Design Cook Love

Yummy Turkey-Apple Burger

2013-05-03T12:37:00.000-04:00

With Sweet Potato Buns

About 8 weeks ago i changed my lifestyle, changed everything about my eating habits, started to do a lot more research into healthier eating options, its been an amazing journey that is even starting to reflect on my palette. Things i used to absolutely starting to taste really good to me, i don't get cravings for junk anymore, i am starting to understand food better than i ever did, its been a learning process, trying new things, taking risks and hoping it pays off. I appreciate my body even more now and because i will always love food i am trying my best to make everything i eat an experience, trying new recipes and replacing a lot of my ingredients with healthier versions... so far so good.

I wanted a burger yesterday so i decided to make a healthy one, i had come across a recipe on the social hermit's blog, that featured a turkey burger patty that had shredded apple in it.. sounded delicious; so yes of course i went for it, the addition of the apples makes it even juicier and adds a little bit of sweetness.

To make my meal even healthier and more filling, i grilled some sweet potato and used it as the buns, the trick to making your baked sweet potato perfect is to add a little starch to it, i always use some corn starch but tapioca starch will do as well.
I made my burger with healthy toppings, some grilled onions and sweet peppers that i lightly sprayed with olive oil and grilled while i made the patty and half a cup of spinach that i had sliced, i also had fat free cheese and a teaspoon of low sodium ketchup and of course some Sriracha hot sauce for my favorite spicy kick.

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Turkey-apple burger

Ingredients(serves 1)
2 oz of lean ground turkey
1/4 of any apple of your choice ,(i used Fuji), Shredded with a grater
1 tsp of garlic powder
1 tsp of onion powder
1 tsp of paprika
1 tsp of Olive oil
2 tsp of Worcestershire sauce
Salt
Black pepper

Spray a pan or a stove-grill with some cooking spray or lightly oil with olive oil
Over medium to low heat, put the ball in the pan and press down till it becomes as flat as you'd like, some people like their burger patty a little thick
Cook for about 3-5 minutes on each side, depending on how thick it is or until the juices running out on the sides are clear.
If you are going to use cheese, ( i used Kraft fat free singles) put it on the patty to warm up and melt a little when you are halfway on the other side.
Serve with your bun and toppings

Baked Sweet Potato Buns

This recipe will also work well if you are trying to make sweet potato fries, they will come out delicious and crispy, just cut your sweet potatoes into fries cut and follow the same steps

Ingredients(serves 1)
2 round slices of sweet potato (approx 150g)
1 tsp of corn starch
1/2 tsp of cinnamon(optional)
Olive oil spray
Black pepper
Salt

Pre-heat oven to 420F
In a bowl mix together, Corn starch, Cinnamon, Salt and Pepper
Lightly coat the sweet potato slices in this mixture
Spray both sides of each slice lightly with olive oil
Bake on the bottom oven rack for 25 minutes,don't forget to turn halfway

NOTE: If it is sweet potato fries , it will take less time, check after the first 10 minutes to see if the bottom is browning and then flip, make sure to space the fries properly, no potato should overlap, being well spaced will allow it to get crispy. Also since the potato takes longer to bake, i'd advise to get that in the oven before you start on the burger patty.

Easter Recipe- Shepherd's pie

2013-04-03T14:39:00.001-04:00

With Sweet Potatoes

Made Shepherds pie at home on Easter Sunday, My dad is not a fan of lamb and i was looking for a way to keep it interesting but still healthy. I made a really large sized one in a 11X9 inch glass baking pan and forgot to take a picture, i also had smaller ones made so i could eat for lunch the next day which is what is pictured above. Traditionally Lamb is used for Easter meals so this is my spin on the classic Shepherd's pie, which is a lamb dish made with ground lamb meat and mashed russet potatoes, I used sweet potatoes for a healthier option and also replaced the traditional cream with 2% milk, i also used low fat canola butter and omitted the eggs, still tasted amazing. The taste of the fresh herbs makes all the difference and brings it to life

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Ingredients

3 Large Sweet Potatoes
2% Milk
3 tbsp of Light Canola butter
1 large Russet Potatoes
2 Carrots, peeled and diced small
1000g of ground Lamb meat
2 tbsp Olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons tomato paste
1 cup chicken broth
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons freshly chopped rosemary leaves
1 teaspoon freshly chopped thyme leaves
3/4 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels
3/4 cup fresh or frozen peas
1 long chili, diced with seed
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 400F
Peel potatoes and cut into quarters then set in a pan to boil until soft and mash-able
In a bowl mix milk and butter and set in a microwave for about 30 seconds till butter melts
In another saucepan, over medium heat, sautee onions and carrots in olive oil for about 2 minutes or until soft
Add in Garlic and Chili for a minute, then steer in the Ground Lamb along with some salt and pepper
Keep steering until lamb is browned and cooked, then add the flour and steer some more for about a minute
Next, Steer in Tomato paste, Worcestershire, Rosemary, Thyme and Chicken broth, and leave to simmer over medium to low heat for about 10 minutes or until sauce thickens,taste for seasoning and add some more salt if needed.
Meanwhile, remove boiled potato from pot into a bowl, mash sparingly with a fork
Add in the butter and milk mixture and use a hand mixer to gently mix on low for about 30 seconds
Add some salt and Black Pepper for taste
Add corn and peas to the sauce, and then layer sauce flat in a lubricated baking pan and top with mashed potatoes using a spatula, taking care to fill the sides first to prevent sauce from bubbling to the top when baking.
Set in the oven to bake for 25 minutes until the sauce starts to bubble in the glass and the top is lightly golden brown, you can set oven to broil for about a minute to ensure than the top is browned and crisp
Remove from oven and leave to cool for a few minutes before serving
Enjoy

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Quinoa whole wheat pancakes

2013-03-28T18:47:00.001-04:00

With Sauteed Cabbage and Carrots

Pancakes have to be my favorite breakfast food, now in my bid to change my lifestyle and eat healthier, i am trying to incorporate healthy options into what i love to eat, so i am making realistic decisions rather than irrational ones. I am not really a syrup fan and apart from using reduced fruit sauces to eat my pancakes, sauteed vegetables are my usual go to. You can add diced cooked chicken into the vegetables for an extra oomph!!!

