Lemon Posset
It’s almost impossible to believe that lemon posset, a silky soft dessert, shares a name with a medieval cure-all of hot curdled milk and ale. Prescribed as a cold remedy throughout the 14th and 15th centuries, the original posset was more medicine cabinet than dessert bowl. Thank the ingenuity of 19th-century British chefs for rescuing…
brown butter gnocchettini dumplings
These aren’t your typical dumplings. And it might be a bit confusing if you are used to seeing dumplings the size of golf balls in a stew or soup. I’m pretty sure if my great, great paternal grandmother saw this dish she, too, would say these are not dumplings! Nanny Kent was born in Bohemia…
spanish tomato toast (pan con tomate)
Last week we were in Madrid and are totally smitten. Mr. S and I have never been before. He’s half Spanish so whenever we are in a Spanish country, he feels a connection even though he grew up in England. We’ve been to Barcelona before but Spain’s capital tugged at our hearts! It’s a beautiful,…
icebox gingersnaps
Haven’t found any spare hours to do some holiday baking? There’s still time and my great aunt’s gingersnaps recipe is a cinch to make. Audrey was my favorite paternal aunt. She was an elegant, refined, woman who loved to cook, had a twinkle in her eye, and if you were in her company, she always…
cabbage and pasta soup
Baby, it’s cold outside (and I am not referring to the song that seems to have ruffled silly feathers). We had a cold snap for the past few days and whenever this happens, my body craves soup! Soup is as old as the history of cooking and enjoyed by the poor and the rich. It…
BLT sandwich (brinjal, lettuce, tomato)
This isn’t your typical BLT sandwich as it uses eggplant bacon. Say what? Eggplant bacon has been circulating the web for quite some time but yours truly only recently heard about it when I saw it pop up on Instagram. Eggplant (aka aubergine or brinjal) is known for its deep purple and glossy skin. Some…
strangolapreti (bread gnocchi with spinach)
I enjoy reading where things originate and even more, the meaning behind it. If you’ve ever eaten light, puffy pillows of gnocchi, you’ll be surprised to learn (or at least I was) to find out that gnocchi can also be made with stale breadcrumbs. Strangolapreti is a traditional dish in the Trento area of northern…
baked squash slices – easy to make!
As a youngster, I never really cared for squash; it was so nondescript when boiled and mashed and usually ended up either too wet or too dry. That has since changed and I’ve come to enjoy it whether in a salad, casserole or soup. My kids love my grandmother’s baked squash casserole, however, this is…
turkey pot pies
Canadian Thanksgiving was last weekend. Four hundred and forty-two years ago an English explorer, Martin Frobisher, who had been trying to find a northern passage to the Orient, established a settlement in what is now called Newfoundland. He held a formal ceremony to give thanks for surviving the long journey. This is considered the first…
Ciro’s stracchino cheese crostini
What makes a delicious crostini? Two words; fresh ingredients. And when my farmers’ market has an Italian vendor selling his own cheese, I am ONE happy camper! Ciro Comencini moved to Nova Scotia with his wife, Alessia and their six children (soon to be seven!) in 2013. His dairy experience started with his family’s farm, just…
local plum hand pies
September signals the slow end of a glorious summer but with it comes the bounty of the harvest. Stone fruits in Nova Scotia are in full swing now and I CANNOT get enough of peaches and plums! I recently purchased a bag of plums from Noggins Corner Farm Market and wanted to make hand pies…
poached shrimp in olive oil
If there’s one staple I always have in my freezer, it’s a bag of frozen shrimp. They’re so versatile and many shrimp recipes out there are easy to prepare, economical and perfect for a mid-week meal. I recently poached shrimp in olive oil with a bit of butter as a last minute snack; I wasn’t…
fried Brussels sprouts
When thinking about what appetizer to serve, most cooks don’t consider using cabbage and even less think about Brussels sprouts! As a kid, you would NEVER hear me say, “oh yes please, may I have more!” I disliked them for years. It wasn’t until I was and at my great aunt’s home when she served…