Tapas around the world

I have been really bad about blogging lately. My hesitation is that I want to post recipes with photos, but I do hate our crappy little Nikon so I procrastinate. My dear friend Barb gave me the boot last night and suggested that I post my creations anyway, so here I go (thanks Barbie!).
We haven’t [...]

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Deconstructed Caesar Salad

I had this idea over the weekend to make a deconstructed Caesar Salad and it turned out much better than I ever thought. What’s a little different with this one is that I grilled the Ice burg lettuce (normally Ice burgs are not welcome in our home, but for this occasion we allowed it!)
Ingredients

1/4 tightly [...]

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Gazpacho – Chilled Tomato Soup with Raw Vegetable Salsa

I had some tomatoes in the refrigerator that needed to be used up and fast, so what better than a chilled soup on a hot summer’s day? JT doesn’t like raw onions so I always make this soup cooked and then cool it down. JT gave this one a 9.5/10! The balsamic gives the soup [...]

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Iron Chef Inspiration – Melon and Prosciutto rethunk

The Marlatt’s are coming to the cottage in a few weeks and I am already thinking about the menu. I was inspired by Iron Chef last week, where the secret ingredient was melon and you had to have a frozen component. One of the chef’s created a version of melon and prosciutto that I loved, [...]

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Iced Brie

From the LCBO Summer 2008 Magazine, Lucy Waverman

8 oz (250 g) brie, rind removed, cut into pieces
¼ cup (50 mL) white wine
¼ cup (50 mL) grated Parmesan
2 tbsp (25 mL) unsalted butter
1 tsp (5 mL) dry mustard
Pinch cayenne pepper
Pinch paprika

Combine brie, white wine, Parmesan, butter, dry mustard, cayenne pepper and paprika in a food [...]

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Fred’s Not Here Jalopeño Corn Bread

This recipe cuts in half very nicely.
Makes about 20 Corn shaped corn breads.

1  1/4 medium ground corn meal
1 1/4 all  purpose flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar (I used Splenda as I was making these for my diabetic father-in-law)
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2  cup diced jalopenos (if you like thnings [...]

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Cold Avocado Soup with Cilantro Oil

Although this soup is very rich, I have modified it to a slightly healthier version and suggest about 1/2 cup servings otherwise you won’t have room for dinner!
Modified from Epicurious.
For soup

1 fresh ear of corn, shucked (or 1 cup frozen corn)
2 cups plus 2 tablespoons water
1 garlic clove, smashed
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3/4 cups chopped white [...]

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California Rolls

California Rolls are one of JT’s favourite sushi, so when we invited Brian (our nephew) for dinner this Sunday, I made a bunch. Unfortunately, he canceled due to a cold, so we had sushi for appi’s, and lunch the next day!

4 sheets of Nori  (dried seaweed paper)
1 cup uncooked sushi rice
2 tbsp rice vinegar
6 sea [...]

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Home Made Whole Wheat Tortilla’s and Braised Beef Appi’s

The diet went extremely well last week – 4lbs in total, and am hoping for an additional 4 this week. I broke down and had cocktails and wine, but the weeknights will remain dry.
I remembered I bought a tortilla press a few years ago and thought I would dust it off and make some mini [...]

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Potato Pancake Hors d’Oeuvres with Yogurt and Chives

A couple of weeks ago, I bought some potatoes for a specific dish, but for some reason I ended up leaving 2 medium sized Yukon Golds unused. They sat in my vegetable crisper for the duration (I know, I know, potatoes should not be kept in the refrigerator, but I have no other place to [...]

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