November 2, 2018

Grilled eggplant with sesame oil, herbs and flat bread

    Grilling the eggplant over flames gives it a charred smoky flavour that you don’t get by roasting it in the oven. Same thing for the grilled bread. The blackened, caramelized strips on the flatbread are a good accompaniment to this eggplant dish. Having said that, if you do not have access to a grill you can still make this dish successfully roasting the eggplant in the oven and cooking the bread in a... View Article

October 30, 2018

Cacio e Pepe

The first time I encountered this dish was at a cooking demonstration by my friend Gaby of Gaby’s Italian Kitchen and I was blown away by the simple elegance and flavour of what seemed like a simple dish of pasta, water and cheese. Where did all the sauce come from? Shortly afterwards we left for Italy where we spend four months travelling around and there I tried the dish at many restaurants and became a... View Article

October 29, 2018

Crispy gnocchi with grana padano

  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

October 26, 2018

Vegan banana peanut butter muffins with caramel walnut crunch

Here is an easy recipe for vegan banana muffins with peanuts butter as a second flavour. The caramel walnut crunch is a nice addition to the soft muffins. Enjoy.           Ingredients: 2 cups flour 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 tsp baking powder 1 teaspoon salt   1/2 cups sugar 1/4 cup canola oil 3 ripe bananas, mashed with a fork 1/3 cup peanut butter Caramelized walnuts 1/2 walnuts 1 tablespoon sugar... View Article

October 22, 2018

Turnip “ravioli” with figs and gorgonzola, no, really, it’s turnip, not pasta

It’s always fun to experiment and change things around a bit. For inspiration I look to cookbooks, restaurant foods, TV food shows and online sources. Recently Masterchef Australia has been a steady source of inspiration. I have been indulging in binge watching of this show for quite sometime and it forms part of my research for our upcoming four months stay in Australia and New Zealand this winter (their summer). In one of the old... View Article

October 5, 2018

Plum cake

You know that saying that a balanced life is a life without passion? well, it tends to describe my life pretty well. I have never had a “balanced” life. I am usually “all in” on one thing or another and it tends to throw everything else off balance. Is balance really that important? I’d say it’s over rated. Right now I am all into baking bread and developing sourdough starters. Considering it’s just the two... View Article

September 3, 2018

Peach pie

I don’t make too many pies here, mostly tarts or free-form galettes for me, but now and then I crave a peach pie and when my friend B can’t make one for me I have to resort to making one myself (how is that for guilt-inducing?). When I made this pie the first time the bottom crust dissolved from the juice of the peaches. It was still good with a flaky, buttery top crust, but not really a... View Article

September 1, 2018

Grilled yellow zucchini ribbons

  Zucchini takes well to grilling and looks beautiful when cut into long ribbons and grilled. I had two yellow zucchini from a recent trip to the market and thought that grilling them would be nice tonight. The smoke has cleared over the valley after settling here for several weeks and we finally see the lake, the sky and can take a breath of fresh air for a change. So it was fun to be on... View Article

August 30, 2018

Radishes with butter and za’atar

Radishes and butter is a classic French “thing” but I have never had them with za’atar before. I found this recipe in Alison Roman’s book Dining In from which I have been cooking lately and thought I’d share it here, slightly adapted to my own kitchen. Za’atar is a middle eastern spice blend made with fresh thyme, oregano, sesame seeds, sumac and salt. You can make your own or buy a good za’atar at a middle eastern... View Article

August 28, 2018

Carrots and fennel two ways

One of the recent food trends is serving vegetables in both a cooked and raw form. Sometimes the raw vegetable is quick-pickled and in this recipe it is simply served raw, thinly sliced into ribbons. The combination of crisp and roasted works particularly well with carrots and fennel but slice them very thinly on a mandoline. The beautiful heirloom carrots in this dish are from Sunshine Farm Seeds here in the Okanagan (find them at the... View Article

August 25, 2018

Red lentil dal

Dal is my go-to dish when I want the flavours of India at home. It is a simple dish of red lentils (or other legumes) cooked with spices and water to a creamy consistency and served with rice and other dishes.       Ingredients:   3 tablespoons vegetable oil (canola, sunflower) 1 teaspoon cumin seeds1/2 teaspoon cumin powder 1 onion, halved and sliced 1 1/2 cups red lentils, rinsed and drained 1 teaspoon turmeric 1... View Article

August 19, 2018

Sweet n’ spicy cauliflower

I had a couple of lunches at 50th parallel’s winery Block One restaurant and came back with a few food ideas to make at home. One of the items on the menu is either wings or cauliflower with Korean sauce, which was a nice way to offer a vegetarian version of a dish. I had the cauliflower and enjoyed it so here is my version of this dish. If you have summer fresh cauliflower be... View Article