Hey Foodies!

Wow it’s been a while since my last post.  The worst thing is, I have been shooting a lot new recipes for this site but I never got around to take my time to come here and post them.  My life have been a roller coaster lately and it was hard to even come here and blog you something interesting to read with each of the recipes I shot.  My online business took an unexpected turn and what looked like the biggest drama of my life, ended up being the best thing that could have ever happened to me.  I guess nothing happened for no reason in life but the little stressed out Ariel wasn’t able to write or think about anything fun for you guys although I cooked and baked a LOT during this very stressful time.  I’m so glad it’s over now…

On a more delicious note….  One sweet fan sent me a few cooking gear for my birthday in March and I have been dying to trying them out.  One of them is a super adorable tart pan from fat daddios and since I was drooling over all the delicious tarts that you can see on foodgawker, I absolutely wanted to try to make my own so here it is!  My first basic and delicious breakfast tart.

The whole concept is very easy and extremely versatile.  You can basically stuffed the tart with anything you would like and enjoy it either as breakfast or do like me and make a dinner/breakfast (I love to do that).

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I havent had much time in my kitchen lately,  2 weeks ago I had one of my contracted model Gemma Lynx staying at my place for a full week to shoot for her upcoming website and the next after that, Max and I got super sick.  It was such a pleasure to go back to my pots and pans the week end after getting better, smelling all my spices and plan a bunch of tasty goodies for my friends and family.  One of the first thing I wanted to make once I got back was some sweets,  it’s one of the funnest thing to create for me and I wanted to start using this awesome buckwheat flour I had bought at the grocery a few days before.

I LOOOOOOVE buckwheat and I’m happy Max likes it too because it’s extremely healthy.  I invited one of my friend who kept telling me that he hate buckwheat to have him taste my latest creation because I like to challenge people like that.  Now I can officially say that he now changed his mind about this flour right after tasting my moist orange & almond buckwheat cakes.

Like I just said, these cakes are extremely moist and drench in an infused light syrup with cloves, star anise, pepper, coriander seed and cardamon pods…  Give them a try, it’s so worth it.

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It’s Easter tomorrow and since lamb is one of the preferred meat to eat on this day, I thought this recipe was perfect for the occasion.  I don’t think I need to explain again how I like to mix cultures because I have talked about it quit often in my previous posts.  Today I’m doing it all over again with these BBQ lamb Spring rolls with sweet maple sauce.  Yes maple again… lol  I think I’m seriously addicted and you can blame it on the fact that I’m Canadian

They are fairly easy to do, you will only need a bit of patience.  The only “tricky” part would be if you never worked the rice paper but the only thing you need to make sure is you roll it tight.  My first goal was to make a step by step photo with this recipe to explain you how to roll the rice paper but I found this very useful and well explained link on VietWorldKitchen that I think will be perfect.

You can keep your spring rolls for one day in the fridge between layers of wax paper so they don’t stick together and what I like to do is to add a wet towel at the bottom of my container (under a wax paper) to keep some sort of moisture.

Bon appetit!

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Even tho it’s technically spring right now, I’m looking outside my window and I don’t see it.  Last week, for our first day of Spring, we had a big snowstorm in Montreal and since it looks like we are in the middle of January.  The worst thing is, 2 weeks ago there was no more snow outside, the weather was starting to be nice and uplifting and the birds were singing.  I’m wondering how surprised those pore little birdies were when they realized that only a few days after they either woke up or came back from the south, mother nature still had a ton of snow and cold weather for them.

One thing for sure, mother nature is getting more and more erratic with the years… and I cant believe some people are still so close minded that they don’t believe in global warming.  …Ugh, ignorance like this annoyed me till no end and I feel like slapping all those people in the back of the head for having such ignorance but again, it’s not my place to do so but since this is my blog, I’m venting away lol  …sorry about that that.

On a much funner and tastier note, I decided that even if it’s not as sunny as I would have expect it today, I’m not going to let this weather gets to me and I will be celebrating the arrival of Spring anyways with some fun light and flavorful salads like this one.  It’s also part of my few posts that I’m dedicating to my contracted models who are seeking for healthy and low calories recipes to prepare because they have to go on photo shoots very soon.  I hope you’ll enjoy this fennel, carrot and green apple salad as much as I did.  It’s super easy to do, barely take any ingredients and will keep you full for quit a while.  Enjoy!

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Ohhh Dumplings!  I have a serious obsessions over them.  Either it’s the classic Chinese pork and shrimps served with hot sauce or dijon mustard, like the one I’m presenting you today, or something more exotic like bananas and strawberries served with chocolate or maple/honey sauce, I love them all…

They are fairly easy to do and it only take a bit of patience because the result is beyond tasty and you can be sure that you will be surprising your guest with these cute little appetizers.  What’s also fun about them is that they are super versatile!  You can pretty much fill them with anything you like and either steam, fry, boil and bake them without any problems and every ways will end up different and delicious.

Like I’ve mentioned, today I’m presenting you how to make the classic pork and shrimps dumplings that are shaped in a cute little “coin purse” or like I enjoying calling them; the kitty cat heads because of the cute “cat ears” on top.  I even prepared some step by step photos of the folding process because I thought maybe my bad, broken English would have been too complicated for you guys to understand. lol

I hope you’ll enjoy this recipe!

