Homemade Salted Caramel Sauce

To go hand-in-hand with the previous post about apple strudel - I figure it's time to do one about caramel sauce!

It's so nice and easy to make and again - I'm betting you have the ingredients at home already!

What you need:

• 3 dl of thick whipping cream (not the stuff in the can you just shake and squirt out)
• 3 dl of icing/powdered sugar sifted
• 1 tablespoon of butter
• Sprinkle of sea salt optional and delicious

What to do:

1. Melt butter in a sauce pan and add whipping cream and sifted sugar.
2. Stir continuously on medium-heat until bubbling for a couple minutes.

1. Reduce heat and continue stirring to prevent burning and it'll thicken as it cooks and more as it cools!
2. Sprinkle in a bit of sea salt if you like - because we all know that "Home-made Salted Caramel Sauce" sounds so much fancier ;).
3. Store in a mason jar and allow to cool.

Serve with apple-based desserts like the stuffed apples down below, apple strudel, on ice-cream, as a dip for fruit -  wherever you feel the need to have some caramel in your life.

Enjoy,
D.
Originally posted here.

Apple Strudel!

I'm in cooking school and recently we had a "German Day" - of which I was ridiculously excited to learn how to make home-made sausages.
But seeing as I don't have a sausage-making machine or a meat grinder - this post isn't about that unfortunately!
What I do have - is things to make apple strudel!  And you probably do too.

What you need:

• 3-4 Large apples peeled/cored and chopped small (I used golden delicious since they were on sale)
• Cinnamon stick
• Cinnamon and nutmeg
• Brown sugar
• Filo pastry/puff pastry 4 sheets thawed
• Melted butter
• Optional:
• Slivered almonds or chopped peanuts
• Dark chocolate shaved
• Raisins

What to do:

1. Boil your apples with the cinnamon stick until tender - about 15 minutes.
2. Drain water, discard cinnamon stick and pre-heat oven to 200*C (400*F).
3. Stir in cinnamon, nutmeg and brown sugar to your taste.
4. Lie out 1 sheet of filo carefully (it tears easily) and keep the rest of the sheets covered so it doesn't dry out.  Brush with melted butter and add the next sheet - adding melted butter between each layer.

Lay apple filling a couple inches wide along the edge - but give yourself an inch or two from the actual edge (see first photo).

Add on top your chocolate/nuts and/or raisins.

Fold in sides carefully (all 4 layers).

Slowly roll it upwards - be careful of the center not ripping.
Brush butter while rolling because then it prevents it from drying out while baking.
Sprinkle extra nuts on top if you want!  

Bake in a 200*C/400*F oven for 15-20 minutes until golden brown.

Slice and serve warm with vanilla ice-cream and caramel sauce!

Next post will have the caramel sauce recipe! :)

Since my husband can't eat nuts - I made him a separate strudel and didn't top it with nuts so that way we could distinguish the two strudels.

This could be made with other fruits I'm sure - just make sure they're well drained so the pastry is easier to roll and less likely to break on you from being soggy!

Enjoy,

D.

Cheesy Garlic Fingers! (Bacon Optional)

Something I realized about where I live - is that there are several pizza and kebab restaurants and not one of them sells cheesy garlic fingers.
Garlic fingers (if you're not familiar) is more or less pizza dough with loads of garlic butter on top and cheese - and of course - bacon is optional.

I'm from Canada and there's always some sort of combo of pizza and garlic fingers  - which is handy for the vegetarians (bacon aside of course) who might not eat the communal pizza!

So as a spur of the last moment decision - I decided to try to make some.
I don't know how I haven't EVER tried to make my own - but it suddenly became necessary that I try.

What you need:

• Pizza dough (I use this recipe in my bread machine!)
• I also added liquid garlic to the dough mixture so it'd be nice and garlic-y!
• Liquid garlic or very finely minced garlic (or both really)
• Dried parsley and chives
• A lot of butter - about a quarter cup!
• A lot of shredded cheese! (I just used a pizza blend.)
• Optional: Already cooked and crumbled bacon.
• I have discovered cooking the bacon in the oven! Less mess and fairly quick at 200*C for 15 minutes on the middle rack with baking paper underneath for even less mess! :)

1. Pre-heat your oven to 225*C and roll out your pizza dough onto a lined baking sheet.
2. Melt your butter, minced garlic, dried parsley and chives in the microwave in a microwave-safe bowl.
3. Brush/drown your rolled out dough with your garlic butter mixture, sprinkle cheese generously all over and top with crumbled up bacon.
4. Bake for about 10 minutes until cheese is bubbling and dough edges are golden brown.

