The Nursery

A peak into the nursery, my favourite room in the house...

 

  

Thanks for stopping by!

Love Desiree

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I Made Bread, So Can You!

Hello lovelies, how are you today? Cold? Sad it's Monday? I'm sorry... I wish I could invite you all into my kitchen for some warm fresh bread but the best I can do is convince you to make your own. I was so pleased by how this turned out and how easy it was I  just had to share. I found the recipe on Bleubird Blog and she totally convinced me to give it a go.

Here it is:
No Knead Bread by Jim Lahey (Different Jim Lahey ; ))
You will need:
3 cups of all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon instant or rapid rising yeast
1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt (I used sea salt)
1 1/2 cups water
Yield: one 1 1/2 pound loaf.

Note: You also need some sort of oven safe bowl with lid. The best is a french clay baker but I don't have one of those so I used a roasting pan.

In a large bowl mix together your flour, instant yeast and salt. Next add your water and mix until it forms your dough.  Don't go crazy, just until it's all combined.

 Cover it with plastic wrap or a tea towel and let it sit on your counter for 12 to 18 hours.

 Heavily flour your counter and your hands and take the dough out of the bowl and mold it into a round ball covering it in lots of flour. Cover it up with a tea towel and let it sit for another 30 minutes.  Preheat your oven to 450 degrees. Put your pot/baker with the lid in the oven to heat up as well.  Once the 30 minutes are up carefully take your baker out of the oven and plop your dough in the center.  I put it on parchment paper to prevent sticking.

Cook for 30 minutes and then remove the lid and cook for an additional 10-15 minutes to brown up the top.

 Voila! You have bread!

 Side note: I did find that when using stainless steel the bottom of my loaf burned a bit, but it was still awesome.

Dinner is served!

So easy, you must try it.

xo

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Good Eats: Sunny Shrimp and Mango Stir Fry over Cauliflower "Rice"

It's so bright outside and I have the perfect recipe to bring some of that sunshine to your insides... This stir fry is the perfect combination of sweet and spicy and it would be great on its own but I've paired it with my new favourite rice alternative...Cauliflower Rice! While looking for low carb/grain alternatives I discovered this "rice" and I will admit, my expectations were low.  Low carb grain alternative just sounds sad doesn't it? I swear to you though, this stuff is not. While googling the nutritional properties of cauliflower I found that it contains large amounts of "sulforaphane," a compound that has significant anticancer properties, it's low in calories and a single cup of the vegetable contains 3g of fiber, 50 mg of vitamin C, 176 mg of potassium and 55 mcg of folate! I'm only a self appointed internet trained doctor but that sounds pretty good to me! Not sad at all! Cauliflower has become a new staple in our household that's for sure and this stir fry has been on the weekly rotation for a few weeks now and I still love it.

Here's the recipe. It's from this blog.  I love her recipes...

What you'll need:
2 tablespoons coconut oil
1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined (I buy the cooked frozen stuff)
2 tablespoons dry white wine or lemon juice
1 large mango, peeled, seeded and cubed
Medium yellow onion, peeled and thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 large carrots, julienned (I suggest you get a julienne peeler…i am IN LOVE with mine)
2 cups broccoli florets, cut into small pieces
1 tablespoon finely minced ginger
1 large jalapeno chili, stemmed, seeded and minced
1 large heirloom tomato, diced
1/4 cup coarsely chopped cilantro
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Red pepper flakes to taste (optional)

For the "Rice":
1 Cauliflower
A couple glugs of olive oil
1 minced garlic
salt and pepper to taste

What to do:
Melt the coconut oil in a large pan over high heat until almost smoking.
Reduce the heat to medium high; add the carrots, onion and broccoli to the pan and stir fry, until the broccoli is bright green and the vegetables are tender-crisp, about 5 minutes. Next add the garlic, ginger, jalapeno and red pepper flakes, and stir fry for another couple minutes.

Add the shrimp and wine or lemon juice to the pan and stir fry until it is pink and cooked all the way through or warmed up in my case, about 3 minutes. Next add the mango and continue to stir fry for another 30 seconds, then toss in the tomato and cilantro. Remove from the heat and season to taste with salt, pepper.

