50 Flavoured Popcorns: Brown Butter - Lemon

The January/February 2014 issue of the "Food Network Magazine" inserted a mini pamphlet on 50 flavoured popcorns.  Their website has the same recipes as well at the following link.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/articles/50-flavored-popcorn-recipes.page-1.html

One could almost blog for a year on this pamphlet and make one popcorn recipe per week!  So far, I have made #27 - Jamaican Jerk, #30 - Cajun, and #36 - Barbeque.  Out of these three, Jamaican Jerk is by far my favorite but a lot more work as I made my own jerk seasoning first.  Loved the curry...loved the lime zest!

For the purpose of this week's blog, I decided to try #1 as I had all the ingredients at home as well as the fact that I don't believe that I have ever browned butter before....odd!  Of course, true to the theory, the brown butter offered a nutty taste which tasted awesome with the lemon zest in butter.   From now on, I am adding either freshly squeezed lemon or lime juice or lemon or lime zest to my butter prior to adding it to the popcorn.   It is so flavourful and refreshing!  As for the butter, I could go either way, melted or browned, but it HAS to be butter not margarine!  

Next on the bucket list from the list of 50 are:  #3 - Garlic- Herb, #6 - Truffle, #14 - Sushi,  #22 - Sriracha-Lime and #37 - Margarita!  I also want to develop my own creation one day with something with curry powder and lime zest.   Which ones will you try?  Looking forward to hearing about it or better yet....getting a sample!  Happy Popping!

Brown Butter-Lemon Popcorn

Grilled Beef and Asparagus Rolls

Although I spent this week of my holidays doing a lot of cooking, I wasn't interested in trying any new recipes.  Instead, I decided to bring back into our kitchen an oldie but a goodie guaranteed to bring pleasure to any dining table.  Although it is not new to me, it just is so good it has to be shared.  This gem of a recipe was found in an issue of the BC Liquor Stores magazine that is available FREE at the checkout.  Not only does the magazine highlight their liquor products, but it also has EXCELLENT recipes often paired with various wines or cocktails.   This publication is released once per season, so four times a year.  I am anxiously awaiting the spring edition.

This recipe is really, really, really awesome!   I just have a cut out from the magazine of the ingredients in my recipe box.  It wasn't until I found this link for this post that I realized I am not making it true to the method.  First and foremost, I leave out the sugar as the sherry and teriyaki sauce are sweet enough.  Sometimes, I use red or madeira wine instead of sherry.  I don't fuss with pounding the meat or cutting it to size.  I use the rouladen pieces as they are sold.   Most importantly,  I add the teriyaki sauce to the marinade and allow the beef to marinade for at least 24 hours..sometimes two days..the longer the better, of course!  It is amazing that a cheaper, tougher cut of beef becomes as tender as a sirloin or even tenderloin with this marinade and length of time of marinating.  I don't blanch the asparagus out of pure laziness and the asparagus always turns out to be the perfect texture.  We always cook these on our gas bbq, whether at home or out camping.  Finally, I always double the recipe as these are an excellent snack or are also very fun to bring for lunch the next day.

If you or anyone you know eats beef, you have to try this recipe!  To my hunting friends, I would love to try this recipe with some of your game one day - yummy!  The timing for this is perfect as asparagus season will soon be here.  Happy Spring!


http://www.bcliquorstores.com/recipe/food/grilled-beef-asparagus-rolls

Grilled Beef and Asparagus Rolls

Marinated Italian Mushrooms

Added to my resolution to try new recipes, I have been trying to go out and try some new restaurants in our downtown core.  The trend in some places seems to be getting a charcuterie platter served with homemade meats, relishes, pickled vegetables, cheeses, bread, etc.  We tried one where it had some really flavourful pickled mushrooms and cucumbers. 

While flipping through (you guessed it), "The Oh She Glows Cookbook" by Angela Liddon, I found a recipe for Marinated Italian Mushrooms on page 193.  (Liddon, Angela. The Oh She Glows Cookbook: Vegan Recipes to Glow from the inside out. Toronto, ON.: Penguin, 2014. Print.)  I decided that this had to be my next recipe.  Of course, my husband had to go online to his favorite recipe website , All Recipes, to find a different recipe for "pickled" mushrooms to get even closer to the taste of the restaurant's mushrooms.  The cook off began!

If you like mushrooms, you will love both of these recipes.  The pickled mushrooms recipe is easier to make only because you don't have to take the stems out of the mushrooms.  We both agreed that both recipes were good and that we will continue making both to add to our home version of a charcuterie platter.  I don't advise making both of these at the same time as we have had a lot of mushrooms to go through! 

