Orange & rosemary cranberry sauce

Time to put away the canned stuff because I’m going to prove to you how easy it is to make your own cranberry sauce! It takes about 5 minutes to make and your turkey we’ll be more than happy to share the spotlight with this delicious sauce!

I usually make mine 1 hour before my turkey is ready, that way, I can use some of the turkey broth that’s in the oven 🙂

Ingredients

1 package of fresh cranberries or a box of frozen cranberries (about 2 cups)

2 green shallots (chopped)

1 tablespoon of butter

1 branch of Rosemary

1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon

1/2 cup of white sugar (or more, it’s as you wish really…)

2 tablespoons of orange juice

1/4 cup of turkey broth (basically the good juice that’s lying in the bottom of the roasting pan)

salt & pepper

Preparation

On low heat add the shallots and the rosemary to the butter. Cook for 1 minute. Add all the other ingredients. Cook for about 5-7 minutes. Your cranberries will burst open and the sauce will become thicker and look like a jam. Once it’s to your liking, reserve.

Let cool before serving

Kindness

Well I love my cooking, but sometimes the world just goes to fast and the next thing I know my baby just turned 2, my boyfriend grew a pot belly, the VCR player is passé and grey hairs are growing faster on my skull than poison Ivy on a hot summer day!

So let’s take time to breathe, look around, make contact with the people that we love and be present in our everyday lives.

Here’s a great video on kindness that I absolutely had to share with you. Because let’s face it, the world can only be a better place if we take the time to be kind… 🙂

The video is made by Amy Krouse Rosenthal who is also the author of children’s books and as she puts it grown-up books. Amy also loves to cook, make something out of nothing and make wishes, hmm, we seem to have a lot in common!

Love them vintage aprons!

Sometimes I feel as though I was born in the wrong era. In my heart, I’m a 1950’s girl. I love pretty much everything about the 50’s, the music, the dresses, the innocence and…the kitchen’s! But since we haven’t figured out a way to turn back time yet, and no Bill & Ted’s time machine is in sight, I guess I’ll just have to settle on some vintage items such as these GREAT retro aprons!

I LOVE these wonderful aprons by Boojiboo and they have cupcakes and owls on them!

I still can’t get over this christmas inspired one and it’s only 17$! Did you see the beautiful stove in the background!

Jessie Steele has a great selection of retro looking aprons as well, both are 32,95$.

Carolyn’s Kitchen also offers a nice variety of vintage looking aprons but the prices are a bit higher (around 45$)

Regardless, all these aprons are beautiful and they can make a wonderful christmas gift for yourself of a friend that loves to cook 🙂

French onion soup

Ah, onion soup! It’s so easy to make, I don’t understand why it’s that hard to find a tasty one at a restaurant! For those at home who are still searching for THE onion soup recipe, well here it is, straight from my mother’s cook book, handwritten and all. You can’t say that this recipe isn’t homey, just by the look of it, with all that drizzling cheese, it instantly warms up my heart 🙂

Ingredients

-6 onions (chopped)
-3 tablespoons of butter
-1/2 cup of white wine
-2 tablespoons of all purpose flour
-6 cups of beef broth
-2 Bay leaves
-salt, pepper
-1 1/2  cups of grated cheese (Cheddar, Gruyère, or Swiss)
-Pain baguette or any bread you like

Preparation
Melt the butter in a casserole. Cook the onions on medium heat for about 20 minutes (keep an eye on them so that they don’t burn!). Add the wine and reduce 2/3 of it. Add the flour and incorporate the broth, the salt & pepper and the Bay leaves. Cook at a low temperature for about 30 minutes.

Once your soup is done and you’re ready to serve it, heat up your bread in the oven or if it’s sliced you can put it in the toaster.

Take an onion soup bol, or a bowl that goes in the oven (i.e.creuset) and put some grated cheese in the bottom of the bowl. Add the soup but leave some space on top for you bread. Add the bread on top and cover it with cheese, the more the merrier!

Broil in the oven til the cheese is melted, about 2 minutes…

Note: The next day, you can heat up your soup in the micro-wave and repeat the process with the bread & cheese in the oven. It’s a great meal to have after a hard day at work!

