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!

Recipe Review: Brown Butter Mashed Potatoes from Michael Smith

My husband and I have become addicted to watching The Food Network. We love watching the chef's and cooks make amazing food and then plate it really nicely. My husband was not much of a cook before he met me, but now both of us love finding new and interesting recipes and cooking them together. We have an insane number of cookbooks and still scour the internet for more recipes.

One chef that my husband has absolutely fallen in love with is Michael Smith. I don't know if its because Michael likes to use bacon or because everything he cooks has tons of flavor. My husband is all about bacon and flavor. Whatever it is, I don't really care, because I have now fallen for Michael Smith also.

Recipe Review: Curtis Stone's Chicken Cacciatore

Chicken Cacciatore

Whenever my family wants something that will be quick to make but also tastes delicious we always gravitate towards chicken. We usually do simple things like chicken with garlic goat cheese sauce or shake and bake, but sometimes when we want to have a meal that is a little more "involved" we make Chicken Cacciatore. We've had a number of different versions of Chicken Cacciatore, but I have to admit, this one by Curtis Stone is actually really delicious! 

Recipe Review: Souvlaki-Style Pork Tenderloin with Mixed Vegetables

As I mentioned earlier in the week, I love cooking recipes out of the Canadian Living magazine. Generally the recipes are really delicious and so I was super excited to try the cover recipe: Souvlaki-Style Pork Tenderloin with Mixed Vegetables. The recipe is a "healthy spin on everyone's favourite Greek culinary staple: souvlaki" (Canadian Living). It only requires 25 minutes of hands-on time and 30 minutes of cook time. I love souvlaki and I needed something that was going to be quick and delicious for when my brother and his fiancée came over for dinner.

Recipe Review- Quick Salmon Kedegree

 

My mother has been a long time subscriber to Canadian Living and we often choose recipes that look good to try. The latest issue, March 2014, looked like it had some amazing recipes and so far we have tried two of them- Quick Salmon Kedgeree and Souvlaki-Style Pork Tenderloin with Mixed Vegetables. I'll do a review of the Quick Salmon Kedgeree today and will review the Souvlaki-Style Pork Tenderloin with Mixed Vegetables at a later date.

Opps...

So I know I keep saying this but I am going to get better at staying on top of blog posts. I have a friend who does book blogging and lives around the corner from me and we have decided that we are going to get together one night every week and do all of our blog posts for the upcoming week. I am determined to make this site a go and I feel like if I get together with my friend she will help me stay motivated! 

Stay tuned and I will have cookbook reviews, recipe reviews and restaurant reviews coming your way soon!!!! 

Grain Power by Patricia Green and Carolyn Hemming (Cookbook Review)

As I said in my previous post, I'm trying to start eating better and exercising more this year. I was happy when Penguin Canada asked me if I wanted to review Joyous Health and this book- Grain Power. Both books contain healthy recipes that I was hoping would be tasty.

Grain Power contains over 100 recipes that are not only gluten-free but that also use ancient grains. It was written by the same authors who wrote Quinoa Revolution (which has some really delicious recipes!). As soon as I received this book in the mail I flipped through it and was salivating over some of the photos- they look so delicious! The pizza on the cover is something I would totally devour!

One thing I really liked about this book was that the beginning portion goes through each of the grains used in the book and explains its flavor, texture, forms, how to cook with it, a nutrition guide, and general cooking instructions. I found this really beneficial because I don't usually cook with grains (except Quinoa) so I really had no idea what some of them were or how to cook them. The back of the book also contains troubleshooting tips and tricks for when you are cooking the grains. The rest of the book is divided into Breakfast; Appetizers, Snacks, Salads & Side Dishes; Soups & Stews; Meals; and Desserts & Baking.

As I mentioned the pictures looked delicious, but as I flipped through and read some of the recipes, they sounded even better. I even liked the fact that some of them had options that you could choose, for example- the Orange, Ginger & Dijon-Glazed Vegetable & Buckwheat Skillet gave you the option of using beef sirloin tip, chicken, pork or salmon. They also gave you the option of using kaniwa, quinoa, amaranth, or teff instead of buckwheat. I really liked this because I know that some people in my family won't eat buckwheat and others won't eat beef. It was nice that I could still use that recipe and was told what else would taste good in it.

