Ginger Rose Presents: Kitchen Crashers

I started Ginger Rose almost three years ago with a clear goal in mind, to inspire my friends and family to conquer their kitchen fears and find the joy in cooking a delicious home cooked meal. At the time I felt like a bit of an anomaly, with pretty much all of my friends claiming to not know how to cook, or claiming to be the best cook and never moving past Kraft Dinner and muffin and pancake mixes. Food was one of my biggest passions and it felt so wrong to not have anyone to share that passion with. I wanted to share ideas, swap tips and tricks, learn about new techniques and restaurants, create something spectacular using multiple palettes, but other than my immediate family there was no one. As my blog grew, so did the response. I found myself completely overwhelmed by the positive response I was receiving from friends, family, acquaintances, friends of friends, and even strangers! Those that shared my same passion started to come forward and make their presence known, as well as those that had never really given cooking a shot but were now encouraged to try. I watched as former fearful cooks broke through their limits to create dishes that they could be proud to serve and call their own. Those that had barely even touched a stove were now sharing recipes that they had found success in, making 5-course dinners to impress their loved ones, and in some cases even starting their own customized cake business'. Now, nearing Ginger Rose's three year anniversary, I can confidently and proudly say that I have achieved my goal! So where do we go from here?

Although I have achieved my goal of getting my own friends and family excited about food and cooking, there is a whole other generation of young men and woman who are in that same place that my friends and family were three years ago. I'm talking about those young adults who are leaving the nest for the first time, unfamiliar with the kitchen, or perhaps just unfamiliar with the pressures and time constraints of becoming an adult. I want to help ease that pressure and inspire people to take control of their lives and their diet, but this time I can't do it alone. After talking with so many fearful cooks about their apprehensions and fears in the kitchen, I have learned that one of the most encouraging things to say to them is "I'm just like you". I have never had any formal training, I have certainly had my share of kitchen disasters, I have learned from those disasters to divert them in the future, and I still have my own kitchen fears yet to conquer. With my food blog as much apart of my identity as my flaming red hair, it's trickier to get people to buy the "I'm just like you" line, and this is where my network of friends, family, and acquaintances come into play. With the help of my incredible network of friends, I would like to introduce Ginger Rose's new series, Kitchen Crashers.

What is Kitchen Crashers you ask? Well, it's exactly as it sounds. I want to crash my friends kitchens! I want to be that fly on the wall, learning how others approach cooking, how they select ingredients and plate dishes to create a final product that they can be proud to call their own. In each post Kitchen Crashers will feature one inspiring individual, revealing their history in the kitchen through a Q&A, and featuring that persons "signature dish", along with a recipe for it. Through the Q&A you will be able to see the incredible diversity in terms of how people approach cooking, as well as the diversity of the different people represented in each post. Of course ones cultural background has a great deal of influence on their outlook on food and cooking, but what someone does for a living and their hobbies also greatly effects their approach to food. As the series grows, I want to represent people from all different cultural, economic, social, and creative backgrounds, representing the fantastic mosaic that is Toronto. I'm hoping that through Kitchen Crashers my readers will be able to identify with someone who truly is "just like them", and be able to walk away feeling inspired to take a chance in the kitchen themselves! The first post is in the works, featuring a young jewelry designer who has just recently discovered her passion for cooking. I can't wait to share it with you and see what you think! Cheers to the next step!

Listening To:

Sam Cooke - Bring It On Home To Me

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Thai Kitchen's® Easy Chicken Pad Thai

Thai Kitchen® - From Thailand to your table

After being totally blown away by the simplicity, speed, and yummy flavours in Simply Asia's® Soy Ginger Shrimp and Noodles using their Soy Ginger Noodles and Sauce pack, I was super eager to get the wok back out again yet another night this week and try out Thai Kitchen's® recipe for Easy Chicken Pad Thai using their brand of Stir-Fry Rice Noodles and Original Pad Thai Sauce. Although Pad Thai isn't a Chinese dish, it still features many of the prominent flavours found in many Chinese foods...and with a pad thai recipe as simple as Thai Kitchen's®, I couldn't help but want to try it out right away! With my tummy growling like a bear after writing out my entry for the Soy Ginger Shrimp and Noodles, I was a little concerned about how long the pad thai would take to make. The recipe stated that the dish would take approximately 25 minutes to make, but the skeptic in me rounded up to more like 45...an eternity to my already angry stomach. Despite my reservations about timing, I quickly began cutting up the chicken breasts and chopping up the peanuts.

Surprise surprise, I was wowed yet again! Just about 25 minutes later (seriously, maybe even less!) the rice noodles were tossed into the wok to be combined with the savory pad thai sauce, moist chicken strips, crisp bean sprouts, and zesty green onions, ready to be garnished with crunchy peanuts. I felt so impressed with myself and especially Thai Kitchen® seeing that my pad thai looked exactly like my favourite takeout pad thai! Ravished with hunger, I dove in making sure to get every tasty ingredient in every bite! One bite told me that this dish was a keeper...but it did need a few very minor adjustments to the recipe. The flavours were all there, they just needed to be heightened. For the amount of rice noodles in the package I felt the need to amp up the citrus and onion flavour, and because I like my heat, I also wanted to add a bit more spice. An extra squeeze of lemon (I used lemon as opposed to the suggested lime because that's what is found in my takeout pad thai, and I wanted to replicate that as much as possible), a quick cut of some green onions, and a fast chop of some fresh chili peppers was all I needed to make this pad thai the perfect takeout Thai made at home! With authentic thai flavours, a beautiful colour palette, and enough to save as leftovers for lunch the next day, I found myself texting my family members again telling them to add Thai Kitchen's® Stir-Fry Rice Noodles and Original Pad Thai Sauce to their grocery list! Now that I've given you the recipe for this awesome takeout at home, I want you to do something for me! I want you to lie to your friends and family. You heard me! I want you to LIE! Invite some friends over for dinner and say you're getting takeout. Prepare Thai Kitchen's® Easy Chicken Pad Thai and clean and hide all the evidence of making it. Play along as though you picked up the dish from your local thai restaurant and see if anyone can tell the difference. I'm willing to bet you that they won't! Try it out and leave your findings in the comment section!

