The Yum Yum Factor

I am still getting back in the saddle, as far as attending media dinners and events so this is really more of a "a few weeks in yum" than a true week of it.  As part of my personal code of conduct, I tend to only accept invites to places that I either already know that I like or that I have been dying to try, because I like to keep it real but I also like to keep it positive. Think of my posts about places i have been and stuff I have tried more as enthusiastic recommendations than reviews. As much as I love and appreciate a chance to enjoy some free food, I also visit the restaurants I write about on my own time, spending my own scratch (or, if it's new to me, I will visit in the future) and if I don't like a place or a product, I don't write about it. There have been one or two instances where something was so disappointing that I do share that information but, for the most part, I like to share things with you the way I share things with my friends a...

So, it's the end of June and it's finally getting really hot and that means I don't want to eat hot food anymore. I start craving ceviche, salads and watermelon by the kilo and something I always think I want to make, but never do, is gazpacho. I really like all kinds of gazpacho so look for some other versions throughout the summer.  This particular dish was inspired by my June SupperClub menu which is mostly Middle Eastern but with a touch of Jamaican flavours, thanks to my Jerk Lamb Kofta . I always start my menu with one dish and then base the rest of menu around that so this time, I wanted something as first course that would be refreshing and light and lean a little towards Jamaica. Both the soup and the pickled jerk shrimp are great on their own (a bowl of shrimp with some bread to sop up the pickling liquid is a great meal in it's own right) but I find that something magical happens when you put the two together. Spicy Gazpacho with Jerk Pickled Shri...

Butter chicken is like the moo goo guy pan of Indian food. Unlike other recipes that were first made hundreds of years ago in some small village, passed down through generations from grandmother to granddaughter, this is a relatively new dish. In fact, it only dates back to Delhi in the 1950's, an invention of some chef at the Moti Mahal hotel but the Brits fell in love with this mild, flavourful curry and it is now one the most popular Indian dishes in the world. I have been trying to perfect butter chicken in the pressure cooker for months now. I started out by trying other, popular butter chicken recipes and some of them were better than others. A couple called for using cornstarch to thicken a too thin sauce, which is just wrong in my book. None that I could find called for marinating the chicken in a masala before making the final dish and without that step, there is a depth of flavour that is missing for me.  Now, I understand that the whole appeal of the  Ins...

Butter chicken is like the moo goo guy pan of Indian food. Unlike other recipes that were first made hundreds of years ago in some small village, passed down through generations from grandmother to granddaughter, this is a relatively new dish. In fact, it only dates back to Delhi in the 1950's, an invention of some chef at the Moti Mahal hotel but the Brits fell in love with this mild, flavourful curry and it is now one the most popular Indian dishes in the world. I have been trying to perfect butter chicken in the pressure cooker for months now. I started out by trying other, popular butter chicken recipes and some of them were better than others. A couple called for using cornstarch to thicken a too thin sauce, which is just wrong in my book. None that I could find called for marinating the chicken in a masala before making the final dish and without that step, there is a depth of flavour that is missing for me.  Now, I understand that the whole appeal of the  I...

From June 23-26, at Fort York,  Taste of Toronto  is coming to the city for the third year in a row. Bigger and better than ever this year, there are more chefs, more restaurants represented and that means, more tasty things for you to eat and drink.

Think that making black bean with dried beans is only for the weekend, when you can do an overnight soak of the beans and put aside a few hours for the soup to simmer away on the stove? Think again! Now, thanks to the pressure cooker, we can have delicious, wholesome black beans on a busy weeknight. From start to finish, it takes just under an hour, no soaking required. I also skipped the ham hock and grabbed a 1 lb ham steak (they often even have a bit of bone in there) so I can get the smoky ham flavour without the fuss and bother of locating a ham hock at 5pm. I adore this sofrito from Serious Eats - I cut the recipe in half and love the addition of some orange juice to brighten it up, allowing me to use it raw, as a salsa as well as a base for other dishes, like the rice that I serve with the beans. The beans are also great in burritos, as a soup if you add more broth or water when you reheat them or alongside eggs for breakfast. makes approx 10 cups of beans ...