The recipes that I tried out were the Orange, Ginger & Dijon-Glazed Vegetable & Buckwheat Skillet  mentioned above and the Mexican Chocolate Millet Pudding. Unfortunately I didn't manage to get pictures of either of these recipes.

The Orange, Ginger & Dijon-Glazed Vegetable & Buckwheat Skillet was really tasty. I kept with the original recipe and did the beef skillet tip with the buckwheat. Unfortunately I overcooked the buckwheat and so it was a little mushy, but the recipe was still tasty. The orange flavor was really clear, unlike some orange flavored foods where you taste absolutely NO orange. The beef was cooked really well and everything tasted good together. This recipe got mixed reviews from my family but that was because they forgot to tell me that they don't like orange flavor in their meals and the other didn't like buckwheat.

The Mexican Chocolate Millet Pudding on the other hand was a big hit. I didn't manage to grind the millet seeds fine enough and so the pudding wasn't smooth, but I've learned for next time. No one realized that this was a "healthy" pudding, they just enjoyed the chocolate pudding. They enjoyed it so much that each of their bowls was licked clean of it!

Overall, this book had some really good recipes and I'm excited to try more of them. I really would love to try the Mango, Cucumber & Red Pepper Quinoa Salad and the Thin Crust Vegetable Pizza with Fresh Basil. This cookbook has a wide variety of meals, with meat, fish and vegetables. I am amazed that you can do so much with ancient grains. Big thank you to Penguin Canada for sending me this book!!!

I give this book:

 out of

 

Joyous Health Cookbook Review

At the beginning of every year I tell myself "This is going to be the year when you eat healthy, exercise daily, and get yourself into amazing health!" and every year I last maybe 5 days, and then I fall into my bad habits again. This year started out much the same way. I try to eat healthy foods, but I eventually find them boring and tasteless. I try to be healthy and drink water, but it too gets boring and tasteless. It is just so much easier to give in to the temptation of having a nice juicy hamburger than to eat healthy. This changed a bit this year when I was asked to review Joyous Health by Joy McCarthy.

At first I thought this health cookbook was going to be very similar to the other health cookbooks I had, creating this dishes that looked amazing in the pages of a book, but tasted like cardboard. I flipped through the pages of the book and found some dishes that sounded good, but I was a little hesitant on making any of them. Finally, I was having a girls night and I decided I was just going to make two things out of the book and see if my friends could tell that it was healthy.

Before I get into what I made, I want to explain a little about the book. The beginning of the book talks about "the path to joyous health", how to get your "gut on track", various foods, supplements and habits that will lead to a joyous mood, the "joyous detox solutions", "superfoods and healthy lifestyle habits", and how to create a joyous kitchen. Each of these sections has various tips, tricks, and hints that help you to get to Joyous Health so that you can eat and live well without dieting. One of the tips I started to do was drinking a glass of lemon and water each morning. Joy states that doing this helps to cleanse the body and it helps to get you glowing. I've been doing this since I got the book and although I haven't noticed a significant difference, I feel good, so I am definitely going to keep doing this.

Be sure to go through the entire front section before the recipes, not only to pick up as many tips as you can, but also because there are recipes at the end of the chapters.

I really enjoyed reading Chapter 5- Superfoods and Healthy Lifestyle Habits for Joyous Health. I discussed what superfoods were and listed the top 12 superfoods. It then went into further detail about the different superfoods and how you can enjoy them. Another thing I really liked about the book were the Joyous Tips that are scattered throughout.

For girls night I needed two dishes that weren't going to be over the top to make and that were also going to be tasty. I finally settled on Beet Goat Cheese Dip and Chia Black Bean Brownies- my friends and I love goat cheese and lot chocolate, so I figured these two were good choices.

