Transatlantic Tastes: Stuffed Bell Peppers

Transatlantic Tastes is back for another year and we're starting 2013 off right, with a deliciously healthy recipe for stuffed bell peppers! When N and I talked about which recipe we wanted to try for our first cooking session of the year, she came across the following tasty dish on Skinny Taste: Santa Fe Turkey Stuffed Peppers. Filled with lots of healthy ingredients like ground turkey, corn, tomato and onion, these peppers turned out to be quite the substantial meal.


The ingredient list was fairly simple enough, but as usual, I made a few changes. I didn't include the black beans (I'm not a huge fan of beans unless they're swimming in tomato sauce and slathered on toast) and I couldn't find pickled hot serrano peppers so I used fresh. (I expect it would've tasted pretty much the same though, pickled or fresh.) Regardless of the changes, however, the peppers were really, really good, and really, really filling.


The only real seasonings used in this recipe were cumin, garlic and cilantro, plus a little salt and pepper. Even so, it was very flavourful. Next time I try these peppers, I might season them with a bit of taco seasoning mix, to try a different flavour.

Once the filling was all fried up and the peppers were stuffed, I popped them in the oven in a baking dish with a little water at the bottom to prevent them from burning on the bottom.



About 10 minutes before they were done, I pulled them out and sprinkled some old cheddar and mozzarella cheese on top, and stuck them back in the oven under the broiler. The result? Delicious cheesey goodness.



My cooking partner's peppers were a success as well, and when we both ate a pepper each, we were stuffed! If you're looking for a delicious, healthy, relatively easy recipe, something different from the norm, then I suggest you try these peppers - you won't be disappointed!

2012: The Year in Review

It's that time of year again - the ol' Year in Review. Time to take a look at the past 12 months and all the good (and maybe not so good) things that happened in my life.

My first impression of 2012 was that it wasn't exactly what I'd hoped it would be; but then, things rarely go the way you hope or plan them to. So while I first thought of 2012 as kind of disappointing, reflecting on the past 366 days (it was a leap year, remember?) has shown me that there was a lot of good in the year, and I have much to be thankful for. Let's take a look, shall we?

- Beginning a transatlantic cooking adventure with a best friend living across the pond that has taught us a number of new recipes and to be thankful for ever-evolving forms of communication that keeps us connected while living on opposite sides of the world.

- Celebrating my Champagne Birthday in my former home, Toronto. A weekend filled with my favourite things in one of my favourite places!




- Having laser surgery and saying goodbye to glasses for good! Our 17 year relationship finally came to an end, and I am thankful every day for my perfect vision.

- Taking off to the Sunshine State for a week in April with my family, our first family vacation in about 12 years!

- Going to Montreal with three of my best friends for a wild bachelorette weekend in July! It was time well spent for the four of us, who hadn't been all together since the previous Christmas.

- Getting to be a bridesmaid in one of my best friend's weddings, and being a part of her special day when she married her very best friend.




- Undertaking a blogging challenge in the month of November that tested my blogging skills and my patience!





- Enjoying the most relaxing Christmas I've had in years with family and friends, better than any gift that could be bought from a store.




I remember this time last year, I was really excited for 2011 to be over and for 2012 to begin, because I had a lot of plans for this year. I'd said I wanted to make my champagne birthday the most memorable of all, and I couldn't have asked for a better birthday than doing exactly what I'd wanted to do - spend it in Toronto doing all my favourite things. My trip to Florida with my family was a fantastic week filled with shopping, sunning and quality family time.

The bachelorette weekend in Montreal was definitely one of the more memorable experiences myself and the girls have had in our friendship, but the icing on the cake was definitely standing in A's wedding. Moments before we walked down the aisle, the four of us stood in a circle and marveled at how far we've come over the past seven years, and how much has changed for the better in our lives. It was a magical day and I'm so thankful I was part of it.

So, I guess when I think about all these lovely thing that happened this past year, I can say that while it didn't exactly happen the way I'd planned, 2012 still held wonderful things for me. It was a really good year, but I have a sneaky feeling 2013 holds something even better.

Last year, I shared my favourite Mark Twain quote: "Twenty years from now, you'll be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did. So sail away from the safe harbour. Explore. Dream. Discover." And while those words are ones I try to live by every day, this year, I have a new quote that I'm going to live by, and it's one you may have already seen around the internet. It's called The Holstee Manifesto, and it's pictured below.