Tip: Heighten the flavours even more by using Asian Cooking Oil (I used Spectrum's Organic Asian Cooking Oil) and grating in extra ginger!

Ingredients:

4 ounces Thai Kitchen® Stir-Fry Noodles

2 tablespoons oil, divided (see tip!)

1 egg, lightly beaten

4 ounces boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into thin strips

6 tbsp Thai Kitchen® Original Pad Thai Sauce

3 green onions, thinly sliced

1/2 bean sprouts

1/4 cup chopped unsalted peanuts

1-2 tbsp fresh lemon juice (taste to adjust accordingly)

fresh chili pepper, chopped very fine (use your discretion on how much based on how spicy you like your pad thai)

fresh cilantro sprigs (optional) and lemon wedges for serving

Directions:

1. Bring 4 cups of water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Add rice noodles; cook 3 to 5 minutes or until noodles are tender but firm. Rinse under cold water; drain well. Set aside.

2. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large skillet or wok on medium-high heat. Add egg; scramble until set. Remove from skillet and set aside.

3. Add remaining 1 tablespoon oil to skillet and add the chicken; stir fry until cooked though. Add the rice noodles, pad thai sauce, green onions, bean sprouts, cooked egg, lemon juice, and chopped chili pepper; stir fry 3 to 4 minutes or until noodles are tender. Transfer onto a serving dish and garnish with cilantro sprigs (optional) and lemon wedges. Serve immediately.

Listening To:

Gotye - Somebody That I Used To Know (feat. Kimbra)

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Simply Asia's® Soy Ginger Shrimp & Noodles

Simply Asia® - Real Asian. Real Fast.

The Chinese New Year is upon us and rather than heading out to a Chinese restaurant to celebrate like I have in previous years, this year I'm taking the wok into my own hands and cooking up some delicious authentic Asian recipes right at home thanks to Thai Kitchen® and Simply Asia®! I always used to look forward to braving the cold with my family and friends to trek down to Spadina to stuff our faces at our favourite Chinese restaurant (Kom Jug Yuen anyone? A total dive, but it's tasty and super cheap!), but over the years I have come to realize just how awful the meal makes me feel after consumption. Time and time again I would always end up curled up on the couch, arms clutching my stomach, regretting every piece of barbecued pork I just downed. So this year when I received an email from Thai Kitchen® and Simply Asia® offering to send me some of their products to check out for the new year, I decided to nix the greasy restaurants and create my own Asian meals at home all week long.

Although I absolutely love exotic foods and flavours, in the past I have always been intimidated about preparing foreign dishes because I was simply unfamiliar with a lot of flavours and techniques found in different cuisines such as Asian, not to mention the array of different dishes within each country in the continent. Thai Kitchen® and Simply Asia® offers a fantastic introduction to Asian cuisine as all of their products feature authentic Asian flavours using premium ingredients (no artificial flavours/colours/preservatives). I began my foray into Asian cooking with Simply Asia's® recipe for Soy Ginger Shrimp and Noodles using their Soy Ginger Noodles and Sauce pack. This was the perfect starting point for me as the product is basically a meal in a box (and I ain't talkin' about no Kraft Dinner!), with each box including a carb (noodles or jasmine rice), a sauce, and a topping, with vegetable and protein suggestions listed on the back. Simply Asia's® dinner packs are awesome because they allow you to get a sense of the different flavours and ingredients that go into each Asian dish, while still giving you the freedom of adding your own veggies and protein, and best of all they are wildly easy and quick to prepare! My mom and I both loved and devoured the tasty and flavourful dish, going back for not seconds, but thirds! I can't tell you how many times my mom proclaimed "this is so GREAT!" between bites, even jotting the name down on her grocery list to pick up more to give to my sister! Despite how much of the meal I ate that evening, my stomach felt totally fine all night, which came as no surprise to me because I was able to actually control what was going into my meal. Now that I've given one of Simply Asia's® 10-minute dinner packs a try, I feel ready to take the next step and try out Thai Kitchen's® recipe for Easy Chicken Pad Thai using their brand of Stir-Fry Noodles and Original Pad Thai Sauce. My mouth is watering just thinking about it, so it's time to sign off and get cooking! Review to come!

Why I Love Simply Asia's® Soy Ginger Noodles & Sauce:

It allows you to gain the confidence to create your own asian meals from scratch, and gives you a wonderful and delicious time-saving option for busy mid-week evenings!

Tip: Heighten the flavours even more by using Asian Cooking Oil (I used Spectrum's Organic Asian Cooking Oil) and grating in extra ginger!

