Day 31: Dirty Rubbed Salmon...

Do you dare to get dirty? If you do, you’ve gotta be prepared to rub it, and rub it good, until it’s covered and ready to heat up. You’re going to want to taste this one, because everyone who’s tried it have begged for more. Yup, they can’t get enough of this one...

All kidding aside, this salmon dish is actually famous in my circle of friends. I made it up on the spot, and I haven’t changed it since. It’s one of my sure fire successes that didn’t need modification.

Consider this testimonial from one Daniel Blaustein (Ph.D. - Department of Romance and Latin American Studies, at the University of Jerusalem) who was there at it’s inception. He said:

“Your salmon was not just a salmon. It wasn't either 'the' salmon. It was the Gates of Heaven. It was fucking Redemption. It was the Second and definitive Coming of the Lord ("coming" in the broadest sense of the verb). And I know, I do perfectly know what I am talking about because during the last 15 years I've been living in this humble mansion located just 10 minutes walking away from the Via Dolorosa and the Holy Sepulchre, where He (i.e., your Salmon) performed the first Ascension to the Skies almost 2,000 years ago. Amen.”

With recommendations like that, you want to try it now, don’t you?

Day 30 - Easy Sparkling Ice Tea...

With the summer heat still in effect, and cottage season in full force, having a nice cool and fun drink available is a must. Here is my own variation of a classic, ice tea. This recipe can be prepared in advance, kept in the freezer, and made when company arrives.

Enjoy, and here’s to the first 30 days!!!

Day 29: Keith’s Vietnamese Salad Rolls...

It’s another scorcher in the Capital today, and the last thing anyone without air conditioning wants to do is turn on the oven or stove. Don’t worry. I’m here to save you from yourself.

You know those little rice paper wrapped rolls filled with minty salad goodness you get in Vietnamese restaurants? Well now you can make your own, complete with peanut dipping sauce...

Day 28: Coconut Curry Salmon...

There are times when you have odd ingredients that just don’t seem to make sense, or that you at least doubt they’d go together, like chocolate, horseradish and beef...

Okay, that won’t work, but one time I had some salmon steaks and sweetened coconut flakes. The rest was history...

Day 27: Bacon Pie...

Did I ever tell you about the time I was possessed? No? Well I was, once. It all started about fifteen years ago when I had a week off from work and ended up doing 47 hours straight of crossword puzzles. Pretty soon all those random words started to make sense. They actually spoke to me! Before you know it, I was full on possessed. I was ranting, raving, levitating, watching TV judge shows, swearing, and speaking Esperanto (whatever that is!). In the end what saved me was that I left the TV on, and reruns of Star Trek came on. Hours of William Shatner as Captain Kirk became my Exorcist, and snapped me out of it.

Oh, and while under the influence, I seemed to have written this recipe...

Day 26: Vietnamese Rice Vermicelli with Pork...

With the zombie invasion in full force, it’s more dangerous than ever to venture outside for the Vietnamese food we all crave. You need to pack extra ammunition, go in daylight hours for maximum visibility, and have a friend watch your back, but more often than not, they get one nick and suddenly they crave brains. No it’s best to stay inside and make it yourself.

Although the summer heat has abated, it’s still damn hot outside, so I’m sticking with my list of no-need-to-cook dinners, and one of the best options is the Vietnamese food we find in all the trendy restaurants these days. This is my variation. It’s quick and easy to make, and you don’t have to stand over a blazingly hot surface for hours to get it done...

Day 25: Iced Cappuccino...

You wake up, but can’t open your eyes, due to the nighttime cement that seals them shut. Sitting up only creates the kind of vertigo that one would expect from a zero-gravity spacewalk, but then the world spins and you feel ten times the normal gravity pushing you back to bed.

Yes, you didn’t get enough sleep, and though your first thought is, “I need a coffee,” the thought of drinking a steaming cup of joe in the summer heat makes you feel like you’re about to bed Angelina Jolie, only to discover that she has a garbage disposal in her nether regions. “Do you dare?”

