December 12, 2019
Going back to my roots here with these cheese blintzes. My mother used to make them when I was growing up and when I lived in Calgary I went to the farmers market where Marguerite was making wonderful blintzes for sale every week. Now when I want them I have to make them myself. Blintzes are easy to make. They are basically egg based crepes filled with sweetened cottage cheese (I use local ricotta), folded... View Article
December 6, 2019
Borrowing from middle eastern cuisine, this dip or spread is good to have on hand for ourselves or for company. I have friends who love it and I try to make it when they visit. You can serve it with a variety of breads, anything from a baguette to pita wedges, but I like making a flatbread and serve it warm with the eggplant dip. I have a number of flatbread recipes on the blog,... View Article
December 4, 2019
Two hummus recipes in a row but that’s how it goes. One was so good I had to make one more but this time I had roasted peppers and added them to the mix. I also made a different flatbread, a very simple one with no yeast so it does not require rising time. I added a teaspoon of baking powder to lighten it up. It’s not vegan though, as I use yogurt instead of... View Article
November 2, 2019
My foodie friend Val and I traveled a couple of hours south a few weeks ago especially to get a sourdough bread from a chef who offers them at the local market. The bread was so outstandingly good that I made a few tartines with it, topping it with roasted peppers, figs and gorgonzola, beautiful ricotta and a couple of more toppings. The only one that got photographed was this breakfast tartine with scramble... View Article
November 1, 2019
Purple cauliflower is not always available but when it is at the market I grab it, if only for its colour. I like mixing the white, yellow and purple cauliflowers in salad, roasting them or making soup with one or two colours together. This purple dude was sitting in my fridge and I just didn’t get around to it so finally I thought I’d roast it and make a beautiful purple dip or spread... View Article
October 19, 2019
Panna Cotta means cooked cream in Italian and it is very easy to make. You simply heat up cream, milk and sugar, add flavouring and then stir in gelatine to hold the mixture together. It must be refrigerate before serving so you can make it a day in advance, taking off the pressure for the day you have company (for me this is mostly a “company” dessert). I use leaf gelatine to make... View Article
January 20, 2019
As soon as we arrived in Sydney (and even before) I was looking for cooking classes teaching Asian cuisine. I was interested in Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Malaysian, whatever I could find. From watching hours of Masterchef Australia I knew that there is a major Asian influence on Australian cooking, likely because of the proximity to South East Asia. From watching the show it seemed like almost everyone knows how to cook Asian food... View Article
January 1, 2019
Spending New Year’s eve at the Sydney Opera House has been a bucket list item for a long time. This year we are spending four months down under, visiting Australia and New Zealand during their summer (our winter) season. Since we are here in December and in time for New Year’s Eve, I planned to view the iconic fireworks over the Sydney Harbour’s bridge from the other iconic landmark across from the bridge... View Article
December 28, 2018
As you probably know by now one of the first places I head to in a new city is the farmers market. Here in Sydney the question is which market to go to, as there are several. Coupled with Christmas markets now open everywhere, the list is rather long. One of the first markets I went to, other than the local one at nearby Kings Cross is Carriageworks. This market, formerly known as Eveleigh Farmers... View Article
December 22, 2018
From our perch on top of the hill at Potts Point we venture down into different areas of the city mostly on foot and sometimes by train, easily clocking 10-14 km of walking a day. From our neighbourhood we can make our way down via a set of colonial steps knowns as the MacLeay step, creating a shortcut that takes us down to sea level in no time. Another set of stairs known... View Article
December 19, 2018
The most iconic sights of Sydney are of course the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Sydney Opera House. Although we got a glimpse of them on Friday from the hill where we stay, we waited until Sunday to get the full impact. Before we left for the trip I bought tickets for a Christmas concert at the Opera House and booked dinner at the iconic Bennelong restaurant, located under one of the white sails... View Article
October 29, 2018
Sometimes I have craving for crispy gnocchi without much of a sauce other than the oil or butter they were cooked in and of course a good shower of grated parmesan. I used to make gnocchi with russet potatoes but recently have been making then with Yukon gold and love the results. I now bake the potatoes rather than steam whole but had successful results either way. One thing you don’t want though is... View Article
