Getting Fancy: Black Bean Sautee with Roasted Red Pepper and Garlic Coulis, on Creamy Grits

Confession: I love watching Chopped. Not because the thought of whole chicken in a can or frog legs and lurid blue jelly beans makes my culinary toes curl, but because, well, it’s fun.  The competition.  The stories of why the chefs have come to compete, the varied personalities and cooking philosophies.  The bad behaviour inherent in…

Recipe Review: Veganomicon’s Lemony Roasted Potatoes

I don’t often cook from cookbooks.  Which is a shame, since I have a beautiful and growing library cookbooks that are vegan, vegetarian, and not remotely vegan but willing (or forced) to be adapted to my tastes.  Cookies, cakes, pastries, pies?  I need a recipe’s guidance.  When it comes to savoury, I do a quick…

Chocolate Cheesecake: from Rejection to Redemption

I am not a chocolate fanatic. Don’t get me wrong.  Chocolate’s nice.  Nice like potatoes.  Nice like misty evenings.  Nice like a nap on the bus.  I find chocolate hearty.  Kind of magical.  Somewhat refreshing. But I’m a simple, savoury-dessert kind of girl.  Give me pound cake, cheesecake, snickerdoodles, shortbread (note that I made three…

Chickpea Souse

Every once in a while, I get a hankering for an old familiar flavour.  Growing up, one of the best breakfast treats was souse, a tart, fresh soup with a base of onion, sweet pepper, garlic, carrots, potatoes, and lemon or lime, seasoned with salt, pepper, hot pepper, bay leaves, and pimento.  Oh yeah, and…

Pancake Mix & Maple Dreams

I like to create a facade of product grumpiness.  I do love cooking with whole ingredients but every once in a while, I come across a product that brings special delight and opens me up to new cooking possibilities.  So I’ve decided to start the ProductLove category, inspired by my new best breakfast friend; the…

Pardon me, I was hibernating

Ya-a-a-w-n.  Is it springtime yet? I’ve awoken from my winter hibernation.  Yes, prompted by cold, the short, darkening days, and Mother Nature, I nodded off for a couple of months, hoping to awaken to the seasonal thaw and the first magnolias of spring.  That is, anyway, the official explanation for my two-month time-out from blogging….