Plu-enty of Posts

Sorry again about the delay in posts! This time it wasn't a lack of time or even lack of ingredients, but a lack of computer. Apparently, my laptop doesn't like it when my cat's fat, fluffy butt pushes ALL OF THE KEYS and tells it to do ALL OF THE FUNCTIONS. Also, it's pretty geriatric in computer years.

So for your patience, I give you two (TWO!) posts!

Ah-Ah-Ah!

#1) Plu-enty of PLUOTS!

Pluots, (or plumcots, apriplums or apriums) are the delicious love child of a plum and an apricot. . Actually, the fruit is a space love child of SCIENCE! Pluots (or plumcots...) were smushed together in a lab in the 1980's by a California botanist named Floyd Zaiger. It took many years of trial and error before the very delicate breeding process was realized the create this tasty science baby. Pluots have many names, and name will change depending on which fruit is the parent, and whether the child shows more plum-ish or apricot-y traits. I think my favourite names though is 'Dinosaur egg', as the mottled skin and bright pink center looks a lost world-y.

That doesn't look like an egg at all...

I decided to test out this tasty... thing... by preparing it as a DANISH. *om nom danish*

You can find the recipe I used here.

And as an extra special treat, I took pictures! With my phone! Phone pictures!

Here there are looking all delicious in a bowl.



...and here they are looking all delicious as DANISH!


The recipe recommends wating it for dessert or breakfast. I ate it mostly for breakfast. On a side note, I highly recommend you wait until it's completely cooled before nomming it, as the warm creamy cheese burned the roof of my mouth profusely.

I also ended up having WAY more pluoty filling than pastry, so I decided to get creative. I present, pluots... THE GLUTEN FREE REMIX! *wikki wah!*

1. Mix leftover pluot filling with blueberries from that container you found at the back of the crisper (yep, a little swishy but still good!)

2. Place mixture in an oven safe bowl (or go all communist and divide amoung many oven safe bowls. Ramekins even.)

3. Top the filling with sliced almonds tossed with a little butter and maple syrup. Dust with cinnamon. Feel free to get REALLY crazy and also crumble some brown sugar on that, but the filling is pretty sweet as it is.

4. Bake in the oven until the filling sets and the almonds are nice and toasty. (15-20 min-ish)

5. VOILA! Mini Pluot blueberry... almond..maple..cuppy thingys! IT'S FACE TASTY.



Post #2 is coming right up, so wait on baited breath!

A Kale of Two Cities (and by cities I mean jobs)

So by "week" last time I apparently meant "month". Apologies for the delay in posting, but I just started a new day job while still working 3 days a week at the old one. And for some reason the day job doesn't want to pay me to write blog posts when it's slow. (not that it has been as of late. Yay filing...) And after working 8 hours at the day job and 7 at the night one, the only thing on my mind is surprisingly enough not 'Food blog!'

Anyhoo, tally ho and on to today's new thing.

(image source)**

Kale. It's green. It's leafy. And apparently the best thing you can eat on the the whole planet. Kale or borecole (who the hell calls it borecole?!) is a member of the cabbage family and is closely related to brocolli, cauliflower and collard greens. It's apparently high in beta-carotene, vitamins K and C and has anti-cancer properties because of it's high levels of sulforaphane. According to wikipedia (a very trusted and highly reliable information source) sulforaphane inhibits something that cancer does that's bad. The wiki page has all the scientifics of it, and if anyone reads this blog and is relatively science-y, I'd love to have you explain it to me in English.

After much perusing of the interwebs, I decided on Kale chips to test this leafy super food. I did two batches each with different flavours to see if I could fully appreciate the versatility of it's kale-y goodness. The first batch I sprinkled with curry powder. Interesting, but I think I cooked them for too long and the curry was a bit over powering. The second batch I did with cajun spice. DEEEE-LISH. I think the kale needs something with a little kick to balance out all of the greeny goodness it gives. The chips are also really light, so you can eat a whole bowl and only feel energized instead of quietly weeping while your hands slowly stain the couch sweet chili heat orange.

On a side note, if there's something you want me to review/cook or you just want to add something or just generically troll, please comment! I'd love to hear from my dedicated readers! (all 2 of you!)


**another note: the picture I got was from a blog called WTF Foods. Hilarious and informative! Like my blog, only better written. :P

That Sounds Radicch-u-lous!

Yay updating!

I went to the taste of Edmonton this week with my mom for the first time and I'll admit I was quite impressed. though thrying to get through the throngs of people was a bit of a pain, the food was sooo good. Our plan was to go out for wine and desserts, but as we stood outside of the wine tent we realized I didn't bring my ID. *face palm* So we went into the Alberta art Gallery instead and enjoyed some tasty tasty flan from El Ranchero and took a stroll through the Andy Warhol exhibit as it rained thunder and lighting from the heavens.

the thing i like about the Taste of Edmonton is that it gives people who normally wouldn't be able to afford the food from a lot of upscale restaurants in the city to get a sample of their delights without breaking the bank. It also exposes the greater Edmonton population to a lot of the amazing local places that you may never had heard of. And I'm a big fan of local. If you want to learn more about the Taste of Edmonton Festival, click here. And if you want to learn more about local businesses, restaurants, and food producers, click here at the Live Local website.