Now, you're probably wondering what kind of sauce goes best with cheesy garlic fingers?

According to my Californian friend - Dominos serves theirs with some sort of tomato sauce. Probably pizza sauce.  Probably not as amazing as Donair sauce...oh donair.

A donair is a Canadian invention of sorts - delicious all year round, cures hangovers (so I hear) and in general is amazing.  And the official food of Halifax, Nova Scotia I read online!

Read more about the beauty of a donair here.

But what goes best with donair is its side kick - the sauce.
Which looks like plain ol' white whatever - but is amazing and apparently so freaking easy to make - I'm disappointed and thrilled!
Disappointed because no amount of gym hours is going to save me....thrilled because it's easy as pie!

Vinegar, condensed (sweetened) milk and garlic powder - OMG.  That's it!  Whisk and chill.  So delicious.  Also amazing on pizza too since you're probably having that too, right?

And guess what? You don't need to live in Canada to make it.
All the ingredients are readily (usually) available in most stores!
I found the recipe here!

These are great for potlucks, birthday parties, having guests over or just for yourself!

Of course I had to make pizza as well...

Anyhow, I hope you enjoyed getting fat with me making your own garlic fingers!  ;)

D.

Parma Chicken!

If you're looking for what appears to be a fairly classy-looking meal that won't break the bank - then I present to you "Parma Chicken"!
This is something I made at cooking school recently and decided I had to try it at home with my own twist on things.

What you need:

• Chicken breasts
• Prosciutto or any other kind of similar smoked ham strips (a nice smokey bacon could work too)
• Pesto (home-made or from a jar)
• Sun dried tomatoes sliced
• Caramelized onion chutney (or whatever flavour you fancy)
• salt and pepper

Pre-heat your oven to 200*C (400*F).

Spray your deep baking dish with cooking spray.

If your chicken breasts are thick - then take a sharp knife and make a small but deep cut and go length-wise so you don't make a hole on both sides of the meat - this helps to create a pocket in the chicken breast.  Do this to all the breasts and then fill with pesto and sun dried tomato pieces.

If you can fit in chutney - great!  If not - spread some on top of the chicken breast and then wrap a slice of prosciutto or bacon around it.

I served it with potato pancakes - which were supposed to be croquettes originally but I lacked chilling time for the mashed potatoes - so I improvised! :)

Alternative - which is what I did because my breast meat wasn't thick enough - lie your chicken breast flat, spread pesto and sun dried tomato pieces and chutney, roll quickly and wrap with a slice of prosciutto.
Sprinkle some salt and pepper on top and bake for 20 minutes or so - until chicken breast is cooked through completely.

Enjoy!
D.

Curry Night!

I had been dying to make some Indian-style curry in my slow cooker and finally decided for last night I would.
I love my slow cooker for curries - it's so simple!  It wasn't my first time making a curry but it certainly had been awhile!

While I was cruising through Pinterest, I decided I wanted to do something more.  Something vegetarian to go with this and discovered "Cauliflower Fritters".  I first saw this recipe and thought they looked amazing!
Then I had a nap and didn't have enough time to let the mixture chill for 3 hours in the fridge and my balcony isn't cold enough to speed up the process.  So I found another recipe (can't find the link!) where they just boiled the cauliflower and mashed it up after draining it and mixed stuff in and pan-fried the fritters.
That worked and it was so tasty!

"I don't know what I'm doing Cauliflower Fritters"

• 2 small cauliflower heads (or use 1 large one)
• 3 large eggs
• A couple handfuls of flour (or however much needed to make the mixture not so wet)
• Your favourite spices and some fresh coriander.
• For spices I used:  salt, pepper, curry powder, tumeric and some mixes.

