And because misery loves company, I figured that from now on, I’ll share my five favourite pins of the week on Fridays, so that you can drool over these pretty photos too.

And hey, while you’re at it… maybe you should sign up for Pinterest too. :)

Upside Down Clementine Cakes (Verses from my Kitchen)

Source: versesfrommykitchen.com via Isabelle on Pinterest

Grapefruit Limoncello (Food for my Family)

Source: foodformyfamily.com via Isabelle on Pinterest

Celeriac Soup with Crispy Lemon Zest (Food and Style)

Source: foodandstyle.com via Isabelle on Pinterest

Spicy Orange Shrimp (Sunshine and Smile)

Source: sunshineandsmile.com via Isabelle on Pinterest

Orange Toasted Pecan Granola (Heather’s Dish)

Source: heathersdish.com via Isabelle on Pinterest

Fresh tuna is fancy and extravagant and worthy of a special occasion. Canned tuna is cheap and functional and worthy of a frantic I-need-dinner-on-the-table-in-20-minutes-flat Thursday night.

I’m as guilty as anyone else, mind you. Back when I was a broke-ass university student, canned tuna was a regular staple in my diet, mostly because I could stock up on large quantities whenever I found a good sale. The fanciest I’d ever get with my tuna is a quick-and-dirty pasta puttanesca, which consisted of a can of tuna, a jar of marinara sauce, some drained capers and a handful of canned black olives, which I’d then toss with whatever pasta I happened to have on hand. It was quick, easy… and most important of all, dead cheap.

Now that I can afford to spend a little more on my grocery bill, though, canned tuna is a once-in-a-blue moon thing for me – usually when I’m feeling under the weather and a craving strikes me for a freshly toasted tuna salad sandwich with a cup of soup.

This recipe from Aurora Importing might just change my mind, though. For one, their Allessia brand oil-packed tuna comes in a pretty glass jar to show off the big chunks of tuna within, which have a rich, meaty flavour that’s nothing at all like the canned tuna of my university days.  Plus it’s ridiculously fast – from start to finish, I had dinner on the table in 20 minutes flat.

The only change I made to the recipe was to add some canned black olives, and a sprinkling of red pepper flakes for added spice. The La Bomba antipasto spread also gives the dish a depth of flavour that belies its short cook time, along with a mellow heat – feel free to adjust the amount to suit your preferences. (Also, there’s something rather awesome about a spread whose name literally translates to “The Bomb”… because it is.)

Even The Boy gave it his seal of approval and inhaled an entire bowl, which is rather impressive when you consider he normally wouldn’t touch canned fish with a ten foot pole. Looks like canned tuna might just be making a comeback at my house!

This recipe was part of this month’s Recipideo Roundup for Aurora Importing.  Unfortunately, this month’s contest is now over, but I’d highly recommend subscribing to their Youtube channel so that you can catch next month’s Recipideo and take part the competition.  All you have to do is watch the Recipideo, make the featured recipe at home, then submit a photo of the finished dish on the Aurora website. There’s a $50 certificate for My Italian Cantina up for grabs each month, which will buy you an awful lot of that lovely Allessia tuna!

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Disclosure: I was provided with all the ingredients needed to make this recipe by Aurora Importing in exchange for writing this post.  All opinions are 100% mine.

This recipe was part of this month’s Recipideo Roundup for Aurora Importing – this month’s contest is now over, but I’d highly recommend subscribing to their channel so that you can take part in next month’s competition.  All you have to do is watch the Recipideo, make the featured recipe at home, then submit a photo of the finished dish. There’s a $50 certificate for My Italian Cantina up for grabs each month!

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True confession. I’m a total muffin fiend.

Which is strange, considering I’m rather lukewarm about cupcakes, despite the fact that they’re really just cakey muffins… but then again, I’m a woman, and we women are entitled to have a few foibles. (Though I may have more than just a few foibles. I may have a LOT, in fact.)