This is my life. I'm planning to live it as best I can and to the fullest extent. Happy New Year! Here's to 2013: My Break Out Year!

Transatlantic Tastes - Homemade Tomato Soup and Deconstructed Grilled Cheese

N and I were Skyping a few weeks ago and decided we needed to get cooking again. Transatlantic Tastes has been on hiatus for too long and we missed it! So, last weekend, we "got together" (via good ol' Skype) to whip up a delicious meal.

As it's now autumn and the leaves are changing and the weather's growing cooler, there's nothing like a delicious bowl of soup to warm you right up. That's why, when we were trying to pick our next recipe to try, I thought we should do something completely different from what we've done in the past: soup.

There are lots of different kinds of soup, but I picked one that is a personal favourite of mine: good ol' classic tomato. Jamie says this recipe is really simple, and he's not kidding - it's so simple. With an ingredient list that's comprised of all foods that you'd most likely already have in your fridge or pantry, whipping up a pot of this scrumptious soup can make anyone feel like an accomplished chef.

Along with the soup, I decided to make a grilled cheese sandwich, because nothing goes better with tomato soup than grilled cheese. Though again, I didn't want to do the traditional grilled cheese with the two slices of manufactured white bread and the processed cheese slice. Instead, I bought some freshly baked Italian style ciabatta bread and some fancy aged cheddar cheese and broiled it in the oven. The result was amazingly tasty!

This soup was so good, I invited my parents and brother over for dinner the next day to enjoy it, and they cleaned the pot out! And I loved making it so much, I made it again later in the week with the rest of ingredients I had in the fridge, and it was even better the second time. I've now divided it up into separate containers and this delicious meal will be great to take with me to work over the next couple of weeks.



Seriously, do yourself a favour and go make this soup. You'll impress yourself and any of your culinary critics. And let me know how it turns out!

Transatlantic Tastes - Crunchy Garlic Chicken

Before Transatlantic Tastes went on hiatus, we actually prepared a recipe that I hadn't blogged about. To be honest, I forgot about it, because my camera died right before our cooking session, and I couldn't take any pictures. But then, as luck would have it, I remembered that I'd snapped a few with the camera on my phone! 

So, here, after a few lost months, is another session of Transatlantic Tastes! Our recipe for the week: Crunchy Garlic Chicken.

I'd actually made this recipe before N and I started Transatlantic Tastes and it's been delicious every time. It's a bit time consuming, but the ingredients are pretty basic and the results are pretty tasty.   

                                       

The ingredients included:

- 1 clove of garlic

- 1 lemon

- 6 saltine crackers (I used Jacob's Cream Crackers)

- 2 tablespoons of butter

- 4 sprigs of fresh Italian parsley (I didn't have any fresh parsley, but I did have some freeze-dried Litehouse Parsley, which worked just as well!)

- sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

- 2 heaped tablespoons all-purpose flour

- 1 large egg

- 2 skinless chicken breast fillets

- olive oil

It did take some assembly, but once I got going, I got into a rhythm of flour, egg yolk, crust, and didn't mix up my hands...too much. They were still pretty coated in everything by the end of it though. Oh well - it's hard to cook something like this and not get your hands a bit messy.

Fingers crossed I've timed each side correctly...

The end result was, as I said before, delicious. And what I really like about it is that you can use full chicken breasts like I did below, or you can also cut up your chicken and make chicken nuggets, which, growing up (alright, fine, and still today) were my favourite food. 

Jamie explains this recipe step by step in his book and keeps everything simple as usual. If you're looking for a delicious chicken dish, why not give this one a try, and pair it with a simple salad?

Looking pretty good!

Until next time, happy cooking!

The Return of Transatlantic Tastes!

Transatlantic Tastes has been on hiatus for a few months due to life getting busy for myself and my cooking partner, but a couple of Sundays ago, we managed to set aside a few hours to try a new dish and catch up on all our news. Our chosen recipe? "Parmesan Chicken Breasts with Crispy Posh Ham". 

This is a recipe that I've wanted to try for a long time, (like, for a couple of years long time) but for some reason, I just never did. To start up our cooking sessions again, I thought this would be a great dish to get us going!