Ingredients:

1 package Simply Asia® Soy Ginger Noodles & Sauce

1 tbsp oil (see tip!)

2 cups assorted vegetables, such as snow peas and red bell pepper strips

1 pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined

pinch ground white pepper (I didn't have white pepper so I used black)

1 tsp sugar

Directions:

1. Cook noodles as directed on package, omitting salt. Drain and rinse with cold water.

2. Heat oil in large nonstick skillet or wok on high heat. Add vegetables; stir-fry 2 minutes. Add shrimp and white pepper; stir fry 1 minute.

3. Stir in sauce and sugar. Reduce heat to medium. Add noodles; toss to coat well and cook until heated through. Sprinkle with topping and serve immediately.

Listening To:

Hanukkah: Basic Kasha Recipe

It's both amazing and frightening how many people seem to be diagnosed with being Celiac these days. The list of people I know who are now restricted to following the gluten-free diet has grown immensely over the past two years. Years ago, before I even knew what the word "gluten" meant, my grandfather was diagnosed with Celiac disease. At the time there was very little public information about the disease, which left my family worried, confused, and frustrated about how my grandfather would be able to follow the restrictive diet, as well as how we would conduct our holiday dinners. We fretted about what we would serve at the many Jewish high holidays that we celebrate, concerned about my grandfather feeling left out of enjoying the dishes containing wheat, and concerned about the labour of preparing two separate meals. It was certainly a struggle at first, but as more information on Celiac disease became public and as more products were brought on the market, we finally got the hang of it.

Now after many years of my grandfather following the diet, I can actually appreciate how it has positively impacted not only my grandfathers health, but our entire family! Take a look at our Hanukkah dinner this year. Abundant and delicious, at first view our Hanukkah dinner looks just like any other holiday feast, but upon further inspection you can see the difference. Roast chicken, quinoa, spinach salad, fresh veggies, gluten free agave nectar honey cake, and a favourite of my sister's, Kasha. Kasha was our saviour in those early days of struggling with Celiac as it was a familiar dish that we had already been serving up and enjoying for years, and being gluten free, quickly became a staple at all of our family gatherings. Kasha is a type of whole roasted buckwheat with a natural nutty flavour, that when cooked with flavourful broth, onions, veggies, and herbs becomes a hearty and comforting side dish for everyone in the family! Even as children, my parents were thrilled that my sister and I enjoyed the simple side dish, happy that we were so enthusiastic about eating something so healthy. We grew to love kasha so much that it even started to make an appearance at our Christmas dinners as well! If you're familiar with Kasha you may be rolling your eyes that I'm even featuring a recipe for it, because it is truly so unbelievably easy to prepare. In fact, I don't do or add anything special to my kasha, I simply follow the box. That's all it takes. I simply wanted to feature Kasha on my blog so that those who are unfamiliar with the grain can begin cooking with it and have another gluten free alternative rather than everyones favourite go-to at the moment quinoa (which don't get me wrong, I love!). I hope that introducing kasha into your diet will help to ease the pressure of eating healthy and following a restrictive diet. Let me know if you come up with any other interesting ways of preparing Kasha!

Tip: Experiment! Play around with what veggies, herbs, and other ingredients you have around your kitchen to see what type of kasha you can come up with! And please share your findings in the comments section!

Ingredients:

1 tbsp olive oil

1 small-medium onion, chopped

1/2 cup mushrooms, sliced

1/2 cup carrots, chopped

2 cups chicken-or-vegetable-or-beef broth

2 tbsp butter

1 cup kasha

1/2 tsp salt

1/8 tsp pepper

1 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped (optional)

Directions:

1. In a medium sauce pan heat the olive oil at medium heat. Add the onion and sauté, stirring occasionally, until they begin to get soft. Add the mushrooms and carrots and continue to cook for another 4-5 minutes.

2. Add the broth and butter to the sauce pan and increase heat to bring to a boil. Add the kasha, salt, and pepper and stir.

3. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 10 minutes, or until most of the water is absorbed.

4. Lightly fluff the kasha with a fork and stir in the fresh parsley. Serve warm.

Listening To:

Etta James - I'd Rather Go Blind

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Cookin' Greens Sautéed Kale with Lemon & Chickpeas

I know I'm not alone when I say that I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with New Years Resolutions. I love the idea of starting fresh and becoming aware of and making a conscious effort to achieve your goals, but at the same time, it's easy to bring yourself down when you inevitably give up on those resolutions within a month or so. When sitting down to write out my resolutions this year (I'm convinced writing them down makes them more likely to happen) I made sure to set goals that, yes, pushed my boundaries and challenged me a little bit, but were still reasonable to incorporate into my life and daily routine. I got a little carried away this year, and ended up with quite a long list of goals, but one of the ones that I have remained the most aware of is to try and follow the alkaline diet. The alkaline diet is different from many of the popular diets you hear about because it is not very strict and is very forgiving. As I have mentioned in previous posts, I have an extremely acidic body, which has resulted in me dealing with lots of skin and stomach problems, so taking care to reduce the amount of acid I consume and increase the amount of alkaline-rich foods on a daily basis could potentially eliminate any health problems I have encountered in my life to date. With so many delicious natural foods rich in alkaline, there's really no excuse to not be able to follow the alkaline diet, even if your just upping your alkaline intake and keeping your acid as is. The real trick to following any diet is to educate yourself and be open to trying new flavours.