In particular, I like chunky, substantial sorts of muffins.  Muffins that are loaded with flavour and texture, all the better to kick your tastebuds into wakefulness after a long night’s sleep. Muffins like these.

They’ve got an addictively chewy bite, a not-too-sweet nutty flavour that’s subtly spiced with cinnamon, and they’re chock-full of tender apple chunks. In other words, anything but boring. Plus they’re stupidly good for you without being all in-your-face about it like a bran muffin (which, as we all know, is just a hockey puck of sawdust pretending to be a real muffin).

When Rosie from Sweetapolita mentioned on Twitter yesterday that she was making muffins with Bob’s Red Mill 10-grain cereal, I realised that I’d been sitting on this post for quite some time and hadn’t gotten around to sharing it yet… and since I’ve been rather neglectful lately, what better time than now to share?

I usually make these muffins with apple, since I usually have one or two of those kicking around in my fruit bowl for occasions such as these, but this recipe really is a rather nice blank canvas that can be embellished in whatever way suits your fancy – switch up the apples for berries, pears, chopped dates or good ol’ raisins, add a handful of nuts, change up the spices or go nuts with all of the above.

Can’t find Bob’s Red Mill 10-grain cereal?  You can use any of their other multigrain cereals, or just buy a different brand altogether. (Canadians, ever wonder why anyone would buy Red River Cereal?  This is why.)

These freeze beautifully, too. I like to bag them up in pairs, so that I can just grab them on my way out the door in the morning for a quick and healthy workday breakfast. (It helps that there’s a toaster oven in the kitchenette at work to warm them up, mind you, but you can also leave them out to defrost on the counter overnight if you don’t have that option.)

Obviously, though, they’re never better than they are fresh and hot right out of the oven. Which is why you should make a batch of these right now.  Seriously.

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(Another thing you should make right now is Pasta with Spicy Tuna Sauce.  It’s easy, it’s delicious, and it’s Aurora Importing’s Recipideo challenge for January!  Make your own twist on the recipe and submit your photo by January 23rd for a chance to win a $50 certificate for My Italian Cantina. )

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I guess that might explain why it’s already mid-January and I’ve yet to make most of my cold-weather standbys, aside from my mom’s pot roast with onions and this ragu.

A proper slow-simmered ragu is one of those rituals I normally reserve for the very coldest days of the winter, when a border of lacy frost frames the view from our bedroom window, and the chill wind sends little tendrils of cold slithering out from beneath the kitchen cupboards to tickle my toes.  On those days, the easiest way to combat the cold is to put on a pair of thick wooly socks and put a big pot of ragu into the oven to simmer away for the better part of the afternoon.

My basic ragu has evolved from Jonathan Levitt’s recipe for Short Rib Ragu, which was published in the Boston Globe some years ago.  The original is deceptively simple – meaty short ribs, tomato paste, onion, garlic, good-quality tinned tomatoes and star anise.

Yep. Star anise. As weird as it might sound, the star anise enhances the “meaty” flavour of the sauce. (At least, that’s what Heston Blumenthal says, and given that he’s an insane genius when it comes to food, I’m rather inclined to believe it’s true… and I can personally vouch for the fact that the final product does not in any way taste licoricy.)

Over time, I’ve adjusted the ingredients somewhat, and tend to vary my meat of choice depending on my mood and what happened to look good at the meat counter when I went shopping.

This version uses a bone-in pork roast, but short ribs, oxtail and even bone-in lamb stew are good choices – the magic is in the bones, which give the ragu a silky, rich quality that no boneless cut could ever match.

The real secret to this ragu, though, is patience.  The patience to wait to thoroughly brown the pork roast on all sides, the patience to gently saute a mixture of onions and tomato paste until the onions yield and soften, and the patience to wait a whole three hours before eating your ragu, no matter how delicious the house might smell in the meantime. (However, you do not need the patience to wait until dinnertime to have a glass of wine from that bottle you just opened… go ahead, you’ve earned it.)