1. Clean your cauliflower and remove the stem and leaves.
2. Break the cauliflower up into little florets and boil until tender.
3. Drain really well and mash the cauliflower until it resembles baby food.
1. Drain it again.
4. Spray your cooking pan with non-stick cooking spray and while that's heating up:
1. Mix in your eggs and spices and flour until mixture isn't super wet looking.
5. Once pan is heated, drop by the spoonful (or blob-full) some fritter mixture and fry a couple minutes on medium-high heat until golden brown and flip them and allow to cook long enough that the other side is golden brown too.  (You might need to flatten them a bit if the blob is too thick).
6. Serve and enjoy.

I bought 800 grams of beef chunks (I realize beef isn't common in Indian-style curry for cultural/religious reasons but I'm not a fan of pork meat and wasn't in the mood for chicken!) and cut them in half because we were feeding 4 adults and 4 kids - and I love a hearty stew/curry!

• While the beef was frying in a bit of oil to brown it - I peeled and cut a few small potatoes (cut in quarters), a couple large carrots and a medium-sized onion went into the slow cooker.
• I added the beef pieces, Tikka Masala curry paste (monster-sized blobs), a box of tomato puree and a can of coconut milk (only because there were little ones and I didn't want it too spicy).
• I let it cook on low for 6 hours with the occasional stir here and there.  A bit of fresh coriander and some salt and pepper and it was all good to go!  I wish I had the ingredients before hand as I prefer to have it cook for 8 hours - but was waiting to hear from our guests if they would be coming or not.  (There's a baby on the way for them - so I just had to be sure!)
• I had topped it with fresh coriander and also had some in the pot while cooking.  I'm sure I could've added more spices but was pressed for time.

For the naan bread - I turned to my favourite recipe (I love my bread machine!) and tried 2 cups of all purpose flour and 2 cups of bread flour and they turned out bigger than my hand!
Instead of brushing it with water - I brushed it with ghee (clarified butter - or you can make your own).

Serve with basmati rice and ta-da!
D

Beer Can Chicken

Or do you call it "Beer Butt Chicken"?
Either way, I've been meaning to make this for about 15 years and finally got around to it.
15 years is a long time to forget about a recipe and think to do it randomly some Friday night!
Why 15 years?  Well, I once dated a guy named Simon (way back when I was about 15) and his dad told me all about beer butt chicken and I am pretty sure I let out the most ridiculous and not-so-lady-like snort.
I quickly recovered and I never did get to try out that chicken dish and every now and again it floated to my mind and quickly dissolved again.

Anyways, for the sake of something "quick" and not requiring a lot of prep time - I decided to Google search "beer can chicken" and found a variety of recipes!
Whew - it's not some weird dish made by Canadians.

I knew I had a whole chicken that needed to be cooked and I looked online and found that most recipes are for grilling the chicken on a barbecue.
I don't have one and saw some recipes were oven-friendly.
I also don't have one of those fancy wire things to support the chicken upward - I just shimmied the chicken onto the can.

• Pre-heat oven to 200*C.
• Rinse your chicken all over and inside out.
• Pat it dry with paper towel - or else your dry rub won't stick!
• Open a can of beer (I used Carlsberg - since I don't know crap about beers and which is best for inserting into a bird) and pour about 1/4 of it into your baking dish/pan you're going to let the chicken cook in.
• Shimmy that bird onto the can of beer.  (Some people remove the tab - I didn't because nobody told me and I didn't see it online until someone mentioned it after the fact.  I don't know why - but if you want - I guess you could!)
• Rub your spices all over your chicken.
• I used whatever was on my shelf that sounded alright with the word "chicken".  A lot of pre-mixed spices, dried mustard powder, chili powder etc.

• Rub your spices all over your chicken.

• Drizzle some olive oil into your pan if you want.
  Look at "Carl" getting his tan on!

• Let your chicken hang out in the oven for about 1.5 hours or until cooked well based on your meat thermometer. (75*C or 165*F)

• Loosen the chicken from the can and slice it up!
  This is what the can looked like after.

I don't recommend drinking the beer that's left over.

So was it worth a can of beer?  Sure!

I found that it cooked the chicken evenly and because the chicken was propped up - the chicken was nice and crispy and the beer flavour was very subtle.

