Gingerbread Cookies

I have grown quite the reputation in the gingerbread department. Everyone knows that I am the queen of gingerbread cookies. Really I owe my crown to Martha Stewart though. It's her recipe that I use and have always used to make the gingerbread cookies that everyone seems to love. I think I've been making this recipe for close to 10 years now and it hasn't failed me yet. This time of year we're all looking for a recipe to really make the season. And a foolproof recipe at that! What better to way to fill your home with all things seasonal than with the smell of gingerbread. If you have kids it's a great family activity to decorate these cookies with them (or you could even make a gingerbread house!). These cookies also make a great little gift to friends or family members that you just want to give a little something. The very best part about this recipe is how well the cookies freeze. You could make these well in advance, freeze them and pull them out of the freezer if you have guests over during the holidays. I really truly think that this is THE perfect holiday recipe. Which is why I'm passing it on to you. Enjoy this festive season with your friends and family and maybe a little sugar too!

RECIPE:

http://www.marthastewart.com/343445/gingerbread-cookies?czone=holiday/workshop-christmas/workshop-christmas-house&center=307034&gallery=274868&slide=285771

Spicy Sweet Green Beans

Yesterday was Christmas with my family. We did it a little early this year because with Husband and I living almost 3 hours away from my family it's just not practical to see bot hour families in one or two days at Christmas time. So we've been alternating families for Christmas for quite a few years now. Hence this past weekend was "Christmas" with my family. It was a nice relaxing weekend at my sister's house and I brought a vegetable dish as my share of the family dinner. I thought of bringing green beans and then found this recipe in my Mark Bittman Food Matters cookbook. It's a mixture of sweetness, spice and nutty that really goes great together and was a nice compliment to our traditional Christmas dinner. Everyone really liked it even my sometimes hard to please with food father and Husband too who was not exactly glad to hear that I was making green beans.

I made these at my sister's house but if you wanted to take a dish as your contribution to a meal this is also great because it doesn't have to be served warm. It can be served at room temperature, but it can be served warm too for those of you freaking at eating something less than hot.

I think this is a terrific vegetable dish and you might be able to convince all the "greens" haters out there to give this a shot because the nuts make this seem like something other than just a pile of veg on your plate. Anyhow, I'm telling you to give this one a chance you will not regret it.

http://markbittman.com/spicy-sweet-green-beans

Vanilla Tzatziki

The other night I found myself faced with a daily question "What will I make for dinner?". As I stuck my head in and out of cupboards, the freezer, the fridge, I came across a box of falafel mix and decided that was it. Falafel for dinner, with rice and greek salad, perfect! Things went great making the meal but I realized that I really wanted some tzatziki to go with it and I didn't have any. I wasn't going to run to the store for it but I thought why not google the recipe and see if I have what I need to make it. I chose a recipe from "allrecipes.com" and checked my cupboards against the ingredient list. I had everything I needed except the only yogurt I had was vanilla flavoured. This made me doubtful that I was doing the right thing but I thought "What the hell, worse case scenario I throw it out." I didn't make the portion of the recipe they instructed for - it was calling for 2 containers of yogurt! I just needed enough to get me thru my meal so I scaled it back considerably. I used 3 tbsp of yogurt as my base and just winged it from there on portions of other ingredients. And I have to tell you I am sooooo glad that I went ahead with it. I think I actually liked this version of tzatziki better than regular tzatziki. The vanilla gives it just a little bit of sweet that is so delicious. I love it when my careless kitchen habits turnout for the good. This one paid out in spades. I now want to always make my own vanilla tzatziki and I'm going to share my "recipe" with you.

3 tbsp Vanilla flavoured Greek Yogurt (Liberte brand)

2 inches of a cucumber peeled and finely chopped

a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil

a few dashes of lemon juice

a dash of salt

a good grinding of pepper

1.5 tsp of fresh (or frozen) dill

1 small clove of garlic minced

put all your ingredients in a bowl and mix together. Taste and alter as your taste buds allow.

example - if it tastes too sweet add more lemon juice, if it tastes too tart add more yogurt - but only small portions at a time.

I think you will really like this, I had a couple people at work give it a taste and they liked it as much as I did so it's not just me!

Enjoy!

Pumpkin Scones!!!

Do you love pumpkin like I do? I get so excited when fall comes, not just because of the beautiful leaves and the crisp air and blue skies, but also because it means pumpkin is in season! Nigella has a great recipe in her Feast cookbook that brings pumpkin to your breakfast table, pumpkin scones! I've made 2 batches of these so far and the number will only go up from there. There is a subtle pumpkin flavour in these scones so that you can still enjoy and lovely jam on them. Or you can just put butter on and let in melt into a still warm scone. Is there anything more delicious?

I gave one of my pumpkin scones to a repair man that was at my house the other day and he told me 4 times how good the scone was and he made sure to point out his number to call him if I had anymore issues. He reminded me of his number at least 3 times and I have to say I think he was hoping I would call him back because he wanted more scones!

Anyhow, give these bad boys a try. They're pretty easy to make and a nice alternative from your everyday scone.

http://www.bhg.com/recipe/quickbreads/pumpkin-scones/

Chili Corn Chowder

I'm in a little bit of a soup obsession lately. But I feel like it's a good obsession to have. Making soup is just so great. And it's perfect to freeze for lunches or just for those days you don't want to make anything. Plus soup is a fantastic comfort food. Nothing makes you feel cozier than a terrific bowl of soup. As we all know I am also a little fanatical about Jamie Oliver right now so of course I have combined my 2 current obsessions and made a Jamie Oliver soup. Chili corn chowder to be exact.

Things were going pretty well in the making of this soup, until I realized that Husband had used our last bit of cheddar cheese the night before and I had to run to the store mid way thru preparation to pick up a block of cheddar. That was a bit of a hastle, but I'll not complain about it because he did use up the cheddar by making me a gorgeous mac and cheese dinner which I thoroughly enjoyed. (He even put homemade croutons in the dish which really made it an A+ meal) What a lucky girl I am! Once I had the cheese in hand though I was good to go and was rockin' and rollin' thru this recipe. The recipe came together lickety split and in no time I had myself a lovely bowl of comfort. I love how this soup is rusticly chunky and the dollop of sour cream, while not necessary, is a nice added touch. I'll make this again for sure, after all there's a long Canadian winter ahead of me yet and I'm going to need plenty of warm bowls of soup to get me thru it!

PS - I can't find this recipe on line right now..but if you download J.O's iphone app the recipe is on there!

Maple Sprouts

Brussels sprouts are underrated in my opinion. If you're anything like me you think of your mothers steamed/boiled sprouts from when you were a kid and you think PLEGH! However, I was awoken to the awesomeness of the sprout one day by watching the food network. I saw on a French cooking show a recipe where you break the sprouts into individual leaves (not for the impatient) and then saute the leaves with bacon. This was a revelation for me. I tried the recipe, loved it and have since become a fan of the brussel sprout. Yesterday I was cruising the produce section of Metro (yes I'm still shopping there!) and noticed they had fresh sprouts in stock, so I bought a handful or two and thought I'd base my dinner on the sprouts.