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Ingredients (serves 1) (approx 350 cal)

3 Tbsp of Whole Wheat Flour
1/8 cup of Quinoa, (cooked according to package)
1 medium sized egg
2 Tsp of Honey
1/4 cup of skimmed milk
1/2 of grated carrot
1/2 cup of grated white cabbage
1/4 onion (finely sliced)
1/2 tsp of curry
1/4 tsp of chili flakes
Oil spray
Salt

Heat a fry pan over medium heat with a tsp of oil
Saute onions until translucent and then add in the carrot and cabbage, Keep stirring for about 2-3 minutes until they are a little soft
Add in curry, chili and salt for taste and take off heat
In a bowl, break in the eggs into the flour and add the honey and milk, whisk them all together until smooth
Add in the cooked quinoa and stir
Fry in a pan over medium heat, make sure to lubricate pan first with oil spray or a little olive oil, about 1 teaspoon
Measure batter for frying using 2 full spoons of a small size laddle into the middle of the pan, do not swirl pan,
When bubbles start to rise, flip pancakes to the other side and leave to brown for about a minute.
Serve topped with sauteed vegetables and enjoy

Baked Red Snapper and Asian Spiced Broccoli

2013-03-26T10:22:00.000-04:00

Healthy Meals

Recently, i have altered my nutrition, making better, healthier choices, trying to eat more meals a day with lesser portions, incorporating as much fiber and vegetables as i can into my meals, and generally deciding to be a better version of myself.. it has not been easy trust me, but i have sure learnt a lot, i have learnt spanking new recipes that i will be sharing. Most of them super easy to make, still as delicious and all under between 200-400 calories. I will tag them all as healthy meals so they would be easier to find, and will even create a tab for them at the top of the blog.... I am willing to learn and hear from you too, so if you have a healthy recipe you want me to post here, send me an email or leave a comment

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Baked Red Snapper(serves 1) (250 calories approx)

Fish is an amazing healthy option for proteins, delicate so does not take any time to cook but still a bit tricky because you can easily over cook them, Snapper is one of the non-oily fish, does not contain as much oil as salmon and has lesser calories. An ounce of red snapper contains about 28 calories [My Fitness Pal], depending on the size you buy, its usually a small fish.
Ingredients
1 small whole red snapper, (cleaned, guts removed and fins trimmed)
1/2 small onion (sliced)
3 cloves of garlic(minced)
1 tbsp of fish sauce
1 tsp of oyster sauce(optional)
1 small lemon
1/4 cup of dry white wine
1 tsp of Sriracha hot sauce, or more if you like heat
1 long hot chili, (sliced)
Olive oil spray
Freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 375degF

In a small bowl, mix together onions, garlic, fish sauce, oyster sauce, Sriracha.
Make three scores on both sides of the fish, rub the earlier mixture around the fish, making sure to reach inside the slits, and the cavity, stuff the remaining onions inside the fish cavity and head.
Leave to marinade for at least 30 minutes, if you are going to marinade longer, store in a fridge, but make sure to bring it back to room temperature for even cooking before putting in the oven
Lightly spray a baking pan or oven safe fry pan like i used with olive oil, place fish in the middle, pour the white wine on top, spray the top of the fish lightly with olive oil,squeeze half the lemon, and sprinkle some black pepper
Bake for 20 minutes in the middle of the oven.

Asian spiced Broccoli (serves 1)(approx 90 calories)

Broccoli is one of the fastest veggies to whip up, i just discovered my love for it, and i have been experimenting daily coming up with delicious ways to eat it.

Ingredients
1 cup of broccoli flowerets
Half Tbsp of Olive oil
Freshly sliced long chili, keep the seeds for more heat
2 cloves of garlic finely diced or crushed
Half teaspoon of sesame oil
Fish sauce for taste
Squeeze of lemon

Put some salted water in a pan and bring to the boil
When water is boiled, put broccoli in it and leave to boil for only 2 minutes and drain.
In a small bowl mix together all the other ingredients, taste and adjust fish sauce accordingly,and toss broccoli in it
Serve with fish, and garnish with other half of lemon

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100 Truths About Me

2013-03-20T18:51:00.001-04:00

That's right, Jumping on the bandwagon for this meme.
Its been a while since i wrote anything personal on here...... been meaning to but its kinda hard to revert it to a personal blog after publicizing it this much... We'll see though, i'll try to keep you guys posted intermittently :)

1. Last drink: Water! trying to do that whole 8 glasses a day ish
2. Last phone call: Some scam number from DC telling me i won a trip to the Bahamas for two... sigh i really wish it were true

3. Last text message: My sister
4. Last song you listened to: Pusha T's Trust you.. found out he is touring with Fabolous now. psyched!!!
5. Last time you cried: Some movie i watched a few days ago.. forgotten the name now

6. Dated someone twice: Yes! Secondary school though... i have learned as an adult that if i break up with you once... obviously something is fundamentally wrong... because i dont give up easy
7. Been cheated on: Yes I have.
8. Kissed someone: Yes.
9. Lost someone special: Yes :(
10. Been depressed: Nope
11. Been drunk and threw up: Yes…I am still ashamed of this.... happened once, thankfully i had already gotten home before it happened... sworn off vodka now... shame cos cranberry vodka used to be my drankkk

