Salads galore!

It’s summer and we are finally having nice temperature. I know I haven’t blogged in a while. It isn’t that I have not cooked; it is simply that nothing was quite worth of blogging about. I made very simple dished and repeated many of what has already been posted. I also ate in restaurant too much.

Anyhow, summer is great for salads and here are few pleasers. The Lemon pepper scallops on a bed of heirloom tomatoes, balsamic vinegar and goat cheese is particularly incredible.

The first one is my friend’s favourite summer salad, it’s rather simple, I thought it wouldn’t be enjoyable but lo and behold, I quite enjoyed the tangy lemon taste.

Neeley-Bee’s simple salad

- Spinach
- Cherry tomatoes
- Cucumber
- Juice of 1 lemon
- Coarse salt and pepper
- Hardboiled egg




Put the spinach in a bow, add cucumber, and add tomatoes, drizzle with the juice. Sprinkle with coarse salt and pepper. Add the egg. Enjoy.

Summer fruity-nutty salad with scallops

- Butter lettuce
- 1-2 green onions
- Strawberries
- ½ avocado
- 1 small container of mandarins, drained
- A big handful of walnuts
- Your favourite dressing (Mine is a creamy Walla-Walla dressing that I get from my husband each time he goes on bike race in the Washington state)
- Few scallop



First step is simple, put the lettuce and the chopped green onions in a bowl, add the vinaigrette and mix. Top with the chopped strawberries, avocado and add the mandarins. Cook the scallops the way you like them. For a summer salad like this one, I love grilled scallops as it cook in not fat and kind of counter balance my creamy dressing.

The Best:

Lemon-Pepper scallops on a bed of yellow and orange heirlooms tomatoes with crumbled goat cheese and balsamic drizzle.



Believe me, this is divine!

- 1 yellow tomato (I prefer to use the organic heirloom as the taste is sooo good)
- 1 orange tomato (again, organic... I think pink tomatoes would do well too)
- Quality balsamic vinegar
- Fleur de sel (I use fleur de Camargue)
- Few fresh string of chives
- 2 big teaspoon of goat cheese crumbles. (You may want to add more, it’s so yummy!)
- 3 big and fresh scallops
- Juice of ½ lime
- pepper



I’ll start with the scallops as few people do not know that they have to be patted dry before cooking. Anyhow, I pan fried them in butter and olive oil. Few second before putting on a plate to wait to be “placed on the salad”, I drizzled the lime juice on them and peppered them.
The salad is very simple; slice each tomato, put on a plate alternating colors. Drizzle with balsamic vinegar. Sprinkle the goat cheese around. Place the three scallops in the middle; add the chives in the middle. Sprinkle with the fleur de sel. Eat. It is delicious!

Everything taste better with bacon

So, I started craving the Bolero restaurant and I realized that part of what I missed the most there was the bacon-wrapped filet minion and the bacon-wrapped chicken breast.

Took me two minute to realize that it’s super duper easy to do, taste like heaven and well, I don’t have to drive across the city to the restaurant to enjoy this delicacy.



Cut in bite size some filet minion. Cut in bite size some chicken breast. Wrap each piece with bacon. Put on a skewer.







Make sure your BBQ is hot; start with the chicken so that your beef doesn’t overcook. Cook the beef.

Enjoy and say thank you!

Amazing pork tenderloin

I’m finally settling in my MBA program. As such, I am really hoping that I will be able to post more frequently. I’ve also found the small camera which will totally help portability and endless possibility of my numerous restaurant trips.




Anyhow, a little while back, D cooked this fabulous pork tenderloin. It’s pink inside and Oh so juicy. I know that many years ago, it was recommended to cook the pork through, but times have changed and the risk of disease is almost inexistent. So do yourself a favour, do not overcook pork so that it feel like rubber, cook it pink and it’s divine!

First, brown the tenderloin in a hot pan. If you are lucky and you have a cast iron pan, they are the best to do this. Brush the meat with your favourite BBQ sauce, this time, he used honey garlic and BBQ mixed together. Put in the over at 350 degree and cook until the meat reaches between 140 and 150 degree. Let the meat rest for 10 minutes under tin foil. This ensures that the juices are spreading back inside and your meat is juicy.