Not long ago I received an email from Cookin' Greens, a company setting out to make extremely healthy dark leafy greens more convenient to cook with for the average North American. Their line of frozen greens featuring spinach, kale, rapini, and more stands out among other frozen vegetable products on the market due to their commitment to health. Cookin' Greens takes great care in retaining as much vitamins and minerals from their vegetables as possible by taking it straight from the farm (from the moment it gets picked) to the freezer in less than 6 hours! Cookin' Greens had immediately caught my attention! Although I was looking forward to trying all of their greens, the one that stood out for me was their frozen kale. I had heard a lot about kale, and knew it as one of those fantastic super foods that everyone should eat, but had never actually tasted the green myself, nor did I even know what the flavour was like. To be honest with you, I just assumed that I wouldn't like kale, so I never gave it the shot it truly deserved. Now was my chance! I took advantage of the sample they offered me and went to my local grocery store (I had no trouble locating Cookin' Greens at all!) and picked up a bag.

For my first ever kale recipe, I wanted to keep it simple so I could get an idea of the flavour and texture of kale for future recipes. Because I had never eaten kale before, I decided to begin with a recipe and taste and adjust the ingredients to my own taste from there. After just attending the Best Recipes Ever Set, which features all Canadian Living recipes, I was inspired to give one of their kale recipes a try, Lemon Kale with Chickpeas. This recipe was super easy to execute, especially with the help of Cookin' Greens frozen kale, which allowed me to save a huge amount of time and prep work. In next to no time my side was ready...but not quite complete just yet. After tasting the final dish, I felt that it was missing something, I wanted to add another bit of texture to the dish and perhaps a little spice. For texture and fantastic nutty flavour, I lightly toasted some pine nuts to stir in, along with some paprika to give the dish that little kick I was looking for, and alas my dish was complete! I couldn't have been more happy with how the dish turned out. Tangy, comforting, and delicious, who would have thought I would enjoy something so incredibly healthy! It's one thing to like the first bite of a healthy dish, but I have a tendency to get sick of most super healthy foods part way through eating my portion, I was extra nervous of this when I saw how much I had accidentally made, a ton! Thankfully I adored this dish all through the week as I snacked on it and brought it into work each and every day until it was done...which surprisingly didn't take long! I now feel confident that I can make kale part of my weekly routine all year long thanks to the incredible convenience and health benefits to Cookin' Greens! Go me!

Click here to see a chart on restoring the pH balance in your body and following the alkaline diet!

Adapted from Canadian Living

Ingredients:

3 tbsp olive oil

1 small onion, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1/2 cup water

2 cups Cookin' Greens Frozen Kale

zest of half a lemon

1 cup cooked chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1/4 cup pine nuts, lightly toasted

1/4 tsp paprika

3 tbsp lemon juice

Directions:

1. In a pot, heat 2 tbsp of the oil over medium heat. Cook the onion, garlic, salt and pepper for about 4 minutes or until softened.

2. Add 1/2 cup water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat back down to medium and add kale and lemon zest and cook for 5 minutes.

3. Stir in the chickpeas, pine nuts, paprika and lemon juice and cook over medium-high heat for about 2 minutes or until no liquid remains. Drizzle with remaining oil and serve.

Listening To:

Dents De Lait, Dents De Loup - Serge Gainsbourg et France Gal

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Mixed Greens with Pomegranate Seeds, Brie & Balsamic Candied Pecans

As I mentioned in my previous post, for the past few holidays, my family has been making a conscious effort to shake up our usual holiday menu, which we had come to expect to be the exact same at every single major holiday. With Christmas hosted at my house every year, my mom has a lot on her plate, setting everything up and doing double duty...er make that at least triple duty, making several dishes to contribute to the massive pot luck holiday feast. Because she already has so much to worry about on Christmas, she kept some of her dishes the same (mmm no problem there, we would all miss her scalloped potatoes if they got switched up!) and had me help out a little with her switched up dish. My mom loves brainstorming new recipes, playing around with different flavours and textures in her mind to come up with the perfect balance. She always begins her brainstorming with one or two ingredients as her inspiration, and then lets her imagination and taste buds take over from there. Weeks and weeks ago, as my mom and I sat on the couch popping pomegranate seeds into our mouth like they were going out of style, inspiration struck as she pointed out the stunning ruby red colour of the seeds. Immediately she knew she wanted to create the perfect Christmas salad starring the beautiful pomegranate seed. She started listing the other ingredients as it came into her head; brie, candied pecans, balsamic, etc. and a star...I mean a salad was born!

To save time come Christmas eve, the day before I removed all of the pomegranate seeds and stored them in a tupperware container in the fridge so my mom could just sprinkle them into the salad when it came time for serving. The day before I also took care of candying the pecans using an awesome and easy recipe that my mom showed me from Bon Appétit on Epicurious. She was drawn to this recipe as it mimicked one of the major flavours she had planned on putting in the dressing, balsamic vinegar. The pecans are coated and lightly toasted in a sticky and sweet balsamic vinegar mixture that leaves your pecans so tasty, you may have to lock them up until serving time to make sure you don't eat them all on their own! I was happy I didn't eat them all (of course I had to sneak a few!) when I finally tasted the completed salad, as the pecans were one of my favourite parts of the salad, adding texture and a great rich flavour to each bite. The pecans were contrasted by the smooth and creamy double cream brie, zesty red onions, and the juicy pomegranate seeds bursting as your teeth break the surface, adding a tangy sweetness to the balsamic dressing. Christmas dinner was amazing, and there were so many fantastic dishes, but I've gotta say, my hands-down favourites for the evening were my Wild Mushroom Baked Brie and my moms Mixed Greens with Pomegranate Seeds, Brie and Balsamic Candied Pecans! After going up for seconds, and maybe even thirds of the salad on Christmas, I was still so excited to see that there were leftovers the next day. Can you believe, even hours later, after the dressing had slightly wilted the mixed greens, the salad was still so freaking delicious my mom and I devoured it in a matter of moments, only stopping to comment on how delicious it was and...ummm...remind me to write about it on my blog...haha no need for a reminder mummy, I still can't get your amazing salad out of my mind! You did good!