LIST FOUR FAVORITE COLOURS:
12. Black
13. Green
14. Pink
15. White

HAVE YOU:
16. Made new friends: No been a while since i made friends though... sigh
17. Fallen out of love: Yeah
18. Laughed until you cried: Yes! Recommended therapy!
19. Met someone who changed you: Yes, most people i come across impact me in some way
20. Found out who your true friends were: Yes!!! thank God for them
21. Found out someone was talking about you: Arent people always... we just work to make sure that its for positive things nowadays
22. Kissed anyone on your friends list: Yeah
23. How many people on your friends list do you know in real life: If its twitter then maybe 20%
25. Do you have any pets: no... someone promised me a dog for my 25th this year :) we will see how that goes
26. Do you want to change your name: Nope love both my names
27. What did you do for your last birthday: Dinner with friends and then we went to see Cirque du Soliel perform
28. What time did you wake up today: 4am.... slept early though
29. What were you doing at midnight last night: Sleeping
30. Name something you CANNOT wait for: Work to start
31. Last time you saw your father: Last Night
32. What is one thing you wish you could change about your life: 3 years of binge eating in my undergrad that i am still paying for today
33. What are you listening to right now: Wrath of Caine - Pusha T
34. Have you ever talked to a person named Tom: Yes my thesis prof
35. What’s getting on your nerves right now?: Been sneezing uncontrollably for about an hour
36. Most visited webpage: www.designcooklove.com
37. Current city: Brampton, Canada
38. Nicknames: Im not sure i have any...
39. Relationship Status: Happily dating the one who gets me entirely
40. Zodiac Sign: Leo
41. Male or female or transgendered: Female
42. Primary School: St Glorias Maryland
43. Middle School: NNSS Ojo
44. High school: ISL Lagos

45. Hair color: Colour 2.... lmaooo some kind of brown
46. Long/medium/short: medium? sigh wish i could write long but lets not deceive ourselves
47. Height: 5′ 7 and a half.... that half is important!!!
48. Do you have a crush on someone: Yeah.... constantly thinking of him.. LDRs are crazy
49: What do you like about yourself: My smile... Can-do attitude....
50. Piercings: Ears, have 3 on both
51. Tattoos: No... thinking of getting one for my 25th though... but i keep thinking of how the bible says you might not enter heaven... lol.. moving on
52. Righty or Lefty: Righty

FIRSTS:
53. First Surgery: None
54. First Piercing: Ears
55. First Best Friend: Bayo... still super close but calling him my bestfriend now is pushing it
56. First Sport you Joined: Basketball... played in the Nuga games in my first year at Uni
57. First Pet: Shadow... hardly call him. a pet sef.. he lived in a cage at the back of the house... loool
58. First Vacation: Ghana... fun times
59. First Concert: Styl-pkus... i remember crying and screaming my head of for Zeal * covers face in shame*
60. First Crush:Shola Akisanmi... kai i was gone

61. Eating: just had some peanuts
62. Drinking: Water
63. Already missing: Constantly missing you mean
64. I’m about to: Skype with the mister
65. Listening to: Didnt i already answer this twice
66. Thinking about: Finishing my photography class.. im so lazy
67. Waiting for: Life to begin in august
68. Want kids: Yes!

69. Want to get married: Yes..of course.
70. Careers in mind: Balancing Food Engineering and Family Successfully

WHICH IS BETTER WITH THE OPPOSITE SEX?
71. Lips or eyes: Eyes
72. Hugs or kisses:Hugs no Kisses... No Hugs... errr
73. Shorter or taller: Taller..
74. Older or Younger: Older
75. Romantic or spontaneous: Romantic... i think Spontaneity is romantic though
76. Nice stomach or nice arms:err abs abs abs...
77. Sensitive or loud: Loud is so harsh...but i wouldn't want a guy to be too sensitive
78. Hook-up or relationship: Ive actually never hooked-up.. what is a hook-up....?
79. Trouble maker or hesitant: Trouble maker... they are fun... boring people are well.... boring

HAVE YOU EVER:
81. Drank hard liquor: Yes.
82. Lost glasses/contacts: Nope
83. Kissed on 1st date: Haha Yes
84: Broken someone’s heart: I think so... ok yes yes... let me not lie... not my fault if they cant resist me haha
85. Had your own heart broken:Yes.... Die Die Die..... lmaooo i kid i kid
86. Been arrested: Nope..
87. Turned someone down: Yes...
88. Cried when someone died: Yes :(
89. Liked a friend that is of the same sex: Nah

DO YOU BELIEVE IN:
90. Yourself: Yes. I gat this
91. Miracles: Yes.
92. Love at first sight: Nah.. stories that touch fam
93. Heaven: Yes
94. Santa Claus: No..
95. Kissing on the first date: i believe in going with the flow.. so yeah why not.
96. Angels: Yes.

ANSWER TRUTHFULLY:
97. Is there one person you want to be with right now?: YES!
98. Had more than one boyfriend/girlfriend at one time?: Nah.. we faithful up in here na
99. Wish you could change things in your past?: Yes…lots lots
100. Are you posting this as 100 Truths?: Yeah...... Been honest ... Dont belie me, just watch... haha

:) this was fun

Pasta and meatballs

2013-03-18T15:10:00.001-04:00

With Sphagettini

Pasta and meatballs is comfort food to me in its entirety, its easy food that everyone loves, especially when it is made correctly.
Meat balls can be made with ground beef, chicken, turkey or even pork and will still turn out amazing and juicy with the right recipe of course... and being the darling that i am, i am going to give you the easiest and most delicious meatball recipe you ever tasted.

