Gordon Ramsey: Shrek in a Frock
Apparently an old episode of Kitchen Nightmares that we’ve never seen before. We saw this last night, Christmas Day after dinner of all times and I came across what might be the funniest thing I’ve EVER heard on TV. I laughed so hard that nobody else heard the rest of the argument!
“stop running around like shrek in a fucking frock!”
Orange-Bourbon Cranberry Sauce
Christmas is less than two weeks away?!? Well, go ahead and get a jump on things if you like, since this recipe is ideal for freezing! It was originally a combination of two recipes that I found one Christmas, but then the orange magically entered the picture and now I use it year-round, even on sandwiches! You could also just eat it with a spoon… would that be so wrong? Makes roughly 2 cups.
- 12-oz (340 g) bag cranberries, picked over
- ¼ (60 ml) cup honey
- ¼ (60 ml) cup brown sugar, packed
- 2 3-inch cinnamon sticks, broken
- 6 whole cloves
- Zest and juice of 1 large orange (about ½ cup / 125 ml)
- ¼ cup (60 ml) bourbon
- Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
Barley Risotto
Modified only slightly from a recipe I found years ago in The Flavours of Canada: A Celebration of the Finest Regional Foods by Anita Stewart (one of my all-time favourites! ISBN 1-55192-182-0), this recipe is an amazing accompaniment to the rich braises of deep winter. It’s also a nice alternative to mashed potatoes on any occasion! Yields 4 x 125 ml (1/2 cup) servings.
- 250 ml barley
- 1 L water
- 500 ml chicken stock
- 30 ml butter
- 2 shallots, finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 20 ml fresh parsley, finely chopped
- 20 ml fresh thyme, finely chopped
- 30 ml parmesan, freshly grated
- 30 ml 10 year-old cheddar, freshly grated
- kosher salt and freshly ground white pepper, to taste
Alltop: Possibly the web’s greatest source of Foodie info
A while back, I received a message from non other than Guy Kawasaki telling me about his new project, Alltop. He wanted to include TheGarageBlog.com on their newly launched automotive page. Of course I was a bit surprised to hear directly from Guy himself, but also flattered to be included early on in the project. Alltop Auto has grown into one of the best sources of car news on the web.
This morning as I read through my Twitter feeds, I noticed an announcement from GK that they have now launched a cheese page on Alltop! Once I stopped giggling, I went for a peek and discovered that there is a serious wealth of Foodie related pages in the library. Wow, what an incredible resource!
Just a few pages:
Bacon Yes bacon! Where else might I have found someone called Mr Bacon Pants?
With all of this info in one place, we could almost abandon our foodie magazines!
Caramelized Onion Mashed Potatoes with Garlic
My girlfriend, Kate, who is herself quite a Foodie, sat down to our Lavender-Scented Lamb Loin Chops (and she loves lamb)…. Upon tasting these potatoes, she said, “Okay, so I could just sit down to a pot of these potatoes…”. ‘Nuff said. Serves 6.
- 2 tbsp (30 ml) grapeseed or canola oil
- 1 ½ cups (375 ml) finely chopped white onion (about 2 medium onions)
- 6 medium red-skinned potatoes, trimmed of blemishes, but skins left on and cut into uniform (apx. 1-½ inch) chunks
- 1 head garlic, cloves skinned and trimmed
- Generous pinch of kosher salt (i.e., ¾ tbsp)
- 1/2 cup (125 ml) half-and-half cream
- 2 tbsp (30 ml) unsalted butter
- ¼ tsp salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
Welcome to Foodies Across Borders
Foodies Across Borders is a place where friends who live a long way apart share our thoughts and ideas on cooking, entertaining and eating out. We review restaurants and babble on about current trends in cooking. Here in the FAB test kitchens, we review recipes and the odd product here & there.
Foodies Across Borders is a Blair Valley Media blog.
