Zesty & Spicy

If you like food, we'll get along *^_^*

Bee pollen cupcakes with jam.

by Leave a Comment

The jam part of this recipe is quite simple.  I had mulberries in my freezer that I mixed with cane sugar and brought the mixture to a boil.  After a few minutes, the berries starts to fall apart and the jam appears.  Since they have a LOT of annoying little seeds, after blending the mixture even more (I used the trust worthy hand blender for that) I’ve strained it to remove them.  What’s left is more like a coulis than an actual jam but it doesn’t matter because it’s delicious.

You may use any other types of berries or fruits as long as they have a little tartness to them.  That little tartness will be balancing the sugar of the bee pollen which is the star of today’s recipe.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, more than ever before, I’m mostly buying local produces or at least as much as possible.  Intermiel was the first local company I happily gave my support to as they were so generous with me in the past and still always repost my instagram stories.  Beside being total sweethearts, I like knowing my money goes to passionate people which is exactly how this apiculture company started.

Today’s bee pollen cupcakes were my way to celebrate receiving my second online order from them and the recipe was created from another recipe for vanilla cupcakes made for a friend a few weeks ago.  If you remove the bee pollen of this recipe, they stand great on their own as well without being too sweet.  The original recipe was topped with diplomat cream which you can image is sweet enough.

On this have a wonderful day and hope you enjoy this recipe.

…

Read More »

Roasted carrots with sumac

by 2 Comments

Some nights where I don’t feel like cooking, roasted vegetable become my best friends.

Often, just on their own, they make an amazing lunch but paired with a soft boiled or poached egg, they become a dinner worthy dish.  Today’s recipe is for the sumac dressing which is super simple to make and taught me that old fashion mustard and sumac goes really well together.  Hope you enjoy this very lazy recipe for lazy quarantine days that never seem to end.

…

Read More »

Spring gardening in isolation

by Leave a Comment

This is something every bloggers didn’t expect writing… ever.

First gardening article post pandemic and obviously isolated at home, I’m looking forward on this upcoming gardening season with a bitter sweet taste.  Now more than ever, I’m extremely happy and grateful to be able to garden.  Playing in dirt and watching plants grow while collecting delicious produces to make recipes with will make this social distancing easier to cope with.

The sounds of the birds are getting louder and louder every day which announce the sweet beginning of Spring.  Most often then not, the balcony door is wide open.  Spring is a season I’m always looking forward to because it means that I’ll be gaining some extra square feet in my apartment, as half the jungle will most likely be moved outdoor.  Moving everyone around will also mean extra square feet to start new seeds for the fall, winter and year round jungle.  Overall it’s an exciting season for it’s new beginning.  It gives us a false sense of new and often gives me a boost to start implementing new habits…. like blogging more XD

So, after over a month of quarantine, I don’t know about you but, anxiety is rising a bit.  Luckily, not enough to render my will power to do things absolutely useless 100% of the time but high enough that some days I drink tea, watch the jungle growing and do something creative but nothing more.  Talking about this feels like I’m complaining for still having a job but that’s not it.  These times are weird for everyone and I often feel a weird feeling of obligation and failure realizing that I’m just aren’t as productive as I wished.

This is why making art has been a sanity saver and it’s making me jump from cooking to painting during the work week to balance the rush of emotions.

Lucky for this blog, it only means more content.

…

Read More »

Montreal’s style everything bagels

by Leave a Comment

I’ve been hoarding this recipe for a while in hope to publish it in a book instead of a blog but, one thing this quarantine has taught me is: there’s no better time than the present.  Plus, nothing stops me from publishing it later on, maybe with a few tweaks or technical adjustments.

So this is the perfect recipe if you have extra time on your hands (not looking at you stuck at home reading this) and, you miss the nice chew of a Montreal’s style bagel.  Personally, I miss walking up tp the Mile-end, on a warm, sunny, summer day, to go buy fresh bagels on St-Viateur and then just walk around the streets and soak in the sun.  At that point I’m already snacking on my purchase and the sound of the crunch from my teeth biting in to the lightly sweetened crust to is music to my ears.

