nigella express recap

Nigella Express recap – I have tried the following recipes:

Breakfast Bars (page 94)
Chocolate Croissants (page 98)
No Churn Pomegranate Ice Cream (page 132)
Irish Cream Tiramisu (page 135)
Butternut Squash With Pecans and Blue Cheese (page 333)

pork loin

I made a pork loin for dinner tonight & it wasn't a total disaster! woohoo!

I followed the recipe that was on the package.

Ingredients:
- pork loin
- olive oil
- clove or garlic
- dijon mustard
- cracked pepper

Method:
1) Defrosted the frozen pork loin.
2) Preheat oven to 350degrees F.
3) Cut some slits in the rack of lamb & shove a half clove of garlic in each slit.
4) Mix olive oil & dijon mustard and cracked peppercorn together. Rub on the pork loin.
5) Put in the oven for about 1.5 hour. Tenting with aluminum about 15 minutes before taking out of oven.

It was so easy & so good! =)

nigella express - chocolate croissants

I am totally loving this book. Very simple and excellent dessert ideas! Right now I have in the oven...

Chocolate Croissants (page 98).

Ingredients:
- chocolate
- puff pastry (store bought)
- beaten egg

I made them a little too small & boy are they ugly & inconsistant! Live and learn!

creme egg mcflurry

While wandering around London I saw this advertisement and I just had to take a picture. Did we have these in North America? I have never seen them before.

I personally never liked Cadbury Creme Eggs, and the thought of having it in McFlurry form totally grosses me out. yuck!

What the heck? They sell these, but I can't even get my hands on a Shamrock Shake! Grrrr.

nigella express - ice cream

As I mentioned I borrowed Nigella Express & last night I prepared her

No Churn Pomegranate Ice Cream (page 132).

Ingredents:
- double cream
- icing sugar
- lime
- pomegranates

Tonight we taste tested it & it was so yummy! I am so happy I can make ice cream without an ice cream maker! (even though it's only simple ice cream).

I ended up substituting POM juice for real pomegranates as we couldn't find them at the local grocery store and since I'm lazy I also substituted lime juice for real limes.

So good and so natural tasting....but probably not much cheaper than just buying ice cream.

I can't wait to try this recipe out with green tea macha!

P.s. the breakfast bars never took a "bar" form & was just 1 congealed mess.....I have no idea why. On the bright side it's super yummy. =P I guess presentation isn't THAT important.

nigella express

It was such a nice day today that Dave suggested we walk to the public library close by to browse some books. It was a great idea since I have been in a food rut and wanted to try some new recipes, but am too cheap to buy cookbooks. =P

There were oodles of good books, but I decided to only borrow Nigella Lawson's book "Nigella Express" because after initial browse the recipes seemed simple, didn't require too many ingredients and looked yummy.

First on the list - Breakfast Bars (page 94).

Ingredents:
- condensed milk
- rolled oats
- shredded coconut
- dried cranberries
- mized seeds
- peanuts

So after a quick stop at the Bulk Barn nearby, we're off to the races!

I'm also going to try - Irish Cream Tiramisu (page 135) and No Churn Pomegranate Ice Cream (page 132).

restaurant review: trattoria timone

Restaurant: Trattoria Timone Ristorante Italiane
Location: 2091 Winston Park Drive
Telephone: 905-842-2906
Website: trattoriatimone.ca

Meal type: Dinner

Average price per person: $26-$60

What I ordered:
- Fried Brie with Melba toast appetizer
- Butternut Squash Ravioli
- Caramel Bread pudding dessert

Ratings:










Comments:
My friend recommeded this restaurant and I was pretty excited to try it out. I have passed by it and probably eaten at every resturant in that complex except this one.

The restaurant has a really great atmosphere. Very classy, but comfortable and intimate. And our waiter was very friendly even giving my friend travel tips when he found out she was traveling to Italy next month.

The food was good. It wasn't anything mind blowing though. I think I would have rather had some nice artisan breads with the baked brie, but I survived. As for the butternut squash ravioli - nothing really beats the Butternut Squash I had at Chsterfields that one time (which I found out they unfortunately do not offer anymore), but it was pretty close. =) And I'm glad to finally find a resturant with a decent butternut squash ravioli around here.

It was our first time eating the bread pudding and it was delicious!

The portions were just perfect, the surroundings were great - I am sure I will definitely be back.

trying to kick my coca-cola addition

I bought a 1L bottle of Coke Zero hoping it would help me ween myself off of Coca-Cola and I hate to say that it didn’t meet my expectations at all. So many people had told me it tastes exactly like Coca-Cola, but it totally does not! It tastes more like Diet Coke. Ewwwwwwwwwww.

sushi with an artistic flair

On many Fridays, I like to treat myself and have lunch at a Sushi restaurant near my work - Nijo Sushi. They have some of the best sushi for a great price in the area.

I usually stick to my favourites, like salmon sashimi, Alaska rolls, Dragon rolls or their awesome Udon noodle bowls, but yesterday I was feeling adventurous and decided to browse the menu for something new to try.

Imagine my delight when I read the description for the "Fire Mountain roll" - salmon, crab and eel covered in roe. Are you kidding me? Those are my 3 favourite things to eat at Sushi restaurants, covered in my 4th favourite thing! I had to get it.

The cutest thing though is the take-out containers. I didn't pull them out until I got back to the office, but how adorable is this?



Now, THAT'S customer service! :D

And then I opened the Fire Mountain roll box and my eyes were almost blinded by how intensely red the roe was...and how MUCH there was! The photo doesn't do it justice.


Oh, and please forgive the crappy photo quality! I didn't have my camera with me and had to take these photos with my BlackBerry camera.

Mmmmm....sushi.

butter tarts

I made butter tarts again last night. But this time - I made my own tart dough! How crazy is that?

They smelled great and tasted alright. I think my dough was too thick, but I was having major problems getting them in to the mini cupcake pan form without breaking apart.


I also made granola! It was my first time attempting to make granola, and it turned out okay, but didn't stick together in clumps. Perhaps I didn't add enough butter or liquid. I'll try some different recipes next time.