What I came up with was the idea of making them sweet and sour with a maple vinegar deglazing. First I pre-heated my pan, then added a lug of olive oil. Then I tossed in my sprouts with chunks of green zucchini and let it cook at a nice medium high heat so that I got that tasty crispiness on the outside of the veg. After a bit I added some Bolivian rose salt, fresh ground pepper and tossed in some cubed smoked tofu. Let it cook another 4 minutes or so. Then I took one tablespoon of real maple syrup and one table spoon of maple vinegar, whisked them together and poured that in the pan also where it deglazed nicely and I was left with a great sweet & sour tang to the crispy sauteed veg. I served this over rice but really it would be fine on it's own or as a side dish too.

This recipe is completely from my own mind so there's no link to give you, but I was inspired by a Nigella recipe. I wanted to spread the word on this because it's really simple and maybe it'll get you to give brussel sprouts another chance!

Quick and Delicious Pea Soup

Not to hate but this recipe is way better than Nigella's pea and pesto soup. This is creamy, delicious and full of the goodness of peas! Jamie keeps winning points with me...but I'm a tough one to turn so he's not won a permanent spot in my heart yet.

I made this recipe from my JO iphone app and learned a good lesson about the app. A lot of these recipes you can make either for 2 or 4 servings, and there is a button you can select for your ingredients list based on portion preference. I didn't know this previous to making the soup and found this out the hard way. That being, halfway thru making this soup I inadvertently hit the button changing serving requirements and couldn't figure out how I'd gotten all my portions wrong. Then somehow, don't ask me how, I managed to figure this out. Not before questioning my sanity though. This was my only little hiccup along the way, but now that I've figured this out I have to say it is a pretty cool little feature of the app. I mean once you know about it.

Anyhoo, back to the soup. Very easy to make, and incredibly delicious. I chose to omit the croutons but think they would be a great feature.But i quite enjoyed the soup less these few carbs. The feta really makes this and is great for presentation too. The mint in the recipe isn't a strong flavour either, it just lends a hint of freshness to the soup which I love. Jamie has done it again for me, and I think this recipe will do "it" for you too.

http://www.takethoufood.com/2010/01/jamie-olivers-pea-and-mint-soup.html

Mussels in Brussels

On our Euro trip eating Mussels in Brussels was one of the things on my to do list. Not simply because of the clever rhyme, but because we were going to be in this little pocket of the world precisely when mussels are at their best, September. So, on our very first night in Brussels once Husband and I finally found a restaurant, I ordered Mussels in Garlic Cream Sauce. This ended up being my favourite meal of the entire trip. It wasn't just the mussels that were good either. I started the meal with a glass of proseco. Then moved on to a delicious dark beer that I has with deep fried Belgian cheese. which was amazeballs. Then came my lovely pot of mussels. I do know that everything always tastes better when you're on vacation. But this meal was so delicious. And these mussels were the best I have ever had. (Not that I've been eating them for a long time - I did have that whole anatomical hurdle to get over with mussels) However, the cream sauce on these mussels was indescribable. I literally do not know how to convey how good this was. At the time I thought it would be uncouth if I took my spoon and started ladling the sauce into my mouth like a soup but that is what I really, really wanted to do. I did take a couple spoonfuls because I couldn't help myself but showed some serious restraint by keeping it down to only two. The meal finished with more beer, some toffee waffers, oh! and an American giving me hell for not having been to San Francisco.

What really is a bee in my bonnet is not the American chewing me out in the most polite fashion possible, but that at the time I didn't know how good I had it. I thought "My God I can't wait to eat like this the whole time we're here. I'm having mussels at least twice more before we go home." And I did. But every serving of mussels after was just completely mediocre compared to that restaurant. O, to own a time machine. Or have the cash flow to just pop back to Brussels now and then to satisfy the craving. Since I have neither of those things at the moment, I find myself trying to re-create this seafood experience and failing miserably. I should have paid more attention to what exactly was in this dish but I was too busy having a gay old time in Brussels. I tried exactly 2 different recipes for mussels in garlic cream sauce since coming home from vacation and both times I've been sadly disappointed. Not that they weren't good, but it just didn't meet the standard or expectation. But I am on a mission my friends to crack this code. And if it takes me 10 years and a return trip to Brussels I will figure this out. I'm not one to give up easy. And dammit I want to experience those flavours again.

PS - I don't have any pictures of me enjoying those fabulous mussels so a random picture of our wanderings thru Brussels will have to suffice

SALSA!!!!!

Yo Quiero SALSA!!!! Salsa is the most popular condiment in North America and I do believe it is because it is so versatile and really effing good. So, I decided to pop my canning cherry with a bit of salsa making. My dad gave me the bernardin instruction/recipe book last year and after looking at all the recipes I decide that salsa was a good thing to try first time around.

As you should all know I'm not the best a fully reading instructions thru when it comes to recipes. But you'll then also know that I do usually somehow find a way to make things work even if it is a bit questionable at times. This was no different.

The first thing you have to do even before you start your recipe is sterilize your jars. I didn't do that first. I made my recipe first. All this really meant though was that I had to keep my salsa warm while I did sterilize my jars. And just an FYI that does take some time. Figure on 20 minutes. If you are doing things properly and get your jars going before your recipe you should save yourself some time. To make salsa you have to blanch your tomatoes, peel and seed them which is a bit of a chore but worth it at the end of the day. From here it's just chop, chop,chop. Boil, boil, boil. And the hardest part is remembering to remove your air from the jars before you put on the lids. Just be sure to read all the details/steps you need to do for your seals to take and voila you have some fantastic homemade salsa that you can give friends/family. Give as hostess presents or just keep for yourself!! You don't have to have a canning pot to make this, just a deep pot that will fit your jars with water covering them. I would suggest though that you do need at least a really good pair of long tongs if not specific canning tongs. I borrowed a pair from a friend at work, maybe you know someone you can borrow from too?

Be adventurous and give it a try!!

http://www.bernardin.ca/pages/recipe_page/51.php?pid=550

Summer Vegetable Lasagne

This is again a Jamie Oliver recipe and I have to say, previously I thought this guy was basically just another Celebrity Chef who rubbed elbows with Hollywood bigwigs and didn't necessarily have a lot of substance to him. But I feel like now I'm seeing the man behind the myth and I have to say he is winning his way to my heart thru my stomach no less. True he did really impress me with his trying to change the world from fast food junkies back to home cooked meal addicts. (A philosphy I completely support.) He really seems to put his money where his mouth is for that kind of thing - at least on the surface. But I felt like I was sick of this guy as he seemed to be everywhere I looked for so long that I really didn't give him a fair shot. But this lasagne his so delicious, hearty, easy to make and has quality ingredients that I think I'm a believer now. To tell you the truth, I've even downloaded his app on my iphone. That's how much drastic change there has been in the MrsK/Jamie Oliver relationship. (Don't worry Nigella you're still in my heart too!)

So this lasagne is not made the way you're used to making lasagne. This one is made on your stove top and only finished in the oven to get the golden brown we all love on the top of our lasagne. I think this is a great way to get your families to eat more greens but in a way they maybe won't complain about it. What you do is saute your veg with the appropriate herbs then bring them to a boil in chicken stock (or veggie stock) and a little bit of cream (I used 5% to keep the fat content down), and cottage cheese. Then once everything is humming along nicely you start to layering your concoction with FRESH lasagne noodles in your ovenware. Layer, layer, layer with a little parmesan cheese in there (which if that's too rich for your blood you could always use something a little less pricey - say an aged cheddar or something with strong flavour, no mild cheeses here). Then top it off with the tops of your asparagus spears and more cheese, pop it in the oven for a few on broil and bon appetite!

