The Brown Bag Challenge

I love supporting local farmers and purveyors of all things delicious so I was intrigued by the Brown Bag Challenge presented by the folks at East Coast Organic Milk Coop and Just US! Coffee.  But as often as I am tempted by foodie challenges...I've never actually entered one...until now, that is.

Join the Pie Party 2012

A few people invited me to a very fun Facebook event... Pie Party 2012.   Normally I end up missing foodie  parties, and since I really don't consider myself a baker... especially leery when it comes to pie making,  I would pass the invite by, but somehow I couldn't resist this one.  The truth is...

Life's Easy Pleasures - Shrimp Pizza & Chocolate Muffins

Since there's always lots to do... too much to do on any day off, it's nice to be able to take some shortcuts in the kitchen... or at least some very quick things to prepare... with little mess to clean up.

It is February and Valentine's Day is fast approaching so it seems like every food site is focused on chocolate. I do have a few very decadent, very delicious, very fattening options I could have chosen my own creation

Dark Chocolate & Candied Orange Tart

or the most decadent and yet simple to make

Nigella's Choco-Hot-Pots

They truly stop any conversation... all you will hear is the moaning.

But today, reading through my email... I found a recipe from Robin Hood Four that I had to try... mostly because I have buttermilk in the fridge, bought for some Jalapeno Cornbread Muffins - not chocolate, but so good and so easy to whip up.   But I digress,  the Double Chocolate Buttermilk Muffins , seen at the top of the post are wonderful.  Perfect for a mid morning treat or... well... whenever the mood strikes.

So that's the CHOCOLATE part of the story.  The reality is, as good as chocolate tastes and it even has lots of health benefits... particularly in terms of mood enhancement... we still need more variety in life.

Being more of a savory than sweet kind of girl, I love spicy and salty and, frankly when feeling hungry, I'd head for the fridge for some cold chicken or meat or maybe whip up a quick pizza like this one...

Spicy Shrimp Pesto Pizza

The longest part... waiting for the oven to heat up enough to crisp the crust like the ones you get at a pizzeria.  I often make my pizza dough from scratch, but recently I discovered some prebaked pizza crusts at the grocery store in the bread department and , while not exactly homemade, they certainly speed up the process and taste delicious.

The weekend is coming up, and after running lots of errands or whatever you do on the weekend... what is your favorite, easy to prepare sustenance?

The Chicken Mole Test

We've all probably have had this experience... eaten some amazing dish somewhere, fallen in love with it... only to be unable to recreate it at home or find it at some other restaurant.

My saga began in Cancun twenty years ago, on our Honeymoon. I can't exactly recall the name of the restaurant... something Rosa?...Rosa something?. It was in the guide books of the day. The "day" being the very beginning of the building of Cancun as a resort town. The restaurant was a local haunt in the heart of the old city. The ambiance was festive, including the duo with guitars and huge sombreros who serenaded us. I've tried to do a search to see if it was still around today, but no luck.

The star of the meal for me was my very first Chicken in Chocolate Mole and I licked the plate clean. It was so good that I kept ordering it at every other restaurant we went to during our visit... some were almost as good, others, not quite. Since then, whenever we go to a Latin restaurant with Mole on the menu, I am compelled to order some. And every time I order it, I am disappointed. I've even tried to recreate it at home from some of my cookbooks... still a disappointment.

Until now, that is! I recently received a copy of The Sweet Life In Paris by David Lebovitz. (You can check out my review here). It's a great book, filled with funny stories and many delicious recipes, but my favorite will always be ...

Chicken in Chocolate Mole

...David's recipe which is as good or even better than my memories of it. I suppose, since David is the chocolate king, that I shouldn't be surprised.

For the uninitiated, chocolate mole is a sauce made with lots of spices, mild dried chilies, reconstituted and unsweetened chocolate. It is a wonderful, rich & mellow blend and good enough to lick off the spoon or drizzled over some wrap. I'm drooling again. I guess it's time to whip up another batch.

So my question to you... what was that one dish you wish you could recreate? Leave me a comment.

A Taste of Decadence

Last week I teased you with the my upcoming trip to Decadence - Chocolate, Wine, Cheese which opened the month long Savour Food & Wine Festival organized by RANS - the Restaurant Association of Nova Scotia.

