The Giant Cupcake that Ate Homer's Birthday!

So no recipe this week more of a tip post.

For Tristan's Birthday I decided to try out the Wilton Giant Cupcake Pan. I Googled some tips (seeing as how the actual pan comes with no information) and got to work.

I used 2 boxes of cake mix and upon reflection I probably could have gotten away with one. Just make sure you put an equal amount in each side. As you can see it mushroomed ALOT. I baked it using a slightly longer time than the bundt cake directions. However I kept rotating it and kept an eye on it, as each oven is different.



I made sure to both grease and flour the pan beforehand and as such it took only a quick slip of a knife to get it out.



I did have to trim the mushroom part off and it worked pretty well. My Mom suggested I freeze the left over bits for making triffle later on.



To be honest the only really difficult part was icing the cake. I don't have a pastry bag or icing tips, but I can tell you that the standard spatula method did not really do the cake justice. I think it would have been easier and prettier if I had used a pastry bag.




All that said, everyone really like the cake. Thanks to Jenna for lending me the pan!

Liar Liar Shrimp on Fire!

There really isn't anything quicker to make in the food world than shrimp. So odd and unappetizing when raw, it turns this beautiful shade of pink so quickly you forget the awful greyness of moments before.

I was looking for a recipe to make when Kinnon came over for dinner last week, I poured through several recipes and then I found it. An old favourite from the Jamie Oliver's Happy Days with the Naked Chef. A shrimp recipe, which is essentially shrimp, garlic, ginger, lemon, parsley and small red chili's, with bread for dipping in the sauce. I highlight this because pepper selection is important when you are cooking a protein that essentially absorbs the flavour of what it is cooked in. They didn't have small red chili's at the grocery store I went to. They did however have habanero peppers. The hottest freakin peppers in the world.

Originally I had cut up two for the recipe, then I decided to taste a bit of pepper just to see how hot it was. My mouth swelled up momentarily and then the burn started. DEAR GOD. Needless to say I fished out nearly half of the chopped up pepper. My hands burned all night and next day.

Lesson learned.

This really is going somewhere recipe wise.

I had lots of left over frozen shrimp and had a craving for a shrimp sandwich. Since the Cajun Corner is sadly leaving my neighbourhood I decided to throw together something, taking Jamie's recipe as my inspiration.

Hilly's Non-habanero Shrimp Sandwich
Makes Enough for 2 Sandwich's (bring one to work the next day!)

16 Large Shrimp (uncooked)
2 cloves of garlic finely chopped
1/2 thumb size piece of ginger, peeled and finely chopped
2 tablespoons of olive oil
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
Asian Chili Sauce to Taste
Baguette (1 loaf),

1. Heat the Oliver oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add garlic, ginger and shrimp, cook approximately 3-4 minutes until shrimp are pink.

2. Add lemon juice and stir.

3. Add Chili sauce and stir.

4. Cut the baguette in half to make two big sandwich buns. Slice in half and pile on the shrimp equally on each sandwich*

Serve!

*If you are going to bring a sandwich to work the next day wrap the baguette in plastic wrap and pack the shrimp separately (so that it doesn't make the bread soggy).

Kiss Me I'm A Pizza, Sorta

It's too bad that St. Patrick's Day falls on a Monday this year.  For us working stiffs it severely hinders the fun drinking potential.

With that in mind (as well as just missing them) I invited my friends Amber and Allan over for dinner on Friday night.  I hadn't seen them in a few months and since they had just gotten back from a trip to Cuba there was plenty to catch up on.

Amber and Allan actually lived in the UK for a few years after university and they are real anglophiles.  They are both up for just about anything food wise (except for pine nuts, which cuts out the salad from a few posts ago).

I decided to give a nod to St. Patrick's day while at the same time making something quick and easy.  With that I give you my version of the Reuben Pizza.  Another recipe stolen from Rachael Ray.  

