Turkey Meatballs

I know, it seems a bit silly to be posting a turkey recipe after Canadian Thanksgiving, doesn’t it? My apologies to my fellow Canucks; this year I spent Thanksgiving itself at work (blame Australia!), and the lead-up to Thanksgiving in Fiji (blame no one, it was awesome). And, our recent celebration of Christmas in July has left me rather satiated on the big roast dinner thing. I never thought I would pass up the opportunity to gobble down stuffing and pumpkin pie, but I guess it was bound to happen one day.

Anyway! In hopes that some of you Americans will find this a lovely alternative to a roast turkey dinner at your Thanksgiving, and knowing that you Aussies don’t care anyway, here’s a delicious turkey meatball recipe for you to enjoy. It’s pretty easy to make and ever-so-tasty, plus, turkey mince tends to be cheaper on average than even chicken or beef mince. The recipe for homemade cranberry sauce is following shortly.

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Edited: October 28th, 2011

Cheesy Cauliflower Soup

Ah the life of a food blogger. I must have taken three different sets of photos for this soup, to finally settle on this photo which needed more than a little Photoshopping (and yes, that’s a recognized verb in my browser) in the end. It looks okay… yet somehow I feel like I’m in a photography slump lately, and perhaps that’s the reason for the infrequent postings this last month or so. Work has been quiet and I’ve had more than enough daylight to take those lovely window-lit photos mid-afternoon that other food bloggers rave about… and yet I look at my plating and composition and feel thoroughly unsatisfied. Argh!

Some exciting news however is that I found a great eBay deal on a Canon Speedlite 430ex external flash for my lil’ Rebel—and while it has not revolutionized my photography literally overnight, sigh—I do look forward to having a bit more flexibility in the kitchen. There’s a lot to learn and I’m looking forward to it!

Anyway, this cheesy cauliflower soup is a Jamie Oliver-inspired dish from his Ministry of Food cookbook. It’s a brilliant thing! The average foodie might pick it up and see all the basic recipes and go, “What do I need this for?” but it’s just darn useful. A few of my favourite recipes have come from it—check out my basic steamed rice, meatballs, and carrot feta salad, all of which were inspired by Ministry of Food.

The bragging rights for this soup are a bit special for me. Our roommate Tom—a chronic carnivore and unfoodie—isn’t a fan of soups and is only borderline on stews. The poor boy has been at home the last couple weeks sick with mono—with a slight silver lining being that his throat has swollen so that he can eat nothing but soup! It’s hardly a pleasing situation, but at least I had an excuse to perfect some recipes.

Upon serving up a dish of this soup, he immediately turned to me and went, “This is bloody good!” …so there you go. A soup to please even the most discerning of soup skeptics. Enjoy! (more…)

Edited: August 7th, 2011

Beautiful Roast Rosemary Chicken

We’re deep into Australian “winter” right now, which means time for plenty of baking, roasting, and Christmas in July celebrations (which we’re celebrating this weekend—I’m already making cookies!). But, this recipe would be great year-round with some gorgeous fresh veggies and herbs, should you have a rainy weekend and a desire for a quick roast.

Originally this was a Donna Hay “Fast 50″ recipe, but I’ve altered it rather beyond recognition. What makes this dish lovely is using chicken thighs still on the bone (also a somewhat cheaper option at the butcher), plenty of rosemary, and a liberal smattering of smoked paprika. You could use any woody herb here; sage or thyme both work great with chicken, or you could use a combination.

I’m also pleased to announce that my kitchen just gained a slow cooker—so you can look forward to a few more recipes that take so little effort!

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Edited: July 13th, 2011

Traditional Tourtière & All Butter Pastry

Ahh, this thing was a masterpiece! I was inspired to make tourtière (pronounced tort-ee-AIR) for the first time this year in honour of Canada Day. My family on my paternal grandmother’s side is French Canadian, having arrived in Quebec in the 1690s. French Canadian cooking is the ultimate comfort food, I think—Quebec winters are bloody cold and it seems that even summer doesn’t last very long. Traditional dishes like split pea soup, maple syrup pie, tourtière, sugar pie, butter tarts, and all manner of other pastries and stick-to-your-bones baked goods and meats are actually pretty easy to cook, and I have plans on attempting a few other newer French Canadian treats too—croissants and bagels. Mm.

At its heart though, tourtière is a simple mince meat (usually pork) pie with some unique spicing; cinnamon and cloves. I grew up thinking this combination was absolutely normal, since that’s how dad always made hamburgers—turns out it’s a throwback to his Montreal upbringing.

The Australians to whom I served this thought it was fantastic, so I guess it goes to show that a delicious meat pie is going to be appreciated in any culture.

Also take note that I’ve used a new recipe for pastry—an all-butter one from Smitten Kitchen. I do quite love my basic pastry recipe, but it requires a few more ingredients and requires a careful hand. This all-butter pastry is very quick, ever-so-flaky, and hard to screw up! (And got compliments from boys who could care less about these things. Just sayin’.)

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Edited: July 10th, 2011