If you wanted to you could add chicken to this lasagne and it would go really nicely. I would say use fully cooked chicken breast cut up into slices and then just toss it on maybe the middle layer of the lasagne when you're layering. And for my fellow vegetarians you could also add some silken tofu to this to beef up the protein. But keep in mind there are beans in this lasagne which are giving you some protein already.

Another great thing about this lasagne is it freezes really well. Personally I made this on a Sunday night then cut it up into portions, froze them in tupperware and there I had my lunches for the week. I think this recipe is fantastic and I will definitely be making this again.

http://hotcooking.co.uk/recipes/28/jamie-oliver-30-minute-meals-summer-veg-lasagne

Italian Tomato and Bread Salad

I haven't watched the Food Network in quite sometime. For a while I felt like I had seen just about every show on there at least twice. So I took a lengthy break - maybe a year or so. Then today out of nowhere I just decided to put on the food network. I am so glad that I did. Jamie Oliver's 30 minute meals was on and he made this salad. It looked so good that I decided to make it. This recipe is so easy to make and D-effing-licious. Husband loved it and I loved it. It takes about 10 minutes prepare and can be served as either a side or in my opinion can also be the main dish. It's hearty and flavourful. The kind of flavour where you have a perfect combination of ingredients and everything just works. AMAZING is all I have to say. I highly recommend this dish, it doesn't gest much better than this is my books.

http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/vegetarian-recipes/italian-tomato-bread-salad

German Eis Cafes

I cannot sleep. I keep thinking about my vacation and how I wish I was still on it! Sometimes I have a hard time shutting down my train of thought long enough for me to fall asleep. Tonight is one of those nights and I'm thinking about my recent return to a little town in Germany called Hattingen. When I was in high school I did a student exchange to Hattingen and lived with a host family there for 3 months. Just 2 weeks ago I returned and met again with the girl who was my exchange partner. It was a little surreal to see her again and spend an evening with her and her husband. All in all it was a great reunion but I was reminded of so many things about her that I had forgotten in the last 15 years. And tonight that is what I am thinking of.

While we were in Hattingen Husband and I spent our first night with my exchange partner and her husband. They took us to a nice Italian restaurant in the Alt Stadt or Old Town. It was really a very nice meal with plenty to drink and in true German style we capped the night off with some schnapps. The next day Husband and I went on a fantastic walk along the river Rhur and hiked up to the Isenburg ruins just outside the main city. It was a very hot day and once we got back to the city I insisted that we go for an ice cream . If you haven't had ice cream in Germany put it on your bucket list. These people know how to do ice cream. It is one of the things that sticks out in my mind about the food in Germany from when I was there on exchange. I went with a group of other Canadian high school students who were all sent to different families then halfway thru the exchange we all met up for a trip to Trier organized by our exchange foundation. One of the first things we all said to each other was "Can you believe the ice cream here?!" . We were all in love with it. So I was pretty excited about indulging in this once again. Deciding what to order what really difficult but I decided on a chocolate, strawberry, banana masterpiece that looked amazing. Husband didn't order an ice cream despite my attempts at persuading him, and He was sorry when my ice cream came. He definitely was a little jealous of my treat while he sat there with a smoothie.

The ice cream in Germany is so creamy and so smooth and soooooo tasty. Keep in mind that the Eis Cafe we went to was not even a top notch one. When I was living there my exchange mother would drive us into Essen to go to a REAL eis cafe as she described it. The ice cream there was in-frigging-credible and would blow my icey treat I was trying to re-live the glory thru out of the water. But still, this was enough for me to get my fix, as you can tell by the look on my face in the photo.

If you are lucky enough to visit a German Eis Cafe, I'm going to recommend at least one person in your party order some strawberry ice cream (erdbeer = strawberry). It's unbelievable. You'll never want to eat shitty North American strawberry ice cream again that's for sure. Let's just say that in 3 months in Germany I gained 5 kilos that I have to this day not lost. Erdbeer Eis is responsible for at least one of those kilos.

La Chouffe!

I'm back from Europe and better for it! I wish I was still there but I'm also enjoying the coziness that only "home" can give a person. I had so many amazing foods while in Europe but I fell in love with a beer called "La Chouffe".

I'm not going to lie I am easily swayed by packaging and let's be honest the initial part of falling in love is a physical attraction. It was kind of love at first sight for me and La Chouffe when I saw the super cute little gnome on the glass and I knew I had to have it. Then the taste just confirmed it for me.


La Chouffe is a Belgian beer and there are 2 commercial products. "La Chouffe" a blonde beer, and "Mc Chouffe" a dark beer. Both are delicious!!!! This beer was available in most places in Amsterdam and Brussels. I drank it every chance I got. I was lucky enough to discover it on the first day of vacation and asked for it everywhere I went pretty much. Of course I had other beers too, but I tried to have at least one La Chouffe per day if possible. I'm told that if you watch for it you can get La Chouffe at the LCBO particularly at Christmas time. So keep your eyes peeled beer lovers this one is a must try!

http://www.achouffe.be/en

A bit of a Dry Spell....

Okay, I've really fallen off the blogging wagon lately. There are reasons/excuses for this which involve me being busy and I won't bore you with further detail than that. What it boils down to is, these days I haven't had much time or energy to experiment in the kitchen which I really think takes away from my level of relaxation to tell you the truth. So it's not all that surprising that I've also been really stressed lately too. Creating something in the kitchen on the weekend is one of my favourite things to do. I just like to make things in general, whether it be sewing, painting or making up jingles about mundane activities I need to do. I always feel the need to be in the process of making something. And making food is so rewarding sometimes. There is nothing like the smell of good food cooking to melt your troubles away. But I want you to know I haven't stopped thinking of recipes to try and soon I will get back to it.

I don't have a recipe for you this time around because life continues in a busy pattern for me and another weekend goes by without my putting on my apron and rolling up my sleeves. However, I do have a culinary crusade ahead of me in the vey near future. My dear friends, I am very shortly about to expose Husband to the world of European Food. Something he has not experienced in this life before. I want him to day dream of European pastry shop windows the way I do. That is longingly and with a heavy regretful sigh that I'm not sipping cappuccinos and munching croissants in a Parisian cafe every morning. However for a short while, I will be living a variation of that constant day dream of mine. And I'm quite sure I'll have a story or 2 for you from those adventures. So, more to the point of this endless drivel I'm on about here, I'm not going to have any posts between now and the start of October. Sorry there's a bit of a dry spell here but I'm hoping that when I do come back it will be with a bang!

Corn and Sweet Potato Chowder with Chipotle

This is another Mark Bittman recipe and I had really high expectations because of how much I love the quinoa tabouleh. I think I set myself up for failure in that respect. I did not love this nearly as much. It's still a good soup, but I wanted it to be the best soup I'd ever had. Which it wasn't. the best soup I ever had as a pumpkin soup in a French restaurant in the Dominican Republic. The pumpkin soup still holds the title. What I do like about this soup this that it feels healthy when you eat it. Yeah okay there's cream in it so it's not the world's healthiest soup. But it's only half a cup of cream in the whole batch, and what I mean by feels healthy is that there's beautiful chunks of healthy veggies and there's nothing like fresh ingredients. For the love of God DO NOT make this with canned corn. I hate effing canned corn. Use corn fresh off the cob as directed in the recipe of just go eat at some grease pit fast food joint. Seriously.

