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"A gourmet who thinks of calories is like a tart who looks at her watch." - James Beard


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Monday, September 30, 2013

Curried Chicken Croquettes


These little croquettes are packed with flavour.  They contain green curry paste, which doesn't give them a strong curry flavour.  If you think you don't like curry, give these a try.  

Here's what you need:


Friday, September 27, 2013

Peach Salsa with Grilled Pork Chops


Peaches are still very much in season around here.  Last week we ate two full baskets between the two of us!  This tasty, easy peach salsa used up four of them.  It's great with pork and would be nice with chicken too.

Here's what you need:


4 ripe peaches
1 small red onion
2 jalapeño peppers
juice of one lime
cilantro or parsley


Monday, September 23, 2013

Horseradish


Making your own horseradish is easy and pretty neat.  You need to take a few precautions with the spicy root, but the end result is great and you can control the heat to make it mild or super spicy.



All you need is horseradish root, vinegar, ice water and salt.  For equipment you'll need gloves, a peeler, a sharp knife and a food processor or blender.  


I brought my food processor outside for this project.  The fumes of the fresh horseradish are really strong.  You might even consider protective eyewear (like large sunglasses or even goggles) if you have sensitive eyes.  Mine were watering outside.  

Friday, September 20, 2013

BBQ Beef Ribs


Beef ribs - a tasty summer treat!  I usually make pork ribs, which are a great meal on the barbecue, but I saw beef ribs on sale in the grocery store and decided to give them a try.   

The ribs came in a full rack, but the meat shrank on the bone and ended up looking a bit like short ribs in the once cooked.



First, I braised the ribs in beer!  Cut the ribs into single-rib segments. 

Saturday, September 14, 2013

Curried Couscous with Zucchini


It is zucchini time again!  Last year we grew zucchini in our garden.  As we were warned, the harvest was abundant.  We managed to give some away and use the rest up in muffins, pasta and as a side dish.  Also, you can't beat fried zucchini blossoms!

But, because the plant took up so much space in the garden, we didn't grow zucchini this year.  We've got brussels sprouts growing in their place.  So I had to buy some zucchini for this recipe, but it's a great way to use it.  It is delicious warm or at room temperature.  As a side dish or a vegetarian main course.  Colourful, crunchy and tasty.

Here's what you need:  



Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Spice Crusted Lamb Chops with Corn Salad



I always see these beautiful lamb chops with the long "handle" (bone) in blogs and recipe sites, but I never see them for sale in stores.  I decided to take matters into my own hands and turn a Frenched rack of lamb into lollipop chops.  

This recipe comes from Serious Eats but it was way too spicy for me as written.  I should have known when it called for half a teaspoon of cayenne pepper that something was off.  There was too much spice altogether, so I've halved the spice mix recipe and further reduced the cayenne.  You can add more if you want it super spicy.  

First, the corn salad.  You'll need:


1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 tablespoon sugar
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
1/2 cup fresh mint leaves, chopped
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 cups fresh corn kernels, from about 4 ears corn
Freshly ground black pepper




Thursday, September 5, 2013

Baby Turnips with Turnip Greens & Baby Carrots


I'm very pleased with these summer veggies.  Every week I go to the farmers market and grab whatever looks good.  



We've had some tasty veggies this year, but I always keep an eye out for baby turnips because they're so sweet and delicious. 



The baby turnips look exactly like white radishes.  Here they are with some breakfast radishes.

Monday, September 2, 2013

Cherry Tomato Pasta


For the past several years I've tried to grow San Marzano paste tomatoes in my garden.  Both Matt and I hate to eat raw tomatoes, but love cooked tomato sauce.  But the San Marzano tomatoes never thrived in our Canadian garden.  We had blossom end rot and very low yield.  We were lucky to end up with 3 or 4 tomatoes in a season, and we'd end up buying a bushel of tomatoes from the farmers market to can tomato sauce



So this year, we decided to grow a very high-yield cherry tomato plant called Sweet Million.  It has been fantastic!  We've had dozens of tomatoes each week since the end of July, with no end in sight.