It’s worth every minute of the time it takes to prepare.  There’s a deeply flavourful, incredibly tender meat sauce awaiting you on the other side. Pinky swear.  And as a bonus, this recipe makes enough sauce for several dinners, which means you’ll have plenty left over to store in the freezer for a wintry day.

The timing couldn’t be better, either.  The local news says our little reprieve will soon be over, and we’ll soon be returning to our regularly scheduled winter, snow and all.  And when it does, I’ll be ready… I’ve got a cute new parka, a warm wooly hat, a big pail of sidewalk de-icer, a few packages of Mexican hot chocolate, and a stockpile of this Pork Ragu in the freezer. Winter? I say bring it!
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I may be Canadian born and bred, but like our namesake geese and retirees from Quebec, my natural instinct is to fly south as soon as the mercury starts to drop. (Unlike the geese and the retirees, however, I have a job that prevents me from actually acting on that instinct)

As much as I dislike those dreary winter days, though, I absolutely love the kind of food those frosty days tend to inspire.

The lower the mercury plunges, the more I want to hide indoors all day, cooking up hearty winter dishes in a big heavy-bottomed casserole until the light shining through the kitchen window softens into a cozy, steamy blur and the house fills with delicious aromas of long-simmered goodness. Forget tobogganing, snowboarding and ice skating… cooking is my favourite winter sport.

In many ways, risotto isn’t really a winter dish, especially since I’m pretty sure I make it more often in spring and summer than I do in the colder months, but it definitely has that warming, substantial sort of quality that I think is essential for winter cooking… especially when flavoured with bolder, earthier sorts of flavours like wild mushrooms and truffles to give it a heft that the lighter, fresher variations from spring and summer usually don’t have.

To make this particular risotto, I started off with this month’s featured Recipideo from Aurora Importing, which demonstrates just how easy it is to make a creamy risotto with fresh peas.  Since it’ll be a few more months before fresh peas are in season, I decided to adapt the recipe to make a classic risotto al funghi by flavouring my risotto with rehydrated dried porcinis, subbing a blend of fresh maitake and cremini mushrooms for the peas, and then finished the whole thing off with a small drizzle of black truffle oil for a deep, intense earthiness.

After trudging around in the cold all day taking care of errands and such, it was exactly what I was craving.  Soothing and rich, and just a little bit indulgent… and best of all, ready and on the table in just under half an hour.  What more could a girl ask for on a slushy winter’s day?

(This post is my entry for Aurora Importing’s First Friday Recipideo Roundup – this round ends on Jan 3rd, but don’t worry if you didn’t get a chance to participate… a new challenge is just around the corner. Just subscribe to the Recipideo channel on YouTube to get a heads up when the next Recipideo is posted, then participate by trying out your own spin on their featured video recipe for the month, taking a photo of your finished result, and submitting it online. There’s a $50 gift certificate for Aurora products up for grabs each month!)

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It’s hard to believe another year is almost over, but with just a little over 11 hours remaining, I figured I’d take the time to look back and give a few old favourites one last look before moving on to the shiny newness that awaits in 2012.

Favourite Post: Smoked Brisket Burgers with Onion Jam

Probably one of the most involved recipes I’ve ever made, Smoked Brisket Burgers is also one of the few posts that’s involved a cooperative effort between myself and The Boy (obviously, he was all over anything that let him use both the meat grinder AND the smoker on the same day).  Can’t wait for summer… it’s really hard to beat a juicy burger fresh off the charcoal grill.

Most Popular Post: Spicy Peanut Noodles

Holy crap, do people ever love this post.  Not that I blame them… it’s not only a super-quick weeknight dinner, it’s also loaded with fresh vegetables and spicy, peanutty sauce. I’m still a little amazed at the fact that this one little post accounts for nearly 25% of my traffic on most days, though.

Favourite Photo: Buttered Baby Carrots

There’s something about the blown-out whites, the bright mixture of colours and the fine dusting of dirt on the freshly-picked carrots that I just love.

Favourite Event: Eat, Write, Retreat!