Make this soup if you like a little spice in your culinary life and if you have an appreciation of a chunky soup.

recipe: http://itsfeedingtimeatthezoo.com/2011/05/31/corn-and-sweet-potato-chowder-with-chipotle/

Donuts!!!!

Husband is obsessed with fresh made donuts. For our honeymoon we stayed at an all inclusive resort and they served fresh made donuts. He talks about them with a gleam in his eye and drool on his chin. He got for a gift from his sister a dry mix for homemade donuts from Williams Sonoma, one might say the perfect gift for him. But you have to know it's not going to be him standing over a pot of oil on a Monday night. That's where I come in. Today was not my greatest day at work. I had to stay late and I was pretty tired when I got home. This morning I became semi-conscious at around 6am and thought to myself "Oh, it's Sunday I can keep sleeping." and proceeded to fall back into my dream of being at a day spa on a farm in France. 30 minutes later my anger at not having had my french facial yet brought me back to consciousness and I realized it was actually Monday and I'd slept in half and hour. From there the day continued much in the same pattern. So yes I was not in the best spirits tonight and wasn't much in the mood for deep frying anything. That is exactly what I did though.

The donut mix was Willams Sonoma Bouchon Bakery Donut mix. You add butter, egg yolks and warm milk to the packet of dry ingredients and yeast included. Mix it up and let it rise in a bowl for an hour. Then you roll out the dough and cut your donuts. Don't have a donut cutter? Neither do I, but I do have a round cookie cutter so that's what I used. No holes in these donuts. Then you place your cut dough on greased cookies sheets and let sit for at least 8 hours in the fridge. Mine sat about 24 hours. I came home took them out of the fridge to let them get back up to room temperature and filled a pot with oil.

Now, if you recall I hate deep frying. So me standing there waiting for the oil to heat, I was getting more paranoid by the second. Images of my flesh burning thru to the bone from hot oil. My face melting off a la wicked witch of the west, or Jack Nicholson's joker. Or even me looking like Jack Napier's girlfriend Alicia post "Living Art Experiment" in Tim Burton's Batman (one of my favourite films growing up). This is how I see my face looking all because Husband wants a donut. Either I was too exhausted to really care, or I'm braver than I think I am because I just went for it. Not much hesitation this time. I burned my first few donuts as I think the oil was too hot but once I found my stride I was good to go. Even if I was full of bottled terror. I cooked all my donuts and then dredged them in the cinnamon and sugar mixture that also was included in the kit from Williams & Sonoma. The end result is about a dozen cute little donuts that Husband gave a 10 out of 10. I didn't try one because for some reason I'm doing a sugar detox right now....We'll just have to take his word for it!

Cheddar Ale Soup

I find soup a highly under-rated food. It can be so fantastic and this is definitely a recipe to make you a believer. When I saw this recipe in a magazine the title intrigued me for certain, I mean beer and cheese how can it not be tasty? But still I was blown away by how great this recipe is. Super easy to make and addictively tasty. This smells so amazing when it's cooking and it tastes even better than it smells. Husband had a taste when it was done and couldn't stop "tasting" it. I ate 3 bowls myself, it's just so damn delicious. If the way to someone's heart is thru their stomach this is the recipe that proves that theory. One drawback, when you look at the fat content of this recipe you'll know why it's so damn good too - because it's basically is a heart attack in a bowl .I say risk it though. You can cut down on the fat content a touch by using a little less butter than called for and by using 18% cream instead of the 35% called for. I don't think I've made a Michael Smith recipe before but I'll for sure try him again after this one. One more thing, I used New Castle Brown Ale for my beer and it turned out fantastic!

Recipe:

http://www.foodnetwork.ca/recipes/Soup/Cheese/recipe.html?dishid=9529

First Class Taters and Cream

If you haven't been to Lick's get the eff there now. Lick's is the best fast food there is period. My favourite thing to get at Lick's is the veggie burger with taters and cream. Taters and cream is french fry heaven. I've taken to making my french fries at home these days because I feel like if you make it yourself it's not quite as terrible for you. I'm not sure how much merit that holds but it sounds good right? I'm sure there must be some study somewhere to back me up on that claim. If nothing else you know some degenerate teenager didn't spit in your food and give you Hep B.

I like to make my fries even less healthy for me every once in a while too. I mean why stop at oil and salt? So sometimes I'll make my own homemade taters and cream or even put a little hollandaise sauce and green onion on my fries...the possibilities are endless really. The other day though it occurred to me that I could take my taters and cream from ordinary to extraordinary with a fantastic thing called Truffle Honey. Have you ever had truffle honey? If not that's #2 of things to eat on your list right after Lick's. The first time you eat truffle honey you have to do it proper. That is get yourself a strong aged cheddar and a small jar of truffle honey and put just a little bit if honey on your cube of cheese. Your mouth will orgasm. Experience truffle honey in this way first and then your ready to push on to other things. But you really need to get the earthy sweetness of having it in a pretty pure form before branching out as I've done in this recipe.

To make your First Class Taters and Cream get some french fry potatoes. Yes they do sell those - check the bulk section of potatoes and they should be there. (Usually with a little brown bag to put them in.) Give them a good scrub and then slice 'em up and lightly coat in oil and salt to taste. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes or so at around 400-425. (flipping half way thru) On top of your baked french fries you want to pile shredded cheddar cheese, sour cream that has had truffle honey stirred into it (about 1 tbsp of honey to 1/2 cup of sr cream), crispy bacon chopped into bacon bits and chopped green onion. There you have First Class Taters and Cream. Like I said I just had an epiphany of this recipe the other day so you may want to tweak this to your own tastes but you will not be let down by this one. Or a least I wasn't.

PS - don't go by my layering in the photo you want cheese directly ontop of the fries so it gets melty and gooey!

Quinoa Tabbouleh

Just because I've finished Nigella Express does not mean that I have stopped cooking. I've decided that what I'll do from here on out is just blog about various recipes that appeal to me for what ever reason. If something is a little out of the norm or just a great version of a classic I'm gonna give it a shot and you're going to go thru it with me. I'm hoping that together we can get a catalogue of killer recipes and I'll be your guinea pig!

Now before we go any further I'm going to tell you about the most amazing birthday party I went to yesterday. One of my oldest and best friends was giving her baby girl a "half birthday party". Her baby was born 2 weeks before Christmas when everyone is always so busy and the weather is usually terrible (it's Canada!!!) so she decided that rather than ask everyone to drive in that awful weather so close to Christmas they would have a lovely July half-a-year birthday party. So we all come from hours away - for us it was a 90 minute drive - and after being there a short while her and her boyfriends stood up to make a speech and thank everyone for making the effort. Then she made the announcement that they had become engaged! So we were all very happy about that. But then they took it even further and announced that they were going to get married right then and there!!!!! We were all in shock! My friend beside me was outright weeping at this point. I was just agog. We all were. It was so fast. They went inside and changed clothes. Husband was standing there in camo print shorts and I hadn't even washed my hair!!! At least I was wearing a dress, a frumpy dress but at least a dress. Then my friend comes out of her house in a beautiful dress and in 9 minutes they were married! It was crazy, inspiring, spontaneous and romantic. Definitely a wedding that one does not forget.

