Last post of 2007: Caprese salad on a stick

This was another appetizer that I made for the Turducken dinner. I love Caprese salad and thought why not eat it on the go? This isn't really Caprese salad in the sense that I didn't use mozarella, but we can call it my version.

Ingredients:
a container of boconcini mini cheese balls (36 in Tre Stelle)
a pint of cherry tomatoes
toothpicks (I happened to find red and white plastic ones that matched PERFECTLY with the tomatoes and cheese)

Directions:
It's pretty simple folks. Just Poke and spear onto the tooth picks.

Now for the sauce:
The sauce is really just a balsamic vinaigrette.

Ingredients:
UGH..I hate measurements. I eye ball and taste as I go along.

balsamic vinegar (I use a sweet one)
olive oil
lemon juice
honey
brown sugar
salt and pepper to taste

Stir and serve.
Note: This is the same balsamic vinaigrette that I usually use in salads.



Happy New Year!

Pear & Brie on Focaccia

Isn't this so pretty? I love the use of earth tone colours. (Wow, that sounds lame.) As lame as it is, it is true. Anyway, this was one of my contributions to the Turducken dinner party. I got this idea by looking at a picture and I just ran with it. I wish life was as easy as cooking. *sigh*

This was a hit at the party. I was happy with the taste and the appearance. I will definitely make it again. When my best friend comes back from the Philipines, I will make it for her since she loves brie cheese.

Ingredients:
1 focaccia (mine was store bought), or flat bread, pizza dough
1/4 cup of sliced red onions
1/2 of a pear, sliced thinly from top to bottom
3 teaspoons of brown sugar
8 slices of brie cheese (I bought the double cream one so it was extra bubbly in the oven)
a few sprigs of lemon zest as garnish
salt and pepper to taste
olive oil

Directions:
Place bread on top of parchment paper (flat surface). Brush evenly with olive oil.
In a pan, heat up olive oil, begin to carmelize the red onions. Add brown sugar, salt, pepper and stir. That should take about 3 minutes. When done, place evenly on top of the bread.
Next, pan fry the pears in olive oil at medium heat. I didn't add anything in the pears, but you could add brown sugar, salt and pepper to taste if you wish. Sometimes I'm a purist and this was one time... I just prefer the natural taste of the pear. Cook the pear slices for about 4 minutes, flip on both sides. Then arrange the pair slices on the bread.
Onto the cheese! Arrange the brie cheese slices, alternating with the pear slices.

Since I'm a fan of lemon zesting, I added a few sprigs on top. My intention was purely for ashetic purposes but it actually added another dimension of flavour onto the bread! The bitterness of the lemon zest contrasted wonderfully with the sweetness of the pear.

Ok, so you've got bitter lemon, sweet pear, salty onions, creamy cheese, and chewy bread. WOW. Enjoy!


Pear & Brie on Focaccia

The Ever Epic Turducken

A Turducken is a dish consisting of a partially de-boned turkey stuffed with a de-boned duck, which itself is stuffed with a small de-boned chicken. The name is a portmanteau of those ingredients: turkey, duck, and chicken. The cavity of the chicken and the rest of the gaps are filled with, at the very least, a highly seasoned breadcrumb mixture or sausage meat, although some versions have a different stuffing for each bird.
Courtesy of good ol' Wiki

My friends Aldous and Christina (incidentally in-laws) successfully cooked a turducken for a party of 15 last night. It was my first time eating one and the verdict is that it was delicious. Albeit, one serving is over 1000 calories, I believe it it well worth those extra sit ups. I proposed to make it a post-Christmas tradition amongst us, I think everyone except for the chefs agreed with me. =p

Here are some pictures of the delightful bird(s):


Error uploading, more to come. =)

Term of Endearment: Soupy?

I want a soup man. That's right, a man who will make me soup. :)
This is a picture of "The Original Soupman" made famous by Seinfield. I ate there as my last meal in NYC. For $12, I had a bowl of soup (crab bisque), apple, piece of chocolate, bottled water and a chicken panini. YUM-O!

I long for soup in the cold weather. Soup on a cold day really has the ability to hit the spot. It satisfies me to a tee! Today I made a soup that combines Eastern and Western soup "philosophies". Asian people prefer watery soups whereas Western soups are a lot thicker and stew-like. I made a soup today that uses Asian ingredients, but cooked Western style.

