A few simple pantry staples can yield the most delicious buttery sauce. Sea salt compliments the sticky sweetness beautifully. Here are the ingredients and steps to make this recipe!
Halloween is upon us and if you’re hosting your own spooktacular party, here is the perfect simple bevvie for you – Lychee LemonEYEd. This recipe is super simple, you can serve it to the kids or spike it up for the adults. I’m going to use canned Lychees in this recipe to take the Lemonade to an exotic level. Reserved the firm ones for the garnish, pop a black grape in the centre and keep it aside. Throw the rest of the Lychees into the food processor with some of the juice and puree it.
This Lemonade is flavoured with this Lychee puree and garnished with the eye as well as some bloomed Sweet Basil or Chia seeds. This is such a simple recipe but will compliment your other spooky snacks so beautifully!
Also check out some of my other Halloween delights
Gobble Gobble! Cooking a Turkey is synonymous with feeding people you love. I always like to try something different each Thanksgiving or Christmas holiday and this year I made a Middle Eastern inspired Turkey. The bird is the star of the show and done right, it can be juicy and flavourful I love Turkey but I’m not crazy about the long cooking time, so this year I decided to drastically cut down the cooking time by Spatchcocking the Turkey. This means I will remove the spine so the Turkey can lay flat and cook in less time than it usually does.
If you’re never cooked a Turkey before, be sure to check the cavity of the bird. This is usually where they stash the neck and other parts of the Turkey. Store this in your fridge. I always like to use a fresh bird and I always brine my Turkey for 24 hrs. Brining ensures that the Turkey is flavourful and moist. This is a simple mixture of salt and sugar in 4 litres of water. I like to throw in some lemon slices before I immerse my bird in a bucket or container large enough to hold the bird. If you don’t have enough room in your fridge to hold this large container, you can sit this on your kitchen counter in cold water for two hours, or just skip this step. After the brining process you need to dry the bird out really well, I like to leave it in a colander to drain and I will follow that with a tea towel and wipe all the excess moisture. It’s important that your bird is dry, otherwise it will steam in the oven.
Spatchcocking the Turkey was a bit harder than I imagined, I have spatchcocked many a Chicken, but the Turkey bones are much tougher. To watch this video make sure to click the link in this post.
Once the Turkey was ready I prepared a wonderful spice blend with the best of Middle Eastern flavours. My bird is about 12 lbs so I should be cooking this for about 3 hrs and 45 mins, but because it’s spatchcocked, it’s only going to take 1.5 to 2 hrs. I’m going to start at 350 and increase the heat to 450 when I take the lid off. If you find it’s browning too quickly in your oven, cut the heat back.
Ready in minutes, anytime is a great time for friend rice, one of China’s and other parts of Asia’s most popular rice preparation. This is highly customizable and can be enjoyed by kids and adults alike. I love my Fried rice with a healthy serving of veggies and protein unlike some of the restaurant take out versions that pack more starch than anything else. Like any other Chinese recipe, it’s really important to get all your mise en place ready which is just a fancy word for getting all your ingredients and condiments ready before you begin cooking.
I’m using day old cooked Jasmine rice for this recipe as cooked rice is the best thing to use. If you eat Indo Chinese in India, the restaurants almost always use Basmati rice as the Indian palate loves it. Jasmine rice is really the best option – it has the perfect grain that won’t break under the pressures of being stirred in a wok, the long grain rice could break, and the short grain rice releases way too much starch. In other words short grain is too starchy, Basmati grains are too long and break while stirfrying but the Jasmine rice is just right! My dad is visiting me from India at the moment and he’s really sad that I’m not using Basmati rice.
I’m using Chicken as my protein in this recipe, but feel free to Shrimp, Pork and Beef. You can also customize your veggies, I’ve used green Beans, Broccoli, Carrots and green peppers. Follow the recipe below and sway out the protein and vegetables as you see fit and don’t forget to watch the video to see the process clearly.