If you've ever seen Jamie Oliver's Ministry of Food television series on the Food Network, this dish is one that Jamie cooks for a group of men who have never cooked before in their lives, and I figure if they could do it, so can I. Sure, I didn't have Jamie Oliver standing next to me, giving me a demonstration before I started, but I figured N and I would do just fine.

The list of ingredients were pretty easy - some I had in my pantry already, others I had to make a trip to the grocery store for. I don't usually have things like fresh thyme or prosciutto on hand regularly. The ingredients included:

• 2 sprigs of fresh thyme
• 2 small skinless chicken breast fillets
• freshly ground black pepper
• 1 lemon
• 4 slices of prosciutto
• olive oil

Recipe? Check!

The ingredients all ready to go!

Chicken breast sprinkled with fresh thyme, freshly ground pepper and lemon zest

Let's see how this turns out...

Not the prettiest presentation, but it sure tasted good! N gives the thumbs up!

This was a fairly easy recipe to make, and it really was a delicious meal. The next time I try it, I'll be sure to flatten the chicken breasts a bit more, to give them a more even cook through. If this recipe is something you'd be interested in trying, I recommend you check out Jamie Oliver's website, or pick up his book, Jamie's Food Revolution.We'll be back again soon with more Transatlantic Tastes recipes!

Transatlantic Tastes Week Two - Quick Salmon Tikka with Cucumber Yogurt

This week in our "Transatlantic Tastes" series, we decided to step up our game a bit, while still cooking something that was somewhat basic. We went Indian!

Anyone who has lived in England or is familiar with English food and culture will know that curry has changed the definition of British cuisine. It could be said that the curry has essentially become the national dish in modern day Britain. There are just as many curry shops as there are chip shops in cities and towns all over the nation.

While we didn't make a proper curry this week with rice and all the fixings, we did make a dish that is Indian to its core. I've listed the ingredients below to show you what makes up the recipe, and as you can see, most things you will be able to find in any supermarket. I was a little concerned that I wouldn't find the tandoori paste that Jamie calls for in the recipe, but as luck would have it, good ol' Dominion came through for me! It was even the brand he specified, Patak's!

Jamie Oliver's website hosts a large number of his recipes, including this week's, which you can find at the link below.

Quick Salmon Tikka with Cucumber Yogurt


Ingredients:
naan breads or flatbreads
a fresh red chile
a cucumber
a lemon
natural yogurt
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
fresh cilantro
2 salmon fillets, skin on, scaled, and bones removed
tandoori, or mild curry paste
olive oil

Ingredients at the ready...

Should've used Greek yogurt! Ah well, I know better for next time. :)

The salmon is sizzling away!

The finished product...a little charred, but still good!

Nancy's turned out pretty good as well!

This dish was a little challenging because to be perfectly honest, I'd never cooked salmon before. I'm not a big fish eater, and with my shellfish allergy, I generally stay away from all fishy foods. But, I wanted to give this recipe a try, because it involved two things I don't have very often - fish and Indian cuisine. It's always good to try something new! Jamie also says in the recipe that it's called "Quick Salmon Tikka..." because it should take about 17 minutes to throw together...well, it took us a bit longer than that, probably because we pause to talk so much and don't actually try to rush in our cooking. That's my excuse and I'm stickin' with it.

Like last week, I had to switch out some ingredients for others; I couldn't find a red chile pepper anywhere in St. John's (does anyone know where I can find chillies that look like this? Ignore the green! I want red!) so I had to use a jalapeno instead, as that was all they had at the grocery store. It didn't add the heat I think it was supposed to.

I like to think that my finished product looks exactly like Jamie's, however, I'm sadly mistaken. Jamie's salmon isn't as charred as mine turned out to be, but I expected I wouldn't cook it perfectly, since I'd never cooked salmon before, and didn't really know how. However, when the time came for the taste test, it still tasted pretty good!

You can try this recipe for yourself by picking up a copy of Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution cookbook, or checking out his website, JamieOliver.com! Until next time, happy cooking!

Transatlantic Tastes Week One - Cherry Tomato Sauce with Cheat's Fresh Pasta

Welcome to "Transatlantic Tastes with Nancy and Elizabeth"! (We're still working on the name. It might also be called "Bangers and Mash: Transatlantic British Cooking with Elizabeth and Nancy" or "The Transatlantic British Cooking Class". We'll figure it out.)


