Archive for October, 2007

Happy Halloween!

Published on October 31, 2007 in Family. 0 Comments

Halloween is a fun time at our house. Julius and I get dressed up, we decorate the front room of our house with cobwebs, spiders and candles and we invite the neighbourhood kids in for their treat. We reward the adults with the witch’s finger cookies which have been recently severed.

My Transylvanian accent really needs work!

Dracula and Wife

Cooking with Seitan

Published on October 30, 2007 in Menu and Experimentation. 0 Comments

We made seitan in the kitchen today for one of my vegetarian clients and it turned out great! It was easy to source out organic ingredients for seitan and it was considerably less expensive than buying it. We’re going to give little samples to our non vegetarian clients to see if they’d like it included in their menus.

Today’s menu included: Tofu stuffed peppers, Mediterranean Seitan, Ginger Peanut Tofu Stir Fry, Spinach stuffed lasagna ruffles and Black bean chilaquile.

Witch’s Fingers

Published on October 29, 2007 in Baking. 0 Comments

Carpool day for me, so I get to spend an hour with my favourite carpool girls and we made witch’s fingers. Myself and Zoe rolled them out and added knuckles, Georgia used a paring knife to score the knuckles and Isabelle put the almonds fingernails on.

We baked them and voila, we are ready for Halloween.

witch fingers

Week of October 22

Published on October 28, 2007 in Next Week's Menu. 0 Comments

Monday
Jugged Beef With Cranberries and Mushrooms
Slow simmered Beef Stew with Bacon, Mushrooms, Onions and Carrots, flavoured with Rosemary and Thyme in a Red Wine and Cranberry Reduction. Served with Gnocchi.

Tuesday
Mexican Beef and Cheese Enchilada Casserole
A Beef and Cheese layered Casserole with Tortillas and Tomato Sauce flavoured with traditional Mexican spices such as Cumin, Oregano and Green Chiles. Served with a Green Salad.

Wednesday
Cheese Stuffed Shells with Sun Dried Tomato Cream Sauce
Three Italian Cheeses stuffed into Pasta (Shells, Manicotti or Cannelloni) served in a Sun Dried Tomato and Basil Cream Sauce with Garlic Bread.

Thursday
Fish Korma
Fresh Fish Filets cooked in an Almond and Garlic Yogurt Sauce. Served over Brown and Wild Rice with Broccoli.

Friday
Chicken and Pasta in a White Wine Sauce
Chicken and Pasta in a light White Wine Cream Sauce with Red Peppers and Broccoli.

Week of October 15

Published on October 21, 2007 in Next Week's Menu. 0 Comments

Monday
Creamy Chicken Pot Pie
Fresh Roasted Chicken with Carrots, Mushrooms, Celery and Peas in a Rosemary Sherry Cream Sauce topped with a Dill Crust. Served with a Green Salad

Tuesday
Vegetable Kashmiri with Chickpeas
This Vegetable Curry has Sweet Potato, Okra, Cauliflower and Chickpeas in an aromatic Yogurt Sauce

Wednesday
Coconut Chicken Curry (Kaeng Gai)
A fragrant Thai style Curry flavoured with Lemongrass, Garlic, Ginger and Kaffir Lime Leaves served with Basmati rice

Thursday
Turkey Alfredo
Turkey and Fettucine Casserole with Broccoli in a Parmesan Cream Sauce. Served with Baguette and Compound Butter

Friday
Green Fish Curry
Fresh Fish simmered in an aromatic sauce flavoured with Cashews, Fennel Seed, Coconut, Cumin and fresh Coriander. Served on a Vegetable Pilau

Pressure Cooking at the Fair

Published on October 20, 2007 in Demo. 0 Comments

If you missed my last pressure cooker class I will be doing a demonstration at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair at the Royal Vineyard Cooking School Stage on Wednesday November 7th, 2007 at 6 p.m.

Sandwiches and Sushi

Published on October 19, 2007 in Restaurant and Recipes. 0 Comments

Holy crow, it is more than a week since my last entry. I have worked a ton of the shifts at the RCCC and I certainly have a feel for the restaurant.
We have introduced a bunch of menu items that I really enjoyed.
We put the Ultimate Grilled Cheese Sanwich on the menu and served it with Red Onion Confit. In the restaurant these recipes are adapted to suit my personal taste (and become my secret recipes) but the original recipes are great!
At home last week we made Sushi with the carpool girls. My son, however, was not interested in the sushi making and quietly disappeared and watched a movie.
I am trying to wind down and take the day off but am having trouble relaxing a couple of hours shopping should help.

Week of October 8

Published on October 14, 2007 in Next Week's Menu. 0 Comments

Monday
Beef Stew
A slow simmered Beef Stew with Carrots, Onions, Celery and Peas in a richly flavored Stock. Served over Potato Gnocchi (Dumplings)

Tuesday
Salmon Tetrazzini
Poached Salmon with Mushrooms, Green Onions, and Linguine tossed with a Parmesan Sherry Cream Sauce. Served with a Green Salad

Wednesday
Ginger Beef Stir Fry
Lean Sirloin Strips are stir-fried in a Ginger Soy and Sesame Sauce with Fresh Garden Vegetables and served over Brown Rice

Thursday
Ginger Peanut Chicken
Sauteed Chicken Breast and Fresh Vegetables in a Spicy Ginger, Peanut, and Soy Sauce is served over Basmati Rice

Friday
Chicken Fingers
Fresh Chicken Breasts are trimmed into strips, breaded and oven baked. Served with Plum Sauce and Seasonal Vegetables

Panic!

Published on October 11, 2007 in Family and Restaurant. 0 Comments

It was a very emotional day for me. I was devastated to find out that the great employee that we hired decided that our operation was not for him. Panic set in, I caved, I cried, I called my friend Mia who volunteered to come and give me a hand in the kitchen.
So, I deep fried for 5 hours and you know what? It wasn’t that bad. The members were friendly and gave me lots of ideas and suggestions and the work was dead easy.
I also go the loot bags made for my son’s birthday party and I finished his cake.

Day 2

Published on October 10, 2007 in Family and Restaurant. 0 Comments

Well day 2 at the new restaurant and again it went well. I hate shopping for forgotten items and it’s late and I’m tired. I need to bake a cake for my son’s birthday party tomorrow. He has asked for an alligator cake.