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Easy Chicken Legs with Dill and Red Chili Peppers

3/11/2015

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chicken legs easy recipe
These Chicken Drumsticks with Dill and Red Chili Pepper are the result of quite possibly one of the easiest recipes I have ever made up. I had to rush because I had to do a podcast with Ronsley on Bond Appetit last year and I had some fresh chicken drumsticks and zero ideas. I rarely make chicken with skin on but Dre  likes it and I found this to be a delicious recipe for those who don't even usually like skin (aka- me). I have made this only twice but the second time I made it while out in the country at our Uncle and Aunt's with a bell pepper risotto and Mmmph!- WHAT a combo. In fact it was so popular  I made some more again the next day for lunch before we drove back. Andre and I loved cooking together with fresh ingredients that weekend- oh- how I miss it- need to go back asap!
chicken and dill
So if you're looking to impress, make this super easy chicken and spend that extra time on the risotto (that recipe will need the extra time) and your husband, wife, or guests will be raving for weeks. Oh and by the way, this tastes just as amazing with chicken leg quarters- that is what I did the 2nd time around- so just adjust the recipe accordingly. 
Let me know how it turned out!

P.S: All you need is this and some lovely French bread to soak up the flavors. 

Me...
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Potato Potaaaahto! It's National Potato Day. No Seriously. It is

8/19/2014

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baked potato
potatoes healthy recipes
You know, I have said this many times, but I really haven't met anyone who doesn't like potatoes.  We have tons of recipes that included lovely taters in all their forms on the site. Just hit the search button up for potatoes! But if you're in a hurry and just need a quick fix, why not nuke up a quick and easy cheat baked potato?  Here is what  you need:
  • A potato
  • Paper towel 
  • Olive oil
  • Salt & pepper
  • Fixings of your choice. You can keep it simple and have it with some yoghurt or you can be like the hubby who used butter, bacon bits (yayyy for chicken bacon!), green onions, cheese, and sour cream!
All you need to do is rub some olive oil on the potato and sprinkle some salt and pepper on it, wrap it in a paper towel and microwave for a couple of minutes until your fork goes through. Add whatever you want on it and enjoy!

People often forget that potatoes aren't unhealthy, we just often prepare them in "indecent" ways. So skip the fixins if you want to be careful and it still tastes delicious! If you needed some reminders, here's a great article from today for National Potato Day.

Here are some other popular recipes with potatoes we have done in the past! We hope they inspire you! Just click on the picture to go to the recipe. W.P
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Whodunnit?! Taming the Dinner Party

8/18/2014

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Colourful platters filled with delicious and appetizing food. Tables laid out with aromatic dishes and things you’ve never tried before. Several candles are lit all over the house giving off a lovely aroma that makes you feel welcome. This is the ideal dinner party!
party menus
Candles, flowers, napkins, cutlery, dinnerware all add personal touches that are very unique to you. Over the years you will gather items that will help you entertain better such as a cutlery caddy, better dishes, table cloths in various colours, chafing dishes for large parties and glassware for different occasions. You will also learn methods of serving and plating which will work for you.  As you can see from the pics, I had a theme for the dishes, napkins, plates and platters. I used a red table cloth, with a black basket for naan. I used red and white napkins, red, green, black and white dishes. There was a white cutlery caddy, with black and white plates and red or cream candles lit up all over the main floor. This made everything look seamless as it was well put together. You don’t have to have a lot of dishes or dinner sets to make this happen. However, it is very important to always buy things that coordinate with your existing collection.

If something isn’t working, try to figure out a better and more efficient way of doing it. For example, I do not prepare dishes after my guests have arrived. Therefore anything that requires baking, assembling or cutting is already done beforehand. Some people can manage this, but I am not one of them. I like to have everything food related ready before my guests arrive. I don’t like being an unprepared hostess. I find it very odd when I go to someone’s house and they are cooking while I am there. It makes me feel like I showed up too early! 
easy dinner ideas
It’s wonderful having people over for dinner, but it takes a lot of prepping and planning. My style of prepping works for me, but it isn’t the only way of doing things. Various factors have to be taken into consideration. Are you going to be doing the grocery shopping and cooking? Are you having the food catered? Are you prepping, cooking, cleaning and tidying up the house by yourself? Do you have house help? Do you have an extra family member who can help you with cutting and washing pots and pans while you do the cooking? Will there be someone to help you when you are serving? Do you have a dishwasher in your kitchen? Is there a cook or a maid who can do all of the cleanup for you and put away all the clean dishes in the kitchen cupboards?  Do you have a spot where you can “hide” your pots and pans as you reheat food in them? Is your kitchen in an open space or is it in one corner of the house behind closed doors? Yes, there are many factors to consider! Do not compare yourself to others and do not allow others to do it either as your situation is more than likely different from others. Keep your current situation in mind and do the best you can. 