It was juicy and well received by our guests!

I served this with mashed potatoes, green beans and thyme dinner rolls I made my bread machine whip up for me (I had to bake them) last minute.

Definitely something I'll try again!

:)
D.

Stuffed Brownies

I love Pinterest.  I've had an account for years but only really got into it the past 6 months or so?
I've written before in my other blog that some people do face masks and stuff before bed time - me?  I scroll through Pinterest! :)

So what's something I keep seeing?

Stuffed brownies.

Sometimes known as "Sex in a pan" (I think it depends on how many or what kind of ingredients you put in it) or Oreo-stuffed brownies or as I saw them: "I'm going to go the gym tomorrow - just one more portion" brownies.

I apologize now that my photos aren't so great.

It's fairly straight forward:  You bake brownies and layer something in the middle.
I tried to go for "portion control" and used a cupcake/muffin tin but found they overflowed a bit much and they were baked a tad too long (22 minutes at 175*C) and a bit dry.  Which made me ridiculously sad!
I think in future for cupcake pans - and with a ready to eat center - I'd aim for 15 minutes at 175*C instead.

I went a little gutsy and decided 2 Domino cookies (Finnish version of Oreo's) with peanut butter sandwiched in between was a brilliant idea.

It is but it isn't because it was too tall and there wasn't enough brownie batter encasing it's chocolate/peanut buttery goodness.

But I ate it anyway.  It wasn't easy to cut cleanly that's for sure.

I've since tried this again with a rectangular pan and decided to say "screw you!" to neat and tidy portion controls and this was the result:

Served with left-over homemade Cookie Monster ice-cream - another lovely Pinterest find! :)
AND it's no-churn/no ice-cream machine needed.

It wasn't over baked and I know you can't see the cookies - but they're in there.  And I opted to mix in a couple monster-sized dallops of peanut butter into the brownies batter to save me some time! :) 

Until next time!

D.

Perogies!

Today is Valentine's Day and I thought since we didn't even bother trying to get a sitter - we'll celebrate my birthday, Valentine's Day and our anniversary all in one dinner date at another time.

However, I wanted to do a little something and thought we could spoil ourselves once the kids were asleep tonight (and I'm back with the dogs) with a delicious dinner of steak and shrimps (those would be for me).
I didn't want to have rice with it and I didn't want to have mashed potatoes or baked potatoes either.
Salad is out of the question as my husband has a digestive condition (Crohn's) and for the life of me - I had a hankering for some perogies today!

In Canada (where I'm from) - I used to buy them every couple of months frozen and they would be a nice late night snack during movie night or a different side dish with a meal.
Obviously not the healthiest option of course...I even remember Boston Pizza having a perogy pizza and I was in love!

I can't get frozen ones here - as far as I know - so obviously the next step is to make my own.
I started with a Google search and found this recipe.
Stupid me - I for some reason thought that "20 servings" meant portions for 20 people.  It was a long night last night with the kids and my husband constantly waking me up with his snores or shaking from running in his sleep or something...

Anyways, I downsized that recipe above for "2 servings" and got such odd numbers and the dough didn't work out - so I dumped in more flour and it magically turned into a proper dough! :)

For some reason I can't rotate this photo - but you get the idea.
Top: First attempt aka "I have no idea what I'm doing".
Bottom: Several attempts later...aka "Holy crap it looks like a perogy!"
Words of wisdom: I didn't roll the circles out very thinly in fear of them bursting while cooking.  I did flatten them a bit more and stretched them a little with my hands.  I used about a heaping tea spoon for filling and sealed them with water and once they were all done - used a fork dipped in flour to press down the edges.

There were actually 36 of these puppies ready!  I couldn't freeze them as it was suggested (to prevent bursting during boiling) - so I did the next best thing.  I layered them in a bowl with a light dusting of flour and parchment paper/baking paper then covered with a towel and tossed them onto my frosty balcony for a few hours until we were ready to eat.

