Mick Cote Vous?

Stuffed Red Bell Peppers

Ingredients

1 lb ground beef
10 mushrooms
1 whole yellow onion
3 cloves of garlic
1 tbsp onion salt
1 tbsp chili flakes
1 tbsp ginger
1 tbsp paprika
1 tbsp cajun
1 tsp cinnamon 
3 cups of canned dice tomatos
3 cups of rice (I used basic white rice since I had none of the long grain variety).
(Ok… I like my stuffed bell peppers with a little kick).

Procedure

Get your rice going (follow the instructions on the box/bag).

De-cap your bell peppers and make sure to clean them out of all seeds. Boil them in water for 5 minutes to give them a nice texture and help the juices come out.

Sauté garlic and onions in olive oil until onions are translucent.
Add meat and mushrooms. – Make sure to break the ground beef apart.
Add all spices, make sure to mix properly.
Add canned dice tomatos (make sure to drain them first)
Once rice is done, mix it with the meat (drained, obviously). 

Scoop filling into peppers, place the caps back on them and put them in the oven for 20 minutes at 350 F.

Note: You can add feta cheese to your meat before scooping it into the peppers for some extra taste! 

Curry Maple Chicken Penne

This is, without a doubt, the recipe I like making the most. It’s sweet and spicy, has the right amount of acidity and creaminess and… it’s always a hit.

You won’t want to skip this one. 

Ingredients

1 box of penne pasta
1 small can of tomato sauce
250 ml cooking cream
1/3 cup of pure maple syrup
1/3 cup of orange curry powder 
2 tbs paprika
2 tbs chili powder
1 tsp sea salt
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 whole onion, sliced
1 whole green pepper, sliced
2 whole boneless/skinless chicken breasts

Method

Rub the chicken breasts with a little paprika, curry and chilli. Set on an aluminium plate with olive oil and place in oven at 400 F for approximately 25 minutes or until chicken is cooked. Set aside and keep hot.

While your chicken is baking, throw your garlic, onion and pepper in a large saucepan with a tea spoon of olive oil. Sauté until onion is translucent. 

Add tomato sauce and bring to a slight boil. Then, add cooking cream and make sure to keep stirring. 

Add maple syrup and bring to a slow simmer.

Add all your spices and salt and mix often. Let sauce simmer for 10 to 15 minutes or until thick and rich. 

While your sauce is simmering and getting all of its flavours together (don’t forget to stir!) get your pasta ready as per instructions on the box.

Slice your chicken breasts, throw them in the sauce, mix all your pasta with the sauce and voila! Curry maple chicken penne. 

I hope you enjoy!

Loft Burgers 2.0

I haven’t blogged about food in a long time! I feel a little bad… a little not. I mean, it’s summer, right? – With summer comes barbecues and with balcony-less lofts comes… no barbecues. 

Doesn’t mean you can’t have burgers! 

As you may recall, I have this thing for decadent burgers. I eat them [maybe] once every three months, but if I make them, I go all out.

I know it’s important to let the meat speak for itself. To have this full, juicy flavour. But today I decided to do something different. What if I was to most of my favourite dressings on a decadent, homemade beef patty. 

Here it goes:

Make it with home fries… seriously.

Ingredients

1 lb lean ground beef
2 tsp minced fresh garlic
1/2 bunch of green onions sliced
1 tsp salt/pepper

– I mean… that’s really it for the patty. In this case, here are the ingredients I put on it:

Sun-dried tomatoes
Fine herbs brie
Balsamic caramelized onions and mushrooms 
Avocado
Spinach
Little mayo/little Dijon mustard
Bacon from my favourite butcher

In this case, the Dijon mustard really brings out a nice acidity along with the fine herbs found in the brie. The balsamic caramelized onions and mushrooms have a beautiful complimentary sweetness to the soft nutty notes found in the avocado and spinach.

Try it out!

Grill the buns! It makes all the difference in the world.

What are your favourite toppings? Let me know!  

Thai Chicken Satay & Spicy Peanut Sauce

Nothing better than a good Thai classic on a hot summery day (…in May). Here’s my made-up Thai chicken satay recipe that I paired with spicy peanut sauce and angel’s hair nests.

Ingredients & Preparation 

Marinade

1/4 cup spicy Thai sauce
1 tbsp chili flakes 
3 gloves of garlic, finely chopped
2 tbsp curry powder
3 tbsp ground ginger (didn’t have fresh roots on hand) 
1 tsp salt 
1 small onion, finely chopped 

Slice up your boneless-skinless chicken breasts in filets, let them marinade in the fridge for three hours. Skewer them with bambo kabob sticks you have submerged in water for two hours before and grill. – I used my Tefal indoor BBQ grill. 

Spicy peanut sauce

1/4 soy sauce
1/4 white vinegar
1 cup water
2 tbsp honey
3/4 cup of unsalted/unsweetened peanut butter
2 gloves of garlic
1 tbsp olive oil

Sauté your finely chopped garlic in some olive oil until fragrant, add all your other ingredients and stir until smooth. It should become like peanut butter on hot toasts. The kind of ooey gooey goodness (with a kick!). Let it cool for one hour, it will help enhance the spices. 

