Very close to the top of the list of my favourite kitchen gadgets is my immersion blender. I would be very torn if someone told me that I had to give away my immersion blender, food processor or my KitchenAid mixer. Generally I call my immersion blender my stick blender and it has made making pureed soups ridiculously simple. This parsnip soup has a very simple base: leeks and garlic (onion would be a fine substitute for the leeks). When I was trying to think of something that would pair well with the unique flavour of parsnips I went sniffing around my […]
Coleslaw with Beets and Quinoa
The inspiration for this coleslaw came from a couple of different places. The first was from a trip we took to Ste. Anne’s Spa in Grafton back in September for our 8th wedding anniversary. At lunch one day there was a cabbage salad served with a vinaigrette over quinoa. It was lovely but I prefer a richer dressing with cabbage. The second source of inspiration came from Jamie Oliver’s recent cookbook, Jamie’s Great Britain. He used a mayonnaise-based dressing on a huge pile of cabbage, carrots and beets that he ran through his food processor and then dressed them with mayo, mustard, cider […]
Chipotle Chicken and Corn Chowder with Black Beans
For the most part, I’m not big into spicy food. I don’t go crazy over chicken wings and when we go out for Thai or Vietnamese I stick to the very mild dishes but there is something about the combination of the rich, spicy and smokey flavours of this soup with the sweet bite of corn that keeps me making it again and again, heat and all. This recipe is adapted from a recipe in Cooking Light’s Chicken Tonight cookbook. There are many ingredients that are the same in both recipes but I left out the hominy since it isn’t a […]
Honey Mustard and Rosemary Pork Chops
This marinade for pork chops is very simple and quick to throw together. You can coat the pork chops with the marinade just before grilling or putting them in the oven but it is even better if you can let them marinade in the fridge for an hour or two. There is a little story behind how I acquired these particular pork chops. I spent my third year of university in Northern Ireland and when I was travelling around with Simon (we’ve been together for ages) I bought Darina Allen’s book Traditional Irish Cooking as a souvenir. I cooked quite a […]
Quinoa with Grilled Veggies
I am very happy to belong to a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) again this year. This is our third year being CSA members and each year we know that we will be inundated with zucchini and summer squash (the yellow zucchini). I didn’t get time this year to get very creative with the zucchini and a lot of the other veggies we got in our CSA box combined with some sweet peppers from our pathetic little garden. Some people might like this served at room temperature but I serve this hot. The leftovers are one of my favourite lunches to […]
Pavlova with Peaches Plus a Few Tips and Tricks
Pavlova is not an overly common dessert here in Canada. I discovered it by way of the glorious Nigella Lawson and her show ‘Nigella Bites’. That show was a revelation to me and I will be forever grateful that Food Network Canada used to actually have cooking shows on their station. Now it is cupcake battles, and Top Chef Thunderdome Extreme Cook-off, reality-show crap. I live in hope that the American station, Cooking Channel will eventually make its way up here. I make this dessert quite frequently since it is naturally gluten-free and definitely little boy approved. I almost always […]
Pasta with Pesto, Peas, Pancetta and Grilled Chicken
This is a meal I crave in the early weeks of summer but is great any time of year if you have had the forethought to freeze pesto or just use store-bought. The thought of the flavour packed pesto combined with the hit of fresh sweet peas, salty bite of pancetta and little bits of mellow mozzarella are making my mouth water as I write this. I make the pesto in a fairly typical way – lots of basil. a clove of garlic, toasted pine nuts, fresh grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, pinch of salt and pepper and lots of olive oil. No great […]
Tapenade Puff Pastry Pinwheels
I have made this little appetizer several times for different occasions. I have brought it to book club, a wine tasting party (best kind of party in my book), and most recently to a fun little get together where half of the pinwheels didn’t even make it downstairs to the bar before they were gobbled up. The artichoke and asiago pinwheels do tend to go much faster but I encourage you to try the olive tapenade ones as well. I’m a very picky eater and I wouldn’t pop an olive into my mouth and chomp away but I do quite […]
Gluten-Free Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp
Strawberry season is in full swing here in Ontario. I was finally able to get out strawberry picking on Canada Day this past Sunday at Barrie Hill Farms and picked about 20 pounds of berries in a hour. I admit, I had help. Simon picked a few and Timothy was there in a purely supervisory role and to keep my mom in line. I was too tired to make jam on Monday since we had just returned from an extra long weekend away in Niagara Falls and then to visit family in Barrie. The dogs enjoyed their holiday at Nana […]
Rosemary and Lemon Grilled Chicken
This is a simple, moist, flavourful chicken recipe that is great for busy weeknights when marinating chicken breasts are the last thing you are thinking about when you run out the door in the morning. You can marinate the chicken for an hour or so if you have the time, or for 20 minutes while you get a few things done before you start cooking, like change into track pants and get your little one a snack before the hunger meltdown starts. This is really nice served with some simple potatoes cooked in an aluminum foil bag on the grill […]