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Meatballs (serves 2)

120g of ground meat( beef, chicken, go for lean chicken or turkey for a healthier option)
2 tbsp of italian seasoned breadcrumbs
1/8 cup of milk( you can use skimmed milk for a healthier option)
1 tsp of salt
1tbsp of Olive oil
1 tsp of onion powder
1/2 tsp of garlic powder
A dash of sriracha sauce if you like a little kick you can use any hot sauce or ground dry chili)
Freshly ground black pepper

Preheat broiler in oven

Add the milk and breadcrumbs together, stir until all lumps are dissolved
Make a whole in the center of the ground meat and add in the breadcrumb mixture, salt, oil, onion powder, garlic powder, black pepper and hot sauce.
Mix together with your hands, and then form small balls into the ridge of the palm of your hands
Place of a baking sheet sprayed with oil or lined with Parchment paper
Broil in the oven for 8 minutes or until lightly browned on all sides, turn halfway.

Pasta Sauce

1 Crushed/Blended Tomatoes
1/2 cup of Dry White wine
1/2 cup of Chicken/Beef Stock
1/2 small onions, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 tbsp of Olive oil
Salt
Chili
Stock cubes

In a pot over medium heat sautee onions and garlic until they become translucent and just starting to turn lightly brown
Deglaze the pot with the white wine and let the alcohol burn off for about 2 minutes, add in the tomatoes and stock and let it simmer for about 10 minutes
Season with salt, chili and stock cubes, and taste accordingly to adjust seasoning
Leave on low heat to simmer while you boil the pasta

Cook pasta according to instructions on packet until al-dente(firm to the bite)

Add browned meatballs into sauce and leave to simmer on medium to low heat for a few minutes
Then add in precooked Pasta and 2 table spoon of pasta water and stir until the sauce coats every strand of pasta, taste for seasoning and add a little salt if its lacking.
Garnish with Parmesan cheese and dried basil leaves

Serve Hot! and Enjoy!

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Take Out and Delivery in Lagos

2013-02-21T11:24:00.000-05:00

Take Out and Delivery in Lagos

Hey guys....
I know a huge percentage of my readers are based in Lagos and are real busy people... what i am about to tell you might blow your minds, in fact i believe i will deserve some sort of commendation when you are done reading.
How many people wish they can just sit home and order food from their favorite restaurants with prompt delivery, or staying in the office for lunch? Ordering takeout meals in Lagos just got super easy....

Introducing HELLOFOOD they are bringing the best restaurants to your doorsteps, they give you access to the menus of over 100 restaurants span across major areas of Lagos, to help with easy ordering and prompt delivery. This will most especially be an asset to companies by helping staff save time by simply ordering from the website... helps provide a variety of meals for lunch a far cry from the staple cafeteria food.
The price of meals are the same as when ordering eat in at the restaurants and delivery cost vary from free to reasonable amounts depending on the distance of the restaurant from your location.

this really is an innovative idea that is taking Lagos's food industry to the next level and i am sure you guys are excited.. a lot of my favorite restaurants are already on hello food and i am sure yours will be too, just go there to see the available restaurants right now...

They even have sharwama joints listed WHAT!!!!! if nothing sells this idea that should do it...

Check it out now

Chocolate-chip buttermilk pancake- Eggs benedict

2013-02-16T14:33:00.000-05:00

new!

Chocolate-chip buttermilk pancake- Eggs Benedict

Tried something new for Valentine breakfast, made chocolate chips buttermilk pancakes and decided to go a step further and use them as the basis for an egg benedict...... I love chocolate..... i loveeee pancakes and this buttermilk pancake recipe is the ULTIMATE. Light fluffy pancakes with melted chocolate surprises in each bite.... OMGGGGG.

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Chocolate chip buttermilk pancake Ingredients (makes 8 pancakes)

The buttermilk recipe is pretty basic..... very easy and should be a breeze for anyone with a fry-pan and skillet :)
1 cup of all purpose flour
1 egg
1 tbsp of sugar (i added a little bit more because i like it sweeter)
1 cup of buttermilk
2 tbsp of unsalted melted butter
1/4-1/2 cup of milk chocolate chips( you can use semi sweet)
1/2 tsp of baking powder
1/4 tsp of baking soda
1/3 tsp of vanilla extract

In a bowl mix the egg, buttermilk, butter and vanilla
In a bigger bowl mix the flour, baking soda, baking powder, sugar and salt

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix gently with a wooden spoon
Do not over-mix..... lumps are good for fluffy pancakes
Add in the chocolate chips

In a pan over medium heat put in half a tbsp of butter, when it melts, swirl it around the pan
Pour in 1 cooking spoon full of batter.
When the top starts to show little bubbles and you can see the bottom browning should take about 3 minutes, flip to the other side

In a pre-heated oven, store the pancakes in an oven proof dish while you make the other batches.... its best served hot trust me...
Served topped with butter or your favorite syrup
Or like me you can try your had at Eggs Benedict using my recipe here.. replace the english muffin with 2/3 pancakes layered on each other

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Pasta with Shrimp, Anchovies and Tomatoes (Ultimate Cooking Course)

2013-02-11T13:05:00.001-05:00

Pasta with Shrimp, Anchovies and Tomatoes

My First Recipe from Gordon Ramsay's Ultimate Cookery Course, he used spaghetti and did not include shrimp, but i am a seafood lover, and frankly i love seeing a bit of protein in my food. I used whole wheat fettuccine in mine to make it healthier, tasted amazing still.... i also omitted the olives, because i am not a big fan. This would make for a good vegetarian healthy meal if the shrimp is omitted.

