueur

2 parts Granny Smith Apple Juice

Garnish with Granny Smith Apple Slice

Just don't drink 10 of them.

Blackberry Crisp

I haven't been blogging because I've been vacationing at the cottage. October at the cottage is amazing! The colours are just so beautiful. I never want to leave in October. I love having fires and being cozy in the cottage listening to the crackle of the flames at night. Ahh, but then back to reality. Chug-a-lug back to work. Or so it was for one day. Today I went to the office and there was no power. So after waiting for a while and still no power I came back to my humble abode to finish up the work day from here. But what was great was that I could bake while I worked today. So I made this fantastic Crisp. I didn't want to pay 5 dollars for a half pint of blackberries. So I bought a bag of mixed frozen berries that had blackberries in it.

This crisp is really simple to make and I like that it has yummy oatmeal and almonds making up the crust. I used agave nectar in place of the white sugar but I did stick with the demerra sugar for the crust. Bake at 400 for 25 min and you will be eating heaven on earth! Sooo yummy!!! So delicious!!!!! I ate a ton of this! It's cold an rainy here today and this was perfect, perfect, perfect to make me feel warm and cozy and snuggle up with my kitty kat Lloyd on the couch. I highly recommend giving this recipe a shot. You will not be disappointed.

Liver with Bacon and Charred Onions

Does this plate look like a heart attack or what? I couldn't bring myself to cook a piece of liver. I mean who eats liver???? My Dad does. I'm still traumatized by the plates of liver and onion prepared in my mother's kitchen. I just couldn't do it.

So I got Husband a nice piece of steak. Well actually he got himself a nice piece of steak. And when he bought it he said to me "Don't make this in the fry pan. I hate steak cooked in the fry pan." To which I agreed verbally but didn't commit to mentally. I still had to think about it. I mean if Nigella says pan fry, shouldn't I pan fry?

Well, when push came to shove I figured the poor bugger should at least enjoy the steak if he's gotta eat it. I mean I'd hate for the cow to have been slaughtered and end up being a shitty meal. The least I could do for both Husband and the cow is make it a better meal. I mean for me, if I were to end up on some one's dinner plate I'd a least want them to have said I made a good meal. Not eat my thigh and then say plegh! that was gross. No, I'd want them to say "Gawd, that was delicious!". I mean if they're going to eat me either way. Obviously I'd rather not be eaten at all.

So I BBQ'd the steak but followed everything else as per Nigella's instructions. This looks like a heart attack to me and I'm going to tell you I don't see the difference between eating this meal and punch to the heart. But who am I to judge? Everyone strays from their healthy meals now and then. You do have to live after all. But if this dish appeals to you, for the sake of your own health don;t make this a regular. Everything is cooked in oil and bacon fat...I'm almost regretting feeding this to Husband at this point. Ah well, I did make him healthy salad to go with it. Maybe they'll balance each other out. (hopefully!)

Flan

Question: How many times can a person fart in your yoga class before you become exasperated?

Answer: 3.

Yes, at this evening's yoga class we were doing the downward dog and "Pffft" there it was for all to hear. The Farter. About 3 people over from me...or at least that's what is sounded like. The first time a few people laughed. The second time, less people laughed. The third time, no one laughed. By that point the joke had worn off and everyone was hoping not to catch the stink amongst all the deep breathing. I guess we could be thankful that it wasn't one of those farts that smells like a skunk died in yer arse and spreads like hell fire through the room. Yes, I guess there's that bright side.

Anywho, now to the other eff word..Flan. If you've still got an appetite this flan is pretty tasty. I've had a few samplers of this and either they're all great liars or it's very yummy. One thing I will warn you about though is the melting of the sugar is not for the inexperienced. It's not incredibly difficult but it requires patience and a certain amount of culinary skill. I had to bake this SOB forever too. Much longer than Nigella instructed ..nearly double the time to be honest. Perhaps there was too much water in my water bath...Or maybe my oven wasn't hot enough. I'm not 100% sure. But I got there in the end. And while it does make for a nice treat I doubt I'll make this again. I'd rather have a creme brulee.

Namaste.