Alie's Winter Soup

Ingredients:
1/2 cup of chicken broth
1 cup of cold water
3 tsp of corn starch
2 cloves of garlic
1 giant king oyster mushroom, julienned
2 large shitake mushrooms, chopped into tiny bite size pieces
1/2 of a bar of fried fish cake (totally optional), sliced
7 large dried scallops (this is the money right here, baby!)
1/2 cup of squash, chopped into tiny bite size pieces
1 tsp of white cooking wine
1 bunch of vermacelli, cooked

Directions:

Additional prep work:
You need to cook the vermacelli noodles and dried scallops before putting it in the soup. In a pot of boiling water, put in vermacelli noodles and dried scallops. Cook for 10 minutes. Drain water into a strainer.

Let's get on with the soup!

Turn the stove to a med-high heat. In a pot, add a tsp of olive oil and when the oil heats up, add in chopped garlic. When the garlic is infused, add in shitake and king oyster mushrooms. Keep stirring. Add in fish cake slices, dried scallops and squash. Keep stirring. Add in white cooking wine. At this point, the ingredients are almost cooked. Add in chicken broth. Keep stirring. Add cold water mixed with corn starch into the pot. Keep stirring. Finally, add in vermacelli noodles. Keep stirring! Turn to a low-medium heat and keep it simmering for 10 minutes.

Soul Food: Love in a Pan

It has been snowing non-stop for the past twelve hours. Everything that I was supposed to do today has been cancelled. Thus, I spent the day cooking. =) Even when I was half awake and stirring in bed, I was dreaming up recipes of what to create today.




I wanted something warm, gooey and comforting.

Ingredients:
8 small Russet potatoes, sliced in 3
1/2 cup of corn
1/2 cup of shredded squash
salt and pepper to taste
2 tsp. of organic salted butter
1 pinch of herb de provence
3 tsp. of dill
1 sprig of parsley
a few slices of cheddar cheese
a dash of chicken broth
a dash of milk
2 cloves of garlic

Directions:
I basically put everything in a pan and baked it. haha. Ok, here goes:
First you put a tsp or so of olive oil onto the pan. Then you add in the chopped gloves of garlic. Then you slice the potatoes (3 to 1) a throw them into the pan. Add in the milk and chicken broth. Then you add in the squash, and season away! You top the pan with the corn, cheese and butter.
Bake in the oven at 400 C for 40 minutes.

Epic!

Are you a self-professed foodie?
Do you like to try out new restaurants?
Do you like to create your own gastronomical delights?

If this sounds like you, then you might be interested in joining a diner's club that I'm in the process of establishing. This group of diners will meet once a month to try out a restaurant. The restaurant doesn't have to be expensive/fancy but somtimes will be (because we all like to be high rollers now and then). We plan to kick this off in the new year.

Leave me a message if you're interested in joning. Spaces are limited.

Mango shrimps sleeping on an arugula bed

I went to the grocery store today and picked up some goodies including "President's Choice Blue Menu Mango Vinaigrette." I had the intention of using it as a meat marinade today but I had no meat...instead I found a dozen jumbo shrimps in the freezer. Thus, mango shrimps was born! I bought one bunch of arugula and had forgotten that if I don't get the organic baby arugula, it's SOOOOO bitter. However, the sweetness of the mango sauce evens it out.

Ingredients (serves 2):
12 jumbo shrimp, thawed
2 leaves of chopped fresh basil
sea salt, pepper, garlic power, paprika to taste
2 tsp. of soy sauce
3 tbsp. of mango vinaigrette
6 leaves of arugula
1 tsp. of lemon juice

Directions:
In a bowl, marinade shrimp with basil, sea salt, pepper,paprika, lemon juice and stir.
Heat sauce pan with olive oil at med-low heat, put shrimp in and cook for 2 minutes while continually stirring. Pour in mango vinaigrette and it's OK to be generous! Add soy sauce and keep stirring for 2 more minutes.

Wash and cut arugula leaves and plate it. Put shrimp on top. I added some strips of proscuitto on top as well to balance out the strong taste of arugula.

Veal Chop and Herbed Vegetables

I would have to say that I'm quite proud of this dish. The presentation is nothing fancy but it does it's job. On the other hand, the taste was spectacular. Again, this recipe is not difficult as I don't really believe in slaving away for a good meal. A good meal should be made with a few simple steps. I would have to say that this dish is restaurant worthy, again, maybe not in presentation but the taste...wow.