I have to say I was annoyed (but perhaps it's obvious) that the recipe just says to boil them in lightly salted water and once they float to the top, remove with a slotted spoon.
I'm annoyed because what the recipe doesn't say - and I'm going to share with you - is that you should put a bit of oil in the boiling water to prevent those perogies from sticking to the bottom - and they're going to anyway.  It's possible that the salting of the water will prevent sticking - I just went with oil to be safe.
I couldn't figure out why some weren't floating and it turns out they were sticking anyway!  Luckily I got it in the nick of time and they floated and nothing burst in the pot!
And there should so be a "step 5" - heat a pan with a generous dab of butter and fry them suckers on both sides until golden and crisp.

Again - probably obvious because of the photo posted on the top of their site, but they certainly didn't look just boiled and removed with a slotted spoon to me. ;)

For the filling I just boiled and mashed a few small potatoes added spices and shredded cheese.
Nothing fancy for the first time - but definitely will go add bacon next time!

Here was the final result:

Perogies, surf and turf with fried onions and mushrooms and a side of caramelized carrots (boiled until tender, cooked in browned butter and a couple spoons of brown sugar).

We had a feast at home and watched Scandal while the kids slept and the dogs stared at us - waiting and drooling.  Yes, I'm a sucker and gave them some fat from the steak.

Happy Valentine's Day.

D.

Princess Cake!

Last weekend I had the joy of celebrating my daughter's 2nd birthday party.
I love prepping for birthday parties - I actually don't find it stressful but find it really fun!

Anyway, the theme was cupcakes...kids decorate their own cupcake and that saves me a bucket load of time! :)

Well, super last minute - like 2 days before the party itself and I'm in the grocery store- I decided I wanted to try making one of those Disney princess Barbie cakes.

You know the kind - maybe you had one as a kid - where you bake a cake, shove a Barbie doll in the top of the cake and frost the heck out of it.
Instead of doing a layered cake and shaving it to a dress-shape - I used my favourite cupcake cake pan from Tiger and figured it looked alright!

I used Martha Stewart's Buttermilk cake recipe from her book "Cakes" (Book Depository Affiliate link) and regular vanilla buttercream frosting with Wilton's colourings.
Got loads of compliments on the flavours and used vinegar mixed in with regular milk as we don't have actual "buttermilk" sold here and the stuff that's the closest - we don't drink.  So it made more sense to just do the vinegar route.

First of all - did you know Ariel is super tall without her fins?

I had to cover up her bottom with some extra frosting...

And if you're wondering about how to pack your Princess Cake - I put her in an Ikea food container with a bottle of maple syrup to support her.  A foil tent on top  - both in front and behind.

Ariel showing off her leg...so scandalous!

Anyway, the birthday girl was pleased as punch about the cake and for my first one - I'm impressed too.

Sure, I could've smoothed the frosting better and used a much lighter green frosting but anyhow, I used this video tutorial and it was a huge help!

I think it may be my daugher's new thing as she got a plushy version of Princess Ariel as well (we already have the movie) and was ecstatic.

That and Barbies are hella expensive!  But anyway, it was fun and I'll practice frosting more :).

D.

Jelly Roll Cake!

One thing I learned in school this past week was how to make jelly roll cakes.
They're so easy - too easy.

So I tried to make my own at home using home-made jam and chocolate sauce (couldn't find my dark chocolate bar for shaving) and I baked it a smidge too long!
So it isn't rolled up as nicely.  But it still tasted lovely!

At home - yeah it was threatening to break so I just flattened it because it wasn't flexible enough to roll properly or tightly.

School version - much more roll-y looking!

I got positive reviews of my piping skills of the whipped cream at school (photo below) until I started to run out of whipped cream and some pieces had too much cream.
"This isn't America D! We use a lot less cream!" she chastised me.
Naturally, having American friends over on Friday called for "American-style" whip cream.

At school all pretty.

So how easy is this?

Pre-heat your oven to 225*C

• 4 eggs
• 2 dl of sugar

Beat these with an electric mixer!  I used just a whisk and it wasn't beat well enough and I found the cake to be a smidge heavy.

Sift:

• 1 dl of potato flour
• 1 dl of all-purpose flour

Fold it into the wet ingredients and mix well (not with mixer with a spatula) and then pour into a baking-paper lined baking tray and bake for 5-8 minutes.

I try to aim for 7 but apparently nearly hit 10 with the one I made on Friday!