Brandied Bacony Chicken

There are 3 ingredients to this recipe and they are all listed in the title. This is very simple to prepare. But can you bake a chicken? I'm telling you that you can. You only need one thing, and that thing is a meat thermometer. Get yourself one of those and you can cook anything. Well, anything meat that is.

So what you do is you fry up some bacon in a pan. Then you deglaze the pan with the bacon fat and Brandy. Here's where I strayed. I didn't want to go spend money on a bottle of Brandy when my house is bursting with alcohol. I just needed to research what would be the best substitute of the alcohols I already had. So after reading up on Wikipedia what makes a Brandy a Brandy, I came up with using Iced Apple Cider as my sub. This was a gift that Husband got thru work and has been sitting in our fridge "chilling" for about 6 months. So I popped the cork and deglazed.

Then I stuffed the chicken with the cooked bacon and poured the brandy-bacon sauce over said chicken and popped her in the oven. Then I waited for the meat thermometer to beep at me. Which it did nicely, and Husband had another lovely meal.

But now back to the Iced Apple Cider. This is a relatively new alcohol coming out of Quebec apparently and I was shy about trying it. But OMFG it's pretty damn good. I had 3 liqueur glasses of this just while the chicken was cooking. I've no idea if the chicken was great or not but what I can tell you is that Iced Apple Cider is pretty delicious!

Coq Au Riesling

I haven't eaten meat in 9 months. I haven't missed eating meat for 9 months. Until I made this. The smell of chicken and bacon simmering in white wine and mushrooms surely is one the smells wafting out at the gates of heaven. Sweet baby Jesus this smelled good. However I still didn't have any. All I had to do was remember back to 15 minutes before when I was ripping the skin off the poor bastard and ripping his bones apart from each other to put my stomach in a good enough knot not to eat meat for another 9 months. Let me tell you when I was prepping the meat for this dish I was admiring myself for the level of devotion I was displaying to this project. Here's a pescetarian mutilating a poor little chicken just because she said she would make all the recipes in this book. Even amongst my pure disgust I was a little in awe of my own stubborn determination and level of commitment.

Anyhow, for the meat eaters this dish will amaze you. Husband enjoyed it and the aromas will carry you to the kitchen like a Looney Tune Cartoon.

Chocolate Pistachio Fudge

Well Grandma K is chalking up another year on her belt and to help get her in the celebratory mood I thought why not make her some fudge? If anyone love fudge it's Grandmas. This is so easy to make and so delicious to eat. If you're in someone's bad books just make them this fudge. God Damn it is good. Right now Grandma K is probably thanking God that her grandson married me. Solely based on her enjoying some pistachio fudge right now. Forget the fact that I haven't given her any great-grandchildren. I've given her something better. Fudge.

Pappardelle with Escarole

I was really excited to make this recipe it looked so yummy and sounds a little exotic. I was let down. This recipe is lacking in exoticism. It's okay to make as a side dish but stop it there. This can't pull off a main course.

I had to call my sister from the grocery store for this too. I was all full of confidence when I made my grocery list but the in the grocery store my confidence was shattered when I didn't find and egg pasta labelled pappardelles and I started to wonder is this pappardelle even an egg pasta? My nerves became shot and I reached for my cell phone. I did not want to get home and then find out I'd bought the wrong thing. So I phoned it in and was told to buy a fat egg white noodle. Which I did.

Then I came home cooked her up, and was terribly let down. Well maybe not terribly, but I was painfully aware that I was eating an okay dinner on my half pleather couch in the middle of suburbia and not somewhere exotic eating fantastic foods and laughing heartily at some snobbish joke about the little people. No this meal made it painfully clear that I am that little person someone somewhere is laughing about. I can hear them now:

"Wilted lettuce on a egg pasta for dinner Charles, can you imagine Darling?"

"And the worst part is they're probably eating it on a half pleather couch Camilla dear."

Yes the heir to the throne and his chuffed up booty-call were probably having a good chuckle about the little people while I ate this for dinner. Well the jokes on you Charles because we all still remember those dirty phone sex conversations you had with your "classy" wife. What an SNL skit those made.

All bitterness aside, flip past this page in the book.

Chickpeas with Rocket and Sherry

Good Gravy this was awful!!!!! Pelgh!!! Don't do it.