For our first cooking adventure, Nancy and I decided to stick to a recipe that was fairly basic, since we were just starting out as chefs. We figured we shouldn't get too ahead of ourselves. So when flipping through our Jamie's Food Revolution cookbooks, we thought that a pasta recipe would be a good place to start. The following is so easy, but so delicious, that it's a great recipe for beginner chefs:


Cherry Tomato Sauce with Cheat's Fresh Pasta

Ingredients:
1 1/2 pints ripe grape or cherry tomatoes
4 cloves of garlic
a small bunch of fresh basil (While Nancy had fresh basil, I couldn't find any in the grocery stores, so I used Litehouse Freeze-Dried Basil, which worked perfectly!)
1 pound fresh lasagna, defrosted if frozen (we both changed this; she used penne and I used ditalini)
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
olive oil
2 pats of butter
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
4 ounces parmesan cheese


To prepare your pasta:
Cut the tomatoes into halves or quarters, depending on size. Peel and slice the garlic. Pick the basil leaves off the stalks and put them to one side. Finely chop the stalks. Cut the lasagna sheets into 3 or 4 long strips and put to one side. Grate the parmesan.


To cook your pasta:
Bring a large pan of salted water to a boil. Put a large frying pan over a medium heat and add a couple of lugs of olive oil and the garlic. Add the butter and let it melt. When the garlic starts to brown, add the tomatoes. Give everything a good stir, then add the basil stalks and half the leaves. Add the vinegar and season with salt and pepper. Drop your fresh pasta strips into the pan of boiling water and cook for 3 minutes. Drain in a colander over a large bowl, reserving some of the cooking water. Add the pasta to the frying pan with a splash of the cooking water and half the parmesan. Give it a good stir. Taste and add a little more salt and pepper if you think it needs it.


To serve your pasta:
Divide the pasta between your plates or bowls, or put the pan in the middle of the table and let everyone help themselves. Sprinkle over the rest of the parmesan and the basil leaves, tearing any larger ones up. This dish is lovely with a simple side salad!


The great thing about learning to cook is that even though you should try to stick to the recipe as much as possible, there is always room for substitutions and switches. I couldn't find fresh basil, so I substituted it for freeze-dried. Nancy used fresh penne instead of fresh lasagna, and I switched out the lasagna for little round pasta tubes called ditalini. To add more protein to the dish, I also cooked up some chicken and added that in, another way our final dishes differed.

Below are some of the photos I took of our cooking adventure:

First step: Make sure all the ingredients are ready to go!

Off to a good start...

Pasta and sauce bubbling away!

Nancy's hard at work on her dish too!

Add a little parmesan cheese to taste...

The (delicious) finished product!

Nancy presents her finished dish, while I display mine and the recipe!

All in all, week one was a success! It really is an easy dish to make, with Jamie laying out the recipe step by step. One recommendation I would have, however, is that with any recipe, you should read the entire thing through once before you begin, just so you have an idea of what to expect, and aren't taken by surprise by anything that's in there.

Don't forget, you can try these recipes too, by picking up Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution cookbook at a bookstore near you! Check back in a few days to see how Week Two of Transatlantic Tastes went!

Elizabeth and Nancy's Transatlantic Cooking Adventures!

In my first blog post of the year, I talked about 2012 being the Year of Elizabeth (Again), and the different resolutions I want to keep during that time. One of those resolutions was to learn to cook more.


Being a big fan of Jamie Oliver, I own a bunch of his cook books, like any proper fan would. One of my favourite books of his is  "Jamie's Food Revolution" - a collection of recipes for even the most basic of chefs (like myself.)


I sat down to lunch one day a few weeks ago with my good friend Nancy. She's currently working on her Ph.D at Oxford, and was about to fly back to England to begin a new term. I told her of my plan to work my way through a lot of the recipes in Jamie's book, and the more I talked about it, the more she liked my plan. The more she liked it, the more she wanted to do it herself, until finally, Nancy decided that she, too, wanted to try some of the recipes.



From our talking and planning, we agreed to have a weekly cooking date, where we would make the same recipe, me in Newfoundland and Nancy in Oxford. Of course, being the arts students we are, we can't do something like this and not document it. So I decided I would write about it on my blog, and Nancy would keep a photo journal.


 Our first cooking date was yesterday, so in the next few days, I'll be updating with a blog post, summarizing our adventure. Check back again soon!