I first made this about a week ago, and go so mad in trying to roll out the pizza dough in my tiny kitchen Tristan thought I had developed a minor case of tourrette's.  Then I had an idea. Instead of trying to divide the pizza dough and roll it out, I would just buy 2 Pillsbury pizza tubes and use one for the bottom and one for the top. It worked a treat!  

The picture above is from the initial try at the pizza when I was essentially trying to turn a rectangle into a circle.  The one from Friday basically looked like a rectangular version of what you see.  

Reuben Pizza Hilly's Short Cut Version

2 tubes of Pillsbury Pizza Dough

1 1/2 cups of shredded light Swiss cheese

1 pound deli sliced corned beef

1 cup sauerkraut rinsed.

1/2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1/2 cup light mayonnaise (or whipped dressing)

2 1/2 tablespoons ketchup

2 tablespoons relish

1.  Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat to 425.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  

2.  Pop open one of the Pillsbury Pizza Dough tubes, unroll it and lay it on the parchment paper.  This may require some repair to the dough on your part, it can be finicky.

3.  Sprinkle half the cheese on top, leaving a 1 inch border all around.  Arrange the corned beef and then the sauerkraut evenly on top. Top with the remaining cheese.

4.  Pop open the second Pillsbury Pizza Dough tube, unroll it and lay it carefully on top of the filling.  Tightly crimp the edges together to seal.  Brush the top with the olive oil and cut 3 vents in the center.

5.  Bake the pizza until browned and crisp, 20 to 25 minutes.  Let cool briefly.

6.  Meanwhile, in a small bowl, stir together the mayonnaise, ketchup and relish.  Cut the Pizza into 4 pieces and serve with the sauce.

Needless to say the portions were HUGE when the pizza was in rectangle form.  Which was good because Amber and Allan brought two bottles of wine with them, in addition to the two bottles of wine I already had at my house.

Mayhem ensued.

A Collard in the Sun

In 2003 I encountered something I never thought I would.

The possibility of a male roommate.

After university my three best girl friends and I moved in together. We found the perfect four bedroom house close to downtown. It was a regular slumber party. But that was relatively short lived. Dear Kinnon had to take a contract out of town starting in early 2004, and so we had to find another roommate.

Not wanting to live anyone really new, we were open to suggestion. So one night while Kinnon was at the pub she was introduced by a mutual friend to an actor looking to move from Winnipeg to Toronto sooner rather than later. After a GlenGarry Glen Ross style interview we agreed that Kristopher could be our roommate. And he has lived in that house ever since (pretty much).

He brought with him a penchant for flannel and healthy eating, especially organic eating. He was ahead of his time. This past Saturday I went with Tristan to the house where now Kristopher, Jenny and Kinnon live on the main floor and Avery and Ian live in the apartment above. The snow as pretty crazy, but we made it and because of the weather I brought a fairly simple appetizer, chips and homemade dip.

The idea was that everyone was to contribute something to the meal. And what a great meal it was. Ian and Avery provided beef tips, mashed potatoes and roasted veg, while the main floor crowd provided a dessert and the following recipe for collard greens. It is Kristopher's recipe and it was pretty damn good. Being a man of few word's I will simply put what he wrote to me when I asked him for the recipe:

"It was really simple. All I did was wash the greens, then tightly roll them up together and thinly slice them. Chopped up one small onion, and saute in about 2 T olive oil. When onion starts to brown add the greens and saute until limp. Then add salt. (I use Celtic Sea Salt) Presto you have Collard Greens Brazilian style."

Because of the amount of wine consumed I didn't really get a proper picture of the greens, but I am sure your imagination will take you there.

Indulgence Redefined

On Wednesday the new restaurant Four opened. Since the SIR corporation is not hip to my influence on the food community (hey Osgoode Hall Cafeteria posted my review!), I was not invited to the official launch. But Biz Bash was and you can read their initial thoughts here.