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Pasta with Shrimp, Anchovies and Tomatoes (serves 1)

100g of Fettuccine

Olive oil

2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

1 dried red chilli, finely chopped

5 medium-large size shrip, deshelled and deveined

Quarter of a 50g anchovies tin, drain and chopped
Quarter of a larger yellow bell pepper(seeded and sliced thinly.. added this mostly for color :))

1 tbsp of capers, drained and rinsed

100g of cherry tomatoes, halved

Cook the pasta until al dente according to instructions on package
Heat a frying pan with the olive oil and fry the garlic and anchovies for 1-2 minutes on medium heat until the anchovies start to melt into oil and the garlic is fragant
Add shrimp and other ingredients, and cook for 5 minutes, remember to turn shrimp halfway through so both sides can be cooked
Drain pasta and toss with sauce until all strands are coated with sauce
Note that anchovies are really salty so you may not need to add any salt, taste to confirm and adjust seasoning

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Welcome to 2013 with my biggest Giveaway YET! (Closed)

2013-02-04T16:44:00.000-05:00

Congrats to Shola for winning the Chopping board

2013

We are back with a brand new designed website, a lot easier to search for recipes, and very user friendly.

I would really appreciate feedback. If you guys want a specific thing added, let me know and I will look into it.

First off this year... Big News!!!!

I got out of School... YES i finished my masters degree... defended and even working currently on publishing a paper at an IEEE conference.

I got a job!!! A NICE Job!!!, with one of the top Computer Networking companies in the world, if not the top. I am still overwhelmed when i think of it.

I also moved back to Toronto, because thats where the job is.

I am currently on vacation in.... yes Florida with the boyfriend, i needed a break after the stress of finishing school. Theres no where id rather be.. just being around him is relaxing X_X

SO in 2013........ whats the plan for this website?

Finishing my Gordon Ramsay project for one, i abandoned it last year because of the stress of school but now i am back and recharged.

I am also taking photography lessons to help make my food pictures better looking..

Now to my first Giveaway, this is going to be huge!!! and because its huge you will have to do some work to win. Here is what i am offering

First prize is a customized hardwood chopping board, i have one of these and its really amazing and its made of quality wood too. Second is a customized 3-piece cooking set, just as amazing. i will customize them with whatever you want written.

Now to win .....You will have to go through my recipes, cook something and send me 2 pictures of the cooking process and 1 of the finished product and also all challenges you faced with the recipe and changes you made if any. Any recipe at all on my blog, you can find the recipes by clicking on the recipes tab above or searching the archives.
Send the pictures to alice@designcooklove.com or you can write a post on your own blog and leave a comment here with the link.
Giveaway is opened till March 4th 2013 and its opened to people in Canada, United States, Nigeria and UK.

Winners will be the first 2 people that complete all requirements to the TEE!
Goodluck and Welcome to 2013

HIATUS

2012-11-21T17:20:00.000-05:00

Sorry I have been out of touch lately, I am about concluding my MA.sc degree and i've been extremely busy, between writing the thesis and concluding my research so i can include it in my thesis, applying for jobs and attending interviews, because lets face it, once i am out of school that is the most important thing.

add TA-ing undergraduate courses to that and my part-time job as a cooking assistant at a cooking school, i pretty much have my hands very full and my brain very saturated.

I put off my Gordon Ramsay project for a while, and that will be the first thing i pick up when i get back. Should be sometime in December hopefully. Also redesigning this blog and giving it a more professional food blog look, lol.

Hope you guys have been great, thank you to all those that voted for me at the Nigerian Blog Awards, i did not win, but i really appreciate it, i also appreciate the emails, and comments, and all you who read and reproduce my recipes, ask for advice, God bless you.
If you want to reach me you can send me an email at smilingbbb@gmail.com or tweet me @happybbb, that is probably the fastest way to reach me, id be happy to answer any questions.

See you guys in about a month, hopefully my first post then will be to say i handed in my thesis and im done with school
:)

First ever Nigerian Blog Awards Nomination

2012-10-23T09:51:00.000-04:00

WHOOP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So that is kinda how i feel right now.

Thank you so much for nominating Design Cook Love in the best food blog category,
MWAH!!! MWAH!!! MWAH!!!

im very excited

Can you tell???

Did i already say thank you??

THANKYOU!!!

Next Stage you ask?

Well, to go vote for me of course, click HERE to vote

Cast your votes :)

Anyways enough of my excitement, whats been up? well i started a new project, I'm sure most people know Gordon Ramsay, his latest cook book the Ultimate Cookery Course, contains 100 recipes that every home cook like you and me :), should know how to cook and the most amazing kitchen tips, from how to sharpen a knife, to how to properly slice an onion, tips on everything. Its an amazing book,

Oh and there's a TV series too, you need the book to cook through the recipes though, because he doesn't really specify measurements on the TV series.

So, my new project is to cook through all 100 recipes, and i already started, i'm on recipe 2.

I'm going to come back and write a proper post on this. Create a section on this blog for projects.

Im also in the process of redesigning my page, so it will be getting a new, more focused food blog look hehe.

ALSO there's an amazing GIVEAWAY in the works that will be tied to the Gordon Ramsay Project, you want to watch out for it, trust me.

Hope everyone is good, thanks for nominating me again :)

Hugs

BBB

My first thanksgiving and Shrimp-Dodo recipe

2012-10-14T18:13:00.001-04:00

Last Sunday was Thanksgiving in Canada
Lots of reasons to be thankful this year, school is going fine, my family is healthy, my friends are all doing well.
Most of all i'm happy, i feel blessed daily, and i sense the beginning of even better things.

Anyway i planned a thanksgiving dinner for my close friends, Took me a day and a half of cooking but it turned out a success.

