Cookbook Review: Make Ahead Meals by Michael Smith

I received this book a while ago from Penguin Canada (Thank you so much!) and I had been meaning to review it earlier, but you know how life is- it always seems to get in the way! During the entire time I had this book I managed to try a number of recipes. Find out what I thought of Michael Smith's Make Ahead Meals below!

Happy New Year!

George Brown Culinary Arts I Cooking Class - Class 1 and 2

I have always wanted to learn how to cook. I watch cooking shows all of the time and am mesmerized by how well they chop and saute (and am also very jealous at some of their palettes and how they know that certain flavours work well together!), so when my mom asked me if I wanted to go to a George Brown cooking class with her I immediately said YES!

Recipe Review: Caesar Salad Supreme

There are very few people out there who do not like Caesar Salad. It is generally the "go to" salad for a lot of people- the creamy dressing, the croutons- all of it together is absolutely delicious. Usually when I want to make Caesar Salad at home I purchase the packaged salad kits. These are good, but they don't have the pazzaz of a homemade or restaurant made dressing... they also seem to be lacking in the garlic department!!!!! When I found this recipe for Caesar Salad Supreme on allrecipes.com I just had to try it.

Recipe Review: Feta and Bacon Stuffed Chicken with Onion Mashed Potatoes

Saturday night was date for myself and my husband. It was my turn to plan the evening and I really didn't feel like going out- mostly because I couldn't figure out what I felt like having, so instead we decided to cook something together (okay I cooked and he supervised, but it was till fun- we had a few mishaps along the way, but that's what makes it a memorable night!). Anyways, since I was cooking dinner for my husband I decided to do something I knew he would love- chicken stuffed with feta and bacon..,

I found the recipe for Feta and Bacon Stuffed Chicken with Onion Mashed Potatoes on allrecipes.com (my go-to place for recipes!). I read the list of ingredients and the directions and thought it sounded really good. The recipe can be found here: Feta and Bacon Stuffed Chicken with Onion Mashed Potatoes

My husband really loved the chicken. It was moist and really delicious. We both agreed that it needed more stuffing, but beyond that the ingredients together were fantastic. All of the flavours are quite subdued, so this recipe would be good for picky eaters (you could probably add in some veggies and your kids would never know ;) ;). I found it hard to stuff the chicken as I kept ripping through it, but I think that talent just comes with practice.

The potatoes were really delicious also. We are very much garlic people and so we added 2 cloves of garlic to the potatoes while they were cooking and then mashed them up while mashing the potatoes. The potatoes turned out nice and creamy and really tasty. I thought the onions in them added to the taste and elevated them to a new "mashed potato" level.

The quote on the recipe states "This rich, delicious dish is sure to impress company!" and I'm sure it would. It was pretty easy and could easily be served to company.

Overall I would give this recipe:

4.5 out of 5 forks. 

It was delicious and only needed a few minor (personal) tweaks. If you follow this recipe exactly as written it would yield a delicious dish!

Cookbook Review- Michael Smith's Family Meals

Having dinner as a family is something that is super important in my family. Ever since I can remember, we always sat down to share a meal together, no matter how late people came home. My mom taught late on Thursday nights, so when my brother and I got home from school we'd have a snack and then we would wait for her to come home before the entire family sat down to soup for dinner. Dinner was the only time all of us could sit down and catch up on each other's lives. I still value dinner time, and am happy to see that chef Michael Smith believes it is valuable also. His new cookbook, Family Meals, includes a wide variety of meals that are easy to prepare and are family friendly.

There were so many options of what to make that I found it really difficult to choose. In the end, I decided to try Smith's Nacho Burgers since it is summer time and I wanted to take advantage of the nice weather and BBQ outside.... Plus who doesn't love nachos or burgers so putting them together can't be bad! Overall my family thought that they were really good. They were super tasty and really easy to make- they were quick which made them awesome for a family meal, so I can definitely see why they are in this book. 

While I was making the burgers I was a little surprised that there were no eggs in the patty. This resulted in a few of the burgers falling apart a bit since there was no binder, but I didn't worry about that too much since they were going to go on a bun anyways. The suggested cooking time wasn't quite right- we ended up cooking them for 6 minutes more. This might have been because I made the patties a little too thick, even though Smith said to make them thin. The only other complaint I had was that the corn chips lost a bit of their crunch from all of the moisture... this definitely is not Michael Smith's fault and was probably also as a result of me breaking up the chips a little too much.

Regardless of the lack of a "binder" and the extra cooking time, the overall burgers were still delicious. They had a great flavour and were made quickly (which I was happy about since I came home late from work). I would definitely make these burgers again. We added a bit of avocado onto the nacho burgers which added a little bit more flavour, but even without the avocado they were still really tasty.

Recipe: Nacho Burgers

Makes 6 large or 8 smaller burgers

Ingredients: 

For the burgers

2 pounds (900g) of ground beef

2 tablespoons (30mL) of ground cumin

2 tablespoons (30mL) of dried oregano

1 teaspoon (15mL) of salt

Lots of freshly ground pepper

1 onion, minced

For the burger buns

1 teaspoon (5mL) of chili powder

2 tablespoons (30mL) of butter, melted

6 or 8 of your favorite burger buns

To garnish the burgers

1 heaping tablespoon (20mL) of your favorite salsa per burger

¼ cup (60mL) of any shredded cheese per burger

3 or 4 tortilla chips, crushed, per burger

Directions: 

Build a hardwood fire and ultimately a bed of glowing coals. Or prepare and preheat your grill or stovetop griddle to high.