So I had to share that just because I'm still in shock and to make the point that you don't need bells and whistles to have a great wedding. Now on to the recipe.

Quinoa Tabbouleh is a recipe made by Mark Bittman, from the Food Matters Cookbook. Mark Bittman follows the philosophy that quality ingredients make quality food. And he really knows how to mix and compliment flavours. One bite of this salad and you will know exactly what I mean. The other great thing about this recipe is that you can really make it your own by playing around with the quantity of the ingredients and picking and choosing what to include. So when I make this I leave out the white beans, I add in the pistachio and I add just a little, and I do mean a little, extra mint. To me it's the mint that really makes this recipe. It adds a layer to the recipe that I did not expect but have become a little addicted to. I love and I mean LOVE this recipe.

There is just so much possibility with the recipe and I think it offers something for everyone. Not to mention this recipe is 100% vegan and gluten free. Don't let that deter you though if you are a meat eater, it can be enjoyed by all. Husband, the meatetarian, likes this salad also. So if you're having a BBQ or potluck or a surprise backyard wedding this is a recipe that everyone can enjoy no matter what their dietary restrictions. I cannot recommend this enough.

http://markbittman.com/quinoa-tabbouleh

Favourite Recipes

So, being something of an expert on this cookbook now I'm recommending my favourites from this book.
1. The recipe that I love more than anything are Oeufs en Cocotte. This recipe is soooo delicious and so easy. It's a luxurious breakfast. Make it!

2. The most used recipe for me is Curry in a Hurry. This recipe is delicious and one that you can really make your own. Fast and delicious dinner, I make a variation of this almost every week.

3. Replace your store bought pancake mix with Nigella's Homemade Instant Pancake Mix. Again, super easy and super delicious and I always feel better about making something from scratch as opposed to from a box.

4. Before this cookbook challenge I had never had or heard of halloumi cheese. Now I love halloumi cheese so I think you should expose yourself too and try the delectable Halloumi Bites.

5. A crowd favourite among my friends is the Rocky Road Crunch Bars. Everyone loves these and you can make them in a snap. You will win friends and hearts by taking this recipe to a BBQ, picnic or potluck. Be sure you give these a try.

So there are my top 5 recipes. There are of course many more great recipes in this book but these are my real go to recipes from this book.

So I don't think this will be the end of my blogging days. I have other recipes that I wish to share and hopefully try to influence you to go outside your box of recipes as I will be doing too. So happy cooking friends, until next time.

Duck Breast with Pomegranate and Mint

Well folks ,this is it. 185 posts, 186 recipes, 18 months and finally , FINALLY, I am done. I cannot tell you how glad I am to have finished this. How crazy was I to say I would do this? Pretty effing crazy. But it's done now and i have to say I am officially an expert on Nigella Express. I definitely learned a lot about cooking and a lot about blogging doing this. So it's not like it was all for naught. But I am really looking forward to cooking from a book that is NOT Nigella Express.

This recipes is really pretty easy. I knew that my Metro would not have a duck breast so I didn't even bother trying there (see lessons learned!). Instead I went to Longo's and was lucky enough to get the very last duck breast. So it was meant to be today I think. There's only 4 ingredients wot this recipe so it's very simple to prepare. Cook your duck and toss things on a plate is pretty much it. Husband came home to this for dinner (fresh out of the oven) and he seemed to like it. He said it's not his new favourite meal or anything but that it tasted good and was enjoyable. So it's not like this recipe had me finishing with a bang or anything - but I really don't care. I'm just glad to be done. I should have finished this ages ago, but at least now this is all behind me.

I guess I'm glad that I did this but right now I'm just still a little bitter about what a task this was. Maybe in a couple weeks I'll be able to laugh about the pain. I plan on doing a top ten recipes entry so stay tuned for that!

Black Pasta with Red Mullet

Red Mullet. Not an Irish man's haircut in the early 90s. Rather the other red mullet which is apparently a delicious fish. I unfortunately have more experience with the hairstyle than the fish. And to my great disappointment it shall stay that way. I was not able to lay my hands on a red mullet....at least not the fish. Nigella has an answer for this problem; Bream. So that's what I went home with. I picked up a whole bream fish at the market and had them clean the fish for me with the head off please and thank you. However, when I got home the fish was not quite in the shape I was hoping for. I guess what I should have asked for is to have the fish filleted. This I will chalk up to my innocence and ignorance of what is involved in dismembering animals - which I'd like to keep that ignorance and innocence thank you very much. What I had on my hands was a headless gutless fish. A fish with quite a strong spine that I was not prepared to deal with. But I knew I'd have to get the bugger apart somehow and when faced with this task I was also faced with a childhood trauma. When I was very young, I'm not sure how old exactly, my father decided to show his youngest daughter how to clean a fish. A life lesson for certain. The only problem here is that my father's youngest daughter (me) is incredibly sensitive to animals being harmed in anyway shape or form. She tends to prefer watching humans be dismembered as opposed to animals. And, at around this same age, would cry for hours when a farmer struck a donkey in a Christmas claymation special titled "Nestor" (Nestor is the donkey that carries Mary to the stable in Bethlehem). So my father decides it's time to show me basic survival skills and that even in my innocent and sensitive state of mind, I should know how to clean a fish. I guess in the event I took off and was alone in the woods for days with no food source. So, things were going swimmingly in the beginning. We caught a fish (oooo how exciting!), we took the fish off the hook (not my favourite part) and, here's where we strayed from the normal routine I was accustomed to. Instead of throwing the fish back in the river my father pulled out a knife and sliced open the belly of the poor bugger. Then came the blood and guts, then came the tears. Ridiculous amounts of tears. I didn't eat fish after that until I was 16 years old. No joke. 16.

So with all this trauma in my back pocket I have to now fillet this fish. Lemme tell ya, it did not go well. I did not fillet this fish so much a butcher it up. After a few minutes I realized I would not be successful at this and just did what I could to salvage this dinner.

Filleting was the hardest part of the dinner. So if you can buy just a straight up fillet - do it. The rest of this meal prep is all about timing. Getting your pasta cooked and ready at the same time your sauce is ready for the pasta. And I'll tell you this is much easier to do if you prep all your ingredients ahead of time.

Taste wise this is alright but not fantastic. Because I'm bollocks at filleting a fish, we had a few bones to contend with but it was alright. This recipe will not make my top ten but if you want something a little different give it a try. It does have great visual appeal.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge Sundae

This I was going to have be my very last recipe but it seems that is not to be the case. I actually made this because I realized in the grocery store today that it has been quite a while since I made the last recipe and I knew that all I needed for this recipe was some chocolate, some ice cream and peanut butter. I was also putting this recipe off for so long because I couldn't fathom buying tubs of ice cream that I knew would go to waste because I never eat ice cream. And if I do eat ice cream it's usually on a stick. Whenever I buy a tub of ice cream after I eat 3 scoops of it, it sits in my freezer for a year, gets freezer burnt and then I throw it out. So even as I was heading towards the freezer section in the store I was mourning the ice cream I was about to purchase and throw out in a year. Then I saw a little bit of genius in the freezer. Haagen Daaz has released a product that is one scoop portions!!!!! I couldn't believe my luck. Exactly what I needed. I bought 3 scoops and was on my way. Perfect.

