Asparagus Soup Puree

When cooking with asparagus, do you ever find it frustrating to see how much of the spear gets wasted simply because it's just too tough to eat?  

Personally, I just can't bring myself to discard such a great portion of the asparagus and feel the need to create a recipe that ensures I'm still making something that is tasty and edible at the same time.  That's where soup comes to mind ... enabling me to boil and puree the toughness out of the asparagus spear while creating a meal for my family to enjoy.

This soup is tasty on its own or you can add a splash of cream to create a cream of asparagus soup. 

I originally guest posted this recipe on Laurie's Cravings, but thought I'd repost to ensure my friends didn't miss out on this soup.

Cheesecake

Cheesecake

The other day, my daughter came home from work asking me if I would consider making a cheesecake for dessert.  Instantly, I thought of a recipe that was recently posted by Holly over at Life as a Lofthouse.  In fact, I had printed this recipe and added it to my "recipes to make one day" folder.

Personally, I love cheesecake plain, so I skipped out on the strawberry topping and had no regrets.

The verdict? I am going to have to agree with Holly when she said Tyler Florence's recipe was AMAZING!

TIP:  Use a mini chopper to get finely crushed crackers.

Reeses Eggless Banana Bread

Reeses Banana Bread

In our home, we seam to have a huge infatuation with peanut butter and chocolate is considered a jewel, especially since by husband grew up in Belgium.  In fact, there was a time when I was importing Belgian chocolate into Canada and selling it out of one of the most popular malls in the GTA.

I don't think I need to rant and rave too loudly about how well peanut butter and chocolate taste when combined together, but I can surely rant and rave over how delicious this banana bread turned out :)

Plum Dumplings

Plum Dumplings

It's not everyday that I sit down and make dumplings and there's a good reason for that ... Sugar!  

Nevertheless, sometimes I really need a treat and this is just what hits the spot! ... a little something my mother-in-law taught me.

Pasta with Sautéed Vegetables

Pasta with Sautéed Vegetables

Every once in a while, I crave pasta, but I can't eat it plain.  I'm not always in the mood for sauce, so I like mixing it up with some veggies sautéd in butter.  YUP!  I said butter ... This doesn't happen often, but this is just one of those dishes where nothing else will make do.

Potato and Yam Barbecue Mix

Potato and Yam Barbecue Mix

As I'm cleaning up our fridge in preparation for my next trip to the grocery store, Ive decided to take  the last 4 golden yukon potatoes and 2 yams we had on hand and cut them into cubes to experiment and determine how they'd turn out barbecued together on the grill. I figure these have got to go well together, given they're both somewhat sweet and should compliment one another, both in flavour and texture and I was right ... They turned out so tasty! 

Russet Potato on the Grill

Russet Potato on the Grill

I've been seeing quite a few recipes for grilled Russet and Hasselback potatoes and the one that stood out most was A Kitchen Addiction's recipe for Garlic and Parmesan Grilled Hasselbaack Potatoes.   I loved this recipe so much that I printed it and stuck it in my folder of Recipes To Try One Day. 

Earlier in the week I was making something with yams and discovered a Russet potato mixed within the bag of sweet potatoes.  What was I supposed to do with one Russet potato?  

I started remembering Jessica's recipe and pulled it out of the folder.  Although I didn't have everything needed to make her recipe, it sure was a great guideline for me to work from and substitute with the ingredients I had on hand.  Thanks A Kitchen Addiction!

Pancake Muffins

Pancake Muffins

Last Sunday I woke up extremely early to have a cup of coffee with my husband before he took off for the golf course to meet a friend for breakfast and a round of golf.  The girls were asleep and the house was so quiet.  This gave me the opportunity to start going through my reader list and catch up on some posted recipes.

There was one particular post that stood out and impressed me so much that I knew exactly what I was going to surprise my girls with for breakfast.  It was the Pancake Muffins with Peaches recipe that Sam from Reddy or Knot posted.  Timing was perfect since I had everything I needed and two hungry girls waking up shortly.

I made a few of these pancake muffins with chocolate chips, a few with peanut butter chips, and best of all, I made a few plain.  We enjoyed these plain ones with maple syrup and homemade jam and they were delicious.

The best thing about this recipe is that we all got to eat warm pancakes together.  It was so much fun and a wonderful conversation piece on its own.

Building a network of foodie friends and learning from one another is what this blogging is all about.  Thanks for the lovely breakfast inspiration, Sam!