Thanks to a generous sponsorship from the kind folks at Canadian Beef, I was lucky enough to attend my first blog conference, Eat Write Retreat!, last spring in Washington DC.  I learned a few tricks, met some great people and stuffed my face for three days straight. Fingers crossed, I’ll get a chance to do it all over again in 2012.

Favourite Discovery: Killer Artichoke Bread

I first tried Killer Artichoke Bread as part of a Secret Recipe Club post, and oh my gosh is it ever delicious.  Honestly, you owe it to yourself to make it… just make sure you’ve got some guests over to enjoy it with you!

Three Goals for 2012:

1. Eat Less Meat: No, I’m not turning into a vegetarian.  I will, however, be making a really effort to eat meat-free meals at least once or twice a week.  I like veggies, and it’s about time they got more of a starring role on my plate instead of sitting alongside a big chunk of meat. Hopefully this means more interesting vegetarian meals on the blog over the next few months. :)

2. Take More Photos: About 80% of my photos right now involve food.  This year, I’m going to try to change that to 50%…. it’s a beautiful world out there, and I should be doing a better job of capturing it.

3. Make Charcuterie. For Real.: We’ve been flirting with the idea of sausage-making and have made some pretty kick-ass fresh sausages over the past year, but we’ve yet to take the plunge to more advanced techniques like dry curing.  This year, I plan on changing that. My life needs more duck prosciutto. :)

Wishing you a very, very happy New Year.

xo,
Isabelle

Tonight we pack up our stuff and hit the road to spend a few days of our holiday break with my family.  The forecast for Montreal is currently calling for cold and crisp weather, which means I’m packing a pig pile of knitting and a couple of good books to keep me occupied indoors – I may be a Canadian gal, but I’ve never been a fan of cold temperatures.

Before I go, though, I’m sharing my recipe for Cappuccino Biscotti from this year’s holiday bake-a-thon.  They’re one of my favourite biscotti concoctions – dense, crunchy cookie slices laced with a sweet cappuccino-inspired blend of coffee, cinnamon and chocolate.

They’re a little sweeter than my usual biscotti, mostly because I opted to use milk chocolate chips, since bittersweet chocolate didn’t feel quite right in this context.  Thankfully, a big handful of toasted walnuts adds a slight hint of bitter that cuts through all that sweetness, and adds another level of crunch.

Obviously, there’s no better accompaniment for these crisp cookies than a big, frothy cappuccino, a comfy chair and someone special to snuggle with (either of the four-legged or two-legged variety) when you can find a quiet moment to unwind after all that holiday madness.

And speaking of quiet moments to unwind… I’ll be taking a short break for the next few days to celebrate Christmas with my family.

Wishing you and yours a very, very happy holiday season full of good eats, good company and good times.  See you on the flipside!

(In an unrelated note, the folks over at Aurora Importing are running a new monthly contest called First Friday Recipideo Roundup – all you have to do to win is try out your own spin on their featured video recipe for the month, take a photo of your finished result, and submit it online. There’s a $50 gift certificate for Aurora products up for grabs each month!

The deadline for December’s challenge has just been extended to January 3rd, so there’s still time to get cooking – and considering the challenge involves rich, creamy risotto with fresh peas, it’s definitely worth checking out.  Keep an eye out in early January for my contribution!)

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While I may be pretty grinchy when it comes to the holidays, there are still a few things about the season that really jingle my bells, with my very favourite being the multi-day orgy of cookie baking that takes up a good part of early December each year.

Yep, Christmas carols and gift shopping may make me break into hives, Christmas specials on TV might make me nauseous (and for the record, Glee’s Christmas episode this year Shall Never Be Spoken Of Again), and I might get a little itchy just thinking about the mall for most of December… but give me a sunny afternoon of cookie-baking in an oven-warmed kitchen filled with the aromas of vanilla and cinnamon, and I’m instantly in the Christmas spirit (and possibly dusted with flour from head to toe… but that’s a whole ‘nother story).