Slice. Eat. Enjoy

I love pulled pork. I have first been introduced to it by my previous roommates in Calgary, they brought me to “Big T’s” restaurant and oh my god, I was in heaven. I have been trying to find the perfect pulled pork recipe and after much tries and errors, I finally got the hand of it.

Perfect pulled pork (In Crockpot)

- 3-4 lbs Boneless pork shoulder butt roast, trimmed of fat (I sometime use pork roast)
- ½ cup apple cider vinegar
- ½ cup of ketchup
- ¼ cup fancy molasses
- ¼ cup water
- 3 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon pepper

Place the roast in a 3.5 to 4 quart slow cooker. Combine the remaining 7 ingredients in a medium bowl. Pour over roast. Cover. Cook on low for 9 to 10 hours or on high for 4.5 to 5 hours. Once time is up, transfer the roast to a large plate. Skim and discard any fat from the surface of liquid left in the slow cooker. Shred the pork with two forks (It should be so easy!) Return the shredded pork in the sauce and stir well.

It’s divine as it is or on a fresh home bake bun.

Delish wonton soup

I know I have been really bad; blogging has been hard since I started this new MBA class. IT isn’t too hard, but it is the driest thing I’ve ever been reading and doing. And Oh! So time consuming. I also decided to focus on my husband for the holidays, he is so supportive that every minutes I had free (I worked through the Christmas break) I made sure he was cared by a very nice wife.



Anyhow, winter is the soup season and I am a huge fan of wonton soup. I like to add veggies to it and I like the soft broth.

Easy Wonton soup

- 1 package of wonton wrappers
- 1 package of grounded pork
- ½ cup of finely chopped shrimps
- 1 cup finely chopped Asian cabbage
- 1 cup bean sprouts
- 1 cup of minced green onions
- Salt and pepper
- 1 egg
- A little bit of milk
- Chicken broth

Put all the ingredients (but the wonton wrappers) in a bowl and mix. Lay the wrapper on the countertop and put a teaspoon full of the meat mixture in the middle of the wrapper. Lightly brush milk on the wrappers to make it sticky. Form the wonton.




When fresh, cook for 15-20 minutes in a boiling pot of chicken broth. You can also freeze the wonton and use them in other recipes. When I do soup from frozen, I boil them for 20-25 minutes.



To serve, add finely chopped Asian cabbage, green onion and bean sprouts to taste.

Cream of carrots and parsnips

Did I ever write how much I love soup? Well, I do. I like all kinds of soups, but I have a preference for the creamy type (Aside of French onion of course!). Since Calgary is getting really cold, I like to make hearty and yummy soup. Here is a simple and delicious one.



Cream of carrots and parsnip
8 to 10 carrots, peeled & sliced
2 to 4 parsnips, peeled & sliced
3 to 5 potatoes, peeled & cubed
2 tbsp. butter
1/2 c. onion, chopped coarsely
6 c. chicken broth
1/2 tsp. thyme
1 bay leaf
1 c. cream (can use milk)
1/4 tsp. Tabasco
1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp. sugar
Salt & pepper

Heat butter in soup pot. Add onion. Cook and stir. Add carrots, parsnips, potatoes and broth. Boil. Add thyme and bay leaf. Simmer 30 to 40 minutes. Put through processor or blender. Add remaining ingredients.



Delicious, wintery, simple

Woot! I received my package!!

I feel terrible, I've been lazy on the blog. I just finished my first MBA class and work has just been crazier than usual.

Arghhh, these pictures don’t do justice to the delicious package I have received from Felice in the Kitchen.



I have joined a group and my first experience was fantastic! It is called the Foodie-exchange and there are members from all over the planet! It’s very simple, you create a package of food from where you are, about $10. You tell the group what you have to offer and TADAM! A couple of days or weeks later (1 exchange per month) you get a package from somewhere in the world and someone gets to eat your stuff.

For my first exchange, I had requested HOT stuff as my husband really loves the heat! Well, we were pleased! Chilli pepper (look so hot through the package), Taco mix (Yum!), oregano (I am so happy of this, Oregano is far from cheap in Alberta!) and a delicious red chilli jelly (I was doubtful of this to start but I tried a spoon and I swooned!).



Anyhow, I will most certainly do another exchange as I loved the concept!