Zesty & Spicy

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

Mango & Persimmon Smoothie

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I bought a pack of rock hard fuyu persimmons, a few days ago, thinking it would take at least a month before they start to softened.  Surprisingly enough, they only took a few days leaving me with 10 ripen juicy and custardy persimmons to bake with.  One of Max favourite way to start the day is with a fresh smoothie that is both sweet and filling so here we go!

The mango really balance the extreme sweetness of the persimmon while adding a little “zing” to it.  The softened oats are there to add a silky texture and give you enough consistence to make it a perfectly filling way to start your day.

Hope you get to try it *^_^*

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Vegetable soup with ginger & lemongrass

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The inspiration comes from a vegetable soup my grand mother used to make.  She used to cut all the vegetables in super small pieces and I always enjoyed the aesthetic of her presentation.  You could probably chop everything finely by hand but, if you’re in the lazy club (like me), a hand blender or a food processor work wonders.

This recipe isn’t the soup she used to make but, I would like to think it is as good or at least pretty close.

 Delicate, slightly sweet and made with our homemade vegetable broth.  The fennel leaves used as garnish but also as a component in the soup really shine with the star anise in the broth.  The ginger giving it a nice kick and the lemongrass as the last taste hitting your palate.  When it comes time to buy fennel, I always try to get the complete plant with the long rods and a lot of bright green leaves.  Back home, I’ll cut it up in “parts” and keep the leaves in a separate container to use them like any other fresh herbs.  Next time, I’ll probably add a little extra lemongrass because the taste could have been more pungent and, I would encourage you to do the same if you’re a big fan of lemongrass.

Makes three big portions or four smaller ones. Bon appétit!

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Sourdough maple sticky buns

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If you’re nursing a sourdough starter, there’s always this one day where you have too much of it and, before feeding it, you have to discard some.  Since I don’t like thinking I’ve been “wasting” all this precious flour and water, this recipe is a delicious way to use your discarded starter.

There’s only one word to describe these… AMAZEBALLS.  They are drenched in maple and brown sugar and the bread texture is soft and elastic.  I really hope you’ll get a chance to try this recipe because it’s absolutely delicious and really easy to do.

Definitely one of those sweet treat worth cheating on your diet.

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Vegetable Broth

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I keep a lot of food scraps in my freezer.

Most of them are vegetables, fresh herbs and egg shells because there’s so much you can do with those and it’s almost a blasphemy to throw them out when you spent your hard earned money buying them.  It also goes with my “no waste” and “everything should be make from scratch” mentality because it’s very rewarding to create basic staple foods instead of buying them at the grocery.  This vegetable broth is a great example of “food recycling” and I really hope you’ll get the chance to try it and make it your own.

Plus, who doesn’t like to know that every pennies spent on veggies will go that much further and you’ll end up having a delicious and personalized broth ready to use in your future creations.

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Goat Milk Crèmes Brûlées

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That is one “kick booty” recipe for crèmes brûlées and the 2% goat milk not only make it healthier than the version made with full fat cream, it enhance the tasting experience because goat milk and sugar is just an incredible combination.  I really hope you get to try it for Valentine day as it’s super easy to do and look super fancy.

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Egg Parmesan “Pasta” Breakfast

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I felt a little wild after watching all those cooking shows on Netflix and this is where this dish comes from.  You often see big chefs trying to re-invent dishes in order to enhance their guest’s experience through confusion and technique so my mind went… why not making a breakfast that looks like dinner!?

….right?? 🙃 Why not.

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Wild Rice, Black Olives & Sun Dried Tomato Salad

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Simple salad made with whole ingredients for lunch today because simple is often best.  For as long as I can remember, I’ve always been a fan of wild rice and guess what??!!  It’s super healthy for you!

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Sweet Sesame, Potato & Chickpea Curry on Black Japanese Rice

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This is clearly not a traditional curry but it is inspired from what I know about the culture.

 The idea started from the seasoning attached to this recipe.  Pre-made spice blends save my life when I’m uninspired after a long day working and, this seasoning was inspired from the episode of Chef’s Table (…on netflix, you HAVE to watch it) where they featured the progressive restaurant Gaggan in Bankok.  The way Gaggan Anand described the perfect flavour balance of his dish made my head spin and this is what I was able to come up with.  Some red chili powder would be interesting  to give it a spicier twist but, I sadly didn’t have any on hands.  Instead, I choose to top the curry with a little bit of Kochukaru (Korean red pepper flakes, used in kimchi) and it gave it the little spiciness I didn’t add in the seasoning.

I hope you’ll enjoy this potato & chickpea curry recipe and new spice blend attached to it.  Make sure to have a small container for the remaining seasoning because you’ll have extra to be creative with.

 Happy Cooking!  *^_^*

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Honey Kiss Melon Smoothie

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HoneyKissMelonSmoothie02Came across this Honey Kiss melon at the grocery and the perfect description of the taste peaked my curiosity.  Indeed, the taste is very sweet and “honey like” while staying crisp and juicy through his shelf life.

I wish to find organic (if it’s even possible) Honey Kiss melons in the future but till then, I’ll try to find some organic Chinese Hami melons from which this new hybrid comes from and replace one for one in this recipe.  If you want a more “slush like” drink, remove 1/2 cup of pear juice and fill up with 1 cup of ice.  If you want a little heavier breakfast texture, add an extra 1/3 cup of cooked oats!

Bon appétit!

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