Spiced Peaches

Yesterday was one of those terrific September afternoons where the sky's are brilliant blue and the air is crisp and opens your lungs. There's still a feeling of summer about the day but there are undeniable fall undertones too. Like the smell of leaves in the air and a slight chill to the wind. Those are by far my favourite days and Husband and I made the most of it by going on a fabulous bike ride in the park by our house. Past the pigs, peacocks and cows. Just and awesome afternoon. I came back from the bike ride hungry and wanting something that would really just make the world seems perfect after that. You know like when you were a kid playing outside in the winter for hours, and when you come inside and you can feel the cool air in your cheeks while you drink a hot cocoa and warm by the fire? I wanted to get that feeling from my lunch. Well, these spiced peaches delivered in full force. The peaches give you the summery feel but the cinnamon and the soft gentle heat give you that cozy fall feeling. This is an amazing dish for the September/October months. Making this for your Thanksgiving will be delightful. Nigella suggests to serve this with a ham...and I'm sure that it would be good... if you like ham. But don't think you can't make/serve these on their own. I really, really enjoyed this and if you're looking for a fall comfort dish next Sunday afternoon, this is your ticket to paradise.

BTW, I also highly recommend watching Boardwalk Empire for anyone with HBO. I just watched the premiere and I'm hooked.

Ginger Pom

Argh! What a day I had yesterday. I couldn't get any work done but I was running around around like a chicken with it's head off anyhow. I felt like my brain was going to ooze out my ears when I left work last night. So I had definitely earned a drink. This drink is made with Pomegranate Liqueur which is $40 for a bottle. I didn't want to spend $40 for just a couple ounces of Liqueur. So I decided that a proper substitute would be the Grey Goose that's down in my basement. This turned out pretty well and I quite enjoyed the drink. It's not very boozey either so you could easily drink a lot of these not realizing how much or how fast you're getting liquored. Lucky for me I avoided that situation. (must be a first!)
Anyhow, this drink is perfect to serve at a cocktail party. Everyone will like it and there's much more juice to the drink than alcohol so you don't have to worry about someone getting trashed after 2 drinks and shouting at one of your guests that they've always hated them. PS. stop inviting that person to your parties.

Golden Goat's Cheese

Well, today was an interesting day. I have to tell you the office that I work in is quite entertaining. It's pretty rough and tumble. You'd better not be sensitive or your feelings will be hurt. We all tell it like it is without too much sugar coating (if any). And if you're on some one's nerves they won't hesitate to tell you to eff off. But everyone gets along for the most part and we try to make going to work fun. Today we had a meeting and we got a little off topic. Someone started telling one of Aesop's Fables. The story of The Wind and the Sun. (I'm making a very long story short here.) So they're telling how the wind was blowing and blowing harder and harder trying to get the man's jacket off and another co-worker pipes up and says "I bet it was the best blow job he ever had!" and the laughter ensued. I had tears running down my face. No one could believe their ears...what made it funnier was the story teller just pressed on and acted like nothing had happened. Which made me laugh even more. Oh my god, it has it's golden moments my office does. This was one of those times.

Anyhow, I came home from a hilarious day at work to make a fabulous salad and top it off with Golden Goat Cheese. I was expecting to have to fry this, but Nigella gives a baking option and I gotta tell ya. This recipe most certainly is golden. I loved this! This was soooo easy to make too. I'll make this again fo' sho'. Honestly, don't be scared of this. There's no frying, slice your cheese cover it in egg, then cake with bread crumbs and pop it in the oven for 9 minutes. What's simpler??? Not too effing much. Make this one for sure, you'll love it, your friends will love it. This will take a salad from ordinary to extraordinary.

Flash-Fried Steak with White Bean Mash

I have to tell you I was shocked by how good this was. Obviously, being pescetarian, I have not tried the steak (Husband isn't home from work yet to weigh in on the steak). But the white bean mash I thought would taste terrible but it actually tastes fabulous! I will tell all my veggie friends to try this. Yummy warm beans with a lemony, garlicy, rosemary taste. Delish!!!!! I think everyone should try the white bean mash. Aaaaand, lemme tell ya, easy to make?? Hells yah. Heat oil, add flavours, open can rinse beans, add beans to oily sauce pan, mash. KA-boom! An amazing protein dish for all to enjoy. I thank you for the white bean mash Nigella, this will change my culinary life.