Experience has taught me that what others think suitable might not be suitable for you. Do whatever works for you by thinking everything through. Plan ahead where you are going to place your food on the table. Each platter or dish should have a designated spot so that you don’t have to think about where to place the piping hot dish while it is in your hands. Please refer to the other blog posts on party planning as I have gone into more details there. It should all look effortless where in fact you have spent several hours preparing yourself and your home for your guests.
cobb salad
In the past I used to be very concerned about having everything piping hot. Now, I have discovered a way of avoiding stress by having a couple of items that can be served at room temperature such as appetizers, salads and yogurt based items. Also, I always cook on the day of the party. As I am done with a dish, I plate it and let it cool. Then I cover it tightly with aluminium foil and leave it on the counter. An hour before I am ready to serve dinner, I preheat the oven to 350F and place all the dishes in there for 15mins. Then I lower the temperature to 200F and leave the food in there until I am ready to serve. Naan bread is a bit tricky to warm up. I find that it dries up in the oven if you place it in there directly. I usually warm up it up on a frying pan on the stove and keep it in a hot pot or I wrap 5 naans in foil and keep it in the oven along with the other food.

Here’s an example from the last dinner I held at my home. There were 16 of us and half the guests were children. When there are several ages at a dinner party, lots of factors have to be taken into consideration.  Some of the dishes were spicy, while others were very mild. As usual, I had a table for dinner items and another table for dessert, tea, juice, water and pop. This way there was something for everyone. The same goes for desserts. I always make a fruit platter and on this day I used honey dew melon, pineapple, green seedless grapes, strawberries and kiwi. Fruit is always a great idea as almost everyone will eat fruit. I had brownies for the kids which I had prepared in cupcake liners. I had laid out several colorful bowls for homemade mango icecream. Tea was in a thermos with tea cups, milk and sugar right there for whoever needed it. Lemonade, pop and water were on a tray with lots of glasses and ice. This is the menu we had.
menu planning
Dinner Party Menu

Macaroni, vegetable and cream cheese puffs
Tamarind chutney
Sweet chill Thai sauce
Cucumber and mint raita
Mexican cob salad
Naan 
Chicken biryani
Hara masala chicken
Seekh Kebab
Tandoori Chicken
Tuna Kebabs
Lemonade
Tea
Pop
Fruit platter
Home made brownies
Home made mango ice cream
veggie puffs
As you can tell from the menu, 6 items needed to be warmed up. I prepared the biryani using the oven method for steaming in two separate oven proof dishes two hours before dinner was going to be served.  I took them out of the oven and left them on the counter tightly covered with foil until I was ready to serve dinner. I then placed naan, hara masala chicken, tandoori chicken, tuna kebabs and seekh kebabs in the oven. When I was ready to serve dinner, all I had to do at that point was wear my oven mitts and place the dishes and platters on the designated spots and dinner was served. This method has created controversies in the past as some people think that it makes the food dry or that the flavours might disappear. Ideally the kebabs will be barbecued by one person while the curries were being heated by another and everything being served by another. This is not the case in my house, so I do what works for me and so should you. It’s nice to be a relaxed host who doesn’t need each and every guest helping out. That takes the fun out of being a guest. We all work hard in our kitchens in our own homes. We want to be pampered and enjoy dinner when we are invited somewhere else. 

Make your guests have a pleasurable experience when they are at your house by having everything ready beforehand so that you can spend maximum time with them. Obviously this isn’t always possible especially when you have an occasion at home with more than 30 guests. Then you surely need the help of whoever is willing to help you.

Happy entertaining!

A.K.
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Kale Caesar Salad- a delicious alternative to the usual. 

7/23/2014

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kale caesar salad
kale caesar salad

Caesar salad is of course 1 of the most popular salads out there if not the most. It’s on nearly every restaurant menu and is typically made with romaine lettuce, croutons, caesar dressing and parmesan cheese. But, there are hundreds of variations and you can try different dressings, greens, and veggies. Here’s a super simple alternate- Kale Caesar Salad! For a great Iftar pairing, have this with some Chicken Corn Soup (pictured below) in this stormy weather.  W.P
chicken corn soup
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The Obligatory Chicken & Rice Casserole

7/9/2014

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easy chicken and rice casserole
easy chicken and rice casserole
Have you ever noticed the endless array of mushroom soup casserole recipes online? I might have tried my hand at a chicken and cream of mushroom soup combo back in university in an attempt to make a decent fast meal, but never used the combo to make a casserole with rice and other ingredients. So when I had some extra shredded, cooked chicken from a roast chicken the night before and a can of mushroom soup (what! I actually had both at hand? shocking!) I gave it a go. The additional ingredients I used are what made this casserole delicious. But play around and use whatever you have in the fridge to give this your own twist.   W.P

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