Pork shouldn't be called the 'other' white meat

Makes it sound like a second class citizen.  I like pork, Ham is my favourite but a good pork chop is right up there. 

The finished roast - so good!

This roast was gooooooood. First time I've made such a thing.  It made awesome leftovers and it made a great entree as well.   The chorizo I used because I had it.  The apples, well it just seemed natural and the sage - same thing, just a natural 'go to' flavour combination.  Worked well, I'd do it (or something very similar) again.  Maybe even use pancetta over the roast next time, that would rule!

Inspired by basically and a combined version of these two recipes:

http://food.chatelaine.com/Recipes/View/Pancetta_wrapped_pork_with_apple_stuffing

http://recipes.howstuffworks.com/apple-stuffed-pork-loin-roast-recipe.htm

ROAST PORK LOIN WITH APPLE CHORIZO STUFFING

(and gravy)

Ice Cream, Sherbet, I scream for both!

I'll write more on the easter roast later, but I have to tell you about 2 of the most successful frozen desserts I have made with my ice cream machine which I served at Easter Dinner! 

Strawberry sauce caps a delicious
frozen treat!

Last year for my birthday my wonderful boyfriend bought me an attachment for my kitchenaid mixer, an ice cream machine!  WOW I thought, I was so pumped on endorphins that day (from running a half marathon a couple hours earlier) and I just thought it was the best gift ever, I still think that!  Frozen desserts are my favourite desserts, I just LOVE ice cream, frozen yogurt, sherbet, soft serve, you name it - and I'm not a snob about them either.  I just have to like it, that's my only criteria (I don't like all of it, I don't think bubblegum has any place in ice cream)

I made Lemon Sherbet and Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream served in Tuile bowls.  All three recipes are contained here.  In hindsight I wish I took photos of the ice cream churning, but I'll save that for next time I post an ice cream recipe (peanut butter chocolate anyone??!?!?!?)

Turkey at it's (not so) finest - but good leftovers!

Gobble gobble - no this isn't a post about Easter dinner, it's actually a post about the dinner we had on Good Friday.  No, it wasn't a religious dinner.  I didn't just think that you could only eat turkey legs and forego the rest of the bird.  Although in hindsight (ha ha) I wish that I had the rest of the bird.



Looks - can be deceiving!



There's a reason turkey legs are cheap but I'm trying to understand their allure.  For those of you who have visited the states, esp the southern areas (I'm no expert, I'm just talking about my experience in Florida) Turkey legs, namely, smoked BBQ ones are a HIT.  Why?  Dear heavens, WHY?  Maybe because they're salty and full of sauce and people just dig stuff they can pick up.  Or maybe it's for macho people thinking 'no drumsticks for me thanks, I want TURKEY LEGS!'

Anyway, turkey legs are cheap, and you know this wasn't terrible it's just not that awesome of a meat without the whole bird (although I would HIGHLY recommend this method of prep for breast meat) and I did redeem it at the end of it's life :)

I took this on like I have turkey breasts of the past, and chickens of the past, and turkeys of the past.  It didn't work out but it looked good!

TURKEY LEGS in LEMON THYME

(no, I don't mean 3/4 or 4/4 time, oh that joke sucks I know)

Pucker Up!

Right now I have a cold, so there will be several posts coming shortly as I'm not so productive in other areas.  The Easter dinner I hosted tonight was great!  But more on that in another post....



What I want to talk about now very quickly was the cooking course I took at my friendly neighborhood Loblaws a few evenings ago.   I've wanted to take one of these for the last...oh...forever but I always put it off, but last week I said 'dammit, I'm learning how to cook with lemons!' so I signed up to the class "Pucker Up for Spring"



Lemon pasta w/ seafood and asparagus!

I wasn't sure what to expect, actually, but I liked the delivery and I learned a few tips and a few things from the chef for sure.   Basically the 'class' sits there and watches the chef as they give tips on what they are doing, explain the ingredients, and of course you get to ask questions.  As the dishes are prepared, you get some samples (which ruled since I was STARVING).  Anyway, the chef...she was super cool, her name was Monique Ferron-Jobin (from Sudbury, google her and you'll find other classes and things she does), by trade a pastry chef but of course was quite proficient in all things culinary.  She was a HOOT.  I really enjoyed being here and I really enjoyed the dishes.

On the sly I took a couple of photos of what we ate.  The pasta was fantastic.   I'll post recipes though, only once I've tested them myself.   :)
Crispy Oven Fried chicken.
Lemon Pasta w/ Asparagus and sea scallops (and shrimp)
Lemon sponge cake (w/ lemon curd and whip cream).