Everything on the menu is fewer than 650 calories, making it ideal for someone such as myself who usually feels guilty after eating out.

I promise to post a review as soon as I can, though I assume the bookings are already stacking up if SIR's other restaurants are any indication.

The Salad of My Dreams

It's been a little while since I really loved a salad.  There is the one I call, the one that got away. 

The salad itself was simple.  Mixed greens, with feta, a balsamic style vinaigrette and most importantly Cajun jumbo shrimp.  Something about the combination was like crack to me.  The second the plate hit the table in front of me I would dive in and it would be gone before everyone else at the table had even picked up their forks.

This magic salad was found at a Toronto restaurant called Fire on the East Side.  I can still remember the day that I went in for dinner and the salad was no longer on the menu.  I begged and pleaded for them to make it for me just one more time, but to no avail.  The restaurant is still great even without the salad.

I thought I would never find a salad I liked as much, but then I was introduced to Nigella's Warm Rocket Salad and my prayer's were answered.

Like the shrimp salad of my past, this is also a warm salad.  She suggests making it right away in front of guests but when my friends Michael and Ryan made it for me they made the warm part ahead of time and simply reheated when it was time to serve.  Without further adieu here is the recipe, with thanks to boys for introducing me to it.

Nigella Lawson's Warm Rocket Salad

Serves 4

2 medium red onions

8 slices of pancetta 

Olive Oil

4 sprigs thyme

4 big handfuls of rocket (arugula)

Balsamic Vinegar

A Piece of Parmesan for shaving

Peel, halve, and quarter the onions, then quarter again, to give you 8 pieces from each onion.  Heat a frying pan and fry off the rashers of pancetta until crisp (now Ryan cubed both the onion and the pancetta, which I really liked, I like small bites).  

Add a couple of lugs of olive oil to the pan, and add the sprigs of thyme, the onions and pine nuts with a pinch of salt.  Toss around and fry on a medium head for about 5 minutes until caramelized and sweet (not black!).

Then, Throw everything into a salad bowl with the rocket or any nice salad leaves.  Drizzle generously with balsamic vinegar, this will make a natural dressing as it mixes with the olive oil.  

Serve with some shaved Parmesan over the top, you use a potato peeler to do this. 

Munch away.

Girls Night Out - Weezie

True confession, I am still friends with a good deal of the people I knew in high school.  Not just Facebook friends, but the kind of friends you can call when you have to be bailed of jail.  I consider this one of the proudest parts of my life.  My network of friends is varied and spread across the country. 

Now the ladies pictured above are not ones I knew in high school.  I met them in my first year of university, and we are still very very close.  But life is busy (careers, marriage and the other trappings) so we don't get to sit down just the four of us and kibbitz as often as we would like.

The last time we went out to dinner the conversation was stellar but the food was, well, not.

So this time we wanted somewhere that was comfortable and consistent. 

Initially I suggested Terroni, they have a new trendy location but the same great food. 

However, when I went to make a reservation I was told that they don't take reservations after 6pm on Fridays.  Well, I knew that the place would have a line up out the door by the time we got there and we would be forced to cram by the bar.  

Then Kinnon suggested that we hit up Weezie, a place that I had totally forgotten about. And we couldn't have been happier with the results.  I started with the poutine topped with braised beef and gravy.  Wonderful and hearty, exactly what I needed on an extreme cold alert day.

My main was actually another small plate, the beef tartar with toasts.  Forgive the picture, the flash gives it that extra touch of well, redness. But it tasted so good, with just the right amount of spice.  It (along with every else's mains) was gone within seconds. 

With a great menu filled with adaptations of comfort food, Weezie is a great place.  Other dishes consumed that evening were the Mac and Cheese, Burger and Steak Frites.   It is located at 354 King Street East (at Power) and I would recommend reservations, especially if dining on a Friday or Saturday night.  In addition to fun girls nights it is also great for a date, you can ask for the "romance" table to make it extra special.