In our continuing effort to bring (and we’ll just say it, us) comfort food recipes for the Fall, we are delighted to share one for Curried Butternut Squash and Pear Soup that was heartily approved of in our test kitchen. We all agreed that it would also work well for entertaining.
We obtained the recipe from Allrecipes.com, and ‘tweeked’ it to create our own version. We roasted the butternut squash (pre-chopped from the grocery store), together with chopped onion, garlic, ginger, salt and cubed pears, and an extra drizzle of olive oil, for the suggested time. Otherwise we followed the directions.
I actually looked for a baked potato recipe tonight. It felt a little strange, but baked potatoes can often be starchy, and I’m so glad I did.
The Food Network provided the inspiration for a new method of baking (on the rack) that was a huge hit with our barbecue. We added margarine, sour cream and fried bell peppers for a delicious side dish.
Spring is here, and in an attempt to bring the season indoors, I made a new dessert last weekend … Ina Garten’s Lemon Cake Recipe. The result was fresh and lovely, served with strawberries and vanilla ice cream. Perhaps one of the best parts was that the recipe makes two loaves, and I was able to put one away in the freezer to enjoy any day I want to make extra special.
We hope that you had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend, filled with friends, family and fun.
In the continued spirit of sharing, we wanted to share a recipe for pumpkin pie, that received rave reviews. It has gone into our recipe files for future holidays.
Kids love getting involved in helping you prepare for guests. In fact, making a welcome sign can both keep them busy and make them feel like they are taking an important role in your plans.
All you need is paper and colouring utensils. Write welcome for younger children and let them decorate the a sign, and let older children complete it themselves. Then hang the sign for guests to admire as they enter the door.
We have an excellent cookbook to recommend for friends and family who love to bake … and you!
Desserts 4 Today by Abigail Johnson Dodge features one hundred and twenty-five flavorful desserts with just four ingredients, making baking accessible even with a busy schedule, and leaving lots of time for the people in your life.
Browse through five delicious sections - Cookies, Creamy Desserts, Frozen Desserts, Fruit Desserts and Pastry Desserts. The recipes are simple yet sophisticated. In addition, many of the recipes feature optional switch-ins and ideas to gussy it up and tailor the recipes to your table and tastes.
Care to be dazzled? Raspberry-White Chocolate Tart, Orange-Glazed Grilled Peach Melba, Creamy Mocha Semifreddo, Kiwi Lemon Mousse, Mini Bittersweet Chocolate Cheesecakes, Nutella Fudge Brownies and more.
Desserts 4 Today is available online and at bookstores across the country.
With the holiday season coming up we wanted to let you know that our wonderful Delicious Dishes columnist, Nadine Hughes, now has a 2010 Winter Catering Menu available (see The Cook’s Companion) for Toronto and the GTA.
Specializing in intimate events, Nadine can take the stress out of your next party.
Have you ever made a fantastic recipe from a favourite recipe book, magazine, newspaper or friend just once, and never again? The recipe is then forgotten, or you can no longer locate it?
We have an idea to solve this problem … the family recipe binder!
Take a binder and keep it on the book shelf with your other recipe books. Use simple dividers to organize appetizers, salads, soups, poultry, fish, meat, pasta, side dishes, cakes and cookies etc.. When you make a recipe that you want to cook or bake again, copy it into the binder, even if it is in a book. You will be able to access it and find meal inspirations quickly.
Last month I gave you a few ideas on how to keep your summer entertaining easy with quick and tasty recipes that will have you cooking less and enjoying summer more. Having spent the last few weeks in cottage country doing my fair share of entertaining, these lessons bear repeating! When I invite people up to the cottage, my guests usually insist on preparing one meal during the weekend. Fine with me, however I always feel a wee bit concerned for them that they feel it needs to be a major affair. Don’t know whether it’s because of what I do for a living that intimidates them or my friends truly enjoy spending hours in a hot kitchen preparing a meal for us instead of hours on a hot dock with a cold drink in their hand! I suspect it’s more to do with the common mistake that many inexperienced cooks make when it comes to knowing what to cook, how much to cook and when to cook it. Here are a few tips to help guide you through your summer cooking and entertaining:
• Keep it simple. By choosing the best local and seasonal quality ingredients you can find, the less you’ll actually need to do to them. Tomatoes are coming into season so instead of spending time on an elaborate salad, thickly slice fresh tomatoes, drizzle with a great olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt. Lay out a big platter of them with fresh bread and a crisp white wine and you have the perfect light lunch.
• Make the BBQ your best friend. Everything you can do on a stove or in the oven, you can do on the BBQ leaving you less mess to deal with in the kitchen and more of that great summer grilled flavour. Chances are there will be someone around that fancies themselves a BBQ King or Queen so you might not even have to do any of the cooking!
• A little goes a long way. Too often we cook far too many dishes for one meal or too much food thinking there will never be enough. In my experience people eat lighter and less in the summer so plan your meal, picture it on the table or plate and chances are you can remove one or two items from the meal reducing your workload.
• When it’s the weekend, spend some time prepping and planning your meals so that you can cook in advance and enjoy for the whole weekend. Many foods that we serve hot in the winter can be enjoyed cold or at room temperature in the summer so it’s easy to prepare in advance. A grilled potato salad is a great to cook the night before but serve the next day cold. Roast a chicken and serve it cold the next day with a classic mango chutney and ciabatta rolls. Or BBQ salmon on a cedar plank, serve with a sliced cucumber salad and serve any remaining salmon the next day for lunch over room temperature orzo pasta.
Nadine Hughes is the creator and owner of, The Cook’s Companion and The Menu Companion, through which she offers kitchen consultations, menu planning services as well as private cooking classes for adults and teens throughout Southern Ontario. She is also an award winning author. Pick up a copy of her latest cookbook “The Groove Mamma Goes Gourmet – Easy Ways To Put The Fun Back Into Entertaining” (awarded Best Canadian Entertaining Cookbook at the 2009 Gourmand Cookbook Awards) for $7.98 at www.groovemamma.com