4 – 6 oz Chicken cut in cubes marinated in some soy sauce
1 cups each mixed Vegetables – sliced Green Beans, Broccoli in small florets, diced Carrots and Green Pepper
2 beaten eggs
3 cups pre-cooked, day old Jasmine rice
2 tbsps light Soya sauce
1 tbsp dark Soya sauce
1 tsp Chilli paste
Instructions
Heat some Chilli oil and add 3-4 cloves of crushed garlic
Add 4-5 sliced Spring Onion bulbs
Add the chicken and a 1Ž2 tsp of Soya sauce for color and cook it well, if using cooked Chicken, add it later just before adding the rice
Add the veggies starting with the 1 cup of Green beans first as they take the longest to cook, followed by Broccoli florets, Carrots & green Pepper and stir fry till cooked
Slide the veggies to one side, beat 2 eggs and add them into the wok and cook it
Cover with 2 cups of cooked Jasmine rice
Add the dark and light Soya and Chilli paste and story fry till there is no rice uncoated
It’s been a while since I’ve eaten healthy – ok, I’ve never eaten healthy 🙂 I’m now 46 and the last couple of years of careless eating and drinking have caught me by surprise. Two months ago, I met an old acquaintance from my kid’s Boy Scouts Club. I couldn’t believe how amazing she looked and decided that it was time for me to kick all the old habits to the curb. This wonderful woman who I always thought was warm and friendly would be the perfect weapon to kick my butt back into gear. She lost all this weight by replenishing her body with Herbalife shakes, eating right and working out(bad word). These are all things I don’t do, drink shakes, eat right or work out … but you have to start somewhere! I started drinking a shake a day, ate reasonably healthy and attended her Fit camp aka torture camp! I’ve lost 10 lbs already and I can’t wait to shed the rest!
Since I started this journey, I read labels and log everything I put into my mouth on myfitnesspal.com. This has been a fascinating adventure, I now know how many calories are in most things and make wiser choices. I think my friends hate me though especially that I tell them that 1 oz bag of Cheetos they’re inhaling with are 150 calories.
At my Fit camp, we’re celebrating the end of summer with a potluck. I decided to take my regular Deviled egg recipe and use calorie friendly ingredients like Sour cream and Turkey bacon to deliver top notch flavour that won’t settle around your waist. Try these, they’re yummy!
With my rough calculation, these are under 50 calories each and packed with protein.
Update: Jan 17, 2017 – I’ve now lost 30 lbs, balancing my healthy eating with the delicious food I have to prepare for my channel – moderation is key. I’m also working out and in much better health.
A cold Chinese Style Noodle Salad is really going to hit the spot today. Gluten free rice noodles are going to be tossed together with imitation crab, tinned button mushrooms, spring onions and dressed in a delicious and nutty Salad dressing. Topped with some bean sprouts for crunch! Hi everyone I’m KA and today is all about rice noodles that are easy to prepare and gluten free. I just prepared a Thai Inspired Crab noodle Salad and my take on the Kani Salad which is a Japanese Crab salad. Both of those recipes will be at the end of this video and in the description. Because this recipe is so easy and there’s 0 cooking involved, I’m hoping that my 18 year old son will take a break from eating fast food to prepare this for himself at his residence in University.
I’m going to prepare my noodles by immersing them in hot water, draining them, running cold water on them and draining them again. In a smaller bowl, let’s mix 3 tbsps of light soya with 3 tsps of Vinegar with 3 tbsps of Sesame oil. Sesame oil gives a wonderful nutty flavour to the dressing. If this isn’t enough, add 1 tsp of sesame seeds, 1 tsps while pepper and 1/2 tbsp of chilli flakes. Slice the imitation crab in discs and the mushrooms in halves or quarters – however you prefer. Also slice 2 spring onions, bulbs and leaves. Add everything to the rice noodles and toss well to coat. Enjoy this salad cold and leftovers make a great lunch. This is also a great pot luck addition! Make sure to check out the other noodle recipes I prepared today – my Thai inspired Crab Noodle Salad and my Kani, Japanese Crab Salad.
Meat and Mushrooms are a marriage made in heaven. For decades they’ve enhanced each other in many many recipes. Not only do they compliment each other in flavour but they also really are really economical to use together in the technique called Blend and Extend. Blend and Extend is the technique of mixing ground meat together with finely chopped Mushrooms. This is used in many recipes to extend the flavour but also make your end product more economical. You are also ensured getting your protein and veggies all in one bite!