Ingredients:

about 10 ounces mixed greens, washed and dried

about 100 g double cream brie, cut into medium-sized chunks

1/4 small red onion, sliced

1 pomegranate, seeds removed

Balsamic Candied Pecans (see recipe below)

Your favourite balsamic vinaigrette, to dress

Directions:

1. In a large salad bowl, toss the mixed greens with the brie, red onion, pomegranate seeds, and Balsamic Candied Pecans. Drizzle in just enough balsamic vinaigrette to coat greens. Serve immediately.

Balsamic Candied Pecans

Recipe by Bon Appétit

Ingredients:

Nonstick vegetable oil spray

1/4 cup (packed) brown sugar

6 tbsp olive oil

3 tbsp

balsamic vinegar

1 cup pecan halves, coarsely chopped

Directions:

1. Spray sheet of foil with nonstick spray. Stir sugar, 1 tablespoon oil and 1 tablespoon vinegar in heavy medium skillet over medium heat until sugar melts and syrup bubbles, about 3 minutes. Mix in Pecans. Stir until nuts are toasted and syrup coats nuts evenly, about 7 minutes. Turn nuts out onto prepared foil. Using fork, separate nuts and cool completely. Sprinkle into salad.

Listening To:

Fiona Apple - Criminal

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Wild Mushroom Baked Brie

The holidays: a time for love, giving, family...and...repetition. I'm not quite sure how many years it's been going on for, but for as long as I can remember my family has been serving up the exact same meal at Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. For years I loved that tradition, knowing that I only had a few months to wait before I could enjoy that same delicious meal again, but as more and more years have passed, and at a much more alarming pace, both myself and some other family members have grown a little tired with our staple holiday meal. The first time my sister and I suggested switching up our holiday meal, we were returned with either a grimace or a confused deer-in-headlights expression. No one was the slightest bit interested in shaking up the familiar meal. I understood where everyone was coming from, seeing as the meal...actually, make that feast is so damn delicious, but at the same time, I felt it would be more special if we had it less frequently. Another year of the same meal passed and we began to see family members taking our side one at a time. Slowly people began switching up their signature dish (our meal is always a pot luck so that everyone is contributing), either making a variation on their old standby, or sticking to their same theme of either vegetable, starch, protein, salad, dessert etc. but turn it into a completely new dish. By slowly introducing new flavours and menu items, both the family members that were itching for something new and the ones who loved the old meal would walk away with a full belly and a smiling face.

For about three years now, I have been on appetizer duty for our Christmas dinner, a role that I absolutely love to take on! Despite the incredible wide range of delicious appetizer options there are, especially for the holidays, I always crave a good baked brie come Christmas time. Baked brie can be as easy as wrapping a wheel of brie in tin foil and popping it in the oven, but I enjoy playing with different flavours, both savory and sweet, when it comes to my homemade baked brie. In the past I've made everything from caramelized onion brie, cranberry brie, pecan brie, the list goes on, so that no matter if I am making baked brie again, I can still surprise people by turning it into something new and interesting. This year I wanted to use an ingredient I have never cooked with before, dried mushrooms. When it comes to wild mushrooms, many people choose dried as opposed to fresh for the wonderful convenience and concentrated mushroom flavour, so I was curious to finally give them a try myself and see how the flavour measured up. Using a bag of mixed wild mushrooms including shiitake, oyster, and porcini, as well as some caramelized onions, fresh thyme, and balsamic vinegar, I made an insanely quick and easy brie topper and had my yummy appetizer ready to go into the oven before I knew it. Because there is so much cooking and baking being done last minute on Christmas, I made my brie and wild mushroom topper ahead of time so that 20 minutes before our guests arrived all I had to do was simply pop my little brie baker in the oven! Bubbling, oozing, and perfectly melted through, the creamy brie arrived at the table hugging the mushroom mixture layered on top, a dangerously tempting sight! There's no question that I have a tendency to toot my own horn when I'm really happy with how a dish turned out, but there was simply no need to when I served my Wild Mushroom Baked Brie, because the brie baker, which was empty within a matter of minutes, spoke for itself. Easy, convenient, attractive, and incredibly delicious, my Wild Mushroom Brie may have to make another appearance at our next Christmas dinner...or is Easter too soon?

Tip: Make your wild mushroom mixture brie topper ahead of time to save time before your guests arrive. Simply top your brie and bake 20 minutes before guests arrive.

Ingredients:

1/2 medium-large onion, sliced

2 tbsp butter

1 small package dried mixed wild mushrooms (equalling about 1/2 cup dried)

4 tbsp balsamic vinegar

2 tsp fresh thyme leaves

salt and pepper

1 wheel of brie, about 5 inches in diameter

Directions:

1. Rehydrate the dried mushrooms following the package instructions, or place dried mushrooms in a bowl and add just enough boiling water to cover the mushrooms, let soak for about 20 minutes or until mushrooms have softened.