World’s largest gummy worm

Yes, I know, another Halloween video. But this one was too hilarious for me to keep for myself! For 27,95$ The World’s Largest Gummy Worm is 128 times bigger than your favorite childhood candy!

This treat is great for a Halloween party. Think of it,  twenty-six inches of gummy food that is bound to entertain. The gummy worm is  3 pounds,  it’s 4000 calories  and it’s available in five flavor combinations. Seriously, how could you say no?

Warning:  never to give this to your kids, unless you want a bunch of wild banshees running in your living room 🙂

Oven baked eggs with prosciutto & tomatoes

Now these eggs are great to serve when you have friends over for brunch! They’re easy to make, super tasty and they’re pretty sassy! All you need are eggs, prosciutto, and a muffin tray. The rest is up to you!

Ingredients

1-2 eggs per person

prosciutto (or ham)

2-3 tomatoes

1 garlic clove chopped

2 branches of Thyme (about 1 tablespoon)

3 tablespoons of olive oil

Preparation

Heat your oven at 350F.

Next, make your tomato sauce. In a pan, add some olive oil and garlic. Cook for 1 minute, make sure the garlic doesn’t burn. Add the tomatoes and the Thyme and cook for about 5 minutes until a sauce is formed.

Butter or oil your muffin tray. Line the muffin cups with 1-2 pieces of prosciutto, you basically want them to act as a muffin liner…

Put some tomato sauce in the bottom of each cup.  Break an egg into each of the muffin cups. Do this carefully so that you don’t break the yoke. Sprinkle each egg with salt and pepper.

Bake for 10-12 minutes until the eggs are set but still runny inside.You want the whites to be cooked. If they aren’t cooked to your liking, you can return them to the oven and check every minute.

Serve immediately with a toasty baguette and some extra tomato sauce on the side!

Sock Zombies!

Well, Halloween is just around the corner and after making all those candy filled goody bags the next thing on my list is arts & crafts. I can’t say that I’m very good at that sort of thing and I make it a point to stay very far away from the sowing machine but these sock zombies are just too easy to make and the video is hilarious!

For more inspiring and creative ideas, visit this great blog: Craftzine.

Segovia: who said there wasn’t good food in the Peg?

Salt and Pepper squid with Apple Saffron Aioli

I visited Winnipeg this summer because my hubby wanted me to meet his grandmother. I didn’t really know what to expect from the city as I had never been. In the taxi ride on our way to my mother in law, I spotted a great looking restaurant that captured my attention, Segovia tapas bar & restaurant. Being a huge fan of tapas and Spain, I noted the name and promised myself to go and eat there. About ten minutes later, the taxi finally pulled up to our destination.

Luck had it that my mother in law lives in Osborne village, a colorful and creative area in Winnipeg. The following day, she encouraged us to walk around and visit the boutiques and cafe’s. As I strolled down Stradbrooke Avenue, I was astonished to stumble upon Segovia as it was right next to my mother in law’s condo (hmmm that taxi driver sure did fool us!). Being 10 in the morning, we obviously couldn’t go in (even though the menu was VERY appealing), but as soon as the clock turned 12 boy did we charge! Moments of pure delight followed.

Asparagus with soft poached egg, serrano ham, idiazabal cheese cream sauce

I must say that Segovia has been my best discovery in regards to restaurants in 2010. I still crave most of the dishes that I ate that day. It’s remarkable that such a young chef can be so talented, but I tell you, it is indeed possible! Adam Donnelly is a chef to be reckoned with! And with his loved one, Carolina Konrad, they have managed to offer wonderful, well-balanced dishes at reasonable prices in a beautiful decor. They even spent 6 weeks in Spain to seek inspiration for the restaurant. On their website you can read “For Segovia’s menu, Adam gracefully melds Spanish recipes and techniques with local ingredients and modern ideas to create an inspiring menu of delicious small dishes meant to be shared amongst friends and family.” I couldn’t have said it better myself!

Hanger Steak with beets, valdeon cheese and horseradish salsa verde

Seared Scallops with Cauliflower Puree and Pedro Xiemenez Caramel

I still crave the seared scallops dish, and even attempted to do it at home (with a great level of success I must say!) The desserts are wonderful as well, Machengo cheesecake, Cinnamon Churros, Dark chocolate torte… The restaurant also offers a very nice selection of wines ans Sherry’s.