Super easy to freeze, pretty much like bread.  This recipe makes 12 everything bagels and you’ll need a stand mixer.  If you’re not used to making bread, this might not be the best project to start with because you’re going to play with a VERY hydrated dough which makes it difficult to handle.  If you feel up for the challenge, make sure to keep your work space floured but not too much.  Both of you hands should be well floured at all time.

As you’re shaping your bagels, make sure to deflate the dough before shaping it.

BON APPÉTIT!

…

Read More »

Carrot cake with cream cheese butter cream

by Leave a Comment

My nephew’s first ever birthday cake. <3

Such an honour to have had the chance to make this for this little boy starting his life in quarantine. No worries, he’s good and well surrounded plus, he liked the cake and the frosting so it’s confirmed: he’s also pretty cool.

Cakes aren’t something I dare to make often, for obvious reasons.  Luckily this delicious experience turned out to be perfectly moist and, just as I hoped, with a strong flavour of cinnamon and a touch of sweet nutmeg.  You can manually grate the carrots for this but, my personal favorite will be to use the hand blender.  The icing is not fully solid, nor too drippy either so it’s easy to spread and won’t fall everywhere as it sits in the fridge for a few hours.  Without being too sweet, it’s a definitely noticed added sweetest that balances all the strong and subtle flavours of the cake which I hope you will enjoy.

Another important trick to remember is to FOLD the dry ingredients in to the wet ones.  As we want a crumbly texture in result, the goal is to avoid the flour having time to build too much gluten which would create a more elastic texture once baked.  Gluten development happens when we over mix the batter like when we make bread.  As when we want to make a batch of perfectly crumbly muffins, making cake isn’t much different.

Oh and guess what??  You make this beauty a good day in advance and keep it in the fridge overnight until you’re almost ready to serve.  For top notch results, leave it outside of the fridge for 30 minutes before serving.

…

Read More »

Brown rice salad with whey dressing

by Leave a Comment

A fun salad that you can eat warmed up or cold with a nice crunch and a sweet whey dressing.

Top it with a poached egg and make it a meal or enjoy it on it’s own or as a side.  Personally, the version with the poached egg is my favorite and with a few droplet of hot sauce it’s even better!

…

Read More »

Fresh cheese

by Leave a Comment

Cant find cream cheese or simply fresh cheese at the grocery?

No problem!  You’ll just make your own and feel how rewarding it feels to create from scratch such humble product.  Personally, cheese making has always been something that excited me but I sadly havent dabbled in the process that much.  This simple fresh, spreadable cheese is my second attempt at the process after making Lebneh which is also something you will want to try.  Hope you enjoy this.

…

Read More »

Sweet potato & red lentil soup

by Leave a Comment

Instant pots are awesome.  I havent been talking a lot about them just yet but let’s say that mine is being use quite often and helps me eat food that would only be possible with many hours of prep and cooking.  In about one hour, instead of six, I get a perfect meal.  This soup is like the soup you’ll throw in at the last minute but will make you look like you’ve actually done something amazing.

To add the swag to your simple soup, it’s all about the toppings.  I kept it simple, for this one, and topped the soup with the thinly sliced dried peppers that you often find on a juicy bowl of ramens and a few drops of sesame oil and sea salt flakes (Maldon) – to add a fun twist.

…

Read More »

Turkey stuffed cabbage leaves

by 2 Comments

Definitely in my top ten comfort food of all time.  My grand mother makes some incredible stuffed cabbage leaves but this isn’t her recipe.  This is the feel good recipe I made a few weeks ago when turkey is what was left at the grocery.  What started as fun experiment turned out to be amazing and I ate these bad boys in three days!

My initial goal was to freeze some but they didn’t make it to the freezer.  Looks like I’ll be making a new batch very soon.

I hope you get to try and like this recipe <3

…

Read More »