2. In the meantime, heat butter in a medium skillet at medium heat. When butter is hot, add the onions and stir. Place a lid over the onions in the skillet to allow them to steam, stir occasionally. Continue to cook onions in the lid, stirring occasionally, until they are softened and beginning to colour.

3. Strain out the soaked dried mushrooms (you may reserve the soaking liquid for a soup, stew, or sauce!), and squeeze them to remove any remaining water. Roughly chop the mushrooms and stir them into the softened onions on the stove. Cook for about 3 minutes.

4. Turn up heat to medium-high and add the balsamic vinegar, stirring to combine. Continue cooking until mushrooms are almost dry. Turn off the heat and stir in thyme. Season with salt and pepper.

5. Using a serrated knife, cut off the top rind of the brie wheel and place inside a brie baker (or on a large piece of tin foil). Mound the wild mushroom mixture on top of the brie and close the lid of the baker (if using tin foil, wrap the foil around the brie and mushrooms securely). Bake in a 350º oven for about 20 minutes. Serve immediately with fresh baguette and crackers.

Listening To:

TV on the Radio - Ambulance

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CBC Daytime Holiday Set Tour

Time never flies like it does in December. I can't believe today is already December 31st and in just a few short hours I will be ringing in 2012 with my friends! With so many fun activities taking place in December, it's no wonder time can slip through your fingers so easily and leave you scrambling at months end to catch up on your responsibilities. This is where I'm at now, with a list of 10 blog posts yet to be written in front of me, I seem to be in catch-up mode, scrambling to recount all of the great experiences and recipes I have come across this month! One of those great experiences that I have wanted to share with you, was being invited to CBC Daytime's Holiday Set Tour and Lunch.

A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to be able to head downtown to the CBC to partake in their Holiday-themed tour, which not only allowed guests to view the sets of three CBC Daytime shows, Best Recipes Ever, In The Kitchen With Stefano Faita, and Steven and Chris, but actually meet the hosts and producers of the shows, and have an opportunity to learn about how each episode gets put together. I knew it would be an enjoyable day, but I had no idea how eye-opening and inspiring the experience would be, this was largely due to the amazing people I got to meet that day, from the other writers taking part in the tour with me who were so friendly and eager to learn about each others work, to the hosts and producers who so kindly and thoughtfully answered our questions and welcomed us into their sets, to every single other person who made the day possible (with an extra special thank you to Erin Richards for making the day such a smooth success). I had a wonderful time that day and on top of all the fun and laughter I got to walk away with some great recipes, tips, and DIY's that I can now share with you!

The first set we visited was the Best Recipes Ever Set, where we got to meet our first host of the day, Kary Osmond, as well as the shows producers. After watching a few episodes of the show at home, my first thought was how incredibly expansive the set was, in fact I might even say massive. The perfect kitchen in my opinion, allowing the chef a kitchen space and a dance floor all in one! The lunch we were promised was set out in a number of courses, presented in parts to us at each set. I almost felt like I was walking into Kary's very own kitchen as she served us the vibrant Sparkling Tangerine Punch that left me wanting more and more, and the cute and petit appetizers Walnut, Brie and Grape Salsa Tartlets. I have to admit, I was a bit in awe of Kary as she told us all about what led to her be in the position she is today hosting Best Recipes Ever. I saw so much of myself in her as she told us about her passion for cooking and how she had dreamt of hosting a cooking show, putting aside her other job to try and concentrate on making her dream a reality. I was riveted by her every word, and felt my own drive and passion coming to the surface again (where I want it to stay!) bringing that crystal clear image of my own goals firmly back into my head and heart.

Sparkling Tangerine Punch

By The Canadian Living Test Kitchen

As questions were answered, we learned that Best Recipes Ever is in partnership with the incredibly well respected Canadian Living, meaning that all of the Best Recipes Ever recipes come straight from Canadian Living's massive database of recipes, that have been tested to perfection by The Canadian Living Test Kitchen. This allows Kary the luxury of pulling from Canadian Living's repertoire as she pleases to come up with each episode. Hearing this, I couldn't help but think that Kary's got it pretty easy, simply pulling from Canadian Living's recipes...that is until I heard that they film three episodes each day, with three recipes in each episode, equaling nine recipes that Kary must memorize and be 100% comfortable with each day! Woah, now that's pressure! And the woman pulls it all off looking adorable with that fantastic welcoming and warm smile! Click the link above to get the recipe for the delicious Sparkling Tangerine Punch By The Canadian Living Test Kitchen that I will definitely be making soon!

Next up was In The Kitchen With Stefano Faita, a live audience show hosted by Montreal-based cookbook author and cooking show host Stefano Faita. I loved the rustic look this set had with exposed brick, chalkboard walls, old family photos and unfinished wood, totally up my alley! The set reflects Stefano and the show itself, allowing his own personal life to shine through, with the family photos coming straight from Stefano himself, and his family members names scribbled across the chalkboard. Once again, I felt as though I was stepping into Stefano's actual home kitchen as he eagerly served us sparkling beverages, appetizers, and a knockout dessert, his Layered Blueberry Pie (see recipe below). He told us all about how personal the show really is to him, featuring his own family recipes, some of which have been brought down through many generations, and all of which he serves up to his wife and daughter. With wild energy and a dangerously charming smile, Stefano reflected back on his life in Montreal, his family's kitchenware shop, and his grandmothers cooking. Being a live audience show, Stefano also emphasized the important role the audience plays in his show, encouraging audience members to come right up on stage with him to actually take part in the cooking themselves as well as helping to build on his fantastic energy. To get tickets to In The Kitchen With Stefano Faita and become an audience member yourself, click here!

