If you like balsamic vinegar, the thick, sweet kind, on your tomatoes you will like this braised fennel with fresh tomatoes. I'm not sure if the fennel flavour itself works with the tomatoes, but on its own it tastes way too much like candy to call it salad. I fell in love with … [Read more...] about Braised Fennel: Bonnie Stern’s “Heartsmart Cooking”
What I Didn’t Know About Tomatillos: Balsamic Braised Fennel Salad
So I said last post that I didn't know if my tomatillos were the best ever because I hadn't had a lot of other tomatillos, but if these aren't the best I don't know how I'll react to even better ones. When I made the grilled salsa I figured there was soemthing special about the … [Read more...] about What I Didn’t Know About Tomatillos: Balsamic Braised Fennel Salad
Tomatillo (“Hog Plum”) Salsa: Beyond the Great Wall
I once made a tomatillo chicken dish with canned tomatillos...in Newfoundland, home of bland food. There was no way I could possibly find them fresh, and if by some miracle they popped up in a grocery store near me I'd have to be stupid to buy them. I think maybe once I did and I … [Read more...] about Tomatillo (“Hog Plum”) Salsa: Beyond the Great Wall
Another birthday: Pink-Iced Biscotti
Put these two pictures together and this is what I made:Appetizing, I know. Frosting freezes just fine and I'm not one to throw out a cup of butter. So when I had tons of leftover frosting from my roommate's birthday cupcake-cake I put it in the freezer until another birthday … [Read more...] about Another birthday: Pink-Iced Biscotti
Hero Worship and Birthday Cake: Chestnut Meringue Cupcakes with Beet Buttercream Frosting
I went to a BBQ yesterday and discovered Joy the Baker. No, she was not at the BBQ, but her pretzels were. When someone I know whose baking I respect tells me there's a great baking blog I should check out, I'm no fool. I check it out. This is not her recipe. Her recipes all … [Read more...] about Hero Worship and Birthday Cake: Chestnut Meringue Cupcakes with Beet Buttercream Frosting
100% Successful Pouding Chomeur
I love pudding cakes. You take all the wonderful things about cake, heat it up and let the icing soak through the cake, giving a higher icing:cake ratio. You can't mess up the consistency of the icing since it's liquid, but it can turn into a gooey, caramel-y sauce when all you … [Read more...] about 100% Successful Pouding Chomeur
“It’s a Jambalaya-laya”: Spicy Lamb Sausage and Chicken
When I lived in Newfoundland my family billeted a choir from Louisiana. Two girls came to stay with us for a few weeks and as a thank-you, the choir threw a big Mardi Gras party for all the host families. That meant tons and tons of food that I'd never seen before. I'd heard of … [Read more...] about “It’s a Jambalaya-laya”: Spicy Lamb Sausage and Chicken
Candy Garlic and Salt-Roasted Zucchini With Deep-Fried Onions: Tiau
What the heck is a tiau? Nobody seems to know. I googled and googled, and then gave up and asked people, and still I have no satisfactory response. Chefs are always coming up with elaborate names for dishes, but I'm sure this one has a history. It's from Josée di Stasio's "A la … [Read more...] about Candy Garlic and Salt-Roasted Zucchini With Deep-Fried Onions: Tiau
One-Ingredient Ice Cream
Know those cookbooks that are called "5-Ingredient Dinners!"? It's the exclamation market that really does it for me - I don't get how people can get so excited by cream of mushroom soup, because inevitably Campbell's is called in to play in these poor excuses for well-rounded … [Read more...] about One-Ingredient Ice Cream
A New Farmers’ Market: Almost “Raw” Banana Cream Pie
You might think I'd be getting farmers' market-ed out by this point. How can I keep up my frenetic pace of purchasing fresh produce? Well, it's not like I buy a week's worth of groceries everywhere I go. I buy one or two items, and only what I need for specific recipes I have … [Read more...] about A New Farmers’ Market: Almost “Raw” Banana Cream Pie