Roasted Chicken Drumsticks

If you are are looking for a dish that will perfume your kitchen with roasted garlic and rosemary, then look no further because I have just the recipe for you. All you need for this recipe are six simple ingredients: Chicken drumsticks, garlic, dried rosemary, olive oil, Chinese spice salt and black pepper. The secret to making these drumsticks extra savory is the spice salt, which is salt mixed with Chinese Five Spice. We always have this on hand because it's a fast and easy way to add flavour to food other than the usual S&P.

I made this dish for my family the other night and honestly there's nothing nicer that coming home to the wonderful aromas of dinner cooking and roasted garlic. They thought I slaved in the kitchen all day.



Ingredients:
Chicken drumsticks
Garlic cloves
Dried rosemary
Chinese spice salt
Black pepper
Olive oil

Directions:
1. Wash the chicken drumsticks and pat dry with paper towel
2. To marinade the chicken, add spice salt, black pepper, dried rosemary and enough olive oil to coat. Using a grater, grate 1-2 garlic cloves over the chicken.
3. If you have time, pop the chicken into the fridge to marinade for a few hours. This step won't make a huge difference.
4. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and roast the drumsticks for 40 minutes.
5. After 40 minutes, turn the oven to broil for about 10 minutes. Once the skin is crispy and golden, they are ready.

Note: Don't worry if the garlic looks burnt, it should look this way. The garlic will taste sweet and not pungent like raw garlic.

xoxO

Truffles

Chocolate truffles are one of my all-time favorite desserts. Luckily, it also happens to be one of the easiest things to make and with the holidays just around the corner, these decadent treats make the perfect hostess gift or for easy entertaining. This recipe comes from Canadian Living and the recipe is foolproof. The most difficult part is stopping yourself from snacking on leftover chocolate and licking the whisk. Anyway, did I mention that this was my first time making truffles?





Ingredients:
277g of semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped (make sure it's good quality)
2/3 cup of whipping cream
1/4 cup butter, cubed
1 tbsp vanilla
Cocoa powder (for the coating)

Preparation

Place chocolate in heatproof bowl. In saucepan, heat cream with butter just until butter melts and bubbles form around edge of pan. Pour over chocolate; whisk until smooth. Whisk in vanilla. Cover and refrigerate until firm, about two hours.

Using a melon baller or teaspoon, drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto two waxed paper-lined baking sheets. Gently roll each to round off completely. Freeze until hard, about one hour. (Make-ahead: Cover and freeze for up to one day.)

Coating: Roll each truffle in a small bowl with a couple tablespoons of cocoa powder.

Make-ahead: Layer between waxed paper in airtight container and refrigerate for up to one week or freeze for up to three months.

*note: You will notice that I used cocoa powder for the coating instead of chocolate because that's how I like my truffles.

xoxO

Pasta with Roasted Tomato Sauce

On Sunday, I spent the afternoon planning my meals for the upcoming week and went grocery shopping. I rarely do this, so I felt really productive and prepared for the busy week ahead. I made enough quinoa salad to last me for the whole week, made a delicious steak and potatoes dinner and slow roasted tomatoes. I know it sounds like a lot of work, but it felt good knowing that I wouldn't have to slave away in the kitchen during the week.
Now, back to the slow roasted tomatoes. I wanted to make pasta for dinner, so this was an easy way to make a hearty sauce. This recipe was inspired by Sophie Dahl's roasted tomato soup except much more simpler and rustic. No blender or immersion blender is required and you don't have to stew the tomato sauce for hours.

Ingredients:
6 tomatoes
4 cloves of garlic
Dried rosemary
Sugar
Salt
Pepper
Balsamic Vinegar
Chopped parsley
Parmesan cheese
Spaghetti

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. Chop tomatoes into chunks and smash the garlic cloves. Place everything in a baking dish. Add, salt, pepper, dried rosemary, sugar (I eyeballed all of the measurements). Slow roast in the oven for 50 minutes.
3. Take the pan out of the oven and mash tomatoes with a fork. You can blend everything into a smooth sauce, but I love the rustic chunks of tomato.
4. Pour the roasted tomatoes into a pot and simmer until the sauce begins to thicken. About 20-30 minutes. Add a splash of balsamic vinegar and more sugar if the sauce is too sour.
5. Cook the pasta, top with the tomato sauce and garnish with some chopped parsley.

Serve immediately with lots of Parmesan.





xoxO

Twice baked potato + roasted carrot soup

I spent Sunday afternoon watching Delicious Miss Dahl on YouTube and felt inspired to make dinner from scratch. In this particular episode, Sophie was feeling nostalgic and made a homesick lunch. She prepared twice baked potatoes with goat cheese and crème fraiche and a roasted tomato soup. I definitely did not have any fancy ingredients stocked in my pantry, so I raided my fridge to avoid running to the grocery store. To my surprise, I found gouda cheese, scallions, onions, garlic and a carrot. I instantly came up with my own twist to Sophie's nostalgic meal and decided to make twice baked potato with gouda cheese and scallions and a roasted carrot soup. There was no recipe involved, just whatever I thought would taste delicious together. I think I learned this from my mom, she rarely cooks with a recipe.