As for the Steak...well, it's a fried steak isn't it. How good can if be? And when cooked by a non-meat-eater, well it's a victory if it doesn't taste like a leather shoe. Let's be honest. Though being a foodie I'm certain that a steak would go quite well with the beans because the beans have a huge comfort food factor going on. Yay beans!

PS- please remember you can get all these recipes by googling the recipe title and Nigella Lawson.

Chopped Fruit Salad

Lots of mornings for breakfast I will have granola with berries and yogurt. So I thought this would be pretty much the same. This is very similar but truth be told...I really missed the heartiness the granola gives to such a dish. If you were putting on a fancy brunch then this would make a good "dessert" course. But otherwise, don't waste your time. I think I'd be a little pissed that I'd made the effort to find the recipe if I weren't making all the recipes in the book. I mean isn't this what most people do anyway??? I can't just be me. There must be thousands of people unknowingly making this recipe at this very moment in time (less the juice). I think this is a bit of a page filler like the rice crispy squares recipe with sprinkles on top. Yes, the more I think about it the more I feel cheated by this recipe. If you have any inkling whatsoever about how to make breakfast, you don't need to use this recipe. Just wing it when you want a fruit salad like 99% of the population. I guess this recipe is for the one guy in southern Kentucky who can't do anything without blatant and specific instructions...don't be that guy.

Roast Poussin and Sweet Potatoes

Today is one of those perfect weather days. Crisp air, cool but warm, bright blue sky and the smell of leaves in the air. Days like this you want a comfort food dinner. This recipe was a bit of a Jack Sprat meal for Husband and I. Are you perhaps not familiar with the nursery rhyme Jack Sprat? It goes like this:

Jack Sprat could eat no fat.

His wife could eat no lean.

And so between the 2 of them,

they left the plate clean.

So the me not eating chicken and Husband absolutely hating sweet potato it really did take the both of us to eat this meal. It's incredibly easy to make all you have to do is make sure you've set your timer. It takes 45 minutes, do with that time what you will. Once you're done you will have a fantastic meal. Delicious and comforting. Husband loved his poussin and I loved my sweet potato. I highly recommend this to you!

Party Popcorn

TIFF has officially started so I thought,why not make some popcorn? As a matter of fact I've had my only little film festival going here this evening. I started by watching Valentino: The Last Emperor, and followed with Men Who Stare at Goats. Of the 2, for the average person, I'd recommend Goats. But if you're into fashion and designers like I am then I suggest the doc on Valentino. The gowns of his final collection were extraordinary! I love to watch documentaries and I love classic fashion. Tomorrow I think I may watch The Godfather II and I do believe the time is getting ripe for me to watch La Dolce Vita...but we'll see I may go with Funny Face. Anyhow, I made the party popcorn to watch the second film and I made a half recipe because I'm home alone. Well, let me tell you, the half recipe was enough popcorn for 4 hungry people. I had this massive bowl of popcorn and the only one to share it with was my green bin. The bin got 90% of the popcorn.

What you do is you pop your popcorn on the stove top, then melt some butter and add spices, salt and sugar to the melted butter. Then toss it all up. The part that's hard is the tossing. I could not get the concoction to disperse amongst the popcorn. Nigella says to put it all in a bag and shake it up - but I don't have a huge ass bag hanging around. It's 2010 and we're all using eco-bags Nigella! So I put the popcorn in a huge bowl and started stirring. Popcorn was flying everywhere and the seasoning was sticking to about 5 kernels. So I stirred more frantically but all that did was shoot popcorn further around the house. So I got the bright idea of covering the bowl with a tea towel and shaking it up, like Nigella says to do with a bag. This really didn't work any better. I got the spices around a bit but I felt that I failed big time at doing this. Anyhow I took the popcorn over to the couch and decided what I needed was a soda. (I never, and I mean never, drink soda - maybe 6 times a year) This ended up giving me gut rot - which feels pretty awesome right about now, so stick with the water kids. And let me tell you I don't think the spicy popcorn is helping any. I didn't eat too much of this, just skimmed off the top really. And it's really not too bad but I gotta tell you it's much easier and in my opinion tastier to just have straight up popcorn and butter. I don't think this is worth the effort at all. Plus, think of the kernels getting stuck between your teeth! To quote my nephew "No thank-you!"