I get back home and make myself a sundae. But first the sauce. Cream, peanut butter, chocolate and honey melted together. Then just pour over ice cream, top with peanuts and your afternoon treat is ready for enjoyment.

If you like ice cream then you will of course like this. I have to tell you that what is amazing to use for this sundae is Haagen Daaz Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream. That really made it for me. Only 2 recipes left! I can't even believe this shit.

Peaches in Muscat

I should have been done this project ages ago, but I still have around 3 recipes to make. Even after having made this one. I feel like this book is growing recipes and I'll never be done. It of course doesn't help that my production line has all but ground to a halt on this project. I'm painting pictures, sewing dresses doing everything BUT cooking it feels like these days. Husband has been picking up the slack there, but him cooking doesn't get the this project done. And I have to tell you I kind of feel like - why did I think this was a good idea? Am I really in my third calendar year of doing this? That's a little bit shameful. But I am finishing. One thing I am good for is coming thru on my word. Generally if I say I'm going to do something I do it - which isn't always a good thing when I'm suddenly stuck by conviction if I've had a few drinks. God knows that my drunk ideas are not usually my best ideas. However those events do usually turn into good stories later down the road of life. Once I'm over the trauma and can laugh off the embarrassment that is. But here I am now with Nigella Express in hand - I can see the finish line but it feels like a mirage. Three bloody recipes to go and it will probably take me 3 bloody weeks to crank them out. But oh the glory I will feel once this is done. Well, perhaps glory isn't the right word..I'm thinking relief, good riddance and thank effing god that's over with I must have been drunk or insane when I had that idea....

Today though I don't get to close the book for good but rather make another check off on yet another recipe "peaches in muscat". All I can say is I am so glad this is absolutely NO effort whatsoever. All I did was cut up a peach and poor booze over it. This is about all the level of effort I had for this today too. As it turns out this is actually highly rewarding in the flavour department. I think I'm becoming a fan of the late harvest vidal which is my north american suburban replacement for a muscat wine. I'm starting to think you can soak any fruit in muscat wine, serve with a variation of cream and it will be delicious. I do recommend this recipe if for no other reason than because we all need to eat more booze soaked fruit.

Ginger Passionfruit Trifle

I gotta tell ya - this is the perfect dessert to make if you have no time at all. I made this in about 15 minute this morning and that might even be an exaggeration. I took this dessert for Easter dinner to my sister's house and I think just about everyone liked it. The only person who said they didn't like it was Husband and really, he's a bit if a fussy muss when it comes to desserts. I found this recipe easy enough to make that I think I could do it even it I was really drunk. And it's got that nice quality of not being a heavy dessert. It's light and just a little bit of sweetness at the end of your meal. I think this one's worth making and it feeds a considerable amount of people.

Blackberries in Muscat Jelly

I really did not want to have to eat this. It looked pretty effing repulsive to me. But I have to admit that I was pleasantly surprised by this recipe. I had a bit of a struggle in the LCBO trying to find muscat wine. I had to seek advice from an employee who was not able to find a muscat wine for me but hooked me up the a late harvest vidal from Henry of Pelham. It was a pretty good substitute - I told him it was for a recipe and he had some good ideas about what would be a cost effective supplement. So if you can't get your hands on a muscat wine look for a late harvest vidal.

Back at the ranch this was really very easy to put together. Put everything (less the berries and gelatin) in a pot and wait for the sugar to dissolve. Then add the gelatin and pour the mixture over the berries. Then all you do is wait for dessert time. Nigella suggests you make this in the morning. I made it around 4pm and then indulged just before 8pm so the jelly had about 3.5 hrs to set. Now it's important to keep in mind here that the gelatin does not fully set. You'll just get a thicker version of your concoction. And I have to tell you it's a little bit delicious. I was a hater of this recipe. Look how long I waited before making it. But I gotta tell ya I have been turned. Like freakin' Aniken Skywalker to the dark side. I enjoy this recipe and despite the fact that it may look a little nasty or questionable I say take the plunge. I'm betting you will enjoy this.

Tuna and Crab & Avocado Wraps

Welly, welly, welly, well, well. Your humble narrator is down to only 6 recipes to make now. That's right my droogs. Six measly stinking recipes. Though I have a feeling those 6 recipes may be the death of me. I cannot even begin to tell you the level of exhaustion I have for this right now. Truth is I should have been done long ago. But I've become very apathetic and seem to have serious amounts of lethargy when it comes to making these recipes lately. Quite simply, I just can't do it. Today however, I dug down deep to find the energy to make some wraps that take about 6 minutes to prepare. I know, I'm a real effing hero. I think it was the fact that I saw an Imperial Storm Trooper begging for change on my lunch break today that gave me the motivation to make a Nigella recipe tonight. I mean if that dude can get out of bed, throw on a storm trooper costume and stand on the corner holding a sign asking for spare change all day then surely I can make a wrap for dinner. So after work I made my way not to Metro (see i am learning) but to Longo's and found there everything I needed. Came home and whipped this together in about 6 minutes, like I said earlier. I have to say I do like this recipe. The wasabi gives a little zip. And it makes a nice light meal. Now if only I can find the motivation to make the last 6 recipes, O my brothers.

Lunchbox Treats

FAIL!!!! This recipe is a piece of shite as far as I'm concerned. I got all my ratios correct and all but for the life of me I could not get these to form into balls. Then I decided to give it a taste to see if it was worth the effort I was about to put in to try and save this recipe from disaster. So I took a bite from the mess that was all over my hands like an animal and I was not happy with what I tasted. I just plain was not good. I cannot recommend this recipe. You know what, if you thought about making this, save yourself some hurt and make rice krispie squares. That's it. God, I am tired of this cookbook!

Scallops-on-the-Shell

This is effing good. It's pricey, my 6 scallops cost me 10 bones, but they were mighty tasty. Super easy to make too. Toss the scallops in breadcrumbs, throw some butter on them, along with lime juice, garlic oil and salt and pepper. Then you just toss them in the oven and wait for the timer to go off. I couldn't get scallop shells -they didn't have them at the market. However, I just cooked them all in a small ovenware dish and it worked just as good. You just don't get the presentation like you would with the shells. But hey there's other ways to get presentation.

I definitely recommend this recipe it's easy and simple but truly delicious.

Nectarine and Blueberry Galette

I love baked fruit. It is so damn yummy. In Nigella's intro to the recipe she says "Galette is a fancy way of saying this is a pie, but don't get your hopes up." So I was wondering how good this would be. I have to say her description is pretty bang on. This is a poor man's (or rushed woman's) pie. It's tasty but as everyone knows the secret ingredient is always love and you can tell with this recipe that it doesn't have a whole lot of the secret ingredient. I think this recipe is good it you have some fruit to use up but just don't have the energy to make a proper pastry. And it only takes 15 minutes to bake too as opposed to your normal 50 minutes for a pie. And I'm going to say I could have taken this out at 12 minutes and it would have been better but I did just set it and forget it as Star Wars was on. And with it being Empire Strikes Back there was plenty of Yoda screen time, and puppet Yoda is my favourite. CG Yoda is cool too, but he's no puppet. Kind of like this recipe actually. Think of the galette as being the CG Yoda. Better than nothing, but come on, it's just not the same as the original Yoda that we all fell in love with - puppet Yoda.