Ingredients:

Twice baked potato
1 potato
1 stalk of scallion
Gouda cheese (Any cheese you prefer would work, also as much as you like)

Roasted Carrot Soup
1 Carrot
1 Small onion
Dried Rosemary
Few cloves of garlic
Enough olive oil to coat the vegetables

Directions:
1. Wash and scrub the potato well. Place potato in 400 degree oven and bake for an hour and a half.
2. Cut carrots and onions and place on a sheet pan. Add the garlic cloves, rosemary, salt and pepper. Drizzle the vegetables with olive oil and place in a 400 degree. Roast for 45 minutes.
3. Once the potato is cool enough to handle, cut it in half length wise. With a spoon, scoop out the flesh into a bowl. Grate the cheese and add chopped scallions into the bowl and mash with a fork or potato masher until blended. Spoon the mixture into the potato skins and top with more cheese. Place the baked potato back into the oven and bake until the top is golden brown and bubbly.
4. Once the vegetables are golden brown and fork tender, they are ready. Place the vegetables into a blender and add some hot water or chicken stock. Blend until smooth. (Tip, if you do not have chicken stock, add bouillon powder)
5. Reheat the soup before serving. Add salt and pepper to taste.









xoxO

Lamb

If you want to serve an elegant dinner that's simple and delicious, then my rack of lamb recipe will do the trick. You can buy New Zealand spring lamb from your local grocery story in the frozen meat section. The night before your dinner party, take the lamb out of freezer and leave it in the fridge to defrost.

Ingredients:
Dijon Mustard
Rosemary (dried or fresh)
2-3 cloves of garlic
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper

Directions:
1. Pat the lamb dry with a paper towel to remove the moisture
2. Season both sides generously with salt and pepper
3. In a separate bowl, combine 1 tablespoon of Dijon mustard, minced garlic and rosemary. If you happen to have fresh rosemary on hand, remove the leaves from the woody stem and chop finely.
4. Slowly add extra virgin olive oil to the mixture and whisk. The mixture should have the consistency of a thicker salad dressing. You still want the marinade to be thick enough to stay on the meat.
5. With a spoon, pour the marinade on top of the lamb to create a beautiful yellow crust.
6. Place in a 400 degree oven and broil for 15-20 minutes for rare-medium rare



I also tested this recipe out on the barbecue the other night and it turned out beautifully. Start grilling the lamb on the bone, then in 10 minutes turn the meat onto the other side. The marinade will cause some flames, so be careful. Finish cooking the meat for 10-15 minutes.

xoxO

Watermelon Granita

Ingredients

4 cups (1 3/4 pounds) cubed seedless watermelon (from a 4-lb. melon)
1/2 cup sugar (I only used 1/4 cup because my watermelon was super sweet)
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

Preparation

Purée all ingredients in a blender until smooth. Pour into a 9x9x2" metal baking pan. Freeze mixture for 1 hour. Stir, mashing any frozen parts with the back of a fork. Cover and freeze mixture until firm, about 2 hours. Using a fork, scrape granita vigorously to form icy flakes


Two hours later et voilà, the granita is ready!



I always try to make my food look pretty and presentable, but clearly my friends could not wait to dig in. We finished the watermelon granita in 15 minutes. Success :)

Recipe via Bon Appetit Magazine

xoxO

Heart healthy eating is the new black

In November 2009, my team (Pulse communications) and I held a charity event at Loblaw Cooking School. The event was called "Bringing Healthy Back", a play on Justin Timberlake's "Sexy Back" song. Our event featured a live cooking demo with Chef Martin Raymond. He presented our guests with a heart healthy breakfast, lunch and dinner that is easy, affordable and delicious. Through ticket sales, raffle tickets and online donations our team was able to exceed our objective and raise over $1000 for the Heart and Stroke Foundation.

The heart healthy menu included:

Breakfast: Steel cut oats with apples and cranberries
Lunch: Bulgar wheat salad with cranberries
Dinner: Herb crusted red snapper with a yogurt, lemon and dill sauce

Although it was a successful event, we did encounter a few bumps along the way. Here are some tips and lessons learned:

• Sponsorships: Start early and be prepared for rejections. It really helps if you know the sponsor personally. It's ok to call in a favour.
  
• Working staff: Be clear about your objectives and communicate your expectations with everyone prior to the event. This will ensure organization and professionalism.
  
• Venue: Always check out the venue with your team and never assume that the space will be clutter-free for set up. One hour prior to our event, we realized that we had no place to store our personal belongings. We had to be creative.
  
• Follow up: The constant emailing and phone calls with Martin, the coordinator and chef of Loblaws ensured that we met our deadlines. If they don't respond or answer their phone, continue to follow up until you get an answer.
  
• Every little detail counts: It shows that you have given your event a lot of thought and planning, and it definitely pays off. We included little note pads for our guests to write cook's notes during the demo. It wasn't a necessary item, but it definitely added a nice touch.
  
• Reactive PR: We were approached by the East York Observer and the Courier for a preview and a news story. We were definitely surprised because we did not have to pitch a story to anyone. Not to say that we did not plan on pitching to the media, but I guess our event was unique and never done before in the CCPR program.

Now onto the good stuff, our successes. The results are based on a survey which was completed near the end of our event.

• Attendance: 100%
• Satisfaction: 100% of our guests enjoyed the event
• Learning experience: 100% said they learned something from the cooking demo and nutrition presentation.
• Healthy eating and cooking: Almost all of our guests said they would try out the recipes and attempt a lifestyle change.

Did I mention that this my first event? What a great experience. Go Pulse Communications!

Here is a recipe for you to try out!

Breakfast: Steel cut oats with apples and cranberries



Ingredients:
1 cup steel cut oats
1 apple - gala (sliced)
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup currants
2 tsp cinnamon

Directions:
Bring 41/2 cups of water to a boil
Stir in oats and reduce the heat, let oats cook for 20 min at a light simmer
Stir in the fruit at the 20 min mark and remover from the heat
Cover and set aside for 15 min

*Tip from Chef Raymond: Make the steel cut oats in bulk and have it for breakfast throughout the week!