Mango Split

Well, it's a little ironic that I'm just making this ice cream treat now since the weather has turned so chilly and we had a scorching hot summer where I made hardly any icy desserts. But I digress. I was a little excited to have this tonight but then I got nervous about it. Not about making it, but about if I would like it or not. I wanted to like it but I was afraid I wouldn't. So I put it off for a bit. Then I couldn't wait any more...so I asked Husband if he wanted one. He asked me the ingredients, which I listed to him, and he said - No thanks. So my heart sunk a little deeper. I became worried about the taste. Then when I pulled out my vanilla ice cream I was more worried still. I don't usually scoop my ice cream. I prefer my ice cream on a stick. Actually the best ice cream of all is a Ben & Jerry's Cherry Garcia on a stick. I can snarf those down in the blink of an eye. But this vanilla bean ice cream has been lurking around my freezer for months on end and when I opened it up there was a thick layer of freezer burn over most of it. But I figured I had enough to salvage one scoop (which was all I needed).

So I toast my coconut and make the rum/lime/sugar sauce. Then I scoop the mango sorbet, salvage some vanilla and add the toppings. At this point I was terribly concerned. I don't hard ice cream that's gone soft. You know how some people let their ice cream sit the bowl and stew and melt? I can't handle that. It makes bile creep up my throat. To me eating melted ice cream is the equivalent to eating vomit. It's the grossest. My vanilla was not only freezer burnt but also soft. Not a good sign. But I braced myself and prepared to take one for the team.

I ended up being pleasantly surprised. What makes this really good is that the syrup hardens on the cool ice cream and gives balance to the softness of the mango pieces. Don't get me wrong this is no Cherry Garcia, but speaking as a non-sundae fan this one's pretty darn good. (Must be the booze!)

Green Eggs and Ham

Dr. Seus was right...I do not like green eggs and ham. I do not like them Sam I am. I didn't like these and Husband didn't like these. Both of us ate our portions. Nothing was thrown out - it wasn't that terrible. But I won't make these again and I won't recommend them to you. Lemme tell ya these are no Oeufs en Cocoette. For me the taste was too strong and I wasn't diggin' it. I do really like pesto too but, no. I used the St. Yves veggie ham to make these and I wasn't very impressed with that either. Then again, I don't like real ham so why would I like fake ham??? Anyhow, it was something of a childhood dream realized to eat green eggs and ham but that's all this had going for it. I rank this as tasting just about a good as my mud pie I once decided to try at the tender age of 5. My imagination wasn't strong enough then and it wasn't strong enough now. Disappointment abounds...but at least I can honestly say I've eaten green eggs and ham.

Breakfast Bars

Sorry it has been so long since my last post but I have been cottaging. We don't have one of those fancy house cottages we have a cottage - cottage. As in the true sense of the word. Actually I was just telling Husband while we were up there that I think by today's standards cottage may not be the right word. It's more of a cabin in the woods. Either way though, cottage or cabin, there is no Internet there. There actually isn't even any hydro. We have solar power so we are totally off the grid up there. It's great, you live in a bubble when you are up there. A couple years ago Sister & Brother-in-Law were at the cottage when our entire province lost Hydro for days on end, they had no idea. That's how isolated you can be up there. It's a great way to re-charge and escape the hustle and bustle of everyday life.

While we were at the cottage I made these breakfast bars for everyone. They received rave reviews from everyone except Husband. He heard the word cranberries and immediately decided he didn't like it. Even before he tasted it. Nigella says that this recipe gets better with age and it's true. I made these Thursday afternoon and by Saturday they were just perfect. The day after I made them if I had anything negative to say about this recipe it would have been that it was a touch too sweet. I thought that maybe using a yogurt/honey binding mix would be better than the condensed milk but by Saturday I really didn't notice the sweetness at all. I'm not sure if it dissipated over time, or if my palate just became used to it. I think the next time I make this I will try the yogurt/honey just to see the difference. I definitely will be making this again though. It is sooooo easy to make and really healthy and delicious. These breakfast bars are terrific!