Ingredients:
For the Veal:
1 Veal Chop (It was on sale at the grocery store!)
A few sprigs of chopped parsley
salt and pepper to taste
1 clove of chopped garlic
1 tsp. of balsamic vinegar
1 tsp. of fig infused white vinegar (totally optional, I was just being fancy)
1 tsp. of dried rosemary

For the vegetables:
You can use whatever you like. In this dish, I used:
2 red potatoes, chopped into wedges
2 carrots, chopped into wedges
1/4 of a red onion, chopped into wedges
1/4 cup of chopped parsley
salt and pepper to taste
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 tsps. of paprika
1 tsp. of brown sugar
3 tsps. of flour (to coat the veggies)
2 tbsps. of olive oil

Directions:
For the veal:
Marinate veal in all the ingredients listed above for as long or as little as you'd like. The ingredients that I have chosen for the veal are pretty strong in flavour that they actually don't require much marinating time. However, if you have the time to let it sit, by all means because the meat will be extra flavourful.

Heat a pan, add 1 tsp. of olive oil, add a bit of chopped garlic to be infused in the oil (Chinese trick). When the pan is ready, pan fry the veal, give 2 minutes to each side for a medium rare.

For the vegetables:
In a mixing bowl, add veggies and all the ingredients listed above. Mix, mix and mix some more. Then in a baking pan, add olive oil to the pan. Put the vegetables in the pan and drizzle olive oil on top of the veggies.
Pre-heat oven to 350 C for 10 minutes, then bake the dish for 30 minutes at 350C.

*You can add some veggie/chicken broth to the vegetables if you want them to be more tender.

Chicken Breast Whatchamacallits

This was dinner a few nights ago. Again, I don't really like to plan in advance, because it is more interesting to create with what you have in the fridge. I don't have a name for this dish, or at least nothing creative, so this dish will remain nameless until I or anyone else can come up with something worthy to name it.

Ingredients:
1 large chicken breast sliced into thin sheets
Proscuitto slices
1/4 chopped red onion
1/4 cup of feta cheese cubes
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup of arugla, chopped
2 tsps. of soy sauce
1/2 cup of chopped parsley

Directions:
Marinate sliced chicken breast with your choice of herbs, soy sauce, salt and pepper. Let it sit for a bit while you make the topping.
For the topping:
In a bowl, mix together red onions, feta cheese, arugula, parsley, and salt and pepper to taste, you can add some garlic powder too, I did. =)
Place chicken breasts on a baking tray and add the topping on top of the chicken breasts.
Add a slice of proscuitto to top it off.
Pre-heat oven to 350 C for 10 minutes.
Bake chicken at 350 C for 25 minutes.

Enjoy!

Chickpeas Chic

This is a recipe I made up on the spot. I saw a can of chick peas and thought it would be a good way to ease in to becoming a full vegetarian. There are meat products in this dish, but they can be easily substituted with veggie products.

Ingredients:
1 can of chick peas
1/2 of a chorizo sausage chopped into small pieces
a few shreds of proscuitto
7 cherry tomatoes
1 clove of chopped garlic
2 tsps. of white vinegar
1/4 cup of chicken broth
1/2 of a sliced onion
2 tsps. of paprika
salt, pepper to taste
parsley, oregano to taste

Directions:
In a pan, heat olive oil, add garlic and onions, saute.
Add sausage, keep stirring.
Add white vinegar.
Add paprika.
Drain can of chick peas, add into pan.
Add tomatoes.
Add salt, pepper, parsley, oregano to taste.
The mixture should be pretty dry, so add in chicken broth. As the liquid evaporates, you can keep adding water to keep it moist.
Finally, when it is close to being cooked (about 6 minutes on med. heat), you can add in the proscuitto slices. Proscuitto cooks extremely fast, so it is always best to add it in at the last minute.

Preparation time: 6 minutes, just a bit of chopping
Cooking time: 6 minutes (chick peas from the can are pre-cooked, so you're just cooking them to make them a bit softer and for the infusion of flavours.)

I'm not sure what type of cuisine this falls under, it's just something I made up and it was delicious. It's quite healthy as it is high in protein and the spices make it so flavourful. Chick peas are quite filling and are carb like, but are not heavy like carbs.