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Hi everyone!

Yesterday I was searching on new ways to spread the word that my culinary blog exist and I received a super sweet mail from a fan who told me that he nominated me for a Food Blog award!!  I have to say that it’s extremely flattering to think that some people enjoy this blog so much and it’s also brilliant in term of promotion for ZestyandSpicy!!  Could u imagine all the visibility I could get from winning such award?!   This is why I thought about writing this post today and inviting you to nominate me for the Saveur Magazine Best Food Blog award!

The nomination will be close on March 29 and the finalists announce on April 12  If you think my blog deserve to have a little promotional boost please nominate me in a few categories  I think we should try to aim for the following category but feel free to nominate me in any other that you think I could fit:

- Best Cooking Blog

- Best Original Recipes

- Best Photography

Once again nominate me if you think I deserve it and thank you so much for everybody who will  This could really give a nice promo to ZestyandSpicy and bring more people here to enjoy my recipes

Thank you so much in advance to Mark, who has nominate my blog without even me asking  You’re amazing and I’m so lucky to have a sweet fan like you.  Obviously thank you so much for everybody who will be voting for me after reading this post, if I made it in to one of the the finalist lists, it will be because of you and I’ll be forever grateful :)

xxx

I was reading one of my contracted model’s blog the other day and she was asking for diet tricks and recipes.  I have to admit that the word “diet” scares me till no end and I much prefer to keep a healthy everyday lifestyle and work on my portion control then go on a diet because most of the time I don’t stick to it and I get either frustrated for not eating what I want or I loose too much energy by not eating enough or the right things.  Plus, most of the time when the diet is done and you’re back at your normal eating habits, you gain everything you had lost and sometime a bit more.

As a model, worrying about my waist line is part of my everyday job you’ll say and that’s kind of true.  But I don’t believe in dieting and I don’t believe in starving myself.  Yes, I’m a model and what I look like is important but I will never starve myself because I simply love food way too much.  Over the years I had to adjust my eating habits, learn to work out the right way everyday and stop myself from buying easy and fast processed food.  I learned to make everything myself from scratch and to be honest, I’m glad I did!  These days I much prefer to never eat pizza again because I’m too lazy to make my own dough, sauce and everything than buying one of those pre-made versions.  If I haven’t made it from scratch, I simply don’t eat it.  It’s that simple.

Agreed, it’s annoying at time because you’re really craving for something specific that you just don’t have on hand but it’s a great way to learn self control.  If you really want to eat that specific thing, you just have to make it from scratch and try to make it healthier than the store bought version.  Everything is possible and as long as you keep to this rule and work out everyday, you’ll be fine in my book.  It has been working for me for the past 5 years now and I’ll never go back to my old eating habits.

Now to talk about about this salmon recipe…  It’s easy, fast and very good for you.  I don’t think I need to convinced anyone about the greatness of omega 3 and fatty acids.  It’s good for you, good for your brain and so dam delicious.  Like any other “fatty” fish like the salmon, we have to eat it in moderation but I think once a week is ok if you’re really a salmon addict or at least once every 2 weeks.

The contrast of the salty fish with the maple syrup (my obsession) and the sourness of the green apples drench in lime juice is amazing!  This amazing salad will keep you feeling full for the rest of the night or pump you up full of energy to go do over 1 hour of cardio.  Hope you’ll enjoy this recipe as much as I do

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I got this old book from my grand mothers that had a pretty impressive amount of pies recipes.  There was quit a few butternut and pumpkin pies and this is the one I decided to start with.  Although it’s the type of recipes that you will find during the fall season, I still had a butternut squash on  my counter top that was waiting for me to do something with it.  What fun with the winter squash is that you can keep them for a few months as long as you store them in a cool dry place.

Hope you’ll enjoy this recipe

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Ahhhh wonton wrappers… I am sincerely in deep deep love with my homemade wrappers.  I always have some in my freezer.

….Ok let me explain this first sentence without looking like a retard…lol

It’s just that, this dough is amazing!!  You can bake it, fry it, steam it, boil it and every ways it makes something delicious!  From pasta to chips, passing by spring rolls and pie cups, you can create so many goodies so this is why I’m in love with my homemade wonton wrappers.  Oh and let’s not forget that they are super healthy too!  Only a few calories by wrappers makes them a wise choice in a lot of recipes (no worries, I’ll be posting a few now that this recipe is live).

Nobody never really show me how to make wonton wrappers but after reading and searching online, it’s pretty much like I had special teachers showing me the recipe and technique that was going to change my kitchen forever.  If you’re not already making your own, just give it a try and see how amazing they are.  Don’t hesitate to make the taste test with the store bought version and you’ll see.  On my side, it was a revelation  Everything is always better when it’s homemade

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I’ve been approved to be a regular poster on the famous website HonestCooking.com a few months ago but never got around to post anything because of my busy schedule.  Recently they created a bot that goes in each of their columnist’s blog to grab some posts for their site and I’m glad my Cajun Roasted Almonds were the first recipe they grabbed.  I’m super proud to be able to contribute to such famous site as honest cooking and I’m looking forward to add more post and hopefully one day maybe do an interview for them?  Ok maybe I think too far already but everybody can dream right?