First up, the makings of chicken and steak tacos with guacamole and green salsa. I even managed to make the corn tortillas myself with the tortilla press I got as a gift.
Marinating the chicken.
eMarinating the steak.
Making the tortillas.
The Husband's steak tacos with cheddar.
My chicken tacos with guacamole, green salsa (which I actually prefer over red) and Oaxaca cheese melted onto my tortilla. If you can get some of this stuff try it. It is like high quality mozzarella but even better.
"Marinating" a rack of pork in a three mustard, wine, garlic and fennel paste.
The pork loin went into the oven and when it was done I made peppercorn gravy with the drippings along with roasted potatoes.
The Husband and I call them "crack" potatoes because they are highly addictive.
Whenever I make Indian food I always seem to end up dragging out half of bottles in the spice cabinet.
Here are the spices, cilantro, chilies and tomato paste ready to be pureed together. I use a magic bullet to do this, hence the cup. It's not because I was going to drink it.
Fresh Korma curry paste. Seriously, home made curry pastes are a million times better than what you get in a jar from the supermarket and pretty fast to make.
eExtra jalapenos to go in my Chicken Korma.
Cilantro going into the pan along with the chicken.
Chickpeas, the paste mixture and soy nuts going into the pan. The recipe calls for almonds but since The Husband is allergic so no nuts. Soy nuts actually make a pretty good substitute though since they taste nutty.
I always serve my curry over basmati rice unless I am making Naan. Since I use so many chilies I like to add a dollop of yogurt on top to balance out the heat.
Onions and lots of Thai chilies to make Chili Chicken. This is a dish that I can never find in Montreal, only in Toronto and I am always trying to replicate the taste.
Marinating the chicken in chilies, chili garlic paste, soy sauce and sherry (since I can't find Chinese cooking wine).
Once the chicken has been cooked along with the onions I add water to make a sauce.
Not exactly like the one I can get in Toronto but cheaper than a plane ticket!
A month or two ago I made a batch of cookies and froze half of the dough. Since I don't want it sitting in the freezer forever I thawed and baked it. It's a seriously good idea to freeze cookie dough. You get homemade taste with the ease of store bought. Seriously though, am I the only one who gets annoyed at those Pillsbury commercial where they talk about homemade cookies and they show a Mom just putting the frozen nuggets of dough onto a cookie sheet? That's not homemade! Ok, rant over.
My cookie jar. You can see my terribly retro timer in the background.
Shredded duck from two duck leg confit. Basically it's duck legs cooked and then preserved in duck fat. Sounds a bit strange but tastes amazing. I always have The Husband take the skin off and shred the duck meat because it is one of those kitchen tasks that I loathe doing. That and peeling anything drives me nuts.
The duck meat is for making Duck Pot Pie which is one of The Husband's favourite recipes. Here I am cooking finely sliced carrots, green onions and garlic. Instead of adding olive oil I render a bit of skin so it adds more flavour.
Once everything is cooked I add the duck meat, chicken broth, white wine and let it simmer and reduce for a bit.
This gets put in individual baking dishes and covered in a thick blanket of potatoes and cheese. The whole thing then goes in the oven at broil until the cheese is bubbly.
This is perfect Fall food. It is cheesy, meaty and warm. Perfect for a cold and windy day.
This is shrimp with cilantro pesto and brown rice with veggies. Not exciting but since I give the impression that I spend all day eating cupcakes I just wanted it on the record that I sometimes do try to cook healthier.
Roast chicken stuffed with foie gras. Not that great actually. The chicken was incredibly moist but it was not the greatest use for foie gras since it obviously just melted away.
Buttermilk pancakes that I made The Husband.