The Beet Goat Cheese Dip is made with beets, goat cheese, salt, and garlic. The actual recipe only calls for 1 clove of garlic, but my friends and I are addicted to garlic so I added in 3 cloves. The dip was so delicious. It comes with an Almond Flour Rosemary Cracker recipe, but I unfortunately didn't have time to make them. Instead I served the dip with crackers I had. If you like beets in any form you should definitely try out this recipe. The dip is creamy and is packed with flavor- you'd think that it was actually bad for you.

 

The Chia Black Bean Brownies were also really good. I didn't tell my friends that there were Black Beans in them and they ate them and really enjoyed them. I know my husband doesn't like dark chocolate so instead of using the dark chocolate chips (which are obviously healthier) I used semisweet chocolate chips instead. It turned out really well. I also goofed a little in the baking of them because we just got a new oven so I accidently turned it off when I thought I was just shutting off the timer, but it didn't affect them too badly.

 

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. It gave some really good tips to leading a healthier life that aren't that hard to actually do. It also had some really tasty recipes that were easy. I am definitely looking forward to doing more cooking from this book. I highly recommend you pick up a copy yourself and give it a try!

I give this book

 out of

Recipe Review: Chicken Marsala

This year I hosted a New Years party, which isn't something that is out of the ordinary for me, but I changed things up this year. Usually, I have a themed party and my friends come over and we head downstairs  into my basement and we chat, nibble on food, watch tv, and drink. This year I wanted to do something a little, how should I put this... "grown-up"? and so I decided to host a potluck dinner for New Years. I knew that I would be preparing the main "meat" of the dinner, and so asked my friends to bring appetizers, sides, salads, and desserts. I decided to make two "mains"- Chicken Marsala and Vegetable Lasagna. I wanted something I could prepare the night before and just pop into the oven on the day of the party once my guests had arrived. My oven decided to stop working, and so I served cold food, but other than that it went well. Everyone had a great time, and the Chicken Marsala was even better the next day!

Below is the Chicken Marsala recipe that I followed. I doubled the amount of wine, broth, and cream that I put into my sauce because I prefer a creamier sauce and wanted to make sure that anyone who wanted to add extra sauce on top of their chicken was able to.

Chicken Marsala
(adapted from Tina Danze Article)

Ingredients:
8-12 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (halved and pounded to a 1/4 thickness)
2 cups flour (seasoned with salt and pepper to taste)
4-6 tablespoons butter (divided)
4-6 tablespoons canola oil (divided)
1/2 cup diced onions
4 cloves garlic (minced)
16 ounces cremini mushrooms (sliced)
1/2 cup marsala wine
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup whipping cream


Directions:
Cut the pounded chicken breast into halves (or thirds if they are very large). Dredge the chicken pieces in seasoned flour making sure to share off the excess.

Heat 1/2 the butter and oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Ensuring not to crowd the pan, sauté the chicken pieces until they are golden brown (approximately 3 minutes per side). Add additional butter and oil to the skillet as needed. Set aside to cool.

Add onion and garlic to the skilled and sauté the onions until they are translucent. Add the mushrooms and cool, stirring often, until the mushrooms are browned. Add the marsala, and simmer to reduce until the sauce is brown and thickened. Add the chicken broth and whipping cream. Reduce by half, until the sauce thickens to a soupy texture.

Arrange the chicken breasts into a casserole dish or a rimmed baking sheet, make sure to overlap the rows. (If preparing in advance, prepare up to this point and store in the fridge. Make sure to store the sauce separately in a covered container).

To cook the Chicken Marsala:
Preheat the over to 350 F. Pour the sauce over the arranged chicken breasts and bake until heated through (15-20 minutes if refrigerated; 10-15 minutes is going straight into the oven).

Serves 8-12

I would give this recipe:

 

The overall recipe was tasted good and was easy to make, but I felt like there was something missing/ I can't put my finger on what it was though. 

 

Happy New Year!!!!

Hey! It's been an entire month since I last posted which is kind of pathetic, but what Christmas (twice) and New Years, things got incredibly hectic! Anyways, I have finally got my act together and have planned out posts for the rest of the month. I'm hoping that I can stick to this and actually post things more than twice a month!!

I hope you all had a fabulous New Year and are ready to get back in the kitchen with me for an awesome year of baking and cooking.