Alas, salad

I had a beautiful weekend and to mark the end of such a beautiful time, I have made a good meal to go with it. Alas, I have made a colourful, fulfilling salad. I haven't eaten since 5pm yesterday and it is now twenty hours later. So yes, I am rather hungry and need to satisfy my sweet and salty tooth simultaneously. I just came back from the market and bought lots of fresh, organic goodies; fit for a foodie.

I'm going to call this salad: "Jared's Arugula Salad w/ Honey Balsamic Vinaigrette." I know, the name strays from my usual creativity, however, I must pay dues to the brother I never had. Jared absolutely loves arugula and the other ingredients I have chosen to put in this salad. Also, he's the one who showed me how to make this dressing. He likes more balsamic, I like more oil, he likes more lemon, I like more pepper. We have our differences, but on the whole, we KNOW food.

Ingredients:
Makes ONE serving. Dining alone for one, baby.
2 cups of organic baby arugula leaves
2-3 tbsps. of extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp. of aged balsamic vinegar
7 grape tomatoes, halved
3 slices of proscuitto
1 handful of organic green raisins
1 lemon wedge
1 tsp. of honey
1 tsp. of brown sugar

Directions:

1)Wash n' spin arugula, plate it
2)Slice grape tomatoes in half
3) Tear proscuitto into pieces
4) Toss raisins onto the plate
5) Have fun and arrange your food the way you want it to look. =)

How to make the dressing:
This is probably my favourite dressing; it is so good that I never want to eat store- bought dressings again.
In a bowl or glass, pour in olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper to taste, honey, brown sugar and then stir vigorously. Do a dance while you stir, it will make it more fun. =) I was listening to Iron and Wine when I was making this.




Enjoy! Alas, salad! (It's supposed to rhyme when you say it. Think French accent.)

Where did it go?

Lately, I haven't been much of a chef or an eater. I seem to have lost my desire to enjoy the beauty of food. Life is rather confusing for me right now. I'm at the end of a fork in the road. The destination of either path is unknown. I'm not scared, I'm not angry, I'm just...I'm out of feelings. I'm indifferent. I have no preferences or desires. Hence, my penchant for cooking and great tasting things has disappeared. Fear not my friends, based on past experiences, this should be temporary.

My current diet consists of coffee and Kashi Go Lean cereal, minus the lactose free milk. I've been too preoccupied to even do groceries.

Do you tend to eat more when you're sad or happy? I eat more when I'm at peace with myself. I seldom lose my appetite, even when I'm sick, or I'm grieving over a death, I still eat and with gusto, mind you. Right now, I can't injest anything.

Excuse me while I make a cup of coffee.

Baked Potato Fries

Since I've been pretty busy with cleaning and redecorating my room, I haven't had much time to do anything else, ie. buying groceries. So without much to choose from in my fridge, I take out a few potatoes and stare at them for a minute. During that minute, I stare at the potatoes and they stare at me. Then finally, I hear: "Bake me like a fry!" Who am I to say no?


Ingredients:
4 potatoes (any kind will do)
1 clove of garlic
4 tablespoons of olive oil
3/4 cup of flour
sea salt
pepper
paprika
juice of 2 lemon slices
herbs, seasoning of your choice
nutmeg
I haven't included measurements for the spices because it is entirely up to the chef.

Directions:
1) Wash potatoes. Leave the skin on.
2) Slice potatoes into long rectangular slices (like a fry, duh).
3) In a bowl, add potato slices, sqeeze lemon juice, add olive oil, sea salt, pepper, paprika, nutmeg, other herbs and seasoning that you enjoy.
4) Mix well to ensure that each fry is coated in oil and spices.
5) Add flour to the fries, just enough to be "dusted."
6) Line baking tray with wax paper.
7) Put fries on the tray, and try not to let them overlap as much as possible.
8) Sprinkle on chopped garlic and if you'd like, more flour. The flour gives it a crispier and thicker texture.
9) Bake in oven for 30 minutes at 350C.
10)Let it cool for a few minutes before you devour them.

Pasta Amore

It would be a very long list if I had to list all the reasons why pasta was so good. We'll just leave it that pasta is so good. =) I woke up at 12:45pm with a hankering for something filling and warm. I looked in my pantry and found some rotini pasta calling my name. I happily obliged and cooked away.