Anyway, for those curious about these courses, and if you like or even passively like cooking - give one of these a shot!  I'm thinking of taking a Vietnamese food course next :)

Wonderful Wedding

*note, more photos coming soon

Wow, what a weekend in food!  Not much cooking to be done (thank god) but much eating was done!!!  My sister's wedding was a memorable one to say the very least and here is a snapshot of what we were up to food wise during the wedding and my thoughts! thoughtys

Thursday evening Alright now I’m not really 'reviewing' this but it's more to say that this really set the tone for the whole weekend.  The groom's family hosted a wonderful delicious including meatballs in tomato sauce, lasagne, spiral sliced ham, veg salad (with simple yet wonderful oregano oil based dressing) and cheesecake bars for dessert, awesome!

Friday night we went to the KEG manor, this place is cool in that it provides ambience and some private areas. Basically, it's an old house and reminded me of the (former) Friday's roast beef house in some ways.  We were in a private-ish area with some nice natural light and good ambience.  The wine was good!  I drank a glass of Mondavi Cabernet Sauvignon to go with my meal.



Bad photo - excellent meal!!



Overall, this is about the best Keg meal I have ever had, maybe because I was really hungry - or maybe because it really was that good.

I chose the teriyaki sirloin classic dinner with baked potato, rare, with a bouquet of Dungeness crab and a starter of caesar. The ceasar was lighter than I remember, and this is a good thing as I do enjoy a tangy light Caesar over heavier creamier ones.

Now I'll admit, I like crab a lot but I'm a bit inexperienced with it (as I am with all seafood), I'm not so bad at king crab but Dungeness is another story.  I made a mess of the shells (I was the last one to finish eating) but it was tasty and very interactive.  A really nice touch was keeping the butter over a tea light flame to stay melted.  I’m glad I didn't spill it because it was in-fact boiling and might have hurt someone :)   I also ate my sisters (now) husband's cheesecake remainders - ha! It was alright but very status quo.

Saturday - Oh what a night it was!  I mean this day was busy, and I did the best I could with eating well throughout the day and evening, it worked out and I felt just fine the next day - which is a good thing.

I won't get into the nitty gritty details of the day but there was a cocktail hour (and a late night snack table which was identical) where they served cheese and crackers, small sandwiches, veggie tray, some hot hors d'ouvres - nothing really stood out but nothing was bad either. 



Main:   We started with a garden salad and with it had (I think) a sun dried tomato dressing, it was a nice start but then we had a really good main, probably the best banquet chicken I've had.  It was a chicken masala (breast) with mushroom sauce served with roasted potatoes, baby carrots, broccoli florets, and a lovely parmesan tomato on the side with a small sprig of thyme sticking out - love the detail!  They did a great job for having over a hundred people to serve.  The temperature of the meal was good and the food was not over or under done (at least from my viewpoint).  I ate it all!

Wines: Were they Lindemans'? Or a Canadian white? I'm not sure, but I really liked the wine, maybe too much.  The white was definitely chardonnay, that I can tell you.

Dessert: Was a frozen chocolate mousse bombe with strawberry on the inside - basically it was ice cream by any other name but if you know me, you know frozen desserts are my thing and I ate the whole thing! and some of the brides' too! heh heh ;)

Cake: My sister's friend made the cake, it was lovely! A dense and moist vanilla cake with vanilla bean in it was very vanilla-y (is that a word) and I really liked it.  The vanilla buttercream filling was excellent. I wish I was hungrier or I would have eaten more.  I was picking the cake crumbs off the tray when we were packing it up (yes, I am classy like that)



DELICIOUS! Surprise sandwich



Sunday - Well the wedding's over and after I put in my pot roast into the crock pot (see previous post) Adam and I headed downtown for the possibility of going out to breakfast (and to get the car, and get all of my stuff from my parents hotel room).  We didn't end up going out with wedding attendees, but we DID go to Cora's which was awesome.  It was one of those perfect times at Cora's where you beat the line-up (because as soon as we sat down there were people hanging out the door).  I had the SUPRISE and it was good as usual (a french toast sandwich with cheese, ham and fried egg in it topped with fruit, all the elements I like in breakfast)

It's Thursday now, I'm still tired :)   EASTER WEEKEND is coming upon us and I will be sharing some AWESOME recipes in the coming days.