I arrived at the Decadence event last Thursday a bit early and got a glimpse of what it takes to put such a splendid evening together. Don't you just love the tower of glasses? First, I must admit that while I definitely like to drink wine, I'm a novice when it comes to pairing the best wine to really enhance the flavors of a dish. In fact, whenever I plan a dinner party, I head straight for my local wine shop for expert suggestions. Naturally, I was excited to get some tips from the expert sommeliers.

Before I share some photos and the menus, I do want to speak about my favorite element of the evening. The chefs are Culinary Arts & Pastry Arts students of Nova Scotia Community College -Akerley Campus under the guidance of their brilliant chef instructors Chef Sean Kettley and Chef Jean-Luc Doridam. In fact, after last year's Savour Food & Wine Show I was fortunate to have Chef Kettley give me a very informative tour of their facilities. The students went on to win the Atlantic Culinary Competition, and a chance to become part of Culinary Olympics 2012. I hope someone from NSCC wll fill me in on the details... But I digress... Back to Decadence...

The students were challenged to pair artisanal cheeses and succulent chocolate, both in their raw form and in finished dishes with wines, ports and dessert wines. The first hour features cheeses paired with wines while the second half of the evening is dedicated to chocolates and their wine, port and dessert wine pairings.

So let's take a little photo journey... and excuse the less than stellar photography... I was more into tasting than filming.

The Twelve Tasting Stations: I loved them all, but I'll start with the two Ports that were served. First I admit to not really being a Port drinker... don't get me wrong, pears poached in Port is an awesome thing to eat... but I have this antiquated notion of "Old Boys Clubs" and gentlemen with big fat cigars when it comes to actually drinking any. All that changed ...
...Taylor Fladgate 10 year old Tawny Port (Portugal) - I could have just stayed with this all night!
It was brilliantly paired with slices of Oka and a Pickled Asparagus & Oka wrapped in Prosciutto. The chocolate dessert Madagascar Manjari 64% Valrhona & a chocolate tartelette.

Taylor Fladgate Late Bottled Vintage Port (Portugal) was served with cambozola (a delightful mellow Italian blue cheese) and Cambozola, Smoked Salmon & Caramelized Onion Croque Monsieur dipped in roasted garlic custard before frying - definitely one of my stars of the night.
Chocolate: Nova Scotian 70% Dark Chocolate from Just Us! And these gorgeous brownies.
Pfeiffer Rutherglen Muscat (S Australia)was paired with one of the more elaborate and unique dishes using goat cheese - Orange Tarragon Cheese Cream with Prawn & Red Pepper Sabayon.
This one needs a second photo of the little logs of goat cheese sprayed with white chocolate. The whole dish was pure Heaven.
The dessert chocolate was Venezuaelan caoba 41% El Ray and a Hazelnut chocolate parfait.

Peter Lehmann Barossa Shiraz (S Australia) was paired with double cream Brie and a whimsically presented Torched Maple Brie with Spiced Candied Pecans (Unfortunately my photography skills were not up to snuff on this one).
Chocolate dessert Tanzania 75% cacao Bary (France) and these cute and tasty Pillow Cookies.

Spy Valley Sauvignon Blanc (New Zealand) paired with Pepper Jack Cheese and these wonderful Salt Cod & Pepper Jack Fritters (best finger food ever).
The chocolate was Jivara 40% Valrhona (France) and Milk Chocolate Truffles with Cocoa Nibs.

Columbia Crest Riesling was was paired with Fox Hill Cumin Gouda (Nova Scotia) Cheese and a Roasted Baby Pear Salad with Cumin Gouda and Curried Apple Dressing. The Chocolate Irapa Rio Caribe 40.5% El Rey (Venezuela) and these stunning Chocolate and Strawberry Mirroir.
Jaffelin Macon Village Chardonnay (France) paired with Neufchatel cheese and Porcini Mushroom & Neufchatel Tart. Chocolate: Ivoire Select 25% Callebaut (Belgium) and white chocolate Bavarian with Lemon Curd. No photos, but delicious.

