Zesty & Spicy

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

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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Uncontrollable cough an itchy throat? Here’s a few homemade remedies that might do the trick.

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The Cold & Flu fairy came to see me about a week ago and brought an amazing gift witch resulted in me being sick for the past week!  What started like just a little bug that I thought was going to last a day, ended up becoming an uncontrollable cough that wakes me up at night and bothers me in my daily routine.  I can even say that I started a resistance to the DayQuill and NyQuill because even when taking those meds, my dry and itchy throat is still there and there is not much I can do….

…or is there?

Taking a ton of medication is not my thing.  I will, if it’s absolutely necessary, but even taking an Advil or anything of the sort when I have a headache annoys me.  I’m all about simple and natural remedies but I do understand that real chemicals are sometimes required.  Although today, I’m gonna be your guinea pig and test out a few hopefully delicious homemade remedies.  I hope you’ll find this post entertaining, interesting and informative.

Remedy 1 – Honey, Lemon, Cinnamon and Cloves tea.

This is actually the first thing that worked the best for my dry cough around the forth and fifth day of sickness.  I always keep a cup close to me and drink it when I need it.  The benefit effects of honey, cinnamon, cloves and lemon for the flu symptoms have been proven many times, so obviously this has to work.  You can buy a “all prepared” version at the pharmacy but personally, I find they always taste weird so instead I created my own.  Here’s my recipe… in a big tall cup I add:

2 big cloves

1 tablespoon of non pasteurized honey

1 stick of cinnamon, slightly scratch with a knife or a fork

1 tablespoon of lemon juice (not from concentrate)

2 cups of hot water hot water

Remedy 2 – My homemade Spiced tea blend.

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For the past few weeks, this homemade blend has replaced my daily soy latte chai tea.   It’s DELICIOUS and i’m addicted to it…  In bonus, it help relieve some symptoms of the cold and flu!   In the early days of my sickness, this was my saver…  Just make sure to add a bit of honey in your cup to help bring out all the delicious and spicy flavors while suiting your throat.

1 tablespoon of rooibos tea

1/2 teaspoon of Schezuan peppercorns, coarsely crushed

1 teaspoon of black peppercorns, coarsely crushed

1 teaspoon of whole cloves, coarsely crushed

2 cinnamon sticks, coarsely crushed

1 teaspoon of dried sprearmint leaves

1/2 teaspoon of whole green cardamom pods, coarsely crushed

1 teaspoon of chamomile flowers

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Homemade Cajun Spice Blend

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Creating my own spice blends have been such an adventure up to date and I’m proud to say that I found some pretty fun mixes that I think you guys might enjoy.  Let me know what you think about this festive Cajun spice blend!  Why am I calling it festive? well only because I added a touch of cinnamon in it.. Don’t be scared, it’s true that it’s something that we don’t usually find in cajun blends but just try it out as a dry rub on fish, seafood, chicken or even meat!  Oh and it’s also great for many type of sauces! Enjoy!

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Mini Pumpkin & Spices Cupcakes

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Can I really post too many pumpkin recipes? I don’t think so.  After passing over all the homemade pumpkin puree and a couple of cans of pumpkin puree, I still have a bit left in my fridge and a ton of fun ideas of what I could do with it.  Two weeks ago, somebody asked me on twitter if I had a good recipe for some easy and fast pumpkin cupcakes so here it is!  I brought these little bites to a party I went to on Saturday and they were a hit!  Hope you like them to 🙂

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Apple Crumble Pie

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I wish I had the time to go pick up apples myself in the trees but I don’t… instead, I’m doing like a ton of city people and I bought them at the grocery store.  Next year, I will make the time to go outside the city and go pick them up myself to them prepare a ton of tasty goodies for this blog but this year I have to make sacrifices to work on my online business full time with barely any time to play.  Boohoo so sad 🙁

I was stressed out yesterday before making this.  Not for any particular reason but I guess I was just working too much and because of my overdose of productivity I started getting all annoyed and stressed out so I decided to step away from my computer for an hour to be creative in my kitchen.  Removing the skin of the fresh apples, touching the flour and smelling the aroma of cardamon and cinnamon was exactly what I needed because right after making this apple crumble pie, I felt amazing and accomplished.  Then the day went by, I had to go to my yoga class and the second I came back, the only idea I had in mind was to try my crumble.  It was orgasmic!  I sincerely hope you get around to try out this recipe because it’s worth it 🙂  I used Spartan apples because they were the only fresh one at my grocery store but feel free to use the one you prefer.  I honestly prefer a more sour tasting apple so that was perfect for me.  I’m even thinking on trying out this recipe with green apples this winter.  If you do it before me, let me know how that turned out!

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Soft and Chewy Pumpkin & Oatmeal cookies!

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I’m on a pumpkin rampage, I bought some fresh pumpkins to make my own puree and some canned just because sometimes I can be lazy. My goal is to make as many recipes pumpkin flavored as possible. These cookies are amazing… I had to make 3 different batches before being able to take some photos because everybody just kept eating them before I had the time to take a single picture. If you like soft and chewy cookies that dip in milk perfectly, these are going to be your new favorite ones to celebrate pumpkin season.

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Pumpkin Fudge

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Ahhh fudge…  it’s something sooo tasty but you don’t want to make it too often because you will gain an extreme amount of weight…  You can do like me and make a nice batch and give it all away to others will gain the weight hehe #evill 😛

If you never made fudge before (it was my first experience) the only details you need to remember is that it NEED to get to the right temperature during the boiling process and it takes more than a few hours to be the right texture.  When I first tried to make it, after 5-6 hours looking at it (no kidding), it still had a very gooey texture more like a spread and I thought that I ruined it but only the next day that I realized that it was actually perfect.  I just had to be more patient.. Witch I’m not really… I have to work on that lol

I hope you will enjoy this tasty fall sugar treat with your loved ones 🙂  I love pumpkin season 🙂

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Mini Banana & Walnuts Breads

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It’s the end of August already and once we start September, we can officially said that fall is coming up and then the cold and dark season of winter.. boohooo….  But no need to get all depressive YET because the season of fall bring us a TON of tasty goodies and between you and me, it’s my favorite season.

To celebrate the end of the summer and the beginning of fall, I decided to be make 3 mini loaf of  delicious banana bread with 2 of my favorite spices; cinnamon and nutmeg.  I don’t know about you but I like to eat my bread warm with a bit of butter… I know it’s not the healthiest way but it’s so worth it!!  Hope you enjoy this recipe and happy baking!

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The amazing date cookies…

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I’m calling those the amazing dates cookies because they are literally amazing.  I found the recipe in a “Quebec classic recipes” book and I tweaked it to make them perfect for my own taste.  Max who doesn’t like dates BEG me to make them when I buy dates at the grocery.  They are soft, sweet and healthier than some other cookies you buy or make 🙂  It’s a MUST try!

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