I’ve been on a bit of a salad kick lately. One small part is to try and eat more greens another reason is the onset of warmer weather here in Ontario. The biggest reason is because we are in the process of selling our house so to offset the junk that we eat when we go out, I’ve been making these salads which cut down on the cooking smells in the house and the mess. I do cook the bacon in the house but the chicken goes on the grill. I must add that I had a revelation about how […]
Spatchcocked Chicken Under a Bacon Blanket
Yep, it sounds a little dirty and I won’t lie; I too giggle a little bit when whenever I hear the word ‘spatchcock’. By spatchcocking the chicken I was able to get a larger surface area to lay the bacon on than if I had roasted the chicken whole. Either way works but more bacon is better. I knew this recipe would be a rousing success in my house and I needed that. Earlier that morning I had an epic fail with a gluten free pie. I have made many gluten free pie crusts with great success but this time […]
Bacon Wrapped Water Chestnuts
This recipe is a favourite from my childhood. It was a pretty popular hors d’oeuvres in the ’80s and my mom would make them often. She would make some extra for my sister and me. For a picky eater, it was odd that I loved these so much. I think my mom would make them in the oven when we had guests but she would also make them in the microwave. We had a big Panasonic microwave that came with a cookbook. On the cover of the cookbook were an assortment of all the wonderful food you could cook in the […]
Creamy Parsnip Soup with Tarragon & Pancetta Crisps
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 […]
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 […]
Acorn Squash and Kale Soup
The acorn squashes from my lovely CSA this year were so adorably tiny due to the drought in the summer. I used six little bitty squashes in this recipe where I would have normally just used 3 regular sized acorn squashes. Actually, I don’t know for sure that they are acorn squashes but they look close enough and acorn squash is very easy to find in local grocery stores so I’m sticking to calling these acorn squashes. Feel free to peel your acorn squash but the size of mine and the toughness of the skin on the little buggers made […]