I can't talk, my mouth is full

Yikes! I'm swamped with 9 to 5 work and freelance work combined. I've been slack in responding to emails and I barely have the time to keep up with reading my blogroll. My life will return to normal in about a month, but until then, I will be pushed and pulled in all directions. Dear readers, please forgive me in advance!

Between bike rides along the seawall and eating burgers on a sunny patio, on Saturday I managed to head over to the treasure trove of Granville Island to pick up some dinner fixins' at the market. So I offer you this short post now as a token of appreciation for all of you who keep on reading this lil' space of mine.

This lamb marinade works wonders on lamb chops but I decided to mix things up a little bit and create some lamb tacos. The smokey cumin flavour mixed with the cardamom was incredible and these tacos were pretty much gobbled up instantly.

lamb tacos
1/2 lb leg of lamb, cut into small bite-sized pieces
4 cloves of garlic, minced
juice of half a lime
2 T cumin
1/2 t ground cardamom
1 T olive oil

1 tomato, diced
1/2 small red onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 t cumin
1/2 t cayenne pepper
juice of half a lime

corn tortillas

1. Toss the first 6 ingredients into a ziplock bag, making sure all the spices and flavours blend. Marinate for 1 hour.

2. Prepare salsa in a small bowl by mixing the next 6 ingredients together.

3. In a very hot cast iron skillet or grill pan, add the contents of the ziplock bag. The lamb should brown very quickly. About 1 minute should do it.

4. Heat the corn tortillas over a gas flame to soften and slightly char.

5. To each tortilla, add some lamb and top with the salsa. Eat and watch everyone fall in love with you.

summer living at it's best

Ooooh, I'm pretty excited! I should have my camera back tommorrow, so it will be back to all the photographic food porn you know & love. Did I really promise technicolour cupcakes? Hmmmmm.

The sun has come back and the weather is all nice and warm and it's just the perfect time to relax in a hammock tied between two shade trees and an icy bottle of beer in hand. Unfortunately for me, the hammock and shade trees remains a dream but the bottle of beer is chilling as we speak. Oh the blight of urban living! The good news is that there is a beautiful park outside my front door and picnic season is here (at least for the moment!)

Tonight's dinner was settled in a flash. We had some fresh sole filets that were just waiting to be used and because the weather is so nice, I figured that some fish tacos would be just the ticket. Plus, they'd be sweet with a couple of icy cold beers. Sho' nuff. These babies were yummers!

fish tacos with garlic-cumin yogurt sauce
2 white fish filets (I used sole)
1 egg, beaten
1/2 c cornmeal
1/2 c panko breadcrumbs
1 t chipotle powder
1 t chili powder
1/2 t salt
1 T oil

1 small container of fat free plain yogurt
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 T cumin

flour or corn tortillas

1 large juicy tomato, diced
1 ripe avocado, diced
1/4 head cabbage or lettuce, shredded
1 lime cut into quarters

1. Cut the fish into managable strips. Mix the cornmeal, breadcrumbs, chipotle powder, chili powder and salt together. Dip fish into egg and then dredge in the cornmeal mixture.

2. Heat oil in a large cast iron pan and when hot, add the breaded fish. Turn fish over when golden brown, about 2-3 minutes per side. Remove from pan.

3. Prepare sauce by mixing the crushed garlic, yogurt and cumin together.

4. Heat tortillas over a gas flame until softened and slightly charred. Assemble tacos with the fish, cabbage, tomatoes, avocado and drizzle with the garlic sauce & squeeze a bit of lime juice over top.

back to biznitch.

It may be hard to believe that I actually cooked and baked whilst on vacation, but I am not kidding when I say that is the truth. The first few days back at my parent's house, I just sat back was quite contented to let myself be served. Sure, I helped out doing the dishes and tidying up, but it was kind of nice to not worry about planning what to eat or even lifting a finger to make it happen. Dinner was going to be on the table without my help. But a few days of relaxation and I figured it was time to do a bit more than sing for my supper. My mom had set out a recipe she wanted done and while she was out giving French lessons, I hopped into the familiar kitchen and got down to work. With help from both my dad and Cornelius (shocking, I know!), we put together a delicious grapefruit pork loin dinner with scallopped potatoes and some greens. Dinner was a true success and it was the best meal of my stay in the forest city.

We left London after nearly a week and spent our last remaining days in Toronto visiting my dear friends Craig & Aaron in their newly purchased and very lovely home. I'm trying to not be such a bum house guest, so it was decided that I'd made up a batch of homemade cookies, substituting dried sour cherries and pecans for the raisins & walnuts in the original recipe. While we waited for the cookies to bake, we drank Aaron's signature drink, "The Flaming Aaron" which consisted of very fine champagne and chambord, a black raspberry liqueur. Yum! The picture is of Aaron and Cornelius playing Brutefitta, while Cornelius stuffs the cookies into his mouth. Yes, good times were had!

shredded pork tacos
Even though we just got back from vacation we decided to treat ourselves to a night away at the Sylvia Hotel (a wedding present we finally decided to use) and acted like tourists in our town by drinking fancy drinks at the high in the sky rotating restaurant and eating Malaysian at the very reasonable (cheap) Banana Leaf. However, tonight I decided to jump back into reality and Cornelius and I went grocery shopping and decided to make shredded pork tacos for dinner. Since I was pretty experienced with pork loin (having just made it at my mother's house), I expected nothing less than perfection. After I removed all traces of fat, I rubbed the meat with a mixture of salt, cumin, coriander, chili powder, and chipotle powder and placed it in my casserole dish. I then poured half a bottle of beer and some orange juice around the meat. I preheated the oven to 350 degrees, put the lid on the dish and waited til the apartment started to smell real good, about an hour or so. I then mixed up a bit of brown sugar in a bit more orange juice and poured it over the pork mixture and set it back into the oven for another hour or so. I kept checking the meat making sure it wasn't dry and occasionally adding more o.j. or beer. When the meat was done, I took 2 forks to the meat and it shredded like magic! So moist and super flavourful it was! We put a dollop of the meat on a flame-heated corn tortilla, topped it with grated cheese and avocado doused in lime juice. A simple cabbage salad was served along side for some added crunch. After being in beautiful kitchens, it was actually nice working and living in our small but well used kitchen. Perfection achieved.