Day 92 - The Lazy Gourmet...

It feels like an eternity since I last posted here. between work and training for a marathon, 2011 wasn’t really a good time to have a second job, which is what this site amounts to.

Having said that, I had plans to visit a good friend, and wondered what to bring.  Being another runner, healthy eating was on the menu, but I wasn’t keen on spending a lot of time on it.  These kinds of restrictions are usually the kind of thing that makes me the most creative, and this time was no different.  It seems like a no brainer,  low on time, need high nutrition, what else is there to do.

My plan was to to combine all the nutrition one needs in a meal, all at once, and by making it a salad, all you’re doing is chopping things up.  The only time consuming part, is the preparation of the tofu, which you can be doing while you chop, so in a sense, when you’re done chopping, so is everything else!
This is another addition to what I’m now calling Lazy Gourmet meals.  It’s a pretty looking, tasty and nutritious dish that combines everything you need.  The fruit content even guarantees that you’re getting your desert serving as well!

Hope you get a chance to try this, because it’s a keeper.  I present to you Kale and Quinoa Salad...



Enjoy

Day 91: Bread Basics...

As southern Ontario is buried under a rather less than expected snow storm, many have chosen to remain indoors, or at home.  Why not take the opportunity to bake some nice tasty bread!  As we close in on the 100 day mark, I present you my latest video post!

Bread Basics!

Here I run you through the various steps I take to ensure my bread rises big, and fast, in keeping with a busy lifestyle.  Get a copy of my Basic Bread recipe, and let me show you how it’s done!!!

Enjoy...


BREAD BASICS from Keith Savage on Vimeo.

Day 90: Spicy Beef Noodle in Peanut Sauce...

Lately I’ve been so engrossed in completing my next video post, that I totally forgot to post one of my recipes!

Today I’m sharing another from my stir-fry series, and again, it’s another of the Peanut Sauce variety.  I can’t seem to get enough of the stuff.  There’s something wonderfully magical, hearty and mouthwatering about peanut sauce.

In this case, it’s a spicy one.  Now I haven’t used Szechuan Peppercorns much before, so this was a bit of an experiment.  The dish has quite a kick to it, but an interestingly non, “Oh my God, my face is burning from the chili peppers!!!” hot.  The peppercorns bring a whole different dimension of heat to the palate, and it’s one I plan to revisit!

Enjoy...

Day 89: Baked Corn Chips...

Looking for a quick, easy alternative to regular party snack?  Look no further.  This recipe I threw together for a party and was well received.  Doesn’t take long to make, and it, and when you’re done, you’ll end up with enough to last quite a while.

Enjoy...

Day 88: Beef Rice Noodle in Worcester Sauce...

Well it’s day 88, and I must resist the urge to make a Back To The Future joke.  Instead, I will get back to my series of stir-fries.  This is another no frills, simple, quick thing you can throw together in minutes after getting home from work.

It's a variation of a Japanese stir-fry noodle dish, in which they incorporate Worcester sauce.  It sounds odd, but once I tried it, I was hooked.  It’s a fantastic dish that I wholly recommend.

Enjoy...

Day 87: Strawberries Foster...

I recently got a new job which required me to buy the latest version of Final Cut Studio, and while I waited for the job to start, I decided to familiarize myself with the new program.

Naturally I decided to film my latest recipe, Strawberries Foster.  Modifying a recipe for the classic Bananas Foster, I think I’ve created something very special.  If you want to impress guests, there aren’t too many ways to wow than doing a flambe´!

This dish is best served over ice cream, and you can’t do much better than the Caramel Pineapple Ice Cream I posted this week.

So sit back, and take a couple of minutes to watch my very first cooking video!

Enjoy...

Strawberries Foster from Keith Savage on Vimeo.

Day 86: Caramel Pineapple Ice Cream...

I’m all about enhancing flavour.  Having spent years learning to cook, I’ve learned a few tricks that help enhance the flavour of a dish, and my favourite is caramelization.  You don’t get that kind of flavour from poaching or boiling - Dry heat and frying generate infinitely more taste out of food, and that’s why I stick to it.

So a while back, when I got round to making ice cream, I got the idea, “Why don’t I caramelize the sugar before adding it to the cream?  I mean, I need to heat it anyway to dissolve the sugar!”  So this thought led me to making this a regular habit, when making ice cream.  White sugar is so one dimensional and screams like an angry cave-man, “SWEET!!!!.”  I like more complex flavours, and caramelization delivers that.

So last week I had a party to go, and I had a pineapple sitting around feeling neglected.  It looked at me saying, “Hey, baby.  You better eat me, or I’ll go bad!”  I had already decided I wanted to bring ice cream, so it was a no brainer that I was going to make a pineapple ice cream - and that I was going to caramelize the sugar.

Enjoy...