Layered Blueberry Pie

By Stefano Faita

Ingredients:

Pastry

2 cups flour

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp salt

2/4 cup butter, room temperature cut into small cubes

1/4 cup milk, room temperature

1 egg yolk

Layered Filling

8 cups fresh blueberries

2 1/2 cup sugar

1 cup cream cheese

2 cups whipping cream

1 tsp vanilla

lemon zest, for garnish (optional)

Directions:

Pastry

1. In a large mixing bowl, mix the flour, sugar, and salt. Cut the butter into the flour mixture with your finger tips or a pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse meal.

2. Combine the milk and egg yolk. Stir it into the flour and butter mixture until pastry dough comes together. Form dough into a ball and flatten into a round disc. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour

3. Preheat oven to 375º. Lightly flour your work surface. Roll the dough 1/4-inch thick. Transfer the pastry to a 9-inch tart pan and trim off the excess around the edges. Dock the bottom of the pastry all over with a fork. Line with parchment paper or foil. Fill pie with pie weights or dried beans. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove weights and parchment and continue to bake until pastry is cooked through, lightly golden and crisp, about 5-10 minutes.

Layered Filling

1. Add 7 cups blueberries and 2 cups sugar to a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium and simmer until mixture reaches a jam-like consistency, stirring occasionally, about 20-25 minutes. Set aside to cool. Once the blueberry mixture has cooled, combine the remaining 1 cup of fresh blueberries. Set aside.

2. Soften the cream cheese at room temperature or heat in microwave until soft peaks form.

3. To later the filling into the pie: Spread cream cheese over the pastry. Then spread blueberry filling mixture on top of the cream cheese later. Finish pie with whipped cream. Let set in refrigerator for at least 1 hour before serving. Garnish with lemon zest, if desired.

Yield: 6-8 servings

Last but certainly not least was the Steven and Chris Set, all decked out in different shades of purple and silver for their big holiday special. The entire set sparkled and looked absolutely magical covered in garlands, presents, ornaments, trees, and, of course, lots of spectacular food! Right as you walked in there was a large table set up with Steven and Chris' own brand of wine, as well as lots of liquor and mixers to make your own cocktails. As you continued into the space, your eye is immediately drawn to the stunning centerpiece of the whole room, the dining room and buffet tables, which featured many of the DIY holiday projects that Steven and Chris had put together for the show. They had so many wonderful ideas that they were so excited to share with us about how they made this extraordinary holiday set come together, such as putting the centerpiece, which was numerous gifts wrapped up beautifully, on a tray so you can easily remove it to place the turkey, and putting guests name tags on their chairs as opposed to the table to allow for more space. I almost hurt my neck from looking around everywhere to see all of the many DIY projects that they had created, which was literally everywhere you looked! My favourite of all of the DIY's was the

DIY Charcuterie and Cheese Platter that looked so amazingly striking on the long buffet table. Playing with different levels, colours, and textures all along the table, the spread looked positively seductive, leaving me super excited to recreate for myself at home! See below to learn how to make your own successful Charcuterie and Cheese platter using Steven and Chris' easy guide.

An extra special treat for myself and some of the other ladies I was chatting with at the set, was talking with Joanne Lusted, Steven and Chris' Food Producer, who I can happily say I have had the pleasure of meeting before. Joanne is one of those people that leaves you with your cheeks hurting from smiling so much. As I stated before, her energy is infectious, making you feel immediately welcome like you've been best friends for years, and making you say to yourself "now there's a woman who is doing what she loves!". Joanne heartily told us all about the food that was prepared that day such as a super easy, tender and delicious Beef Wellington and Coconut Shortbread and

Sugar Plums (email me if you'd like all of the recipes from the tour!), and when we began asking about the process in which the recipes are created, she lit up and led us straight into their exclusive test kitchen, an absolute privilege! It was so cool to be right in the midst of the action, as they worked on creating their next recipe a savory lobster mashed potato dish!

DIY Charcuterie and Cheese Platter

This is the perfect appetizer when you're pressed for time! No cooking allows you to relax while your guests arrive at their leisure. Let them graze and nibble happily while you sip a festive beverage and mingle.

The more kinds of meat and cheese you have, the more people will eat. So, for a cocktail party, if you set out only one choice of meat, an ounce per person will suffice. With two or three different meats, two ounces total per person. More than three, three ounces. For a party that goes on longer than a couple of hours, or for a dinner party, double these amounts.

Pick 3 Cheeses:

A Soft Cheese

A Blue Cheese

A Hard/Sharp Cheese

Pick 3 Meats:

A Dry-Cured Meat

A Cooked Sausage

A Dry-Cured Sausage

Add Complimentary Items

When laying out your meat and cheese selection, you can intermingle the meat and cheese, or arrange them on two separate platters...It's up to you!

When adding garnishes, try and place sweet items such as dried pineapple, apricots, and honey next to the salty cheeses. Acidic items such as pickles, cornichons, or olives should be placed next to the meats. Nuts are especially good with the cheeses as well, and can be drizzled with honey to make them a perfect pairing to salty cheeses especially.