To make the burgers, have a clean plate on the counter and a few sheets of wax paper or plastic wrap nearby. Place the ground beef in a large bowl. Break it up a bit and spread it out evenly. Sprinkle the meat as evenly as you can with the cumin, oregano, salt, pepper and onions. Using your hands, thoroughly and evenly mix the works together. Form the proceeds into 6 or 8 evenly shaped thin burgers and place them on the plate, with the wax paper in between layers.

To ready the buns for the grill, stir the chili powder into the melted butter and brush the fragrant fat onto the cut sides of the buns. Just before grilling the burgers, toast the buns until lightly browned and delicious.

Grill the burgers until browned, 4 or 5 minutes a side. Move the finished burgers straight from the grill to their toasted buns so the juices soak into the bread. Top with the salsa, cheese, tortilla chips and bun tops. Serve and share!

I gave this recipe: 

 out of  

I definitely cannot wait to try more recipes from Family Meals. Flipping through the pages I found a number of recipes that I want to try. I liked that he included vegetarian recipes and also included recipes that just provided "guidance" on how to make the dish (such as pureed vegetable soup). I am glad he has everything from quick meals to slow cooker meals. I highly recommend picking up this book for anyone, whether you have a large family of 20 or if you are a small family of 2, the meals are tasty and quick to make.

I gave this cookbook:

 out of 

Special thank you to Penguin Books for sending me a copy to review. 

Like what you read? Purchase a copy of the book here!

Review: Secrets of a Hutterite Kitchen by Mary-Ann Kirkby

Secrets of a Hutterite Kitchen is not a typical cookbook, it tells the "intimate details of community life" in a Hutterite colony. I've never done a review of a book before that only has recipes in the back- but I have to say I really liked it. Thank you to Penguin Canada for allowing me to review this book.

Review: Haute Dogs by Russell Van Kraayenburg

Hot Dogs- it's tough to find a person who doesn't love a juicy hot dog sandwiched between buns! They are the classic street food, and the classic BBQ food. Usually, people just serve them with the classic sides- mustard, relish, ketchup, pickles, onions, sauerkraut, etc. Russell Van Kraayenburg on the other hand, decided to spice things up a little...

Haute Dogs: Recipes for Delicious Hot Dogs, Buns, and Condiments

When I first heard about this book I immediately knew I had to have it. I absolutely LOVE hot dogs and I'm starting to get tired of my classic ketchup + mustard or mustard + sauerkraut. I wanted something exciting to put on my hot dog and this book provides just that- excitement!

The book is divided into 3 mains sections: Introduction, The Haute Dogs and From-Scratch Ingredients. Each of these sections together produce a wide variety of hot dogs for you to try. Each of the hot dogs has a different taste and you will definitely find something to suit every taste!

In the introduction section, Russell discusses the history of hot dogs and the basics (ingredients, cooking methods and assembly). I really appreciated that the cooking methods were provided- typically I only boil my hot dogs, or if the weather is nice then I'll do them on the BBQ. I never even thought of deep-frying them or roasting them. Definitely going to try some of these other methods in the future.

The Haute Dogs section has 4 different "areas" of types of hot dog toppings to try- American Classics, Modern American Dogs, South and Central American Dogs, and European, African, and Asian Dogs. There is a wide variety of toppings that you are bound to find at least a few that will please everyone. Some of the toppings are very interesting and not something I would think to put on a hot dog- for example: The Swedish Shrimp Dog has flat bread, mashed potatoes, pickle mayonnaise, shrimp salad, onion, lettuce, ketchup and mustard. So far I have only tried a few of the hot dogs and I really liked them! I'm excited for warmer weather to come so that I can barbeque the hot dogs and try more of the toppings.

The final section is the From Scratch Ingredients section where Russell walks you through how to make several of the toppings. I was flipping through this section and thought some of the condiments and toppings sounded heavenly and I cannot wait to make them.

Overall I really liked this book and cannot wait to try more of the hot dogs. So far I have only had the French Fry Dog and The New York Style Hot Dog (the sautéed onions were SO yummy!). I really enjoyed both of these dogs and thought that the flavor combination on the New York Style dog was really good. I also really like the pictures that are included throughout the book- they really make your mouth water and make you want to try each of the hot dogs.

If you enjoy hot dogs then I definitely recommend trying this cookbook! You can't go wrong with having a wide variety of options to top your next dog with!

I give this book:

4.5/5 Forks :)

Thanks to Quirk Books for sending this book to me for review!

Recipe Review: Baked Potato Soup

On Thursday nights a lot of people in my house come home super late so its hard to have a family dinner. We always crowd around the dining room table when the last person comes home, and usually everyone is nibbly, so we make a soup on those nights. This past week I had some potatoes lying around and debated about making a Vichyssoise. I didn't have all of the ingredients and wasn't able to get to the store so I searched online for a better recipe. I found one for Baked Potato Soup. It sounded awesome so I figured I might as well give it a try.

Thirsty Thursdays: London Fog Tea Latte

It wasn't until recently (okay a year and a half ago) that I discovered the best tea latte ever- the London Fog. I was in university and so like most university students helped to keep the local Tim Horton's and Starbucks in business. I drank coffee like it was going out of style. I started to develop headaches after drinking certain coffees and so decided to switch to tea. Usually I just got a Green Tea with milk and sugar (or honey). That is until one day my friend ordered a London Fog and then exclaimed "OMG this tastes like a Fruit Loop!". I decided that the next time I was at Starbucks I would order a London Fog and taste this Fruit Loop drink. Ever since then I have been hooked!