I went all out in my cooking of course, you know me, i love to slave away in the kitchen, never happier than when i'm cooking something that takes all my time and gives me the opportunity to escape from all the stress of school.

I had never planned a thanksgiving dinner before, and my first problem what was exactly to put on the menu,

Ended up visiting my food blogging mentor The Pioneer Woman, and i just searched for thanksgiving recipes on her website, she came through as usual.
i ended up making a lot of things from her recipes, i followed her recipe for Brining and Roasting a turkey and it came out marvelous.

Ree really is my hero,
I also got the recipe for this delicious Whiskey-glazed Carrot

One of my dessert was also from her,

A very delicious Pear crisp, i served it with Vanilla icecream, and it was a winner

I also made my Gravy and Cranberry sauce for the turkey from her

In true Nigerian Fashion, there was Jollof Rice

I also made Bacon and Rosemary Roast Potatoes

I made a chocolate cake with a lemon sauce, which was my own recipe, i'll upload it on a later date

And there was this delicious Shrimp-dodo, a recipe i promised to upload here asap, people loved it, the entire bowl was empty before i blinked

Ingredients ( serves 2) ( serves 4 as a side)

1 cup of cooked de-frosted salad shrimp

2 tomato

2 ripe plantains ( diced into small cubes)

Half of a habanero pepper ( they are very hot so watch out)

1 small onion

2 tbsp of Oil

Salt for taste

Freshly ground black pepper ( just because it makes everything better)

1- Knorr beef cube

Oil for deep- frying, i usually use Olive oil, but any vegetable oil will do

Put enough oil in a pan for deep frying over high heat, add plantain to the oil and fry until golden brown but not burnt, leave to drain in a colander

Blend the tomato, pepper and onions together in a blender until smooth, and then transfer to a pot to boil for 20minutes over medium-high heat.

It is possible to skip this step and just go straight to frying your stew with raw blended tomato puree, but i find that this is a longer process and the tomatoes have a raw taste to them if you do not fry them for a really long time.

In a pot over medium heat, add 2 tbsp of oil, when the oil is hot, pour in the boiled tomato puree and season immediately with knorr cube, salt and black pepper. cover pot for 4 minutes.

Add in the defrosted shrimp, these shrimp are precooked so we dont need to cook them for long again, after 2 minutes, add in your fried plantains and turn off the heat.

Stir together and taste to adjust for seasoning.

NOTE: do not season the plantains with salt before frying, because that makes the salt in the finished product a little over board, its better to adjust the salt taste when you are done.

Hope my readers in Canada had an amazing thanksgiving

EGGS BENEDICT- heaven!!!!!!!

2012-10-06T15:20:00.002-04:00

EGGS BENEDICT

Everyone should try this at least once in their lifetime, no jokes, AMAZING!!!!!!!!, like i went to heaven and back, this is probably one thing i learnt to make that i have repeated 3 times the past month, its delicious for breakfast, or brunch, or dinner, no one is judging, i have eaten it at all times.

Its basically, poached eggs on half of an English muffin, usually you can put bacon/ smoked salmon beneath the eggs, i used salmon, that salty, smoky taste, yum yum, topped with freshly made hollandaise sauce, smooth, creamy like silk in your mouth.
NOM NOM!!!!!

Ingredients(makes 2, serves 1)
1 English muffin
2 poached eggs
4 slices of smoked salmon/ bacon
2 tbsp of vinegar
Freshly ground black pepper/ smoked paprika/shaved truffles for topping

Hollandaise sauce ingredients
2 egg yolks
1/2 cup of melted butter
2 tsp of lemon juice
Pinch of salt

To make the hollandaise sauce, you would need a double broiler, most home cooks dont have that, and well i didnt, a pot and a metal bowl would do just fine.

1) Fill a pot with water halfway and leave to simmer on the stove on medium heat.
2) In the metal bowl, put the two yolks and start whisking using a hand whisk,
3) Put the metal bowl over the simmering water, still whisking, dont leave it in the water for long, you just want to warm up the base of the bowl and not cook the yolks,
4) when you think the bowl is getting too hot, take it off, add half the butter, and continue whisking away from the heat, if the bowl cools down, put it back on the simmering water, add remaining butter, repeat this process for 4-5 minutes.
5) keep whisking until it forms a light consistency and coats the wires of the whisk lightly.
6) add in lemon juice and a pinch of salt and whisk.
7) leave in a warm place, preferably by the stove until needed
8) the sauce is best used within the hour that its made.

HOW TO POACH AN EGG!
Most people get this wrong a lot, and it really is the easiest thing, poaching is cooking in hot liquid for a short time, poached eggs are one of the healthiest way you can eat eggs

First tip, use room temperature eggs.
In a frying pan, ( use a frying pan because its shallow and wide), fill 3/4 with water, and leave to boil on a stove, once the water starts to simmer, add in 2 tbsp of vinegar.The vinegar will help the eggs stay together when you break them into the water

Crack eggs in the sides/corners of the pan,

Leave for 4 minutes and use a slotted spoon to scoop it out unto a paper towel to dry.

TIP: i love my yolks runny, and really poached eggs should have light runny yolks, if you do not like that, leave the eggs for about 7 minutes that should firm the yolks up a little more.

To assemble the EGGS BENEDICT
On one half of the english muffin, lay a slice of bacon/smoked salmon, then the poached egg, and another slice of salmon/bacon, then top with a generous laddle full of hollandaise sauce and then freshly group pepper/ smoked paprika/ shaved truffles.
i have used all three, amazing amazing.

TIP: i have also had Eggs benedict with strips of steak in it, replace the bottom salmon with steak strips.
NOM!!!