Ingredients:
2 cups of rotini pasta
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 chicken breast fillet, sliced
6 grape tomatoes, cut in half
2 tablespoons of cream
1 cup of milk (I use skim)
3 tablespoons of broth (I use vegetable)
3 small chunks of blue cheese
3 small chunks of baby parmesan cheese (you don't need to grate it because it melts in the pan)
3 teaspoons of corn starch
1 teaspoon of chili flakes
a little bit of lemon zest
lots of black pepper, salt to taste

Directions:
1) Boil pasta. I'm not going to teach you how to do that. Just read the package instructions!
2) In a pan, heat up olive oil, then add garlic when oil is heated.
3) Add chicken, lemon zest, salt and pepper to taste.
4) Add tomatoes.
5) Add cream and broth. Stir vigorously.
6) In a cup, pour in milk and add corn starch. Stir and make sure there are no clumps. Add in pan.
7) Keep stiring everything in the pan. The sauce should be thickening at this point.
8) Add blue and parmesan cheese into the pan. Keep stirring.
9) Smell it and tell me you don't love it.
10) Add chili flakes, salt, pepper. This step is optional.
11) After rinsing the pasta in cold water and straining the water, add pasta into the pan.
12) Stir and make sure the pasta is coated in the sauce.


This serves 2-3 people.

A Quiche in 5 Bites

5 Bite Quiche, 2 if you're hungry.

I was invited to go to my friend's house for dinner, so I decided to make something that was people friendly and easy to eat. I was also really tired from buying new furniture and cleaning all day, so it had to be something easy to make.

Ingredients:
4 eggs
12 personal unsweetened pie shells (I get the no name kind)
2 basil leaves, chopped
1/2 cup of Balderson's strong cheddar cheese, grated
1/4 cup of Baby Paremesan cheese, grated
6 grape tomatoes cut in half
*1 chunk of proscuitto cut into many more tiny chunks

*I hate measurements.

Directions:
1) In a mixing bowl, crack all 4 eggs and whisk. Add salt and pepper to taste. Personally, I skip the salt because the proscuitto is very salty.
2) Add basil, proscuitto and both cheeses into the bowl. Whisk, whisk and whisk some more!
*I know most quiche recipes use Swiss cheese, but I'm not a fan, so yeah, cheddar it is.
3) Pre-heat the oven (I use a convection oven) for 10 minutes at 350C.
3) Pour the contents of the bowl into the pie shells. Don't let it get too full because the egg will rise when you bake it.
4) Top each quiche with a grape tomato half.
5) Bake for 25 minutes at 350C.


You know what? The funny thing is that I completely forgot to bring them with me to the dinner. I only realized this as I was pulling up to the house. *sigh*

My favourite fried rice

The golden rule for making fried rice is to use day old rice. This is so the rice is not mushy but instead dry and seperated. Sometimes we'll order Chinese food take out and it comes with 2 take out boxes full of rice. With so much white rice left over, there's only one thing to make!

What I love about fried rice is that you can eat it at any time. You can have it for lunch, dinner, Winter, Summer, pretty much whenever you want. This is another one of my soul foods. Some people have their grilled cheese, I have my fried rice.

Fried rice is as versatile as a sandwich. You can put anything in there and it will go (for the most part). Today's ingredients are my favourites when it comes to fried rice. Here they are:


Ingredients:
1 large bowl of day old white rice
2 tsp. of chicken broth
2 tsp. of soy sauce
1/4 cup of chopped red onions
1/4 cup of chopped green onions
1/4 pound of BBQ pork, chopped
1 egg
pepper to taste, again, I don't like to add salt because the soy sauce takes care of that

Directions:
Scramble an egg, then cook it in a pan under low heat. Use your spatula to cut up the egg into strips (no need to be neat here) directly on the pan.
Add in red onions and half of your green onions to the pan to saute.
Add in BBQ pork.
Add rice. Make sure you seperate the rice with your fingers and do not leave clumps.
Add chicken broth and soy sauce.
Add pepper, and perhaps salt to taste.
Top rice with remaining green onions.
Enjoy!

Pret a Manger

While we're on the topic of London...
There's a chain of cafe-like cafes called "Pret a Manger" which translates from French into "ready to eat." It's a place where you can grab n' go, or stay a while to enjoy the scenery (people watching to the max!). I would say that they appeal to the health concious yuppy, in a hurry to feed themselves so they can get on with making more money. I'm defintely in favour of their health concious ways even though I don't consider myself a yuppy by any means (that's a whole other battle).

Pret a Manger is home to fresh squeezed orange juice (my favourite!), flavoured fruit teas, gourmet sandwiches, soups, wraps, yogourt, salads, muffins, just to name a few.
I tried to eat at Pret as many times as I could because I knew that I wouldn't be able to find anything as good here in Toronto (Sorry, Hogtown). My favourite item by far was the "Hoisin Duck Wrap." This was a tortilla wrapped with slivers of Chinese BBQ duck meat (skin on) doused with hoisin (a thick and sweet Chinese sauce), red onions, cucumbers, leaf spinach. There was some mayonaise on it as well, but I wasn't such a fan of that. This is because I consider mayonaise to be my antithesis. You know how kryptonite is to Superman? Well, that's what mayonaise is to me.

Here is the link to this particular wrap: http://www.pret.com/menu/baguettes_wraps/1765.shtm

I've been reading up on their food philosophies and I can't agree more! If there was a Pret in Canada, I would eat there everyday.

For further knowledge on this wonderful establishment:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pret_a_Manger
http://www.pret.com/our_food/eat_with_your_head/

British food: Yay or Nay?

This is a picture taken at an Irish pub when I was in London last summer (July '06). All I've ever heard about British food was that it was bland and rather boring. Just how boring could it be? I had to give it a try to find out for myself.

In the picture, we've got steak and kidney pie to the left, Guiness beef stew in the far back, and good ol' fish n' chips to the right. Oh, and you can't forget the Mexican beer (Corona)!

The verdict: It tastes like how it looks. There are certainly no surprises here. I suppose it is decent and certainly edible, but I'd choose me some bibimbap or a hamburger any day. I just find British food to be rather heavy and fattening. If I were a full-time vegetarian, it would be hard to find something in a pub. I guess British food isn't really for the health concious. Goodness, they serve so much meat, even in the morning! So many things are made out of lard, but I have to admit, lard makes things taste so much better.

I think my favourite thing to eat in England are the pastries. I love the flaky dough of the Cornish pasties and sausage rolls. Pastries to England are like hotdogs to Toronto. The first thing I ate when I stepped off the plane was a Cornish pasty filled with something so good that I can't remember. If I lived in London, I would probably live off these things. So filling and cheap! I would probably also resemble Bridget Jones in the weight department too.


What are your thoughts on British food?

Did you know?:

In 1762, the sandwich was invented in England.
There is a town named Sandwich in the south of England. John Montagu, the Earl of Sandwich invented a small meal that could be eaten with one hand while he continued his nonstop gambling.

Diva's Spankopita

This is an old picture that I came across while browsing through my food photos. I made this in March of this year when I was visiting my friend Min in Seattle. We mostly ate out (to my dismay), but there was one night when we had and old friend and his wife come over for dinner. Although it was his kitchen, I was appointed head chef. I must say that he made an excellent sous chef, as he would help me chop and clean up everything while I cooked. I LOVE cooking without cleaning.

I have to admit that I felt a bit of pressure as he sprung this dinner thing on me at the last minute. He also told them that I was a good cook, so there was added pressure to maintain my reputation. Thankfully, my creative spirit pulled through and I was able to make a successful dinner.

Today, I plan to share the appetizer I made. I'm a huge fan of the Greek pastry; Spankopita. This is my own take on it, and I really had to make do with what I had, so it was rather improvised.

Ingredients:
Store bought flaky pie pastry (Oh the shame of it not coming from scratch)
1/2 a bag of spinach
1/2 red onion
1 container (500g) of feta cheese
1 dash of marsala wine
1 pinch of dried oregano
pepper to taste, no salt because the feta cheese is really salty

Directions for the pie shell:
Roll out dough. Put it in a round pan. Continue to knead with fingers (as opposed to toes). Pinch out ripples for the crust.