Remove from oven and have a second baking paper sheet on your surface sprinkled in sugar, powdered sugar, cocoa powder or whatever you want your cake dusted with on the outside.

Flip cake onto the 2nd sheet and slowly peel off the paper backing.

Spread a thin and even layer of filling all over the cake (but don't go over the edges!) - whether it be:

• jam
• Nutella
• marmalade
• whipped cream etc.

Carefully roll the cake horizontally from one side to the other and tightly as possible without breaking the cake.

Wrap tightly in baking paper and chill in the fridge until you're ready to serve it - then slice it up and enjoy!

This is a fantastic cake for your next handicraft meeting, book club meeting or little tea party!  It's dairy-free (unless you put the whipped cream or chocolate) - which will make your local lactose-intolerant/dairy-allergic friends very happy I'm sure.

D.

Surf & Turf Shish Kebabs

Sorry it's been a bit over a week - I've been secretly planning a pampering baby shower for my friend who was expecting kiddo #3 - and prior to that - another baby shower for another couple of friends!

Anyways, I'm back and I've been trying a few new things!
For the life of me, I couldn't find skewers (metal or wood!) in a shop downtown and didn't have a lot of time to spend - so I asked the cashier and she found me these metal wires with super sharp skewer tips and they were 2 in a pack for 13.95€ and I thought I'd try them out.

I don't know why I never think to even DO skewers - they're so easy and simple!  I suppose not having a barbecue and not being allowed to have one on my balcony has something to do with it too!
But I got motivated from school (where I'm studying cooking) and the student restaurant treated us to a fancier lunch and there was a chicken skewer.

School "fancy" lunch from the student restaurant where I study.

So it turned out last Friday (2 days ago), we had our guests over as usual and I found out through Facebook that my friend's birthday was on Saturday - so I wanted to make something a little more special and opted for those skewers/wires.

I had 5 minutes to marinade the beef and I just tossed them in soya sauce with roasted garlic spice and Chinese 5 Spice and pepper.  

I didn't thaw the shrimp all the way - so there was a bit of water in the pan when I pulled it out of the oven.

I do plan on doing this again as it was easy, a great motivator to eat more vegetables and I felt happy and full (without the need to switch to sweat pants) afterward.
I'd also try to put more thought into the marinade and maybe brush some extra on during half way (but was in a rush making dessert) of the cooking time - but otherwise it was a pleasant treat.

I used (already cut) chunks of beef, frozen shrimp, bell peppers, red onion and whole mushrooms.
I coated my wires with cooking spray before hand (so nothing would stick - just in case) and cooked them for about 30 minutes at 350*F (175*C).

In the bottom two, far-right photos - a filo pastry (puff pastry) covered in sliced pears with brie, crushed walnuts and pecans and dried cranberries with a drizzle of honey and shaved dark chocolate!

Sorry about the hideous filter - it looked better on my phone.

Off to bed for now!  Until next time!

D.

Chocolate Avocado "Pudding"

I tried 3 new recipes today as a spur of the moment but I'll try to spread them out (in case I don't make new things in the next couple of weeks! :) ).

Today I'm going to talk about a failure.

I had made egg-drop soup today and it was okay - there was something missing and I think now, I realize it was some sort of red Chinese vinegar that I normally ate with it and it should've been a tad thicker.  I'm letting it sit overnight with the hopes it thickens on its own some more.
But that wasn't the failure.  that was the could've been better.

I felt like dessert and I was trying to avoid devouring cookies and chips and whatever else - oh yes, chocolates from Christmas - as I'm actually trying to lose my chub buddy.

So I went on Pinterest.  I wanted something:

• Quick
• Quiet to make
• Healthy 
• But yes, also some sort of dessert-classified thing.

I came across this: Chocolate Avocado Pudding on Pinterest.
Perfect!! I actually had some leftover avocados I wanted to use up and they were still ripe and lovely.
I didn't use a blender because I didn't want to wake the kids up so I just used my hand mixer and it didn't do it for me in the end.  It was a bit chunky - despite me mashing it a bit more with a spatula and mixing it again with a mixer.