Bon-Appetit!



roast without the roasting

some days active cooking isn't a priority....but eating well is :)  This past weekend my sister got married which is AWESOME (a post will be coming in the next couple of days detailing some of my eating experiences) but on Sunday, the day after the wedding I wasn't feeling awesome.  Nooooooo, not alcohol induced so much as lack of sleep induced.  So for some reason it's 6:15 AM and I'm awake.  Up like a dart.  Perfect.  ugh.

just removed from the crock pot into
a casserole while the gravy gets made

Well I knew as on those days the reasonable feelings aren't going to last and I will be dead tired by the afternoon.  What to do?  CROCK POT.  again.  yes, I'm into the crock these days but this day in particular called for easy comfort. 



CROCKPOT POT ROAST is easy comfort.



I adapted this somewhat from the 365 days of slow cooking blog, and some other ideas too.  Here's what I did:

super sweet sausage soupiness (with a kick)

This weekend wasn't a big cooking weekend, we were busy and had other things going.  I still got in this soup, and it's one I've wanted to make for a really long time.  Chorizo was a dollar off at the grocery store, so I knew it was in the offing... :)



"As part of a balanced lunch.." :)

I know I've been taking a LOT from this book lately, but it's a good

book, I'm into it.  When I first read though it I thought "I'm going to try every recipe in here" not like a Julie and Julia thing but more like I found what I saw appealing and I knew it would fit into my style and would (and it has) enhance my cooking.  I haven't tried them all yet, but I would say I've done at least a quarter, if not a third.

SWEET POTATO AND CHORIZO SOUP:



I googled it and found the original here:

http://porkknifeandspoon.com/2010/01/09/jamie-olivers-sweet-potato-and-chorizo-soup/

This soup came together super quickly and has a nice flavour.  The heat isn't overwhelming and the sausage adds a great texture and a good contrast to the sweet potato.  Sweet potato soups are often just that - sweet and maybe too thick.  This one was not, it finished very well and didn't overwhelm the palette (I think that's because of the other veggies and the sausage contrast).  You could easily kick up the heat in this bad boy by adding more jalapenos, chili flakes, maybe even ginger?? etc.

Sarah Salutes Savoy!

This post contains one of the best casseroles I have ever made - bar none!

When I was growing up, I did not like cabbage.  No offence Mom, but boiled green cabbage holds little flair for most palettes.  The solution of sopping it in butter and salt and pepper sucked the nutrition right out of it.   Actually i was a bit too old before I realized there were actually different kinds of cabbage.  I made a recipe using purple cabbage braised with a touch of butter and mustard and it was a wonderful accompaniment.  I figured out something - I actually like cabbage, it can actually taste good. I didn't even discover Savoy cabbage until a recipe I read called for it about 2 years ago.

Savoy cabbage is my (now) favoured cabbage due to it's lighter leafier texture and it's not too strong cabbagey flavour.  I like using it in slaw as well as braised as well as incorporated into casseroles.  The thing is, cabbages are BIG so you need to get creative in using it since one cabbage can potentially make enough slaw to feed 30 people.

Ready to serve - curried slaw!



SATURDAY night we were feeling 'summery' and chicken was on sale.  I would never in the several years we've been together buy 'bone in' chicken because Adam told me he didn't like it years ago (with an icky face and all).  We had a discussion a couple of days ago, and I basically figured from this that he did like chicken with bones in it as long as it was cooked appropriately.  Perfect.  Legs and thighs were on sale and we had a BBQ!

What I learned:  Chicken burns easily, at least the fattier ones do.  The drumsticks however, were perfect, but this is not about the chicken, this is about the CABBAGE!  The curried savoy coleslaw I  made can be found below:



Sweeeeeeeeeet.......

......and sour!

If nothing in my life i LOVE contrast, and that carries over to my food choices.  Peanuts and chocolate, raisins in my curry, apples in my curry, mangoes in my curry, man I love curry...but this isn't curry.

I made this a few days ago in the crock and had it again last night for supper.  I liked it alot, so did Adam and I learned a bit from it if I made it again, but as it stood, it was very good.

Don't expect it to be a stir fry, it isn't.  A slow cooker is a completely different way to enjoy your usual favourites, a stir fry is generally tender crisp, this is more mushy but arguably has alot more flavour, so really you end up winning, yes?  This was great, and the leftovers were greater still.



Plated on rice, with some shredded lettuce
for CONTRAST



CROCKPOT SWEET AND SOUR CHICKEN (with veggies)

Somewhat inspired by this recipe: http://southernfood.about.com/od/crockpotchicken/r/bl98c10.htm but also by any other sweet and sour stew recipe out there.  Here's what I did:

Meat:
1.5lb of boneless skinless chicken breast meat cut into large chunks*

Veg:
1 large green pepper, 1 red pepper, 1 large carrot, 2 large celery stalks all cut into large chunks
2 cloves of garlic sliced