Sausage & Portobello Risotto

This was my very first time ever making risotto. Pretty balsy for something I wanted to put up on the blog, right? The only reason why I wanted to take the test was because Ben and I bought beautiful beef and spinach sausages from the Atwater Market this weekend. The green links puzzled me. What was I to make? Well, here’s the result!

Ingredients

3 portobello mushrooms
2 spinach-beef sausages
1 large onion
3 cloves of garlic
1/2 cup of butter
1 1/2 cup of red wine (I used Shiraz)
5 cups of chicken broth
1 tsp basil
1 tsp oregano
2 cups Arborio rice 

Procedure

1. Take the sausage out of the casings and crumble them (as best you can) to make chunks. Sauté them in a little bit of olive oil until brown. In the process, add basil and oregano. After five minutes add the portobello mushrooms (which you have diced and scraped off the gills [yuk]).

2. Add 1/2 cup of red wine and let reduce until the liquid has almost completely evaporated. Set aside.

3. In a large sauce pan, get five cups of chicken broth simmering on low heat.

4. In a large pan, sauté your chopped onion and garlic in some 1/2 cup of butter. (I know… could be healthier…) Once onion is translucent, add two cups of Arborio rice. Stir lots. The rice will fry a bit. 

5. Add one cup of wine and take a swig. Stir and let simmer until wine has mostly evaporated. 

6. Over the next 20 minutes, add one cup of chicken broth at a time and stir in to the rice. Don’t add more until the liquid has mostly evaporated and absorbed in the rice. 

7. Once the rice is done (just take a spoonful… you’ll figure it out) and the liquid has gone thick and creamy from the starch, add in your sausage and portobello mix. Stir together and serve.

8. Add grated parmesan cheese to taste along with salt and pepper. Voila! 

Now, I know this isn’t necessarily “the way” to make risotto, but it turned out and I quite enjoyed it. Remember, as my friend Shelly told me, risotto does NOT wait for late dinner arrivals. Serve it as soon as it’s ready. It’ll thicken as it cools.

Thai Coconut Shrimp and Green Tea Rice

Ingredients

Green tea rice
2 cups of white rice
4 green tea bags
1 tsp white sugar
1/4 tsp salt

Coconut Shrimp
1 tbsp chili flakes
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
25 shrimps
1 egg 
1 cup of water 

Salad
1 large cucumber
Handful spring mix greens
1 celery stick
1/2 avocado

Vinaigrette
Balsamic vinegar
Chili flakes
Olive oil
Sugar
1 clove roasted garlic
(all to taste… you know how) 

Procedure

1. Get your water boiling with the white rice. Cut your green tea bags and pour the tea leaves in. Let boil for 5 minutes. Add sugar and salt. Boil for 10 more minutes and strain.

2. I won’t tell you how to make the salad. It’s pretty obvious. But, for fun, I used a peeler to make long cucumber ribbons. It really adds texture.

3. Mix the dry ingredients for the shrimp in a bowl. Add the egg, whisk until pasty. Add water and continue mixing until thick and heavy… like batter, you know.

4. Have your oil heating up on the stove. Make sure you use either coconut, canola or any high-temperature frying oil. (I used canola).

5. Act quick but be gentle! – Dip your shrimps in the batter one at a time while holding them by the tail. Carefully drop them in the hot oil. WEAR SLIPPERS! It spits everywhere and I got some splatters on my feet (and on my chest… that’s what I get for wearing American Apparel V-necks). 

6. Let fry for 20 seconds on one side and flip with a pair of tongs. Let fry another 15 seconds.

7. Put aside to cool for 3 minutes while you put the rest of the stuff on a plate.

8. I served this with spicy thai sauce. It made a nice contrast with the sweet coconut batter. 

Loft Burgers

There’s really no reason for me to call these “Loft Burgers” other than the fact that I now live in a loft… And made burgers. 

Quick and simple recipe for deliciousness ahead!

Burger

1 pound lean ground beef
2 cloves of garlic
1 quarter of a red pepper
3 slices of white onion
1 tbs chili flakes 
Salt & pepper
1 egg 

Sauce

2 tbs ketchup
1 tbs dijon mustard
2 tbs worcestershire sauce

Condiments used

2 sundried tomato slices
1/2 avocado
A handful of spring mix greens
Brie cheese
Caramelized onions and mushrooms

Preparation

Cut pepper, onion and garlic in small cubes (the smaller the better) and add salt and pepper in a mixing bowl. Add lean ground beef. Mix. Add egg and keep mixing! 
Set aside while you mix your sauce… that’s pretty obvious.

If you haven’t made your caramelized onions and mushrooms yet, get to it. A little bit of oil, brown sugar and wam, bam, thank you ma’am.

Get your burgers cookin’ and make sure they’re cooked through.

Stack them and enjoy! 
*Hint: the avocado may made things slippery so put it under the heavy, meaty patty. It’ll keep things in place.