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.