Portobello mushrooms are one of my favorite mushrooms. Their meaty texture is a great substitute for steak and are a hearty addition to stir fry dishes and sauces. Portobello’s are a grown up version of the Crimini mushroom. Nutritionally, they are an excellent source of Niacin (helps in the functioning of the digestive system, skin,…

Thai food is a unique combination of spicy, salty, sweet and sour and is meant to be satisfying to the eye, nose and palate. It is thought that the origins of Thai desserts lie in worship and ceremony with each ingredient bearing its own symbolic meaning. For more information on Thai food, click here. True…

This is a one dish meal perfect for a Friday night when you don’t want to spend much time in the kitchen! According to Hippocrates (the father of medicine), celery calms the nerve perhaps because of the high calcium content. For more health benefits of celery, click here. This recipe is adapted from Australian Good…

This recipe is from a friend of mine who owns a restaurant in Victoria, BC. Jo Zambri and her brother, Peter Zambri, opened Zambri’s seven years ago. It’s a wonderful restaurant and Peter is an amazingly talented chef. The combination of the brother/sister team plus their attentive and knowledgeable staff make for a pleasurable dining…

The oven in our serviced apartment has been beckoning me to use but without any baking trays I couldn’t imagine what to cook. I get my inspirations from my cookbooks however those are packed away. I recently bought the magazine, Cooking Light. I scanned its contents and found a recipe that would allow me to…

Commonly referred to as string beans they are one of only a few varieties of beans that are eaten fresh. green beans vary in size they average about four inches in length. They are usually deep emerald green in color and come to a slight point at either end. Green beans are loaded with enough…

I must confess that eating tuna, for me, meant from a can but that was years ago. Now I look forward to fresh tuna and incorporating it into our diet. Tuna is an excellent source of lean protein, vitamins, minerals and can also help lower blood pressure and cholesterol. For more information on health benefits…

One of my favorite ways to cook pork tenderloin is to barbecue it. My husband usually does the barbecuing but our BBQ is packed away with the rest of our furniture. Pork fillet or tenderloin is a long thin cylindrical cut often around 6-8cm in diameter. One of the best sources of thiamin is pork.…

It’s been a while since I made this delicate sauce and it is a perfect quick meal that has more than its share of flavor. Salmon flesh ranges in color from pink to red to orange and some varieties are richer in omega 3 fatty acids than others. Chinook and Sockeye are fattier fish and…

Living in a serviced apartment has its cooking challenges as the apartment has one frying pan and three small saucepans. So for this month, until our furniture arrives, I’ll be trying recipes that require little in the way of cooking gadgets and pots and pans. This recipe is adapted from Australian Good Taste magazine. Fresh…

Roti Saimai (pronounced Say May) is a Thai-style candy floss or cotton candy which is wrapped in a sweet roti. This treat is a favorite of the Thais. It originated from the ancient old capital of Thailand, Ayutthaya and to this day is one of Ayutthaya’s most preferred sweets. Roti Saimai is a dessert with…

There are few things more proudly Australian than the slice. I wasn’t sure what a slice was when my Aussie friend invited me over for a cuppa and a slice. The slice is meant to be easy as baking a cake for visitors, yet it says you’ve made so much more of an effort than…