The thought is fleeting, and then you think of going out to get an Ice Cappuccino, from that place we all know but isn’t paying me for endorsements so won’t be mentioned here, but you aren’t sure you’d make it with your eyes glued shut through all the traffic.

But then who’s to say you can’t make one of your own?

Really, how hard can it be?

Not at all, apparently...

A Call For Discussion...

Well due to Bluesfest and what-not, I haven't posted in a while, but fear not, I have a whole bunch of new recipes that are getting ready to be posted. Once again, I will be embarking on a daily circus of recipe posts, but I wanted to make one request for myself...

I know the site counter keeps going up, so people are visiting, but I'd really like to know if anyone has tried the recipes! If you have, what did you think? Did you make changes of your own, and create a new recipe? I'd love to hear about it, so if you have the time, please post your comments on this site. Thanks!

Day 23: Chocolate Protein Muffins...

This evening I did a bad thing. I couldn’t help myself. I felt the call and the urge... ...to turn on the oven, and bake... ...muffins...

I had been mulling over the idea of doing a muffin that uses the protein powder I don’t use much, since I don’t go to the gym anymore. So I flipped through the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook of mine, and tore it apart to create my own Chocolate Protein Muffins. I have to say they turned out really well. The protein powder I have has a bit of a medicinal flavour to it, but in the muffins, you can’t tell. So if you’re looking for a tasty, energy boosting way of increasing your protein intake but hate the taste of the powder you have, this is a great option!

Enjoy...

Day 23: Parsley Salad with Couscous...

Smothered by the weight of the humidity, you dare not open your eyes in fear that your home has filled with porridge. You think you can imagine what it must be like to be 100 years old as your damp clothes hang off your body like skin. The rumbling in your belly grows from avoiding dinner, because the thought of turning on the oven, or stove, would be the final alien heat ray that would burn the world to a cinder...

Yes it’s another scorcher, and in honour of this, I am posting another recipe that DOES NOT call for cooking. It’s all chopping and mixing. The only thing that might require heat, is the couscous. I used Israeli Couscous, which looks like a bag of small peas, rather than the usual kind. I found it mixed better and had a greater presence in the dish, but it took a lot longer to prepare. I let it steep in hot water while I chopped, but ended up having to simmer it for 5 minutes before it was done. So unless you have half an hour to let it soak (if you want to avoid boiling), I would suggest getting the regular kind, because it’s faster.

Enjoy!

Day 22: Southeast Asian Salad...

I was going to start posting all the different recipes of sausage I came up with over the weekend, but with the heat wave threatening to turn this burg into a fried cheese sandwich, I opted for something else.

Today’s recipe, and dinner, was something that I came up with due to the fact that I would rather be dragged across a field of broken glass, and thrown into a pool of lemon juice than turn on the oven or stove. Nor did I fancy the thought of hovering diligently over the hellfire of a charcoal barbecue. The thermometer round here hit 37 degrees in the shade, so cooking dinner was out.

Now I’ve gone through enough Thai and Vietnamese recipes to have something in mind, so after a trip to the grocery store, I had this number whipped up in no time. All you do is assemble it in a large bowl, one step at a time, no fuss, no muss. This is one recipe I will be repeating. It’s plain, damn, good, and keeps you out of the heat...

Day 21: Wontons...

Had to have a break from the recipes due to some serious Canada Day festivities, but I had a great 20 day straight run at it!

I resume now with day 21, and my idea of comfort food. Wontons. Dumplings, whatever you want to call them, these pint sized morsels of flavour really pack a punch, and it’s really easy to create your own variations.

I would advise that you plan to make this recipe when you have some time to kill. It’s easy to make, but it will take at least an hour to wrap all the wontons.

Make it a weekend activity. And watch some TV, or a movie as you go...

The best thing about this is the number of ways you can cook them. Just put them in the freezer until you need them, and then boil them, fry them or deep fry them. It’s up to you, and they will taste so much better than store bought, or restaurant bought for that matter...



Below is an instructional video showing two ways to wrap a wonton. I do it the first way.