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