Cauliflower "Rice"
This is a great husband job while you're taking care of the stir fry but if you have no assistant I would get this ready to go first so you can have it cooking at the same time as your stir frying.

Wash your cauliflower, get rid of the leaves and stem and cut in half to make grating it easier.
Grate each half of the cauliflower on the large hole side in a medium sized pot.
Once it's all grated pour a couple glugs of olive oil into the mixture and turn up the heat to fry.
Mince your garlic and add to the mixture along with some salt and pepper.
Fry on medium heat stirring occasionally being careful not to burn it for about 5 minutes or until tender. 

You're done! This serves 4-5… I just had the left overs for lunch and it was just as good on the second day….

Let me know what you think!

Thanks for reading…
Love Desiree
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Good Eats: Braised Lamb Shanks with Spiced Butternut Squash

The dinner I made last night was so good that I had to share it with you immediately! I'm still thinking about it and I so badly wish there were leftovers for lunch!  My Mom and Dad sent me the best care package ever a few weeks ago filled with locally raised organic meats from Niagara and with it came a couple shanks of lamb straight from the family farm.  Dad's lamb does have a reputation as being THE BEST so I wasn't too surprised to find the statement to be completely true once I had it... This recipe was delicious and pretty darn healthy had I not ate enough of it to feed a small family… : )

Here's the recipe.  Inspired by this one: http://www.janssushibar.com/braised-lamb-shanks-spiced-butternut-squash/

What you'll need:
7 shallots, peeled and very thinly sliced
A couple good glugs of olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
2 lamb shanks
1 large carrot, peeled and cut into 1/4″ dice
1 medium onion, diced
1 can tomato paste
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, finely chopped
4 sprigs fresh thyme, tied together with kitchen twine
1 cup robust red wine (i used Organic Fusion)
2 cups beef stock
1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 butternut squash on the large side
1 teaspoon curry powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste

What to do:
-Preheat the oven to 375 F.
-Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large cast iron skillet over medium heat. Cook the shallots, stirring frequently, until they are soft and caramelized, about 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside.
-Heat another glug of olive oil over medium-high heat. Brown the lamb shanks for 2 to 3 minutes per side; Remove to a plate and set aside.
-Reduce the heat to medium and cook the carrot and onion, stirring frequently, until the onion is soft, about 5 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste, wine, beef stock, salt and pepper; add the rosemary and thyme and return the lamb shanks and shallots to the pot.
-Cover the pan with two layers of foil and put in the oven at 375 for 2 hours.
-While the lamb is braising cut the squash in half, scrape out the seeds and lay flat in a baking dish with a tiny bit of water and cook for 45 minutes.
-Once cooked, scrape the flesh of the squash into a pot,  add 1 tbsp butter and spices mash until smooth. Keep warm until the lamb is ready.
-Take out the lamb. Using a fork, shred the meat away from the bones and discard the bones. Remove the thyme sprigs from the liquid in the pan and ladle enough of the sauce over the lamb to moisten it.
-Divide the squash between plates and spoon the lamb, with any extra sauce if desired, over the top and serve.

I also served this with a Marinated Fig Salad which was also amazing… I was really on my game last night. 

All I can say is that a happy lamb must make for a tasty one! You can check out how well these lambs are cared for over at The Farmer's Blog.

Thanks for reading!

Love Desiree Pin It

Red and Green 2012

Good morning readers... can I get a TGIF??! One more week and it's officially Christmas holidays but Christmas pretty much started for me last Saturday with our 4th Annual Red and Green Party!  Ever since I've been totally filled with the holiday spirit...: )

This year was a quaint affair so we took the opportunity to have a traditional sit down Christmas dinner. A chance to bust out the china!  I used every chair I could find and 11 and a half of us, dressed in red and green of course, got cozy around our dining room table for a meal of epic proportions!  I love how our Red and Green party has become a yearly tradition in our circle of friends... I feel so lucky to have such a great group of people around me in this big city we live in far away from our own families and hometowns, this is our chance to celebrate the holidays together and show these beautiful people how much we love them.. : )

Setting the table was the first thing I did because presentation is everything.

