Zesty & Spicy

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

“Healthy” & Tasty Cheese Sticks!

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Coming from a cheese sticks fanatic (that’s gonna be Max), these are the good stuff.

I started craving cheesy straws when Max and I met about 8 years ago.  Growing up, it’s not something that was made by either my mom or grand mothers and I don’t think anybody in my family had/has a recipe to make them.  Which make today kind of “special” because I’m writing history!  This delicious, and fairly simple recipe is going to be archived forever and probably added to my future cookbook because it is just plain awesome and FAIL PROOF!  …..don’t we just love those fail proof recipes right?

Anyways, like I mentioned, I live with a cheese sticks addict.  So far gone in his addiction, that it took 5 batches of these babies to have enough left over the next day to take photos.  For a moment, I thought these would never make it on the site because we kept eating them the second they came out of the oven.  Luckily, last time, I was able to snap a few shot before they disappeared.

The inspiration for this recipe comes from my mother in law’s personal recipe collection and since it really has a special connotation for Max, I decided to involve him a little bit more in to the process as you’ll be able to judge by the photos.

 At least 100 different recipes later, we had it!  Crunchy and cheesy enough to pass the Max test and surprisingly “healthy” enough for me not to freak out every time I eat 4-5 back to back.

We hope you’ll enjoy this recipe, make sure you follow the quick 4 rules below and then add your own touch to make them even better.

Enjoy!

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Coconut Bacon

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We all love the taste of bacon but bacon doesn’t always love us…

Hopefully, there is a few “bacon like” alternatives that can help us quench our need for delicious bacon while respecting our diet!  Today, I’m presenting you a personal favourite: Coconut Bacon!  You can easily take this same recipe and use thin slices of almonds instead if you’re not a fan of coconut.  Take note that the end result might taste a slight different, there is something with the soft texture of the coconut flakes that really remind you of real bacon while almond bacon will keep a harder, crunchier texture.

Although, both version are delicious but….. my favourite is really coconut!

Enjoy this recipe!

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No Fuss Grilled Hummus & Tomato Toast

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Because it doesn’t have to be complicated to be delicious.  Here’s a simple recipe with easy to find, local ingredients that you can make at any time of the day!  Part of the #NoRecipe trend on twitter… it could easily be become a fun appetizer if cut in small pieces.

Enjoy!

No Fuss Grilled Hummus Toast
 
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Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Author:
Recipe type: Easy Breezy
Ingredients
  • Rye Bread Slice
  • Roasted Garlic Hummus
  • Fresh Tomatoes from the Garden
  • 6 years old Cheddar Cheese (or any other strong cheese)
  • Chopped Coriander for the garnish
Instructions
  1. - Toast the bread
  2. - Spread your hummus
  3. - Add the sliced tomatoes, cheese on top and grill for 1-2 minutes in the oven (on broil)
  4. - Sprinkle the freshly chopped coriander leaves
  5. watch out, it might be hot.... Bon Appetit!

Sausage & Shrimp Puff Pastry Rolls

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For days where you want a blast of flavor and don’t care about your diet…  For either a game day, a friendly gathering or really just because your heart wants it.  No need to start a guilt trip here, we all need a few days like this every months 😉

Serve these delicious puff pastry sausage and shrimps with Dijon mustard, regular mustard or ketchup depending on what you prefer!

Sausage & Shrimp Puff Pastry Rolls
 
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Ingredients
  • Puff pastry dough
  • For the Filling:
  • 9 raw shrimps, skin, vein and everything else removed
  • 8 roasted garlic cloves
  • ½ tightly packed cup of freshly chopped basil leaves
  • ¼ teaspoon of fish sauce
  • ½ teaspoon of cane sugar
  • 1 teaspoon of low sodium soy sauce
  • 6 tablespoon of VERY FINELY chopped carrots
  • 3 tablespoon of VERY FINELY chopped celery
  • ¼ teaspoon of ginger powder
  • Inside membrane of 2 small Mergez sausages**
  • For the Egg Wash:
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tablespoon of water
  • For the Garnish:
  • Sesame seeds
  • ** Make sure you take one that the inside is a "pulverized paste" without too many big chunks. The goal here is that this sausage stuffing will keep the filling together.
Instructions
  1. - Pre-heat your oven at 350. Line a parchment paper on a baking sheet.
  2. - Mix all the ingredients for your filling in a food processor and blend everything together till it becomes a nice and smooth paste. In another small bowl, prepare your egg wash by whisking the egg and water, reserve in the fridge till the end.
  3. - Roll your pastry dough (making sure it's always cold - never let your puff pastry get to room temperature - I usually work with a cold ice pack on the side) and make a few rectangles or squares of dough, the size you want.
  4. - Time to add your filling and roll your pastry, follow the graphic below for the easy technique.
  5. - Brush with your egg wash, sprinkle some sesame seeds on the top and bake at 350 for 45 minutes or till the crust is golden brown.
  6. Serve with any dipping sauce you want but I like mine with either ketchup of Dijon mustard!
  7. IMPORTANT NOTE - Since you can find a lot of different style of Mergez... If, during the cooking process, you find there is a lot of juices coming out of the pastry, you can move your rolls on the paper to make sure it doesn't boil in juice and make the dough saggy.