Duck Panang Curry

2012-09-30T23:38:00.001-04:00

I fell in love with curries sometime last year, i had a thai restaurant just beside my apartment complex that sold the most amazing thai food.
Their panang curry was to die for, usually i buy the beef curry because i tend to prefer beef or seafood rather than poultry in my curries.

This month i moved somewhere downtown, my new place is quite far from the old one, and one cold sunday 2 weeks ago i started craving Panang, decided to try my hands at it.
I knew the basics; that it contained peanuts and coconut milk, but i didnt know much else, went online to do some research ended up confused by all the different recipes i saw, so i just decided to wing it from all i could gather, and yeah i can assure you i did an amazing job.
Panang Curry originally called Phanaeng curry, is named after the Penang island (wikipedia), it is a dry curry which is fried in coconut cream and not boiled.
I didnt have beef on hand at home, so i used duck legs, another thing that made it easier was i had store bought red curry paste, so i used that also, instead of making mine. Thai kitchen have a really good brand.

Here is the recipe below.
Ingredients(serves 3)
2 duck leg, cut into smaller pieces
4 tbsp Thai kitchen red curry paste
1/4 cup of roasted unsalted peanuts, ground
1 tbsp of chili powder
1 can of coconut cream
1/2 tsp of palm sugar
1 tbsp of Lime leaves, i didnt have lime leave so i used the zest of 2 limes
Fish sauce
half of a Red Bell pepper
half of a 1 Red onion
Thai basil, or normal Italian basil which was what i had at home

NOTE: if you do not have coconut cream, you can use coconut milk, just refrigerate the can at least 2 hours before you start cooking, the cream will separate from its liquid and rise to the top of the can, you can scoop that out and use instead of coconut cream

First off, boil the duck for 20mins in a stock made of, salt, black pepper, rosemary, coriander seeds, and onion powder.
While the duck boils, slice the bell pepper and red onion into thin long slices

In a bowl, mix together the red curry paste, ground peanut and chili powder

Once your duck is boiled, put a table spoon of olive oil in a fry pan and pan fry the duck to get a little color on them, when it is colored, add the sliced onions and bell pepper, saute together for 2 minutes, then take the pan of heat.

Now to fry your curry, heat a pot on medium-high heat and then pour in half of your coconut cream, when it starts to sizzle, add in your red curry paste mixture and keep stirring.

Fry the paste, you want it to get dry but not to dry that it burns, keep turning it

Add the remaining coconut cream

Keep turning until you start to see a lot of oil coming to the top of the curry

The curry should be really fragnant about now, add in your sauteed duck, pepper and onions, also put in the palm sugar, lime zest and fish sauce for taste, i added in a bit of my duck stock and let it dry down again,

Dont forget to keep stirring so it does not burn

Finally wash the basil and shred them into slices with your hands, add them to the curry, then turn the heat off.

Serve with steamed rice

Enjoy :)

Cola Wings

2012-09-27T22:02:00.000-04:00

I first came across this recipe on Masterchef Australia, one of the judges Matt Preston who is actually a food critic and not a chef had a masterclass for quick uncomplicated meals, and it was a joy to behold.
It was fun seeing that he actually cooked and some of the recipes caught my eye.

This one most especially, my problem with his version though was that he called for a lot of coke and a lot of sugar so most people complained about the wings turning out extra sweet and still very runny instead of sticky and then he asked for the wings to be in oven for 3 to 3.5 hours, 3.5 HOURS!!!!, you see why i have an issue with this.

Anyways i decided to make my version of this, take his concept of using coke and then modify it to work for me.
Here is what i came up with.

Ingredients
2 cups of Coca cola
1 tbsp of palm/brown sugar, i used palm
4 tbsp of honey
3 cloves of garlic grated
2 tbsp of ginger, thinly sliced
1 tbsp of dried rosemary
1 medium brown onion, grated
2 tbsp of soy sauce
Juice from one lemon

Preheat oven to 375degF
Mix all the ingredients together in a baking dish, i used a Pyrex square dish.

Put it in the oven for 90minutes, make sure to bring it out halfway and turn each wing piece.

Enjoy :)

On Easy Desserts

2012-09-16T12:40:00.002-04:00

Dont forget to please nominate the blog for Best Food Blog at the Nigerian Blog awards 2012

go here

Poached pear, raspberry sauce, crumble and freshly whipped cream

Sounds like a lot i know, it really isnt, was not a lot of work to put this together, and i had a lot of fun doing it.

My housemate and i had a sleepover and i used it as an opportunity to go crazy in the kitchen, i made some fresh garlic bread, we ordered in pizza then i proceeded to slave away inthe kitchen making desserts while they watched movies and had pedicures, i didnt mind, my kitchen makes me happy.

I tried my hands at making souffles also that night, didnt turn out perfect, but they still tasted delicious, i will probably have to try them over at least twice before i eventually get it right, here's a picture of the garlic bread and the souffles.

On to the recipe for today.

Poaching pears has to be the easiest thing ever, all you need is time, leave it poaching long enough until the pears can be cut through easily with a fork without any resistance.

Anju or Bosc pears are best for poaching, make sure you use ripe pears, i had made a mistake of buying some unripe ones so i had to poach those longer.

Poaching pears can be done over the stove top or in a oven for even spread heat, especially when you are poaching a lot like i did.

Poached Pears

Ingredients

2 Bosc/Anjou Pear, peeled and cored

3 cups of apple juice

1 tbsp of cinnamon powder

1 tbsp of sugar

half a vanilla bean pod

preheat oven to 350F

In a small pyrex pan, mix apple juice, vanilla bean cinnamon powder and sugar, place in the centre of the oven for 15 minutes or until simmering.

while it is simmering, carefully slice pears in half, taking care to leave the stalk on both halves,

Then make half inch slices on the pear from the bottom to almost the point of the stalk, DONOT GET TO THE STALK.