I happily took Friday off to prepare... James and I spent the day making all the final arrangements...First up were the table gifts. A sweet treat to take home for later… a homemade chocolate brownie topped with salted caramel! I used this recipe and the sea salt we received from Amanda's wedding back in September…the combination was sinful!

By the time Saturday arrived everything was going according to plan… I had most of the side dishes ready and James was in charge of the main event…a 10lb roast beef he was cooking in Harley's apartment!  He even managed to whip up some yorkshire puddings down there.  Having a second kitchen can be pretty handy in times like these… 

All there was left to do was put on my fancy party dress! I got this little number at Exile in Kensington Market… Half the fun of the Red and Green is dressing up!

 Our guests began to arrive right on time decked out in their finest red and green!  It's so special to see the changes year after year... New babies, new loves, new friends, new jobs...: )

 Vivienne was the star of the show! Obviously...look at that smirk!

 I cracked open the champagne and started things off with my signature cocktail!
Hibiscus Flowers and Champagne! Aren't these beautiful!  I saw the recipe in my vintage tea party cookbook and knew it must be mine.

We have ridiculously good looking friends...

hmmmm...

  Studs...

Come on!

Vivienne didn't want to miss the party so she decided to delay her bedtime. We danced to reggae while Mom ate my delicious croissant cake!

Good times were had by all...

But before the night was over Mr. Hesp made sure to capture a fantastic group shot....This one will have to go in Viv's baby book...

Another successful Red and Green!

Thanks for reading!

xoxo

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Weekday Recipe Roundup

Hello lovelies... How is your week going?  I am sooo ready for a holiday, I can't even tell you!  Thank goodness I have pasta to look forward to tonight cos I really need a pick me up. : ) Here's your menu for the week!

Sunday - Meat Loaf with Roasted Veggies and Mashed Potatoes
I love this classic! Such comfort, such flavour... : )

What you'll need:
A pack of extra lean ground beef- about 1.5lbs
Bread crumbs - a little more than a half a cup
1 Egg
1 Onion chopped
Worcestershire - a couple squirts
2 Tbsp Fresh Rosemary finely chopped
1 Tbsp Dijon Mustard

Mix it all up with your hands until it's one big meat ball and squish it into a loaf pan.

Make the sauce:
I use maple bbq sauce, ketchup, brown sugar, and garlic salt but ketchup and brown sugar will do just fine.
Make about a 1/2 cup.

Cover your loaf in sauce and cook uncovered for 1-1.5 hours at 350.
Serve with roasted vegetables and mashed potatoes.
SOOOO good.

Tea and sweets for dessert! 

 Brazilian Donuts from the bakery...they melt in your mouth right down to your thighs!

 Monday - Spaghetti Squash with Tomato Sauce

This was effing good!

I've often seen spaghetti squash at the grocery store but I've never tried it and now that I have I'll definitely be adding this recipe into the rotation! It's not pasta, but it's a pretty good guiltless version I must say!
What you'll need:

1 spaghetti squash
1 tbsp olive oil
4 garlic cloves sliced thinly
1 red onion
1 can diced tomatoes
Handful of fresh basil leaves
2 tbsp chopped fresh basil leaves
2 tbsp capers
3 tbsp sliced kalamata olives
1/3 cup of red wine
Package of panchetta (Italian bacon)fried and crumbled
1 cup Parmesan cheese 

Pepper to taste

Directions:
-To start with, slice your squash down the centre and remove all the seeds. Place both halves down on a baking tray and poke with a fork a few times to let out the steam.
-Preheat oven to 350 and cook the squash for 50 minutes to an hour.

-Meanwhile fry up the panchetta until crispy and set aside.
-Add your olive oil to the pan and fry up the onion until soft and then add the garlic.
-Cook the garlic till fragrant and then add the tomatoes, capers, olives and basil leaves and cook for 5 minutes.
-Add the red wine and bring to a boil for an additional 2-3 minutes.
-Set aside and keep warm.
-Take out your squash and begin pulling the insides out with a fork and placing in a bowl.
-Crumble up the panchetta and add to the squash.
-Toss with cheese, and 2 tbsp of basil immediately.

