Recipes

Canada > Archive by tag 'recipes'

Hot Dates: Cooking Classes at The Dirty Apron Cooking School

The Dirty Apron Cooking School

Through May

Kitchen newbies, confident gourmands and ready-to-go pros enjoy picking up new tips and tricks, not to mention stuffing themselves with tasty morsels, at downtown’s cool Dirty Apron Cooking School. Add a few West Coast recipes to your repertoire and try your hand at preparing the best of the Pacific Ocean (May 4, 5, 7, 16, 30, 31). Take a trip around the world and learn to cook Italian at the Mamma Mia classes (May 1, 9, 15, 19, 24, 28), or feel like a Parisian in French class (May 2, 10, 14). And don’t forget your mom! She’ll love the just-for-her courses (May 12, 13).—Jennifer Patterson

Hot Dates: Meet Dessert Cookbook Author Alice Medrich

Sinfully Easy Delicious Desserts, a cookbook by Alice Medrich

May 6 and 7

Don’t know your rolling pin from your pastry brush? Don’t worry. Alice Medrich’s Sinfully Easy Delicious Desserts (Artisan Press; $29.95) is filled with foolproof recipes grouped under enticing headings such as Pudding Pleasure, Lickety-Split Cakes, and Sweet Bites. Beginners and experts alike will be baking up a storm in no time. Meet the “First Lady of Chocolate” at two events at Barbara-Jo’s Books to Cooks: Alice’s Tea Party on May 6 and Alice in Dessertland on May 7.—Sheri Radford

Hot Dining: Cranberry Bellini Recipe

Cranberry Bellini

Toast the new year with this festive Cranberry Bellini, an updated version of the Italian classic, created by Hendrick’s Gin Brand Champion, Charlotte Voisey. We think it will make the perfect addition to any New Year’s Eve party.

Ingredients
• 1 oz (30 mL) Hendrick’s Gin (which recently won gold for “Best Distilled Gin” at the 2011 International Spirits Challenge)
• 1 oz (30 mL) cranberry juice
• 1 oz (30 mL) simple syrup
• 1/2 oz (15 mL) fresh lemon juice
• 4 oz (120 mL) champagne

Method
• Combine ingredients in a mixing glass (except champagne)
• Shake well
• Strain into a flute glass
• Top with champagne
• Garnish with a sugared cranberry

Serves one

*To make simple syrup: Bring equal parts sugar and water to a boil. Stir to dissolve and then let cool.

Weekend reading list: The top stories from around our offices

Welcome to our new weekend feature, in which we bring you the top stories from around our offices at St. Joseph Media. Looking for fall fashion trends? Like cooking? DIYing? Check out our picks after the jump!

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Parks Canada Heritage Gourmet App Lets You Travel Back in Culinary Time

By Annemarie Dooling

Instead of using an app to locate a gourmet restaurant, why not download an iPhone app that will make you a gourmet chef?

Parks Canada Heritage Gourmet is like a trip to dine at the tables of Canadians from the 18th century to today. Browse through more than 70 recipes sorted by ingredient, themed menu, region or period for a list of Canadian traditional and modern delicacies. The app lists both little-known retro plates and old familiar favorites, such as Quebec’s Fort Chambly Pea Soup, an 18th century Halibut and Bacon dish and a recipe for traditional Sourdough Flapjacks, which were originally cooked over an open flame. The shopping list and bookmarking features make it easy to save meal picks on the go and locate every ingredient you need, and behind-the-scenes videos and cooking tips connect the dots between the past lives of the meals and your current kitchen.

But this isn’t just a standard recipe app, this is a traveling food-lover’s dream. Each recipe comes with a historic biography and timeline, detailing when the dish first made its debut. Plus, a “site” tab lists current travel information on the corresponding national historic site so that you have the most well-rounded and informed Canadian meal possible. Be sure to check the app often, as recipes are improved and added all the time.

The app: Parks Canada Heritage Gourmet (for iPhone)
Cost: Free
Where to download: http://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/parks-canada-heritage-gourmet/id451612819

Food for Thought

A Feast for All Seasons by Andrew George Jr.

In the sustainability era, where people are increasingly choosing local over international and cloth over plastic, it seems appropriate that North American food adopt a similar eco-friendly stance. Canadian First Nations chef Andrew George Jr.’s A Feast For All Seasons (Arsenal Pulp Press, $24.95), available at local bookstores, features 120 recipes about creating authentic Aboriginal cuisine with organic ingredients, such as braised bear or blueberry cookies. Bon appetit or so’h ga nec kewh dalt!—Kendra Wong

Hot Dining: Tasty Souvenir

A delightful read for budding sommeliers

Oenophiles sip and spit their way through more than 1,000 wineries in BC, Washington, Oregon and Idaho. This burgeoning wine region is also blessed with an abundance of seafood, wild game, fruits and vegetables. Carol Frieberg and Andy Perdue’s Swirl, Sip and Savor: Northwest Wine and Small Plate Pairings (Sasquatch Books, $26.95) brings the best of local food and wine together in recipes such as a minted crab salad with chilled cucumber water paired with a Mission Hill Reserve Riesling. At local bookstores.—Sheri Radford

Recipe: Honey-Baked Coconut Shrimp

HONEY-BAKED COCONUT SHRIMP

Tasty recipes abound in this cheeky cookbook.

Back in the day, we didn’t go to bars for the Tequila shooters or the boys. We went to get our greasy food fix. Despite not doing barstool banquets these days, we still long for the tantalizing tastes—we’ve brought the feast home, but we’ve left behind the oily glory of the deep fryer and created juicy, coconut-coated, golden-baked shrimp dipped in a sweet apricot sauce.

INGREDIENTS

Coconut Shrimp
1/2 cup honey
1 1/2 cups panko
(Japanese breadcrumbs)
1 cup flaked sweetened coconut
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
26 large raw shrimp, peeled and de-veined

Apricot Dipping Sauce
2/3 cup apricot jam
3 tbsp Heinz chilli sauce
2 tsp Dijon mustard

DIRECTIONS
1 Preheat oven to 425°F. Line a large baking sheet with aluminum foil and coat with non-stick cooking spray. 2 For the shrimp, pour honey in a medium bowl and warm on high in the microwave, 20-25 seconds. 3 On a large plate, combine panko, coconut, cumin, salt and pepper. 4 Taking shrimp one at a time, dip in honey and then coat in coconut mixture. Place on prepared baking sheet and bake 14 minutes, gently flipping shrimp halfway through baking. 5 For the sauce, place jam in a medium bowl. Warm in the microwave for 45 seconds. Add chili sauce and Dijon mustard, stirring to combine. Serve with baked coconut shrimp. Serves 4-6.

BITE ME BIT: Save a tree, send a coconut. Affixed with mailing label and correct postage, the U.S. Postal Service will deliver coconut mail.

Reprinted with permission from Bite Me: A Stomach-Satisfying, Visually Gratifying, Fresh-Mouthed Cookbook by Julie Albert and Lisa Gnat, available at Chapters.