Steak Night avec Roquefort

Steak is probably the easiest and most "personalizable" dish you can make. Honestly, the hardest part was eating it, because it was huge.

Here are some good tips on how to make a perfect steak, by Jamie Oliver - whom I love more than he loves rosemary.

Personally, I like to buy steak from the butcher, as it is more fresh and you can ask for specific cuts and thickness. I find that pieces with lots of white marble parts on them cook the best because the melted fat makes them juicier- yum!

For seasoning I usually just use salt and pepper, but sometimes I like to use Montreal Steak spice and garlic.

I always grill some veggies if the BBQ is on for cooking the meat.

Slice some red peppers, onions and zuchini; drizzle them with olive oil and throw them on the grill. It's that simple.

You can also wrap the veggies in tinfoil and then cook them- for a less smoky taste.

After you take the meat off the grill-let it rest. Set it aside(covered or uncovered) so that the juices soak into the meat. If you start eating it right away, the steak might dry out really fast.

This time, I topped the steak off with some crumbled Roquefort cheese, which went really brought out the BBQ flavour; and paired with a Spanish Rioja wine...amazing!

What is YOUR favourite summer BBQ recipe?

Amazing Ambrosia Salad aka Food for the Gods!

OK, so if I ever wrote a book about simple dishes that look complicated, this would be the cover-page! It tastes DELICIOUS! Takes less than 2 minutes to prepare.. if you are fast at opening canned fruit.

I never heard of this salad before, until I saw it being served at work for brunch. I never knew what was in it exactly but ate bowls and bowls of it. I later investigated and found out it was only 5 ingredients: coconut shavings, sour cream, pineapple, marshmallows and mandarin oranges.

I then looked up where it originated and this is what I found:

"Ambrosia. The food of the gods in classical mythology. The term may mean food in the narrow sense of eatables, in which case it is the counterpart of nectar, the drink of the gods; or it may mean food in the wider sense of sustenance, when it embraces drink also. What the gods were actually supposed to eat is a matter of conjecture. In the English language any especially delicious food may be called ambrosia; but this usage has become uncommon."

---Oxford Companion to Food, Alan Davidson [Oxford University Press:Oxford] 1999 (p. 14)

No wonder they named it this. Its amazing.

Remember, its equal parts of each ingredient.

1 cup diced pineapple

1 cup canned mandarin oranges

1 cup sour cream

1 cup mini marshmallows

1 cup sweetened coconut shavings

Gently mix together equal parts of all the ingredients and... its ready!

Usually I decorate it with a round pineapple in the middle, oranges around it and cherries lining the bowl.. But I didn't have much fruit left today.

Hope you enjoy this salad, its perfect for the summer. Great dish to bring to a bbq as well!

Seafood Risotto in 20 minutes

So I received this over-advertised kitchen tool as a gift yesterday, and decided to try it out. I must say the infomercial with the infamous Sham wow guy whatever his name is, draws my attention everytime.. I just can't look away. Same withe that couple making a 5 course meal with their Magic Bullet. Well, it's not as great as it looks. Maybe I'm just not strong enough but my wrists are sore from punching that thing down! It did cut the onions pretty quick, but then I had to wash it for 10 minutes because they got stuck in the blades. I will probably use it to make fruit salad in the future, as its softer and I usually make a large portions of it so it does same time peeling and cutting fruit.

Anyway, on to the recipe!

What I used:

4 medium sized sweet onions

3 cups of fish stock

1/2 cup of grated parmesan cheese

2 cups Arborio rice

Olive oil

Assorted Seafood

In a saucepan, heat up olive oil and brown the chopped onions in it.

Once the onions are done, pour in the rice and let the olive oil coat each piece.

Let it simmer on medium heat for 2 minutes then slowly start adding the fish stock to the rice.

Add the stock half a cup at a time, and let the rice absorb it before pouring in more.

I turned the heat down a bit for this process, it may take longer but the risotto will be more flavourful and moist as the stock won't evaporate as quickly.

Add in the seafood and Parmesan after a cup of stock has been added. I usually pre cook the seafood a little, so it doesn't undercook.

Garnish and serve hot. I like to have it on its own, but you can also serve it as a side!