Directions for the filling:
Heat pan with olive oil and garlic. Saute onions, and spinach at a med-low heat. Add a dash of marsala wine, this is totally optional but I just couldn't help myself because it was a really nice bottle and I wanted to try it out. =) The adding of the marsala was indeed a huge risk because a little goes a long way with this extra sweet, dry, Italian sherry. Fortunately, it gave this dish a unique and unexpected flavour.
At a low heat, add 3/4 of the feta cheese into the pan. Cook for 2 minutes. You can add the pepper any time you want, or you can do what I do, and add some at the beginning and some at the end. Add oregano at any time as well. =)

Pour filling into the pie crust. Top with the remaining 1/4 container of feta cheese.

Directions for baking:
Preheat oven for 10 minutes at 350 C.
Bake for 25-30 minutes at 350 C or until crust is golden brown and the top looks crispy.

If anyone has a name suggestion for this dish, please let me know!

Leftover Lasagna

This is a four layer lasagna that I made from mainly leftovers. This recipe is neither inventive or gourmet by any means. This is a soulful, feel good meal to bring you out of any funk. Lasagna definitely makes it to the top ten of my soul food list. What's your soul food?

Ingredients:
6 boiled lasagna pasta sheets
1 pack of ground beef or last night's meat loaf
1 zucchini (because it's what I found in the fridge)
1/2 red onion chopped
2 roma tomatoes chopped
6 grape tomatoes chopped
1 cup of sliced mushrooms
2 large handfuls of rapini (Italian bitter green, kind of like Chinese greens)
1 container of ricotta cheese
1 cup of grated mozarella cheese
1/4 cup of grated parmesan cheese
1/2 can of tomato paste
Garlic, basil, salt, pepper to taste

The sauce:
Saute garlic, onions, tomatoes, mushrooms, basil and tomato paste. Add 1 cup of water. Cook under low-medium heat for 10 minutes, enjoy the beauty of simmering. =) Add salt and pepper to taste. You may even want to add red pepper flakes. I also like to add a drop of balsamic vinegar and 1/4 cup of red wine.

The filling:
Add Zuchini, ground beef, rapini to the sauce. Cook for another 7 minutes at medium heat. Turn off the stove and add ricotta cheese. We don't want the ricotta to melt completely, but just to be blended in nicely with the rest of the filling.

The layering:
In a long, deep pan, add a splash or two of olive oil. Place lasagna pasta sheets horizontally to cover the base of the entire pan. Spoon in sauce to cover the entire pan. Add mozarella cheese, but make sure you have enough to top the top with. Repeat layering instructions until you've reached the top. In general, lasagas are 4-6 layers high. Make sure you top the lasagna generously with mozarella and paremesan cheese.



Food to my soul.

Sky in a Pie (Summer Berry Pie)

With the insistance of my friend Shelley, we spent the afternoon making a pie. I'm not one for sweets, thus, I seldom make them. Also, baking requires precise measurements, and we all know that I'm not about that. Thankfully, Shelley is, thus, we created a picture perfect pie.

Pie Pastry:
We made the pastry dough from scratch. The recipe was found here: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Pastry-for-Double-Pie-Crust/Detail.aspx
We added a tsp of sugar to it too.


I think the most fun part was cutting out stars (by hand) to top the pie with!

Now onto the filling:
We bought a container of President's Choice frozen berries. We let it unthaw as much as possible but without worry because the water will help add to the syrup that is needed. So we added 1/2 a cup of sugar and 3/4 tsp of starch.
*If we could change one thing, it would be to add 1 cup of sugar instead of half. The berries were rather tart. Let's call this a rookie mistake.



This is Shelley in a serious baking mood.


The Making of the Pie:

I feel silly for stating the obvious, but I suppose I must. First, you line the pan with dough, pinch the sides to make the "ripple." Then you pour in the filling and top the pie with more dough. Although the traditional lattice (criss cross) pattern is easier to make, we opted to use stars for esthetic reasons and because it was tons of fun!

Baking directions:
Preheat the oven for 20 minutes at 350 C.
Wrap pie crust with tin foil so it won't burn.
Bake for 20 minutes.
Remove tin foil from crust.
Bake for another 20 minutes or until pie is golden brown.
Let it cool for at least 20 minutes before enjoying. =)

Lamb Chop's lamb chops

In memory of famed Lamb Chop's Play Along star Sherri Lewis, I will dedicate my lamb chop recipe to her, oh, and to Charlie Horse and Hush Puppy too. Lamb Chop's Play Along was a show that I grew up watching, well into my junior high years. There was a point in my life when I wanted to be a puppeteer/children's musician when I was younger. Well, guess what? It pretty much came true; I teach music to children and I own a beloved puppet (Mary Jane).