Swedish Salmon

Well, I did it again. I didn't read the instructions before making this and needed way more time than I allotted. But, once again I did not let that stop me. You're supposed to poach the fish and then let it cool in the poaching water for quite some time. Until your poaching water is completely cooled. Nigella suggests preparing this in the morning for dinner to allot enough cooling time. That wasn't happening for me. So after I was done poaching my fish I let it cool on the stove top for a bit and then moved it to the fridge to bring the temperature down fast. I know I didn't make this perfect but it was still good. What is really yummy is the sauce that goes on top of the fish. I actually put the sauce on homemade chips that I made for a side and that was really, really good. I do recommend this recipe. It's pretty simple and it's pretty tasty. If you don't have a ton of time to let it cool properly you can always use my short cut -but do realize you're probably sacrificing some of the flavour by doing that.

Lamb Shanks with Beans

The bad news is, I didn't make this properly. The good news is, it still turned out. Straight off I was deviating because lamb shanks are expensive and I don't want to drop a bundle on something I'm not even eating -yes I'm selfish, so what. Loin chops were half the price of the shanks so that's what I went with. Secondly, I didn't pre-read the recipe. This is a mistake I continually make, but don't really care that I make, and so will continue making this mistake until something truly terrible happens. Don't ask me what that could be, but I'm sure one day this little habit of mine will blow up in my face. Then there is, again, the problem of finding red currant jelly. You know, if I really wanted to, I'm sure I could get my hands on it somewhere, but again I don't care enough. Apparently I'm a very apathetic person. So there are the mistakes I made even before I had started to make this. Now let's get to the actual meal preparation. I came home and wanted to slug this one out because I'm one of those terrible people that loves a train wreck and I am totally loving Charlie Sheen's current antics. I love how he is going balls out and saying he's a superstar crack smoker who has tiger blood and therefore cannot O.D. . This is pure gold in my opinion. So with TMZ coming up to broadcast time I needed to be done this for what was sure to be 30 minutes of non-stop hilarity. I pull out all the ingredients and upon reading step #1 realize that the meat was supposed to marinate at a minimum overnight but even up to 2 days. "Does this matter to you?" I asked myself and I quickly realized, no, it doesn't mean a damn thing to me. I decided that 4 minutes would be plenty of "marinating" time. So that is what I did. Put the lamb, wine, black currant jelly, garlic, onions, rosemary all in a bowl and turned my attention elsewhere. 4 minutes later I dumped this concoction into a oven safe dish and realized I hadn't added any oil. So I got out the olive oil and drizzled some over pretty half assed. No measuring, nuthin' get threw some in. Then I realized I had a new dilemma. Nigella says to roast this for 90 minutes - which I new was not right for me and my loin chops. So how long was I to cook these??? Personally I had no idea. So, genius that I am, I pulled out my cooking meat for dummies thermometer and set it to medium rare lamb, stuck it in the meat and closed the oven door. Then I started working on the beans. Here I became confused because the bean directions weren't involving the Worcestershire sauce that was staring me in the face on the counter saying " hey buddy, you still haven't used me". So I went back to step #1 and started reading again...Oh, that was supposed to be in the meat "marinade" that is now in the oven with the meat. Huh. So, I quickly decide the proper course of action here is just to open the oven door and toss the 2 tbsp of Worcestershire into the pan, it's only been a few minutes, what's it matter really? I'm thinking. Apathy all over the place here.

So, finally I have the meat all done and I'm free to fully prepare the beans. Which really is just warming them with mustard and garlicy oil on the stove top. It really didn't take very long at all and the lamb was finished, at which point I decided the beans were done too. Then it was just a matter of dumping the beans in with the now cooked lamb and marinade. Conveniently this was when Husband rolled in from along day at work so I looked like super wife having dinner timed perfectly. Husband at the lamb, I ate just the beans. We both really liked our meals despite that fact that this was prepared entirely willy-nilly. So, if I can turn this horror show into a delicious meal then I'm sure you can make this work too. And JFYI - TMZ was a huge letdown. Not even a Sheen anthem which I was sure there would be.

Amaretto Syllabub

Hmpf. I think I would re-title this Syllabarf. This is so sweet I felt I may as well have been sucking on a sugar cube. I had no intention of eating the whole dessert but I certainly didn't have to practice self restraint to do so. Once again it becomes clear to me that I fall into the salty person category. You sweet people are all crazy I think. How can you want that much sugar??? I would definitely take a bowl of chips and dip over this any day. If you're the kind of person who likes desserts where you make an appointment for a filling after your sugary treat then I'm gonna say you'll like this. It's actually really easy to make - only takes about 5 minutes. And if you can finish this dish without puckering your face in sugar overload then my hat is off to you.

Quickly Scaled Mont Blanc

Oh my god, could this book have anymore recipes in it???? I'm down to the nitty gritty and it is PAINFUL. I'm likening this to when I ran the 10K Mud Run in 30+ degree weather with not a spec of shade or a drop of water for the first 5 K. Painful. And you wonder when the eff you will ever see the finish line but you just keep running because you know you'll get there eventually. Right now, I want to burn Nigella Express. I will finish it, but I'm feeling terribly masochistic at the moment. Why do I do these things to myself?

The Mont Blanc is easy enough to make - IF you can buy pre-made meringues. I made them myself which adds an hour of unwanted cooking time in the kitch. And to be perfectly honest eating a glass full of chocolate and whip cream is not what I wanted to do tonight but someone has to eat it and Husband refused. I tried to convince him to eat this by saying I was making it for Valentines Day (which was just a happy mistake) but he must know me too well because he wasn't buying what I was selling. He said he's rather have something else for dessert. But back to the making of. IF you have store bought meringues this will take you all of 5 minutes to make. Chop some chocolate, whip the cream and do some layering. It's pretty straight forward. The taste...well...it's different. It's not too sweet but there's something about it that I just couldn't figure out. I actually think the average person would really like this dessert but I am not your average person. I'm not into desserts like the average person. I'd drown my cat for a bag of chips, but I can pass up the most decadent of desserts with out so much of the bat of an eyelash. Chocolate just is not my crack. So I can take or leave this one. But if you're into chocolate and cream then yeah give it a shot. I think at this point I'm just jaded and I'm not going to give anything a good review anymore...oh the bitterness.

Steeped Christmas Fruits

So maybe I made this a month too late, but does it really matter? No. This is of course the simplest recipe in the entire book I think. All you do is pour sherry over dried fruits. I mean if you can open a package you can make this. But I gotta tell ya - it's not the greatest. Maybe it's me, I'm not the kind of girl to eat a scoop of ice cream. I don't find ice cream to be that rewarding of a treat. At least not North American ice cream. Really what we call ice cream in this continent is effing pitiful. When I was went to Europe for the first time was when I learned what ice cream can be, and let me tell you, the difference is like eating cardboard compared to eating fresh baked bread. We here are eating the ice cream equivalent of cardboard. So I'm not too fussed about this. However now I have this jar full of booze berries and not wanting to eat a load of ice cream I wondered to myself how can I put these to good use? Then I had a brain wave. Breakfast needs more booze in it. I think the perfect way to finish these berries off is by adding them to my breakfast oatmeal. I love dried berries in my oatmeal so why shouldn't I love booze berries in my oatmeal??? I mean it's just logic isn't it? I haven't tried these berries in oatmeal yet, but I've got a good feeling about it. I'm confident I've just come up with the perfect breakfast. Healthy and alcoholic!