Tip On Basil

Pasta in Pesto Sauce

Pesto is probably the quickest and easiest sauce to make.  It takes less time to prepare the pesto sauce than it takes for the pasta to boil.  All you have to do is toss the sauce, pasta and cheese together in a bowl and voila, you've got pasta in pesto sauce.


TIP on BASIL:  When planting a vegetable garden, be sure to include a few basil plants amongst the veggie plants.  Bugs will be attracted to the basil instead of your crop.     

Cherry Jam

Cherry Jam

Cherry season is almost over, which means it's time to make jam once again using the ripened cherries we bought at the farmers market last weekend.  

Cherries are my favourite fruit. I have such great memories of eating them with my parents in their backyard while growing up and an even better memory of making jam with my mom.  ~We had a beautiful cherry tree in my parents' backyard that my father planted years ago and maintained with pride over the years.

One of my last memories of my father was at his home, watching him pick cherries with my girls.  Although he was ill at that time, it brought him so much joy to watch the girls climb high up into the tree.  "The higher they got, the more cherries to make cherry jam was my daughter's motto."  Oh, the beautiful memory!

Back to making jam... 

The only thing I don't like about this process is pitting the cherries.  Back in the day, my mom and I used to do this with a knife, but over time, I discovered a cherry pitter (best invention ever).  

Using this little metal gadget has saved me so much time and has done less damage to the colour of my hands and nails.  If you don't have a cherry pitter, I highly recommend you invest in one, especially if you're going to make jam...

Zucchini Fritter Dip

Zucchini Fritter Dip

From 100 Best Classic Tapas recipes, here is the most amazing dip recipe I've ever tried.  If you love garlic, this is a dip for you!  Like pesto sauce, this dip is based on pine nuts, except there's no basil in this dip.  Parsley is used here.  

This is so quick and easy to make and stores well in the refrigerator.  Make in advance and serve with zucchini fritters as shown here and here.

Zucchini Fritters

Zucchini Fritters

In an ideal world, making zucchini fritters would be as easy as tossing zucchini slices into a large baggy full of flour (seasoned to taste with salt, pepper, paprika, etc) until well coated and then dipping into a bowl of whisked eggs and milk before frying, but for anyone that follows my blog loyally, you would know that's not the case for me.  My daughter has an egg allergy, which means I'm always having to look for alternative ways of cooking.

Inspired by Vefa Alexiadou's Zucchini Yeast Fritters recipe from her Sunny Mediterranean Cuisine cookbook, I created these sliced zucchini fritters which turned out really good, but like Vefa suggests, they should be served immediately.  

Eggplant Sauce and Buckwheat Stuffing

Eggplant Suce & Buckwheat Stuffing 

Eggplant or Aubergine?  Eggplant is English and Aubergine is French, yet the British call it an Aubergine.  I guess the word eggplant is simply North American.

This recipe was inspired by Becca at Amuse Your Bouche.  I loved the recipe she posted the other day mainly because it reminded me of something my mother-in-law used to make which gave me the inspiration that allowed me to try and recreate a family recipe.

I had just read her Becca's post and knew there were 4 eggplants sitting in the refrigerator.  My husband hates eggplants and since he was out of town, I took full advantage and made the rest of the family a memorable meal.  The house smelled amazing and everyone loved the final dish.


Thank you,  Miss Messy, for the versatile blogger nomination.  See here for details on previous nominations.  

Belgian Endives ~ Flemish Style

Belgian Endives ~ Flemish Style

Belgian endives are one of those vegetables that acquire a taste.  They tend to be somewhat bitter, yet there are so many ways of cooking them to take that bitterness away.  For example, you could add brown sugar to this recipe and sweeten up this side dish, but that's for another post.

Strawberry Jam

Strawberry Jam

Last weekend, my husband and I set off to go strawberry picking in Markham.  We went from one farm to another, only to discover that they no longer exist.  The land has been sold to housing developers.  Good-bye agriculture!

We were really hoping to pick our own strawberries, however, the one farm we found that still allows you to do so, had been closed to the public that day and selling from their fruit stand along the roadside.  We ended up purchasing 2 flats at $23.00 each.

When making jam, I'm not one to use pectin or any other type of thickener aside from sugar.  I like making jam the old fashioned way.  The boiling time takes a little longer, that's for sure, but at least I'm not using something out of a box containing ingredients I've never heard of.