Coming from a foodie that has pretty high standards in regards to restaurants, I promise you that Segovia will provide you with a great culinary experience. My mouth and my brain were pretty much in awe the whole time. I even went back the following day!

Dishes are priced between 4$-28$ (average about 10$ per dish), and I suggest 2-3 tapas per person, shared with your friends and family of course!

 

Segovia

484 Stradbrooke Avenue, Winnipeg

204-477-6500

Note: all photos were taken by Carolina Conrad, thank you!

Pumpkin…cake!

Well it’s Thanksgiving today in Canada and even though many people think that us frenchies (I’m from Montreal which makes me French Canadian) don’t celebrate this wonderful and delicious holiday, well we do! And to prove it here is a great recipe that I found last week on the Martha Stewart website and it has been tried, tested and approved ny none other than MOI! Oh yes, by my friends and family too of course!

This cake reminded me of the pumpkin pie my mother use to make when I was little. Oddly, I don’t really like pumpking pie so why I was so attracted by this cake recipe is a mystery to me. I guess that I was in the Thanksgiving spirit?

The cake is very dense and doesn’t really taste like pumpkin at all. Even my friend who hates the vegetable in the cake combo, went for a second piece. Martha suggested a vanilla frosting. It was okay but a bit sweet, if I were to do it again I think that I would try some type of glaze (orange perhaps?) instead.

But the icing made it rustic looking which was nice. I didn’t put any nutmeg or allspice as I don’t like those spices very much.And I reduced the amount of sugar as well (which was a good thing because the icing is very sweet). If you want to make the cake look more festive you could always add some orange food coloring in it!

Ingredients – Serves 8 to 10

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup of sugar

2 large eggs

1 cup homemade pumpkin puree or canned

1/2 cup warm milk

Directions

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-by-2-inch round cake pan. Coat with butter.

In a large bowl, sift together flour, cinnamon, salt, baking powder, and baking soda; set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat sugar and butter together until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add eggs, and beat until combined. Add pumpkin puree and milk; beat until combined. Add reserved flour mixture; beat on low speed until just combined.

Pour batter into prepared pan, and bake until a cake tester inserted into the middle comes out clean, about 50-55 minutes. Transfer the cake to a wire rack to cool. Let cake rest 20 minutes.

Unmold cake. Using an offset spatula, spread icing over top of cake, and decorate with walnut halves.

Vanilla Frosting

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup sifted confectioner’s sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

3 tablespoons milk

Directions

In a bowl, mix butter, sugar, vanilla, and milk; stir until smooth. Layer over cake once the cake has cooled.

Apple and Dijon lamb stew

Oh the time to pick apples has arrived and what better thing to do than actually make meals with them! I love making stews in the Fall, it always warms me up and they feel like a big hug after a long day at work. The best thing about stews is that they’re easy to do and if you make a big batch, you’ll have great left overs and amazing lunches (your colleagues will be jealous!) for the following days. And your kids and hubby will be more than happy that you have more quality time to spend with them and less time to give in front of the stove!

Ingredients

2 tablespoons of olive oil

1 kg of lamb cubes

1 onion (diced)

2 tablespoons of Dijon mustard

1 bouquet garni (or 1/4 cup of fresh parsley, 1 thyme branch, 2 bay leaves)

salt & pepper

1 tablespoon of all purpose flour

5 cups of beef broth (or lamb if you can find some)

2 cups of apple juice (the homemade looking kind…)

Apple garnish

2 tablespoons of butter

3 apples (peeled & sliced)

Preparation

In a large casserole, add the oil and cook the onions for 2-3 minutes. Add the lamb cubes and sear the meat on every side until it is evenly browned. It takes a few minutes but it’s worth it, the caramelized flavours are the secret! Add the flour, the broth and the apple juice. Then mix in the Dijon mustard and the bouquet garni.

Bring the pot to a simmer. Cook on medium heat for 1h45 minutes or until the meat is tender. Add broth or apple juice if needed while cooking.

For the garnish, once your meat is cooked, put the butter in a pan and caramelise your apples. Don’t cook them too long as you want the a bit on the crunchy side!