I tried drowning it in honey and extra coconut/almond milk and a bit more powder to make it darker and I was gagging as I scooped it down and into my throat as fast as I could.
Of course because it contained avocado I couldn't feed it to my dogs.

If I were to do this again I would:

• Use chocolate milk instead of a nut milk to liquidize it.  (Chocolate oat drink or something chocolate-y and vegan - dairy milk's been making me sick lately - even lactose-free!)
• Whipped cream on top - it honestly looks like crap in a glass.
• Add peanut butter or Nutella for more flavour.

Not all recipes will be winners and that's okay.

If I try it again - I'll let you know.
D.

Moose Burgers!

I am on a roll with new recipes!  Today's Sunday which is for me, the beginning of a new week although some go by a Monday as the marking of a new week.

Anyways, last week - I made moose burgers!

I bought minced moose meat frozen and took it out to thaw the morning of.

I started my bread machine to help me make the hamburger buns for me too.  Recipe can be found here.

I mixed 2 eggs (because I used a kilo of meat as we had guests over), various spices and the meat and formed them into patties.  I thought I had bread crumbs but apparently not - they still held their shape. I only flipped them once the meat was half-way cooked so they wouldn't crumble on me.

Fried in a pre-oiled pan (cooked the bacon first - bacon fat is lovely for everything!)  and also had the buns baked before I made the patties and served them with condiments like pickles, lettuce, ketchup, mustard and bacon.

I also had made hand-cut potato wedges which were simple enough.  I rinsed potatoes, sliced them as evenly as possible, tossed them in olive oil with salt and pepper and baked them at 225*C in my oven for 45 minutes while stirring them every 10-15 minutes.

Moose meat - is nice and light tasting to me - not super greasy and doesn't give me cramps or digestive issues like beef or pork can sometimes or that "heavy gut" feeling.

Until next time! :)

D.

Hi 2016!

Hi there!

I've decided to stick to the same New Year Resolution as last year and make/try a new recipe a week.
I was tired of eating the same things every week - sometimes multiple times within a week for the sake of convenience or laziness.
Then my friend who co-writes in this blog too - thought we should do a blog together - hence the 2 Hookers (we both crochet - although I do other crafts as well) and 2 Kitchens.

So last night to celebrate the new year - I decided to try my hand at a moose roast.
A friend/neighbour gifted me with a chunk of moose from her father's hunting group and I immediately got excited about the possibilities of what to do with it.

Please note - I have 0 professional cooking experience and am not educated in fancy-pants cooking.
I'm going to a home economics vocational school soon - but it's nothing incredibly fancy!  I'll be sure to keep you guys updated on my culinary skills I learn from there!

1. I took the moose roast out to thaw the night before.
2. I started the dough in the bread machine (my favourite machine in the kitchen right now!).
3. The morning of - actually - closer to 11am - I heated a frying pan and added 2 minced cloves of garlic and 1 small onion peeled and quartered into the pan with EVOO (extra virgin olive oil) and tossed in the roast as well to brown on all sides.
4. I tossed the moose roast into the slow cooker and included the lightly fried onions and garlic, favourite spices (i.e. pepper, onion spice mix, dried parsley) and added some fresh cut rosemary and chives.  
1. I rarely have fresh herbs on hand - I'm usually a bagged dried herbs and spices kind of person!  But I had it for something else on hand - so why not?
5. I added a mug full of red wine (0,4dl) and drizzled a bit more olive oil and a splash of water and turned it on "LOW" for 5 hours.
6. I flipped the meat only once to ensure the top part wouldn't dry out.
1. I also baked the dinner rolls at some point!
7. I mixed flour into the drippings in the slow cooker with a silicone whisk and made a gravy - it was lumpy AF - but still edible.

I ended up crashing for a nap some point during the day and it was too late to try making mashed potatoes - so I opted for rice with a bullion cube in the rice cooker (Tupperware one) and green beans. 

So there you have it!  I've never cooked with moose meat before (other than already pre-shaved and toss it in a stew from the frozen section) - and was happy with the result of the meal.

Tonight I'm making moose burgers with ground moose meat I got from the frozen section of the store (friends made them last week for us and I had to try it!) and will update you with my results/attempt in a few days!  (Or sooner if I manage!)

D.

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