Two weeks ago, there was a sale at Dominion on lamb chops. I paid $1.25 for two decent sized chops. Lamb isn't something I make very often, and this is probably the second time in my life that I've ever made it. The first time was for Nick when I made lamb chops in a red wine balsamic reduction; I didn't really like it so much. I've been saving those babies in the freezer for a long time because I never really had a moment to cook them until today. It's been raining and thundering outside, thus, staying in has never been this good.

This is an efficient recipe that will compliment and help bring out the natural flavour of lamb quite nicely. For those of you who do not eat lamb because of that funky taste, the lemon in the recipe will help tone it waaay down. The parmesan cheese was a last minute improvisation but it worked really well to help tone down the acidity of the lemon.

This time, here is what I used:

IN "greedy" in-its (aka Ingredients):

2 lamb chops ($1.25)

1 shallot, chopped finely ($0.25)

1/2 of a lemon ($0.50)

2 tsps of rosemary (or to taste) ($0.05)

3 tsps of grated parmesan cheese ($0.50)

2 tbsps of olive oil ($0.75)

2 tbsps of red wine ($0.75)

3 tsps of butter ($0.10)

salt and pepper to taste ($0.02)

Total cost: $4.17

Instructions:

1) Place lamb chops in a mixing bowl and add chopped shallots, lemon juice, rosemary, olive oil, salt and pepper. You can leave it in the fridge for a few hours or NOT. You can skip this step because the lemon and rosemary, being the main flavour agents are strong enough to go without a long marinade period.

2) Next, in a deep skillet, heat up olive oil. When the oil is ready to go, place the lamb chops and everything else in the bowl onto the skillet. Keep the stove on medium heat. Cook the lamb on each side for about 3 minutes each. You will want to see a golden beige colour on each size. The lamb should still feel resilient when you poke it when your spatula. Your lamb chops should be at a medium rare at this point. Personally, I think lamb chops are best served at medium to medium rare standards.

3) The lamb is pretty much cooked by this point. Turn the stove down to a low heat. Now for the fun part, you can add the red wine and butter. Make sure you take time to smell the gorgeous aromas that you should now be producing. Who doesn't love alchemy? *sigh* The sauce should be cooked for 2 minutes.

4) Serve on a plate and enjoy! Please don't bother with frou frou garnishes unless you're cooking for someone special. *wink*



Sherri Lewis, may you rest in peace. Your song will "never end" because "it goes on and on my friend."

Music of the moment: Ella Fitzgerald: Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye

NB: I apologize for the absence of photos. The reason I don't have one is because I devoured it before I made the decision to create a food blog. I promise this won't happen again!

Motto: Experiencing life one meal at a time.

Hello out there to my fellow gastronomically- inclined bloggers!
I am no stranger to blogging nor am I a stranger to cooking and enjoying good food. However, this will be the first time using a blog purely for the sake of food. I've been following food blogs for years and it just dawned on me today that I should have one too.

Let me tell you a bit about myself. First, I will explain my name. The word "epicurious" is a play on words (epicurean + curious) and is derived from the word "epicurean" meaning "having luxurious tastes in eating and drinking." By nature, I am an inquisitive person, to put it nicely, I'm curious (as opposed to nosy). I love to learn and my personal philosophy on teaching (I'm a teacher) is that "a teacher will forever be a student."

The second word, "diva" has been a nickname I've carried around since my high school days. A diva, as you all know is a "distinguished" female singer. I've been singing in choirs and bands since I was a child. I'd like to clarify that I'm no Aretha Franklin or Renee Flemming, but I can carry a tune. Besides my voice, my primary instrument is the piano. I write my own songs and am well versed in the classical, jazz and pop genres. I'm a bonafide concert pianist that has somewhat retired in order to pursue other passions in life such as cooking! I hope you can gather by now that my two passions in life are food and music; what a fine pair they make!

Through this blog, I will post up MY OWN recipes, photos, music suggestions that go well with the food, and personal anecdotes that life shows me. Feel free to leave me a comment! I look forward to gushing about food with fellow foodies.

Ciao!


Enjoy these macaroons from Laduree in Paris.