Divide the squash mixture onto plates and top with your sauce.  Top with some more cheese and garnish with basil. 

  
Tuesday - Garlic Soba Noodles with Grilled Shrimp

What you'll need:

Sauce:
1/4 cup ponzu sauce (or in my case, just low sodium soya sauce)
1/2 tsp of dark sesame oil
1/2 tsp sugar

Juice of 1 lime (or 1/4 cup of bottled lime juice)
Noodles and shrimp:
1x  8 or 9 ounce package of soba noodles
3/4 pound bag of med shrimp peeled and deveined.1 tsp salt
2 tbsp oil
1 shallot thinly sliced
2 cloves of garlic thinly sliced
1 tbsp ginger chopped
8-10 brown mushrooms sliced
1/4 cup cilantro chopped
1 green onion
1 lime quartered

Directions:
-Combine all sauce components in a bowl.
-Fry up garlic and shallots and ginger in oil for 2 minutes, add mushrooms and cook 5-7 minutes until tender. 

-Set Aside
-Fry shrimp with salt and oil until hot.

-Cook soba noodles for 4 minutes or until soft, drain and rinse with cold water.  Don't overcook!

-Toss noodles with mushroom mixture and sauce.

-Divide onto plates and top with cilantro and green onion.

Wednesday - Pizza and Arugula Salad

What you'll need:
2 crusts with sauce included but I used pesto on one instead of the sauce.
Mozzarella cheese
Toppings of your choosing… I used prosciutto, mushrooms, tomato, and shallots on one and mushrooms, prosciutto, sun dried tomatoes, goat cheese, and basil pesto on the other.
Just follow the directions on the package for cooking.
Serve with a green salad

Thursday - Jerk Chicken with a Baked Sweet Potato and Salad

What you'll need:
Jar of Jerk Sauce (Mr. Gouda's brand is my fav)
Chicken Drumsticks (12)
Sweet Potatoes x 2

Directions:
-Toss your chicken in half a jar of jerk sauce and let sit for a little bit…(1/2 hour is best)
-Meanwhile wrap two sweet potatoes in foil and cook at 350 for an hour or until soft.
-Meanwhile put the chicken and all the sauce in a casserole dish and place in the oven with the sweet potatoes for 1 hour or until chicken is fully cooked

-Once your sweet potatoes and soft, cut them in half and serve each half with 3 chicken drumsticks and green salad.

That's all folks!

Hope you enjoyed these weekly meal ideas...

Thanks for reading...

Love Desiree

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Weekday Recipe Roundup

Hello my lovelies...I'm back with another recipe roundup! 

My Menu:

Sunday: Roast Beef Dinner with Roasted Vegetables and Mashed Potatoes

 James whipped up this Sunday feast which made it taste even better...There's just something about food that someone else cooks right?!

For the beef:

What you'll need:

Inside round cut of beef

Flour, garlic salt, rosemary, pepper

Directions:

Dry the meat with paper towels and roll it on a cutting board covered in flour, garlic salt, rosemary, and pepper.

Sear it on all sides in a cast iron pan for about 3 minutes per side. (Our smoke alarm went off several times) 

Bake it in the oven uncovered for 425 for the first half hour and then turn the oven down to 375.

Cook for 14 minutes per pound if you want medium rare.

For the veggies:

Roast in an oven safe dish tossed in olive oil, salt, and pepper for about 45 minutes or until desired tenderness.

Serve with mashed potatoes.

Monday: Roasted Trout with Beet Salad

 Last Christmas James' Aunt gave me a little recipe book with all her best soups and salads and this is one of them.  Isn't that just the nicest gift?  I was touched... : )

 I added pecans in my version and served with roasted trout.

Tuesday - Ditali Tomato Chick Pea Pasta

 This recipe is a great one and satisfied my intense longing for PASTA!