Merguez with Halloumi and Flame-Roasted Peppers

I couldn't find Merguez sausage so I went with Nigella's suggested substitute "a spicy vacuum sealed sausage". Apparently though I may have bought sausage that was a little too spicy.... My friend showed me his pit stains from the sweat that eating the spicy sausage brought on. So yeah, maybe a little too hot.... Anyhow, if you perhaps buy a slightly less spicy sausage than I did I'm sure you will enjoy this. I mean it's sausage cheese and roasted peppers, what's not to love? And all you have to do is take it out of the oven when your timer goes off. It Doesn't get much easier.

Maple Pepper Pecans

Okay, so say you're having a cocktail party and you need nibblies for your guests. That's the only and I do mean only reason I would make these. And I can't even say I'd bother with troubling to do that. It's not that they're had to make and it's not that they aren't tasty. I just kinda feel like what's the point??? I cant' be bothered with this recipe. It's just a bit of a nuisance. I don't feel this is worth the effort - but they do look pretty don't they?

Mini Meatloaves

Meatloaf. When I hear the word meatloaf bile comes up my throat. Meatloaf was one of my most hated meals as a child. Right behind meat-eater gravy and steak. But as far a meatloaves go this ones pretty good. It's not just gross ground beef all mushed up into loaves and baked. It's the addition of sausage that makes this palatable. What also is very different from mom's meatloaf recipe is that Nigella suggests this be served cold and sliced and with a nice mayo. I decided to make a chilpotle mayo to accompany this and I think it worked well. To make that all I did was puree some canned chilpotle peppers with some hellmans that was in the fridge. So if meatloaf is your bag then definitely give this recipe a whirl.

Chopped Ceviche and Mexicola

This recipes seems like it is going to be gross but it's actually kinda good. The idea of chopping up a bunch of fish and then dipping your tortilla chips in it seemed wrong to me. But I have to tell you I'm convinced that it is only too right. This is a dream to prepare because you don't do any cooking - you just let the fish soak in lime juice and the acid does the cooking for you. So you just do some chopping and enjoy your mexicola while the fish "cooks". Mexicola isn't exactly how I'll next be shaking hands with tequila, but it's not all that bad. I can't say I'm a fan of cola though so maybe it's just me. I am a HUGE fan of tequila though. But I am not a convert to the mexicola. I'm a purest I fear where tequila is concerned. Just give me a shot glass, the bottle and I'm good to go.

Marsla Honey Pears with Gorgonzola

I love cheese. Cheese is the reason I could never be vegan for more than a week - the cheese would call me back to the dark side. And I would follow every time. This recipe is a fantastic pairing of fruit, nut and cheese - of course with some wine for good measure. Take your pears and saute them then deglaze them in marsala. Candy the walnuts a bit and you have a fabulous little plate of heaven. I really enjoyed this, I think you will too.

Lamb, Olive and Carmelized Onion Tagine

I forgot to take a picture of this dish so here's a photo that reflects my experience of making this dish. This recipe was a bitch for me. Firstly I had to dismember a lamb leg. That was sickening. Then I really didn't want to put it in the oven because I was also doing some baking while making this recipe. Nigella mentions in her blurb for this recipe that you can get away with cooking at "a licking simmer on the hob" so that was what I thought I'd do. You're supposed to cook this for 2 hours btw and after about one hour I checked this to see how things were going. I was horrified. The meat seemed so tough to me and I couldn't believe that I had utterly ruined this dish. So I went into rescue mode. I thought "okay if I get this in the oven STAT maybe it can be pulled back from the brink of ruination". So I quickly went and got my big oven tin and dumped everything in there and put in at a very low heat in the oven. I thought the only way I can save this is if I cook it at a ridiculously low heat to make sure the meat does not get chewier. so I left it there on low, low heat in the oven and rolled with it.

What I was left with was in my eyes a complete disaster next to un-servable...but I don't eat meat and I've never liked lamb so I just hoped that it wasn't as awful as it looked. And I guess I got my wish because I was told that it was very flavourful and when I asked if it was ruined either I was told a bold face lie or I was somehow able to save this one because somehow the answer was that it was actually quite good. I'm personally baffled.

Overall I'm gonna tell you that if you do decide to make this stew then for the love of god put it in the oven from the start.

Red Leaf, Fig and Serrano Ham Salad

Right. I effed this recipe up. I know, how do you eff up a salad? Well, you forget to add a key ingredient. In this case I forgot the fig. Now I do want to qualify that though because with there being so few ingredients you may wonder how I forgot a key ingredient listed in the the frickin title. Well, I was frantic at the time I was making this salad. I was not my usual self. I was upto my eyeballs in it and throwing this salad together was just a hodge-podge. Also -the fact that I could not for the life of me find fresh figs in the middle of the Canadian friggin winter wasn't helping any. I settled for dried figs in the grocery store (and yes I looked in more stores than just my shitty Metro). Then at home they were in the cupboard and not on the counter in my face and the old adage "out of sight, out of mind" came into play. However, even without the fig, the salad is a nice change from the ordinary and I suggest you try this out next time your looking for a little variety in the salad department.

Glitzy Chocolate Puddings

If you make these for your love this Valentines Day you will get laid.

Ice Cream Cake

Okay, so when you tell someone that you're making ice cream cake, I think that you are automatically given higher status by that person. Let's face it nobody makes an ice cream cake. Everybody, even Martha effing Stewart buys ice cream cakes. If you want ice cream in cake form it's a trip to DQ or Baskin Robbins (and remember to order extra balloons on the cake at BR). So just watch peoples faces when you say you've made an ice cream cake and then keep watching when you then add that it has peanut butter chocolate sauce - you will get a reaction. And just be warned it is possible someone could fall in love with you for making them this cake. Don't make this for just anybody - you could have a stalker on your hands. What's really awesome is that this is actually really, really easy to make. Buy some vanilla ice cream, let it soften, mix in all the yummy bits and then put in into a spring form pan overnight in the freezer. The next day - you blow the mind of who ever it is you're trying to score points with (or maybe just score with).

I made Nigella's chocolate peanut butter sauce for this but she herself says you can just as simply buy some chocolate sauce form the store for topping. Though I do recommend the choc &PB sauce. I'm giving this recipe full points. Easy to make and tasty. I mean it's frickin' homemade ice cream cake! Enough said.

Mincemeat Parcels with Bourbon Butter

Mincemeat is effing disgusting. Nothing makes me more happy to be pescatartian than mincemeat. So with me having a couple people over to the house I pawned these off on the them. Shockingly people didn't mind them. The bourbon butter could have been a saving grace. Booze makes everything better after all. My butter was actually Canadian Club butter but I'm sure the substitute wasn't noticed. I don't have any bourbon so I thought CC would do in it's place. I cannot in good conscience recommend this to you because I do find mincemeat to be vile. But if you do like mincemeat A- get therapy, and B- try this out before your first session.