When making this jam, I followed the 'for every 2 lbs of strawberries, add 2 cups of sugar and 1 cup of water' method.  Since I made a bigger batch, I just cut back a bit on the sugar and water and that's just due to personal taste. 

In the past, I've always just slowly brought a large pot-full of strawberries plus one cup of sugar and one cup of water to a boil, slowly stirring in more sugar to thicken the juices as the strawberries simmer for hours.  The problem with this method is that I don't measure the weight of the strawberries nor do I take note of the amount of sugar added. This method may be time consuming, but it sure does make for the most tastiest jam ever.

Since it's going to be a few weeks before cherry season arrives, I'm thinking of experimenting with alternative sweeteners.  I plan to work with small batches of strawberries to see what works best.  I'd like to find a better alternative to white sugar.  Perhaps natural honey or agave would work.  Any suggestions?

Shortbread from Poitiers, France

How lucky am I!  The husband came back from France with a very special gift from our friend Dominic.  A huge homemade shortbread cookie that is referred to as the true "Crust of Poitou" or Le véritable  "broyé du Poitou".  Dominic was so kind to also include his famous recipe for me to share on my blog.

I noticed that Dominic even customized this cookie for me by inscribing a Canadian maple leaf on the top.  I just had to include a photo of this to share with everyone.  

Once I cut the shortbread, I noticed how thick and moist the interior was.  The taste and aroma of Domi's shortbread is out of this world!  I must say this is the absolute best shortbread I have ever tasted and goodness knows I've sampled my fair share ... Like, who hasn't?

Yes.  I did say I cut it, however, Spice Works says that "traditionally, broyés were broken with a hit of the fist in their center (which broke them in unequal parts). Hitting your broyé with your fist while at your office might be a little too noisy, so you can use your hands or a knife to break it."

My husband also brought back a shortbread from Goulibeur, compliments of our friend Olivier who lives in Poitiers.  He wanted me to compare Dominic's homemade shortbread to Goulibeur's commercially produced shortbread.   Both were different.  Both were very good, but I must admit that Dominic's shortbread impressed me more.

Goulibeur tells the tale of Poitier's shortbread on the back of their box as follows:

In the past, the broyé du Poitou, this flat large crusty shortbread, was baked to celebrate all the farm events:  the harvest, the big cleanup, the weddings...To bake a delightful Broyé du Poitou, you have to mix: wheat, flour, a lot of butter, sugar, fresh eggs and salt - only simple and natural ingredients without any preservative or colourings.  For more than 30 years, Goulibeur is carrying on the traditional recipe inherited from the Grandmother Paulette.

Thank you Dominic and Olivier!  Dominic, for the time you put into making the shortbread and wrapping it in fantastic packaging to ensure it didn't break while on route to Canada and Olivier for sending me Goulibeur's shortbread for comparison.  Thank you both for teaching me something new about Poitiers, France.


Cathy, you're a very lucky woman to have Domi's Cookery in your own home :)

Cauliflower Salad

Cauliflower Salad

Do you ever get tired of eating cauliflower raw?  It's great with dip.  Isn't it?  

...and sometimes boring...

Here's an alternative that will go well with something off the grill.  It's very similar to my broccoli salad recipe, yet they taste so different!  

Broccoli Salad

Broccoli Salad

Are you looking for something light and quick to accompany your barbecued steak tonight?  Why not try this broccoli salad.  I just spent the day gardening, so no time to fuss this evening.


Sometimes I like to add pine nuts and cranberries to this salad.

Chocolate Mousse

Chocolate Mousse

This has got to be the absolute best Chocolate Mousse recipe I have ever tasted!  It "used" to be my husband's secret recipe from his youth days in Belgium that he would make whenever friends and family would come for dinner.  

No matter what I'd make for dessert, my husband's Chocolate Mousse would always steal the show.  Seriously!  While I would slave in the kitchen forever just to make a fancy dessert, he would simply come home from work and whip this up within minutes. It would be setting in the refrigerator as guests arrived and ready to eat once it was time for dessert.

I finally got my husband to share his recipe after our tenth year together and I've been making this ever since.

Foodie Blog Roll

Hi Everyone!

I've recently joined the Foodie Blog Roll.

Check out the Foodie Blog Roll widget on the side of my blog where you will find links to  Half Hour Meals and Food Beat.  Feel free to explore and discover some other great recipes.

Ellen B Cookery