Mussel Mondays

I wonder if there is a disorder where people only eat foods beginning with the first letter of the day each day? Monday mussels in Muscat wine with Mezze penne and miso soup.. mousse for dessert:)

New Blog idea? Maybe.

Well, here's my take on what I would call a typical Parisian mussel dish served with a fresh baguette and a chilled bottle of wine.

You will need:

1 kg fresh mussels (1 bag would do for 2 hungry people)

2 -3 finely chopped onions

1 red pepper, diced

1 jalapeño pepper, finely chopped

1 clove garlic finely chopped

120 ml fresh cream

1 cup dry white wine

1 tablespoon butter

Start off with washing the mussels and de-bearding them. I just scrubbed them with one of those hardcore metal scrubber things. Discard of broken shells or those which are already open- they died.

Let the mussels sit in cold water while you chop the veggies.

Its pretty much up to you which veggies you use in the sauce, but onions and garlic are key. I used red pepper and a jalapeño pepper to spice things up.

Fry the veggies in butter , then add a glass (or more) of dry white wine. Let it simmer for 30 seconds and add a cup of cream.

Add the mussels and cook on med-hi heat for about 5 minutes until all the mussels have opened, which means they are cooked.

-Avoid overcooking as it makes the mussels tougher.

-Do not serve the shells that did not open!

I like my mussels in a bowl with lots of sauce, a crispy baguette and a glass of wine with it:)

Delicious no-skill required platters

Just a quick post of my two favourite SUPER EASY arrangements.

First one is a fruit arrangement. The first time I served it at a summer BBQ, a friend asked " is that from Edible Arrangements"? So I looked them up and here it is: http://www.ediblearrangements.ca/ Basically just fruit arrangements with delivery. It would cost you $234 for a party platter. Or you can just make it yourself and spend $30 on a variety of fruits!

In this one, I used half a melon as a base and just stuck the skewers in it until the whole area was covered. You could get super creative and make tiers and levels, you can also cut pineapple circles in shapes of flowers...just look through the edible arrangements website for ideas and save your money:)

The second one is a tomato-spinach-bocconcini toothpick skewers. Very easy to make and taste delicious. Easier to eat than a salad and looks great as well.

Apple Pie you've been waiting for...

When I went to Miami, my only goal was to find the best key lime pie in existence. I can never make a good one.. therefore all that I tried in MIA were 1000 times better and won 1st place in my books. I know I won't ever have this problem with apple pies, because this one is #1.

Ingredients:

Fresh apples from the farm ( I took these pictures back in October)

Peel and grate the apples, I like to grate them pretty thick sometimes even just slice them.

Simmer the apples on low-med heat to evaporate the juices. You can add some sugar or cinnamon to taste as well.

This is what you will need for the dough. Really simple.

Mix half a package of butter, 2 eggs and add a cup of sugar.

Add a table spoon of vanilla extract to the mix..and slowly add flour.

I start by adding 2 cups of flour, then keep adding more until the mixture looks like the next picture. It should feel soft and malleable.

You don't need a mixer, just use a spoon:)

Spread the dough on a baking tray. You can also use a proper dish but I like think crust pie.

Then spread the apple mixture on top (make sure you cooled it down after the juice evaporated)

Then take the remaining dough and roll it out. Cut thin strips and arrange them on the pie like this:

Glaze over with some beaten eggs and throw it on the oven at 400 degrees.

Bake until golden brown!

And we're ready for a tea party

My sister Liza, loves my pie.

Baked Brie

Since we're on the topic of quick hors d'oeuvre and puff pastry dough recipes, here's another one of my favourites:

I love brie on its own.. but the sweet jam and the pastry make it 5000 times better!

It takes 10 minutes to bake and about 5 to prepare. Totally recommend it for any get together.

I used phyllo that was already premade into thin sheets. Place the brie in the center of a stack of 6 phyllo sheets (12 for a larger brie). Spread a jam or some dried fruit on top and grade walnuts or cashews on top. I used strawberry jam since thats all I had, but apricot, pear and fig spread works wonderfully as well.

Every time you fold over a layer of phyllo dough, brush the top with butter, and proceed to the next layer. I did 6 sheets on mine and stuck it in the oven for 10 minutes.

After 10 minutes turn off the oven but let the brie sit in there for 10 more.. it keeps it warm, and lets the cheese melt more without burning the pastry.

And voila: