124 posts tagged “cooking”

The other day I posted an entry for Mochachocolatarita’s Chinese Take-Out Party…(if you guys haven’t checked out her party yet, get over there!  There are tons of delicious dishes to be had!)…Of course, once the round-up was posted, my fingers couldn’t click the mouse fast enough to get to her site.  There are main dishes, rices, noodles, appies, soups and desserts.  There were a couple (ok, ok *more* than a couple!) of dishes that really caught my eye.  The Kung Pao Chicken entries were especially insistent with the powers that be within my grumbling stomach.  Kung Pao Chicken is basically chicken and peanuts, stirfried in a delicious brown sauce.  But take this simple dish and add a bunch of ginger and vegetables, and you have elevated it to something sublime.  The entries on Rita’s page inspired me to go out and make some Kung Pao, go and see what inspires you!

For the Kung Pao Chicken recipe, please visit: http://canarygirl.com/?p=183

Yeah, so earlier in the week I had posted about staring at Peter’s (of Kalofagas) delicious Eggs Benedict recipe…Staring at Peter’s recipes is nothing new for me.  His site is a daily read.  He has a wonderful sense of humor, and is a phenomenal cook.  You should SEE some of the delicious things he cooks up!  He is of Greek descent, and, luckily for us, he shares his mouthwatering recipes, and the fun stories of Greece and his heritage that go along with them.  Not too long ago he had posted his recipe for Cheese Stuffed Keftides (couldn’t you just *die* at how good those sound?)…well, I knew I had to put those on the menu.  I mean, Come ON!  Keftides?  Stuffed with Cheese?  I may have fainted into my keyboard.  Actually, I’m pretty sure I did, because I had these weird square bruises on my forehead. This week, I could wait no more.  Monday I bought the ingredients to make his hellaciously good recipe. 

I’m not going to post Peter’s recipe, because I actually followed it pretty much to the letter…I had to substitute Gouda cheese (see it trying to escape there? lol) for the Greek cheese, though, since I can’t get the types he recommended for the recipe.

To go along with these delicious morsels of Greek joy, I decided to make a fresh tzatziki (pictured here) and hummus (pictured below).

The hummus was an excellent dip for both the keftides and the pitas.  I tell you, this is perfect summer food, you guys. The next time you plan on grilling plain old burgers? Forget that idea, and make these instead! Seriously, they are amazing.

For the tzatziki and hummus recipes, please visit: http://canarygirl.com/?p=182

Ok, so that’s fun to say, isn’t it? lol Fun to say, and fun to eat! Looking for something simple and packed with flavor? This is just the ticket. Active work time is only about 15 minutes, the rest is just bake time. Empanadas are great for lunch, or for a snack, and are great the next day…perfect to take with you wherever you need to go. They’re even good cold, so are perfect picnic fare! When we had the sailboat, I’d make these all the time to take with for a day out on the water. You can make them up ahead of time, and they keep really well. Empanadas can be made into a pie, like I’ve done here, or if you’re feeling feisty, go ahead and make them into individually sized empanadas, for a quick bite, or a great party appetizer.

For recipe, please go here:  http://canarygirl.com/?p=180 

Don’t forget! Only 5 days left to enter the free cookbook drawing!

To enter, please click and leave a comment HERE.

Doing my morning blog rounds I was over at Peter’s site (Kalofagas) longingly looking at his Eggs Benedict recipe (by the way, go and check that out you guys…it is seriously killing me I want it so badly), and realized there was a post just below that one that I hadn’t seen!  WHAT?  He had posted a delicious Chinese Take-out menu, and mentioned that it was part of a round up to be found at Mochachocolatarita’s Website.  I am SO glad he posted that, because her website is fantastic!  It’s so cool how we bloggers network and find each other through others’ blog posts.  I had never seen Mochachocolatarita’s site before.  That is a sin right there…her site is awesome.  No, more like AWESOME!  And Right now she’s hosting an event celebrating her 88th post, called, “Chinese Take-Out Party,” where each entrant submits their take on Chinese take-out. 

I think that this might be sheer luck on my part, because I had planned to post this anyway, but to come in just under the wire like this and be able to participate in a fun event?  Even better!

This recipe was something I came up with after having taken out a loin roast, and began wondering what to do with it.  The weather has been pretty warm, so regular roast with mashed potatoes didn’t really seem to fit the bill.  Avocados are currently at over 11 euros a kilo (that’s like $8-9 a pound), so Tex-Mex was out (you know it’s illegal to eat Tex-Mex without guacamole, don’t you? )…what to do?  Hmmm.  Why not go Asian with it?  Yes!  That was the answer I was looking for. 

For the recipes, please visit: http://canarygirl.com/?p=179

Did I scare you? I mean, the idea of frozen salad probably isn’t that appealing. LOL But. And this is a pretty big BUT. (no, it’s not mine! ) Gazpacho. Sorbet. Combine the two and you have a bit of frozen heaven. This traditional Spanish soup is always served chilled, and often with ice…why not go just another step and turn it into sorbet, I asked? Top that with the traditional finely chopped vegetables for added crunch, and you have entered into yum world. This one is going to be making regular appearances at our summer table, folks. It’s the perfect way to begin a meal in the sweltering heat of summer, or even as an afternoon snack. It’s packed with vegetables, very low in fat, and delicious. Oh!  And super easy.  So whatcha waitin for?