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Peaches & Blue Cheese Amuse Bouches

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Yoohoo it’s Friday!  What about a light recipe that is also easy, fast and delicious that could be the hit of tonight’s friendly gathering!   If you have peaches, blue cheese, walnuts and baguette laying around, you have everything you need to realize in 5 minutes these delicious amuse bouches!

…Now who’s getting the beer?

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Oven Baked, Almond Crusted Chicken Fingers

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Let’s jazz up those good old chicken fingers with this super crunchy almond and oats crust.  Use the same crust on a  full breast, slice it and it’s perfect for a salad!  I usually prepare a pot in advance and use the crust mix when I need it.  It’s like having my own pimped out shake and bake ready to use in my pantry.  If you want to make a big batch in advance and keep it for a long time, place your mix in the fridge and use it when you need it.

I’ve also had interesting result with fish fingers using this same mixture.

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Classic Potato Candy

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…and it’s that time of the year again! 🙂  For many of you around the world, the long week end of the St-Jean Baptiste might be something you never heard of but here is Quebec, it’s a national holiday and it’s this week end! yoohoo!  On June 24, everybody in the province of Quebec is going to take it easy and relax because they are going to be on vacation and hopefully remember why we celebrate this holiday.  What will most probably be the reason of this relaxing mood, will be because the day before, they partied like CRAZY and they are super hung over LOL … That’s probably what I’m gonna be doing anyways 😛

To celebrate this long week end and our national holiday, I thought a classic Quebec recipe was in order…  Now to be honest, I had problems choosing witch one I was going to share with you because there is a LOT of delicious and easy recipes that have been invented here (but again, I’m from Quebec so I’m sure everybody says the same thing from their roots).

…since it’s for a celebration, why not sharing a sweet candy recipe right?!  Plus Max had never tasted potato candy before and I thought it was the perfect occasion to make him taste this easy and decadent desert or snack.  If you have a sweet tooth, these are for you but watch out because the recipe I’m giving you is making 40+ candy!

The potato candy was first invented back at the beginning of the colonization in Quebec and like many other recipes of that era, they were made around 3 basic ingredients (potatoes, ground beef and carrots) because they were easy to found around that time.  Good thing our gran-gran-gran-gran mothers had a lot of imagination because during the holiday, most people were too pore to buy candies for their kids so instead, they tried to make some with what they had around the kitchen and this is how the potato candy was born.  Pretty sweet story right?

I remember my sister and I being so anxious while looking at my mom preparing these candy once in a while.  It really was a special treat that we didn’t see often so it made them so special.  Because of the insane amount of sugar content, it’s not something you want to be making every weeks but everybody needs a treat once in a while!

Hope you enjoy this classic Quebec recipe and don’t forget to visit the Quebec category on the side bar to check out other classic Quebec goodness 🙂  Bon appetit!

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Honey, Mustard Chicken Wings with Dijon/Lime dipping sauce

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I’ve been teasing my twitter and facebook followers for a while now about a new chicken wings recipe…  The worst thing is, I have shot these photos about month ago and wrote this recipe 2 months ago but you know how I roll… I get so busy and the culinary site suffer.  It’s not because I don’t want to come here (pretty much the opposite) but I don’t always have the time and since my business took off again (thanks god) I’ve been swamped (in a good way) and every day is busier than the one before.

There is also the fact that I wanted to post other recipes before this one but I haven’t been able to get around to take photos of the more healthiest meals I have made so today I said “fuck it”  I’m posting my wing recipe and I’ll just have to deal with it! lol  The reason why I wanted to post healthier recipes is because I’m currently on “model bootcamp diet” and I don’t allow myself the juicy and delicious wings like these ones or the spicy maple chicken wings I made earlier this year.

I’m planning a lot of shootings in the upcoming weeks and months so I have to watch what I eat a bit more.  Although I call it a “model bootcamp diet”, it’s not really a diet but more a new way of life/eating.  I don’t feel like I’m stopping myself from eating what I like (beside the obvious junk food) so that’s why I don’t feel like I’m on a diet.  Plus I wanted to show you that it’s not because you watch what you eat, that you will always feel like you’re starving yourself, then get frustrated because you cant eat what you would normally eat.  I’ll get to that, I have a lot of delicious and flavorful recipes that are on the healthy side and the next time I’ll be posting something here it will be in this category. (hopefully lol)

Till then, enjoy these delicious honey and mustard wings with the flavorful dipping sauce… Ohhh just looking at the photos I’m already drooling.. you?

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Pork and Shrimps Chinese Dumplings/Wontons

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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.

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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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