Bouchard Aine Pinnissimo Pinot Noir (France) paired with Port Salut - A country Pate with Port Salut & Onion Marmalade.
Chocolate: Equatoriale Noire 55% Valrhona (France) and Chocolate Creme Brulee.

Carmen Gran Feserva Merlot (Chile) paired with Chester Beer Cheese and an elegant and so delicious Hazelnut Crusted Lamb loin with Chester Beer Cheese & Merlot Reduction...
I'm still drooling over this one. Chocolate: Orropuce 65% cacao Barry (France) Chocolate Chiboust with Sour Cherries.

MAN Vintners Cabernet Sauvignon (South Africa) paired with Pecorino Romano and delicious, whimsical Caesar Salad Cones.
Chocolate: Gran Cru 85% Michel Cluizel (France) and cocoa chocolate truffles
(I think the photo is the appropriate truffle photo - by the time I was tasting all the chocolate I had forgotten to write down which was which).

Grand Pre Sparkling Wine (Nova Scotia) paired with Mascarpone for this fanciful Mascarpone and cantaloupe Caviar Shooter.
Chocolate: Elianza Ivoire 33.5% Michel Cluizel (France) and Raspberry & White Chocolate Frangipane.
Grand Pre Pomme D'Or Apple Cider Wine (Nova Scotia) paired with Old Dubliner Aged Chedder to balance the sweetness of the wine. Aged Cheddar & Sweet Potato Tarts.
Chocolate: Ivoire 35% Valrhona (France) and White Chocolate Cheesecake with Sour Apple Compote.

All in all.. a fabulous evening and a perfect beginning to a month long festival. If you happen to be in Nova Scotia this month, you can Dine Around at participating restaurants spotlighting great prix fixe menus; and in Halifax especially, you can attend the Rare & Fine Wine Tasting on Feb 18th and culminate the festivities with the Seventh Annual Savour Food & Wine Show on March 2nd.
Cheers and Bon Appetit!

A Request I Couldn't Refuse - Cassata alla Siciliana

A while ago, a cassata fan - Patrick, emailed me for the REAL recipe I talked about when I created a South Beach Diet friendly version of this awesome Italian dessert...pound cake, ricotta filling with candied fruit, chocolate and orange liqueur, covered with a deadly frosting of chocolate, coffee and butter

So without further ado...I could have just emailed the recipe, but, you know me...I had to make it so that I could take a photo and share it with the rest of you.

Cassata alla Siciliana

Perhaps if we close our eyes, and eat it standing up, we'll forgo the gazillion calories.

It's Thanksgiving and the Stores are Closed

Okay...it is Thanksgiving Monday and the stores are closed....so why didn't I think of this yesterday?...too busy having fun at the Maritime Fall Fair with the family. As you can see, Boaz was a little leary of the merry go round even with Grandma. But he really did love all the animals...I digress.

It's rainy and chilly here in Halifax today and perfect weather for soups and stews. I have a huge batch of roasted vegetable broth left over from last week's Puree of Roasted Vegetable Soup . That doesn't count the 8 ziplock bags already in the freezer. I much prefer it to any of the store bought varieties I've tried.

Again I ramble....I decided the Adzuki Stew would be perfect(same link as the broth) which is from one of my fave Vegetarian cookbooks...Fresh at Home. I really do have to write that one up soon.

This time...I thought I had adzuki beans in a can in the cupboard...and perhaps I do, but I can't find them. I did have some cooked chickpeas that I soaked and cooked last week and haven't used yet. So before they go bad...I used those and ...oops...I used double the broth and then realized I only had half the amount of chickpeas. Fortunately I did have a couple of tins of small Navy beans that I added. And, since my Honey likes a thicker soup...I just did a couple of quick pulses with my immersion blender...what a great toy!

Actually we're heading off to Joanna & Ezra's tonight, so everyone will get a bowl of that before the main course that Joanna is making...Roasted Tongue in BBQ Sauce and Potato Kugel with some salad for that green that's required on the table.

I even made an interesting Chocolate Spice Loaf...drier and more like bread than cake, but very chocolatey, I must say,...that's if there's actually room for dessert.

Not bad for a day when stores are closed.