For the recipe in English and en español, please visit:   http://canarygirl.com/?p=177

Orange and chocolate are one of those perfect combinations…like wine and cheese, or pears and cheese, lemon and chicken…Chocolate *obviously* is fantastic on it’s own, but man, when you add that extra little zing of orange, it just elevates it to new levels.  As the site’s one year anniversary approached, I wondered what would be the perfect recipe to celebrate with?  I toyed with a drink recipe, cakes, some really decadent main…nothing really jumped out at me.  After the site crash last week (which still is not fully resolved, btw…I still have to edit a gazillion posts wraught with Â’s and gobbledy gook. ), I was rather uninspired…I huddled around my bowls of soup and or plates of mashed potatoes like someone was going to take them away.  What can I say…soup and mashed potatoes are comforting to the heart as well as the tummy. lol  Finally I decided that I would do a chocolate mousse.  But, I thought, it’s got to be the best damned mousse ever.  I’ve got to add some orange in there, and some booze! :lol: The last mousse recipe I tried was excellent, though a bit too involved for everyday.  This recipe, folks is easy enough for a weekday (it only takes about 10 minutes to make), and you’ll have enough to last for at least a few days of delicious desserts—more if you freeze some into mousse pops.  And!? Since this particular recipe has booze in it?  It’s alllllll for you.  The kids will have to sit this one out. (You *can* omit the Cointreau for the kids of course, and just up the water a tad, but it’s more fun this way. ) This is grown up mousse.  Mom and Dad mousse.  Perfect mousse.  See?  Wanna bite?

I perused the internet to find a recipe that was simple and quick, yet used quality ingredients, and found the perfect starting point posted by Debra47 at Group Recipes.  I adapted her recipe to make the one I had in my mind.  If you like chocolate and you like oranges?  You are going to love this, guys. This is what I have left:

For the recipe and step by step photos, please visit:  http://canarygirl.com/?p=176

(insert balloons, streamers and confetti here) Time to Par-tay!

Canarygirl.com is one year old!  It seems like just the other day when I started off on my own in the blogosphere…I had been blogging at Vox for quite a while, and before that had just shared recipes and photos on various sites across the web.  So now, a few hundred recipes later, and almost as many posts, I’m proud to celebrate my anniversary with you!  Thank you all so much, dear readers…your comments and encouragement have meant (and mean!) the world to me, and I am always inspired by your wonderfulness. (yes, I invent words when I feel it’s necessary. lol)  There are so many of you I look to for my morning food blog fix!  I am so thrilled to be celebrating this anniversary with you that I’ve decided to Have a contest on the site!  I’m going to give away one of my hardcover cookbooks to one of you awesome readers. 

All you need to do to enter the contest, is leave me a comment at:  http://canarygirl.com/?p=174, letting me know you'd like to enter the contest! :)  Good luck! 

So, remember last week, when I was telling you how badly I wanted to try ZenChef’s (over at Chefs Gone Wild) Clam Risotto?  Well, I did it.  I made his absolutely remarkable risotto and I’m sort of half wondering if I have died and gone to heaven?  Did I?  Somebody let me know if you read this post…to let me know if I died or not.  I mean seriously…it’s *that* good.  I even screwed it up a little–I forgot the lemon juice until after we finished eating it.  Did I mention there was not a single grain of rice left over?  We even licked the cockle shells clean.   I was going to make some really inappropriate joke about sucking cockle shells, but I’d better not.  But we did. lol  ;)  If you know me, you know that I cannot follow a recipe exactly.  It really is some sort of impossibility for me.  I do not feel complete if I don’t change things up at least just a little.  After all, a recipe really should just be a springboard for our own creativity, right?  So, I will note my (minimal) changes, even though I did stick pretty close to Zen’s original post. 

So, would you look at this?  Don’t you just want to dive into that plate of creamy risotto bliss?  Trust me, it’ll be the best dive you’ve ever performed.

zens risotto

April is such a fickle month, isn’t it?  I mean sheesh!  A couple of weeks ago, temps were soaring into the 90’sF/30’sC, and this week we are back to cool and windy.  I was all set to buy a pool for the kids to hang out in on the weekends, and now, we’re back to soup and jackets.  I don’t mind the soup part (being a self professed soup junkie and all), but jackets?  I want summer dangit!  Since summer has taken another run for the hills, at least for now, I must console us with soups to warm the heart and soul.  That’s the part I like! lol  One of my best friends in the whole world, (and bratty girl) Lizzie shared her recipe for Drunken Mushroom Soup a few years ago.  It is such a great soup….and of course has my main pre-req’s for most of the recipes prepared in this house…quick, easy, and out of this world delicious.   All of Lizzie’s recipes are so elegant, and generally are light on the workload, but heavy on taste and heavy on ”wow” factor.  This recipe is exactly that…quick, easy, elegant, and WOW! that’s good!  Perfect for company or for everyday (you know I don’t save special foods for special occasions), this little bowl of goodness can be made ahead and simply reheated when needed.  Which for me is right now. lol  Since making this for the first time, I have gradually altered the ingredients and technique just a bit, which is why I’ve changed the name…I prepare this almost as if it were a French Onion Soup, with the addition of a couple of extras and a substitution or two for others. 

Recipe is here: http://canarygirl.com/?p=167

Wine recommendation: The original recipe calls for Vermouth, so I'm going to go with a red Vermouth for this one. 

"french" mushroom soup