Garnish Ideas

Fresh or dried figs, dried apricots, almonds or pecans candied or original, dried cranberries, honey, fig jam, aged balsamic, grapes, cornichons, olives, walnuts, honeycomb, dried pineapple.

For all the recipes from the tour, email me at thisisgingerrose@hotmail.com!

Listening To:

The Weeknd - Echoes Of Silence by The_Weeknd

Cavena

One of the things that I love about having a food blog is getting to hear about and try new products that I've never had the opportunity to experience before. I get a lot of offers these days to sample and review new products, so I've had to become a little selective in which one's I choose to try. But the ones that always seem to grab my attention are innovative health and wellness products. If you've been reading my blog for the past year, you'll know that for years now I have been battling with skin and stomach problems, both of which I can now say are because of my diet. I have eaten very healthy my whole life, always following the philosophy of "everything in moderation", but every body is different and mine requires a little extra care...care that I often neglect merely because I'm not familiar with other options or, let's be honest, the other options just aren't that tasty. So each time I hear about a new product that may help me to improve my diet, I jump right on it!

The most recent health and wellness product that I was given the opportunity to try was Cavena, the rice of the Prairies. Cavena sparked my interest for numerous reasons, it is:

• Naturally high in protein
• Wheat free
• Low in saturated fatty acids and sodium
• Free of cholesterol and trans fatty acids
• High source of fibre
• Good source of iron
• Grown in the Prairies, Cavena is proudly Canadian!

With so many positive benefits to this new grain, I couldn't imagine not giving Cavena a try! I decided to try out Cavena rather than using my usual brown rice in a stir fry. Cavena was very simple to cook and the 40-minute cooking time allowed me plenty of time to chop up all of my vegetables and chicken. Before tossing the Cavena in with the stir fry I had to do a taste test. Right off the bat I loved Cavena's standout nutty flavour and thought that flavour would be a great addition to my stir fry. What also caught my attention was Cavena's wonderful chewy texture. I absolutely loved the texture, although I didn't think that Cavena on its own would be right for the stir fry. I quickly made up some brown minute rice to mix in with the Cavena in the stir fry with the ratio of Cavena to rice 3:1. This turned out to be the perfect solution! The stir fry was delicious with that awesome nutty flavour from Cavena shining through in each bite, as well as the wonderful chewy texture (not too chewy thanks to the addition of brown rice!). It was so simple for me to substitute Cavena into my meal and it really took the dish to a whole other level in terms of flavour. I loved how Cavena worked out in my stir fry but I can see Cavena also tasting fantastic in salads especially grain salads with wild rice or quinoa! If you're looking for a healthy new grain to add to your diet, I would definitely recommend giving Cavena a try! Let me know what you think!

Listening To:

Joy Divison - Love Will Tear Us Apart

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Pusateri's 25th Anniversary

Last Tuesday on a windy night in Toronto, I headed out to Pusateri's Avenue and Lawrence location to celebrate their big 25th Anniversary! After their recent infestation scandal only two months ago, all eyes were on the gourmet food store to see how they would rise above the unfortunate turn of events. With their reputation at stake, Pusateri's truly had no other choice but to go all out for the occasion of their quarter-of-a-century anniversary, so my expectations walking into the event were already quite high.

As my mom and I drove up to the store to park, a wave of disappointment came over me as I saw the sea of cars and people attempting to find their own way into the free-of-charge event. I couldn't help but imagine the swarms of greedy people that must be inside, vying for whatever food was available. Luckily we quickly found a parking space close by and found ourselves in a short line outside the store, blocked off with curtains, with guests kept toasty warm thanks to space heaters and servers handing out piping hot cider. In next to no time at all, we were inside the event, thrust into the busy crowd weaving their way around the aisles. Despite the bumper-to-bumper crowd of people with slow-moving, shuffling footsteps, there was no obstacles in getting to the food. Everywhere I looked I would find a server or two carrying trays of warm and delicious food samplings, in addition to food stations often preparing fresh samples right in front of you!

With a glass of Prosecco in one hand and a food sample in the other at all times, the ear-to-ear smile I was donning literally never left my face! I was in foodie glory tasting everything from angus sliders, avocado and lobster grilled cheese, prosciutto, lobster tempura, smoked salmon, mini pizzas, fine cheeses, pasta, sushi...oh my goodness, this list could go on FOREVER! I couldn't believe how much food there was! There was almost as much food as there was plastic surgery, and if you know Pusateri's, that's a hell of a lot! But out of all the food I tasted, my hands-down favourites were the creamy wild mushroom risotto scooped fresh out of a giant wheel of parmigiano reggiano, and the oh-so-decadent mini chocolate-filled icing sugar-dusted doughnuts and mini cannoli's. I savored each and every bite of the extremely generous serving of the risotto and couldn't help but go back for seconds of both the doughnuts and cannoli's.

Before the crowd even began to thin, both my mom and I were stuffed to the brim, (with myself a little tipsy) and ready to get into our pj's and hit the hay. I have to say that I was truly blown away by the wonderful hospitality and generosity from Pusateri's by throwing such an incredible event. They 110% exceeded my already-high expectations and certainly succeeded in maintaining their reputation for quality and excellence!

Nice move Pusateri's!

Listening To:

Notorious BIG - Party And Bullshit

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