You can use any ground meat in this recipe, lamb, Chicken or Pork but I chose to use some delicious Ontario Beef. The Meat & Mushroom melts are crispy on the outside and ooey and gooey on the inside, studded with a ground beef, mushroom and fresh parsley filling. This recipe is modelled after the famous Dutch snack Bitterballen which uses just beef in its recipe. This recipe is easy to make, and although it does have a few steps you will be rewarded with a large back of these crispy gooey balls to serve at a party or game night. They are also the perfect appetizer to prep ahead and just flash fry at the last minute.
In this recipe, I’m using beautiful brown Cremini mushrooms. If you have the time, you can dice these by hand, but I prefer to throw them into the food processor. This is cooked in a sauté pan with the beef and flavoured with some spices. It will then be folded into a luscious Bechamel and set overnight in the fridge.
Once it’s nice and firm, it will be scooped out and rolled in breadcrumbs, cooled, dipped in egg and rolled in breadcrumbs again before flash frying it in hot oil. Anything done twice is better and these melts are crispy on the outside and oozy and gooey on the inside. The texture and taste make for a wonderful surprise! See recipe below and follow the video for more detailed instructions.
If you’re not playing Pokemon Go at the moment, you may be part of a small minority. I never play games myself, but just had to download the game to see what the hoopla was about. I can see why my crazy teenagers go running around trying to catch rare Pokemon, it’s addictive. What’s also addictive is this new salad I discovered at the sushi bar at my local grocery store. This is a pink creamy concoction which looked like it was made with fake Crab meat – which I love btw and rice noodles. Pretty much everyone at home loved it and I decided to try making my own version of this delightful cold noodle salad. For this recipe, I like to use equal quantities of crab to noodle. The Crab sticks shred very easily and it’s very therapeutic actually. I like to complete this task sitting in front of the TV watching some reality show, but if I’m rushed for because I’m making a larger batch for a potluck or party, I will usually pay my younger son a few dollars to take this task off my hands.
I’ve prepped my noodles by soaking them in hot water, draining them, running them under cold water and draining them again. Some people prefer to run these through cold water. I think my way is faster! This recipe is prepared very simply by mixing together Mayonnaise and Sriracha sauce. Always use a light Mayo and the ratio of Mayo to Sriracha is up to you to tweak. I also add black Sesame seeds and some Lime juice and Spring Onions for freshness.
Just remember that the noodles do increase in size after you cook them, so feel free to add way more Crab strands. This is one of my older son’s favourite recipes. He says it’s simple enough for him to make at University, so I really hope he’s going to try it!
I always wondered how Firecracker Shrimp were so straight. Are these special type of Shrimp? Are they forced into a straight line using a skewer? I decided to learn the secret to forcing the Shrimp out of it’s natural curled shape. While the curl in a Shrimp is a thing of beauty, it’s really not possible to wrap it up in a crispy wrapper without making a mess. This technique(see video) makes it super easy. There are so many recipes for Firecracker Shrimp but I decided to keep it simple using Sriracha sauce. The Shrimp really is the star of the show and the Sriracha is just there to give it a little heat. Make sure to use the larger variety Shrimp in this recipe.
This recipe only used 4 ingredients – Shrimp, Sriracha, Spring Roll wrappers and a flour paste to hold everything together. These are seriously addictive, make a large batch they go fast!
Not just healthy and gluten free , this delicious roll is also packed with flavor. I was introduced to this treat bu a coworker whose parents used to run a restaurant. I introduced it to my kids and just loved it. The measurements below are not exact, simply because the size of the rice paper wrap you will use will vary.
Mix the 2 sauces together to prepare the dipping sauce and leave aside.
In a pan, add two tbsps of water and steam the shrimp
Remove and cool
Save the stock, in the same pan add more water and bring to a boil
Cook the rice vermicelli, remove, drain and cool
Take the shrimp and slice horizontally on the chopping board.
Soak the rice paper wrap and spread on a wooden board
Start with the shrimp, arugula, mint leaf, stick of cucumber, coriander, dab of dipping sauce, carrots, red pepper a little crab and finally some of the rice vermicelli. Roll and repeat.
Wipe down your board at intervals to make the rolling easy.