Now that that's out of the way... Review time!
This Week: Radicchio! This Italian veggie looks a lot like a little burgundy cabbage but it's actually a type of chicory (that addictive stuff they sometimes put in coffee to make it super bitter). It's known for its bitter taste that mellows out when cooked.

(image source)

I decided to grill the radicchio because it seemed like a fairly common recipe and sounded like it would be pretty tasty. I live in a tiny apartment with no barbeque, so stove top grill it is! It ended up getting these sexy char marks on it and then I tossed it in some balsamic vinegar, with salt pepper and a little dijon mustard.

Result: It was tasty, but the bitterness kind of socks you in the face like a bag of hammers. Red wine chaser did improve this though.

Next time I think I'll cook it a little longer and mix it with some regular purple cabbage and maybe some roasted nuts just to cut the flavour a bit.

That's all for this week, but I may post again this week with something green and leafy. Verrry leafy.

Round Three! *ding ding!*

Okay, One more time!

So even after all this time, I still want this whole 'blogging' thing to happen. See attempt number three. One more make over, but I think this time it's going to stick.

I've recently decided to become a (mostly) vegetarian. This is also known as a 'flexitarian' but that word annoys me for some obscure reason. Basically, I will eat vegetarian meals for the most part, except when I can find locally sourced, free range meat. I just feel like there is a cornucopia of beautifully coloured recipes that lack meat that I'm missing out on. Plus, the extra fruits and veggies will be good for me ^_^

That being said, I've decided a regular feature will be to pick a new veggie/fruit/nut/food type item that I have never cooked with before and create a delicious meal. It will give me an excuse to get to know some new foods, practice my writing skills, and expose some of my friends and family to some amazing new food websites and recipes.

So, off we go!

A couple weeks ago I was at the Downtown farmer's market and bought a bunch of Swiss Chard. It was bright, it was green and it stared at me with leafy intensity, being all "what you gonna do about it, white girl?" and I was all like "challenge accepted mothaf--!"

But then I got home. I tucked the chard into my crisper and went "now what?". The next step was obvious.

TO THE INTERNETS!

After a lengthy peruse through tastespotting (the most amazing conglomeration of food blog recipes EVAR) I found this lovely number: Greek Swiss Chard Pie
Though a bit time consuming to prepare, what with all the layers of phyllo dough, it was actually really easy to make, and super healthy. A lot of spanakopita recipes call for so much cheese and butter my dairy sensitive intestines cringe at the first three ingredients. This one however replaces the butter with olive oil and uses significantly less feta than other versions. The swiss chard held up really well to the whole blanching/baking process and the pastry cooked up really nicely. Oh, and it was F*CKING DELICIOUS! I could have eaten the whole 10" pie myself.

Things I might try next time though:
- adding lemon zest to the egg/chard filling. I think it will give it some extra zing. Also, more pepper.
- baking the pie in muffin tins instead of a pie plate. I think you'll get a better filling-to-pastry ratio, and it will make it super easy for freezing/sharing. I have a theory that you could also do mini muffin tins and have them be appetizers. Soo cute!

I'll post something here again next week, so please check back! I'll give you a hint: it's radicchio.

A New (New!) Beginning! With A Recipe!

So here's the deal:

I was all gung-ho about being the next great food blogger, and then, like so many other hobbies and such, I fell off the band wagon. I know, sad right? So here I go, attempting to revive this sham of a blog into something wonderful and fulfilling. I have a feeling it will mostly be about food and crafts, but I'm willing to let myself be surprised. So onward, ho! (heh, ho.)

Now that THAT's out of the way, a post!

I've been trying to eat a lot healthier lately in the looming shadow that is my best friend's wedding (which I'm standing in). However, as a SWF in a polyamorous but oh-so loving relationship, it's often difficult to cook for one on short notice, especially when I work such odd, service industry hours. So today, I give to you a healthy meal I thought up all by myself! It works great if you only have a half hour to both prepare and eat dinner. Feeds 2, but I like to just split the recipe in half and eat it a couple days later. So, here goes.

Pesto Shrimp Veggie Pasta

1 c. whole wheat spaghetti
1 handful of 12-16 per lb cooked, frozen shrimp (I get mine at costco for SUPER cheap.)
1 pkg Green Giant Simply Steam in your choice of flavour (I used the anti-oxident blend for this recipe) -->
1 tbsp pesto



1. Set a pot of salted water on the stove to boil. Place spaghetti in pot once boiling and cook to desired al dente-ness.

2. While pasta is cooking, place the shrimp in a colander and run warm water over the shrimp until thawed. Throw the Steamer pack in the microwave and cook according to package instructions.

3. Throw the thawed shrimp and steamed veg into a bowl and mix together. Place a pot lid over the bowl to retain the heat.

4. Drain the pasta and place back in the pot. Add the pesto and mix thoroughly.

5. OM NOM YAY.