What you need

2 tbsp (30 mL) extra-virgin olive oil

3 cups (750 mL) sliced mushrooms

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 onion, finely chopped

1 can (14 oz/398 mL) chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1 can (28 oz/796 mL) tomatoes, chopped

3/4 tsp (4 mL) salt

1/2 tsp (2 mL) pepper

1/2 tsp (2 mL) dried oregano

1-3/4 cups (425 mL) ditali pasta or penne or macaroni

2 tbsp (30 mL) chopped fresh parsley

1/4 cup (60 mL) grated parmesan cheese

Parsley sprig

Directions:

-In large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat; cook mushrooms, garlic and onion, stirring

occasionally, until no liquid remains and mushrooms are browned, 10 to 15 minutes.

-Stir in chickpeas, tomatoes, salt, pepper and oregano; bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer

until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes.

-Meanwhile, in large pot of boiling salted water, cook ditali until al dente, about 8 minutes; drain

and return to pot. 
-Add sauce and chopped parsley; toss to coat. 
-Serve sprinkled with Parmesan cheese; garnish with parsley sprigs.

Wednesday - Roast Beef Sandwiches with Arugula and Mushroom Salad

For yoga night I used the left over beef from Sunday's roast to throw together some beef on a bun topped with cheese, onion, and horseradish and then broiled to perfection..quick and easy so we can get out the door fast.  In an effort to give this meal some nutritional benefits I served it with a tasty arugula salad...

For the salad you'll need:
Arugula
White mushrooms
Parmesan Cheese
Lemon Juice
Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper

-Toss the arugula with sliced mushrooms and shaved parm
-Mix a 1/4 cup each of lemon juice and olive oil or to your personal taste and add salt and pepper to season
-Voila!

Thursday - Chicken Goulash on Crushed Potatoes
 When LCBO's Food and Drink Magazine claims something is quick and easy they are almost always lying and this recipe was no exception.  It was tasty but way too lengthy of a process for a weeknight...

Ingredients:

2 lbs small boiling potatoes

1 1/4 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts

1/4 cups flour

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp butter

1 medium onion diced

2 large garlic cloves minced

1 cup chicken broth

3/4 cup juice drained from canned tomatoes

1 tbsp tomato paste

1 tbsp hot paprika or sweet paprika with 1/4 tsp of cayenne

1 tsp caraway seeds

1/2 pound parsnips peeled and sliced lengthways

1 large carrot thinly sliced on a diagonal

1 green pepper diced (I used a zucchini instead)

1 cup of drained canned tomatoes

1/2 tsp salt

Several grindings of black pepper

1/2 cup sour cream

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

Directions:

-Cover whole potatoes in cold water in a pot with cold salted water.

-Bring to a boil, partially cover and simmer for 20-25 minutes until tender

-Keep warm.

-Cut chicken into one inch squares.

-Toss with flour

-Heat oil and butter over medium high heat in a large pan until hot and bubbly.

-Add chicken all at once, increase heat a little bit and wait 3 to 4 minutes until the chicken is brown on the bottom.

-Stir around when the pink is just gone for about 2 minutes.

-Remove to a plate.

-Reduce heat to medium and add the onion and garlic to the pan and sautee for 2 minutes.

-Meanwhile mix up broth, tomato juice, tomato pasta, paprika, and caraway seeds.

-Add to the pan slowly scraping up the brown bits.

-Stir in parsnips, carrots, green pepper and bring to a boil

-Cover and reduce heat to a simmer for 15 minutes stirring occasionally.

-Return chicken to pan and cover and simmer for another 10 minutes until the chicken is cooked thru.

-Stir in tomatoes and add salt and pepper to taste.

-Heat.

-Divide the drained potatoes to plates and crush with a fork or masher.

-Spoon goulash overtop with a dollop of sour cream and chopped parsley

-Serve!

That's it for my meal plan for the week but how lucky were we to get invited over to Ron and Sarah's this weekend for a feast of epic proportions! Not having to do any of the cooking I made sure to capture the festivities on film...

Check it out!

Sunday Roast from The Farmer's Only Daughter on Vimeo.

Happy feasting!

xo

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