As far as a winner....IF we were competing for the recipe closest to the one at the restaurant, the pickled mushrooms are the clear winner.  (I don't remember setting that goal....).  As far as any changes, I can't see that happening.  We liked both recipes just as they were.

Here is a video you can watch to find out how to make the ones from the Oh She Glows cookbook.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PScfFbXVGAY

This is the recipe that my husband found - I can't resist....."Monty's Mushrooms"
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/zesty-pickled-mushrooms/

Marinated Italian Mushrooms

Zesty Pickled Mushrooms

Luxurious Tomato Basil Pasta

This week's inspiration was the Luxurious Tomato Basil Pasta found on page 181 in  "The Oh She Glows Cookbook" by Angela Liddon.  (Liddon, Angela. The Oh She Glows Cookbook: Vegan Recipes to Glow from the inside out. Toronto, ON.: Penguin, 2014. Print.)

 

A variation of the recipe can be found on her blog at:

 http://ohsheglows.com/2011/05/10/easy-tomato-basil-cream-pasta/ 

 

This recipe was A-MA-ZING!  I love rose sauce, so I was very excited to see this recipe.  Using the cashew cream instead of whipping cream adds some healthier fat to your diet and does not take away from the taste or the creaminess!  The recipe is easy enough to make on a work night, which is an added bonus.  One has to be organized enough to soak the cashews the night before.  I also made the cashew cream in the morning to save some time after work.  One warning that is NOT in the recipe is that cashew cream can burn, too, so be careful once you add this to the tomato mixture.  The ratios of all the ingredients is perfect as the flavours are well balanced as are all the textures.

 

I thought it would be fun to spiralize a zucchini to try zucchini noodles with the sauce instead of wheat pasta.  Both ways tasted great.  The moisture from the zucchini noodles thinned out the sauce a bit, so the wheat pasta seemed less messy.  The chunkier sauce lends itself better to fusili as it was designed to hold all the chunks in the grooves. 

 

All in all, this recipe will surface again and again in our home, perhaps with some variations like serving it over spaghetti squash.   We might even take away from the vegan aspect and add in some cooked chicken or seafood.  This recipe is worth trying.  It is delicious!

 

 

 

 

 

Tomato Basil Sauce with Zucchini Noodles

Luxurious Tomato Basil Pasta (Fusili Noodles)

Zucchini Noodles

Mexican Pork and Black Bean Soup

I found this recipe in the October 2014 edition of one of my favorite magazines, Canadian Living.  The recipe is also on their site at:
http://www.canadianliving.com/food/mexican_pork_and_black_bean_soup.php

This is one of those soups where you can make MANY changes, and it will be great.   The meat could be altered to just about anything to fit your budget.  It is lovely with the pork tenderloin, but I could see it being made with ground beef or ground turkey, chicken breasts,  or even chorizo sausage.  For the vegetarians in the crowd, just add more black beans!   For some reason, I felt that the recipe could use some corn as well to add a bit more yellow with the yellow pepper.  (BTW - a yellow pepper is best as there is a lot of green and red in this recipe already!)   There was not a lot of heat in the recipe, so I could see the addition of jalapeños or crushed chillies being nice for those who like more kick.  I was curious about the crushing of the tomatoes by hand instead of using diced tomatoes.  After enjoying a few servings of the soup for a couple of lunches, I do see how crushing them by hand offers a unique texture.  It was a bit of a mess to do the hands on technique, but it was worth the result.  This recipe has a lot of room for experimentation and changes as it reappears on our lunch table.

The fact that there are many items with which to garnish makes this soup super fun and well suited to gatherings in which there are a few people.   Everyone likes to have choice in their food selection, so the garnish offers that opportunity.   Serving this for a work soup club comes to mind, for example.  I must say that I was not a fan of the sour cream as I felt it toned down the flavour.  With the use of the word "Mexican" in the title, I was expecting some heat and will add more next time I make this or offer jalapeños as a garnish.  I LOVED the contrast in textures of the smooth avocado against the crunch of the radishes and lettuce.  I don't think I would offer tortilla chips as an option to garnish just because the radishes and lettuce offer the same crunch without the added fat, salt, and calories.  The garnishes are a bit of effort to prepare, but worth the fun of the choices!

All in all - another winner!  I know that some of you are waiting for an epic fail, but I am sorry to say that this one was easy to make and created a great result!

 

 

 

Mexican Pork and Black Bean Soup