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Posts from the ‘Recipes’ Category

Jun 20

Quinoa Salad with Broccoli, Feta and Pine Nuts

Deciding what to cook these days is tricky here in Vancouver. One day I’m feeling like a hearty lentil soup, the next day it may be something cold and refreshing. But, regardless of the weather forecast, I am now declaring it time to bring out the salads and the barbecue and will begin today with a refreshing, healthy (quinoa and broccoli are both high in protein, calcium and iron) and satisfying salad, to be served on its own or perhaps accompanied by barbecued salmon or chicken. Read more

May 25

4 Comments

Linguine with Spot Prawns and Salted Black Beans

With our local BC Spot Prawn season in full swing (May-June), I am testing some new recipes and going back to past favourites. To me, these prawns taste sweeter and cleaner than the tiger prawns that come from faraway places, and since they are also available frozen off-season, they are my choice year round. If you have the fortitude to buy them alive and still wiggling, you will probably want to sauté them quickly, still with shells and heads on, or throw them on the barbecue. Key word here is ‘quickly’ or they will be dry and less appetizing. Then peel them and dip them in a flavoured butter. It is more of a chore to peel the just-off-the-boat prawns but if you are cooking them the day after they are caught, or if they have been frozen and the shells come off more easily, this pasta dish would be a fine choice. Read more

May 11

1 Comment

Cardamom Pistachio Pound Cake

I have long been drawn to the exotic flavour and aroma of cardamom and other Indian spices. It was in our tiny remote village in northern Nigeria that we were first introduced to Indian cuisine, which at that time was not yet familiar to Vancouverites. I was invited into the kitchen of teaching colleagues, Indian expats, where they taught me over a wood stove how to cook curries and chapatis, and the accompanying mango pickles and raita. Read more

Mar 29

2 Comments

Longing for Spring Berry Pie

I was intending to make a strawberry rhubarb pie recently but it turned out I was pushing the rhubarb season. Not to thwart my yearning for something that tasted spring-summery, I decided to mix raspberries with the strawberries instead. You can use any mix of berries in this recipe, but if you are adding rhubarb, just use a bit less flour (2 tablespoons) and a bit more sugar (1 cup) or to taste. Read more

Mar 18

6 Comments

Ruffly Poached Eggs on Brioche with Mushrooms

The best thing about cooking and experimenting with recipes for me is that it can be a collaborative affair and here is a product of this synergy. I love eggs: poached and boiled are favourite cooking methods and I make them for breakfast, brunch, lunch or dinner. I first read the recipe for Poached Eggs on Toasted Brioche with Garlicky Mushrooms on Kitchen Culinaire where Julie references Fine Cooking April/May 2011. I had been meaning to try Dorie Greenspan’s Ruffly Poached Eggs for a while and this seemed like a perfect opportunity to blend the two recipes. The mushrooms, the egg assembly and the garlic olive oil can be done in advance, making it a good dish for entertaining. I’ve adjusted the recipe to make 2 servings, but you can easily double or triple the ingredients. Read more

Feb 11

Arugula Salad with Oranges and Cambozola Served with Pan-Roasted Chicken Thighs

I love the peppery taste of arugula mixed with sweet, salty and crunchy ingredients. This salad can be adjusted according to your preferred ingredients: vary the jam or marmalade, the fruit, the cheese or the nuts. For a weeknight dinner, serve this with a simply cooked piece of fish or chicken or for a dinner party, it makes a delicious first course. I paired it with the pan-roasted chicken thighs with homemade seasoned salt below. Read more

Feb 4

Louisa’s Ricotta Cake

If you use the Scardillo Italian Style Ricotta Cheese that I recommended for the ricotta gnocchi, you will find that there will be about 1 cup of cheese remaining after making the gnocchi. You will not have to wonder any longer what to do with the leftover cheese if you check out the Food52 website here where you will find a ton of ideas from savoury to sweet. It made me think of Iron Chefs and how many different ways they think of to use one ingredient. Bravo to Food52 for using healthy ricotta cheese for one of their contests. I am eager to try many of them over the next while but here is the winner of the contest, with two adjustments that I have made: less sugar, and raspberry sauce to accompany it. Read more

Jan 28

1 Comment

Easy Ricotta Gnocchi

GnocchiI have recently discovered, thanks to 8ateateight.com, a melt-in-your-mouth, simple-to-prepare Italian ricotta gnocchi recipe that produces gnocchi much lighter than their potato cousins. You can make them up in 10 minutes, freeze them, then cook them to order. Make sure you have a good quality ricotta cheese, like the one photographed below, which can be purchased at Les Amis du Fromage. I served them with tomato sauce (recipe following) or you can sauté them in butter and sage, or toss them with pesto, or meat sauce, or… Read more

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