Every year, I try to sneak a new recipe or two into my repertoire, on top of making my usual favourites like Mint-Chocolate Crackles or Gingerbread Biscotti.

This year, I decided to try my hand at one of my favourite treats from my trip to San Francisco in October – Blue Bottle Coffee’s golden-yellow snickerdoodle cookies scented with saffron and vanilla bean.

I ate plenty of delicious things over those four days in SF, but those cookies rank very close to the top of my list (the number one slot belongs to Fleur de Lys’ super-buttery bacon brioche). I could eat a pile of those cookies for breakfast, lunch and dinner for days on end, and still never grow tired of them.

And since I can’t exactly afford to hop on a plane every time I need to satisfy a craving, figuring out a way to make the cookies at home seemed like a more cost-effective (and delicious) option.  So I bravely set out to make a copycat cookie in my own kitchen, risking my waistline and butter supply in the process… because I’m just THAT dedicated.

These aren’t exactly the cookies I had, but they’re darned close – addictively tender, sweet and aromatic all at the same time, with a golden saffron-yellow colour speckled with vanilla bean. I still haven’t figured out how to duplicate the slight chewiness of Blue Bottle’s version, but mine make up for it with a soft, almost-cakey texture.

I do recommend splurging on good ingredients for this one – good-quality butter, fresh cinnamon and saffron, and a really aromatic vanilla bean make a huge difference in the flavour of the final result.  And hey, it’s the holidays… why not splurge a little? Believe me, it’ll be worth your while.

So if you’re having a little trouble getting into the holiday spirit this year (or if you’re feeling a little stabby after a trip to the mall), just throw on a few of your favourite holiday tunes, roll up your sleeves and preheat the oven.  Believe me, once you pop a batch of these babies in the oven and fill your house with the delicious smell of baking cookies, it’ll feel like Christmas in no time!

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No, I’m talking about the fact that I take something that’s perfectly good just as it is, like my mother’s four-ingredient pot roast, and throw all sorts of extra things into the pot because I’m somehow convinced that it’ll come out better.  In case you’re curious, it doesn’t.  The only thing I manage to do is add more time and trouble, with no discernible improvement.

I’m getting better, though. I now know I really only need four ingredients when I make my mother’s pot roast, and successfully fight off the urge to increase it to five (or six… or seven…).  And I make dishes like this soup, which is simultaneously one of the most flavourful and delicious dairy-free soups in my arsenal, despite being the very essence of simplicity – roasted kabocha squash, golden sauteed onions, coconut milk and broth, plus just a dab or two of red curry and lemongrass paste.  And yet, it’s so much more than that.

Kabocha squash is a recent discovery for me, despite the fact that I’ve always been a massive fan of winter squash. I’d unconsciously been avoiding it in favour of the more familiar butternut and acorn squashes, but I’ve grown to love their drier, starchier Asian cousin in recent years. It’s quite good when roasted, albeit a little dry, but in soup it’s a revelation – velvety soft and unctuously thick in texture, sweet and subtly nutty in flavour, and with a cheerfully intense yellow-orange hue that is totally unlike its unassumingly nubbly forest-green exterior.  (Pinky swear, all I’ve done to these photos is minor exposure and sharpness adjustments – that colour is REAL, my friends.)

The combination of kabocha with coconut milk and red curry is actually rather common in southeast Asian cuisines,   particular soup has all those characteristics, plus that complex sweet-spicy-salty-sour balance of flavours that makes Thai food so irresistible, and a hint of heat that lingers on the tongue and in your belly, warming you right down to the tips of your toes.

Hard to believe a bumpy dark green exterior can conceal so much deliciousness, no? Consider this proof positive that appearances can sometimes be misleading, and that sometimes it’s best to leave well enough alone.

Not that I plan on sticking to pure simplicity all the time, mind you. After all, sometimes gussying up an old favourite can have really spectacular results too.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to add some saffron and vanilla bean to a perfectly good snickerdoodle recipe.  Because I can (and probably should).

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