Zesty & Spicy

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Kimchi & lobster pancakes

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Every time I get the chance to eat at ChezBong in Chinatown, the Korean green onion pancakes is something I almost always order.  What’s being presented to you, today, isn’t an authentic Korean recipe but it’s been inspired by the savoury pancakes recipe you can find in Maangchi‘s cookbook.  It’s been said on Twitch already but, thank you so much again to the sweet reader who bought me this book, so much deliciousness in there from such an incredible lady.

So here it is… my twist on the beloved Korean green onion pancakes made with homemade kimchi, lobster, grilled corn and the obvious: green onions.

Bon appétit!

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Low Sugar – Almond & Sugar Cookies

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These little gem are the result of a “cookie experiment” which did not end up the way I expected.  Although it created these little babies that are the perfect cookies to eat if you don’t have a sweet tooth but still crave something sweet.

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They are simply delicious, plain as they are, and can also become something much more extravagant like sandwich cookies or dipped in chocolate.

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Sausage & Shrimp Puff Pastry Rolls

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For days where you want a blast of flavor and don’t care about your diet…  For either a game day, a friendly gathering or really just because your heart wants it.  No need to start a guilt trip here, we all need a few days like this every months 😉

Serve these delicious puff pastry sausage and shrimps with Dijon mustard, regular mustard or ketchup depending on what you prefer!

Sausage & Shrimp Puff Pastry Rolls
 
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Ingredients
  • Puff pastry dough
  • For the Filling:
  • 9 raw shrimps, skin, vein and everything else removed
  • 8 roasted garlic cloves
  • ½ tightly packed cup of freshly chopped basil leaves
  • ¼ teaspoon of fish sauce
  • ½ teaspoon of cane sugar
  • 1 teaspoon of low sodium soy sauce
  • 6 tablespoon of VERY FINELY chopped carrots
  • 3 tablespoon of VERY FINELY chopped celery
  • ¼ teaspoon of ginger powder
  • Inside membrane of 2 small Mergez sausages**
  • For the Egg Wash:
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tablespoon of water
  • For the Garnish:
  • Sesame seeds
  • ** Make sure you take one that the inside is a "pulverized paste" without too many big chunks. The goal here is that this sausage stuffing will keep the filling together.
Instructions
  1. - Pre-heat your oven at 350. Line a parchment paper on a baking sheet.
  2. - Mix all the ingredients for your filling in a food processor and blend everything together till it becomes a nice and smooth paste. In another small bowl, prepare your egg wash by whisking the egg and water, reserve in the fridge till the end.
  3. - Roll your pastry dough (making sure it's always cold - never let your puff pastry get to room temperature - I usually work with a cold ice pack on the side) and make a few rectangles or squares of dough, the size you want.
  4. - Time to add your filling and roll your pastry, follow the graphic below for the easy technique.
  5. - Brush with your egg wash, sprinkle some sesame seeds on the top and bake at 350 for 45 minutes or till the crust is golden brown.
  6. Serve with any dipping sauce you want but I like mine with either ketchup of Dijon mustard!
  7. IMPORTANT NOTE - Since you can find a lot of different style of Mergez... If, during the cooking process, you find there is a lot of juices coming out of the pastry, you can move your rolls on the paper to make sure it doesn't boil in juice and make the dough saggy.

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Peaches & Blue Cheese Amuse Bouches

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Yoohoo it’s Friday!  What about a light recipe that is also easy, fast and delicious that could be the hit of tonight’s friendly gathering!   If you have peaches, blue cheese, walnuts and baguette laying around, you have everything you need to realize in 5 minutes these delicious amuse bouches!

…Now who’s getting the beer?

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Classic Potato Candy

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…and it’s that time of the year again! 🙂  For many of you around the world, the long week end of the St-Jean Baptiste might be something you never heard of but here is Quebec, it’s a national holiday and it’s this week end! yoohoo!  On June 24, everybody in the province of Quebec is going to take it easy and relax because they are going to be on vacation and hopefully remember why we celebrate this holiday.  What will most probably be the reason of this relaxing mood, will be because the day before, they partied like CRAZY and they are super hung over LOL … That’s probably what I’m gonna be doing anyways 😛

To celebrate this long week end and our national holiday, I thought a classic Quebec recipe was in order…  Now to be honest, I had problems choosing witch one I was going to share with you because there is a LOT of delicious and easy recipes that have been invented here (but again, I’m from Quebec so I’m sure everybody says the same thing from their roots).

…since it’s for a celebration, why not sharing a sweet candy recipe right?!  Plus Max had never tasted potato candy before and I thought it was the perfect occasion to make him taste this easy and decadent desert or snack.  If you have a sweet tooth, these are for you but watch out because the recipe I’m giving you is making 40+ candy!

The potato candy was first invented back at the beginning of the colonization in Quebec and like many other recipes of that era, they were made around 3 basic ingredients (potatoes, ground beef and carrots) because they were easy to found around that time.  Good thing our gran-gran-gran-gran mothers had a lot of imagination because during the holiday, most people were too pore to buy candies for their kids so instead, they tried to make some with what they had around the kitchen and this is how the potato candy was born.  Pretty sweet story right?

I remember my sister and I being so anxious while looking at my mom preparing these candy once in a while.  It really was a special treat that we didn’t see often so it made them so special.  Because of the insane amount of sugar content, it’s not something you want to be making every weeks but everybody needs a treat once in a while!

Hope you enjoy this classic Quebec recipe and don’t forget to visit the Quebec category on the side bar to check out other classic Quebec goodness 🙂  Bon appetit!

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Sweet & Salty Cajun Roasted Almonds

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I always have nuts laying around in my house.  Either roasted with spices or just raw, I love them all.  It’s a great and healthy way for me to get a boost of energy and make sure I eat all your good fat and control my blood sugar to get me through the day at the computer or on the go at a photo shoot.  I’ve been wanting to show you all the great recipes you can do with my homemade cajun spice blend but didn’t had much time as you can probably see by the number of updates on the site.  So this morning I decided that enough was enough and I had to shoot at least one recipe!  Good news, I ended shooting 3 new recipes including this one so make sure you don’t miss the next updates because they are going to be delicious 😛

Ok enough chatting and more recipe right?  I hope you’ll enjoy this simple snack that can be eaten on the go or maybe while you’re watching the football game on Sunday? 😉

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Mini Pumpkin & Spices Cupcakes

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Can I really post too many pumpkin recipes? I don’t think so.  After passing over all the homemade pumpkin puree and a couple of cans of pumpkin puree, I still have a bit left in my fridge and a ton of fun ideas of what I could do with it.  Two weeks ago, somebody asked me on twitter if I had a good recipe for some easy and fast pumpkin cupcakes so here it is!  I brought these little bites to a party I went to on Saturday and they were a hit!  Hope you like them to 🙂

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Garlic & Rosemary Crackers

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I love making salty things to snack on.  I used to think that homemade crackers wouldn’t taste as good as the store bought ones but I rapidly changed my mind the second I tried those amazing Garlic and Rosemary crackers.  The recipe is super easy and very customizable the second you have a bit of imagination.  Hope you enjoy like 🙂

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