Place pears in the boiling liquid and leave in the oven for 30-40 minutes or until a fork can easily pierce through the pears without resistance

Take out of the liquid and store in the fridge to cool down until ready to serve, poached pears are delicious when cold.

Crumble

This was the easiest, i copped out and just got a raspberry shortbread from the grocery store, pulsed it to a coarse crumb in my food processor, and VOILA!!!, remember we are going EASY

Raspberry Sauce

Just realized i did not take any picture for this step, Please forgive, its still pretty easy,

Boil 1 cup of frozen raspberries with a quarter cup of the poaching liquid from the pears on medium-high heat, leave to boil, immediately it starts boiling, reduce heat to medium and let it simmer for 5 minutes.

sieve out the raspberries, return to the stove top to reduce until it thickens lightly.

Cream

I always prefer to whisk my cream fresh rather than buy it in a can, super easy, just buy whipping cream and with an electric hand mixer, or a proper mixer, whisk cream until it reached a soft peak. Dont forget to change the mixer equipment to the whisking tool not the mixing tool.

I usually add about a tablespoon of castor sugar(super fine sugar) to 1 cup of whipping cream.

Combine all recipes and serve

I Tumblr at The Pretend Cook

All about grilling the perfect steak and Sauces of course

2012-09-08T00:02:00.002-04:00

Dont forget to please nominate the blog for Best Food Blog at the Nigerian Blog awards 2012

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I usually grill my steak medium or medium well depending on my mood, i would never eat a well done steak, it spoils the tenderness of the meat and sucks out all the juices. If you do not like to see any red at all in your meat when its cooked, order or make it medium well, that makes it cook through just to the right point. A steak that is made well done should be a crime to meat.

First step in grilling steak is making sure you pick a quality steak, i used a top sirloin steak, steak with a bit of fat around is always a good choice, helps with the grilling process, marinaded it with ground onion and garlic, chilli and salt and seasoning and a tablespoon of olive oil for 30minutes, then i grilled it with a stove-top grill, 5 minutes on each side (you can grill for about 7minutes on both sides for medium well).

Resting time for steak after grilling, or baking is also very important, after grilling i left it to rest on a flat plate for 7 minutes, it releases its juices, balances out all the flavor, and lets the heat spread evenly through the meat, note that the meat still cooks through while it rests so if you grill your steak well done before you rest it, you would have a dry piece of meat after resting.
Its important to rest it before slicing, very important for all proteins.
Resting time should be at least half the cooking time to a maximum of 15minutes.

Most of the time when i grill, bake or pan-fry meat i always make a sauce with it, sometimes I'm not interested in making a side and i just make a nice sauce and eat both as a complete meal.

The sauce in this meal was a Raspberry red wine sauce, Its delicious with meat, i add a bit of vinegar and chili in my sauces, so there is a balance of sweet, sour and spicy in there.

here is the recipe

1 cup of frozen raspberries
2 tbsp of honey
1/4 cup of red wine
1 tbsp of red wine vinegar
1/2 tbsp of chili pepper
1 tbsp of cold salted butter

Over medium to high heat, add the red wine to a saucepan, let it simmer until for 2minutes or until it burns off the alcohol
Next, reduce heat to medium, add the raspberry and honey and let boil until it reduces to a thicker opaque consistency, keep stirring intermittently.
Add the vinegar and chili pepper and stir again for 1 minute then take off the heat.
stir in cold butter into the sauce to give a glossy look.
Sauce is ready

Herbed Baked Eggs

2012-09-05T09:17:00.004-04:00

Dont forget to please nominate the blog for Best Food Blog at the Nigerian Blog awards 2012

go here

Breakfast food like i love to call it, eggs, pancakes, bacon, ham, waffles, sausages........ unhealthy goodness, some of my favorite things, best thing to have on a gloomy or maybe even sunny morning,or afternoon or evening, no one is judging.

Growing up in Nigeria, eggs to me could only be made 2 ways, hard boiled or fried, i had never ever seen a runny yolk, in fact if you had served my father or mother a soft boiled egg you probably would have gotten an earful.

During my recent years of food exploration i have come to love poached eggs, with the delicious runny yolks, poached with just a tinge of vinegar, almost like heaven.

Another egg that has caught my fancy is Ina's Herbed Baked Eggs, Ina Garten is a food network star and host of the program Barefoot Contessa, she also was a nuclear policy analyst at the white house, which kinda automatically enters her into my book of heroes, foodie and geek!!!! :)

This egg recipe will make you almost die of anticipation, your entire house will be filled with the smell of fresh herbs, and you might actually burn your tongue from the first bite because you cannot wait to try. i have made this 3 times already, and every time i experiment more, add bacon, add ham, add tomatoes, possibilities are endless.

Best served with some freshly oven warmed bread.
Enjoy

Here's what you need
1/8 teaspoon of minced fresh rosemary leaves
1/8 teaspoon of minced fresh thyme leaves
1/8 teaspoon of minced fresh parsley
3 large eggs
1 tbsp of heavy cream
1/2 tbsp of unsalted butter
1/2tbsp of freshly grated parmesan cheese
2 slices of sauteed bacon.
salt
pepper

Preheat oven broiler for 5minutes and place oven rack 6 inches below the heat.

Break eggs into a bowl so that they are ready to go when you need them

In a bowl, mix together the herbs and cheese

Slice bacon

in a small ramekin or gratin cheese, add butter and milk and but then under the broiler for 3 minutes until hot and bubbly ( i forgot to take a picture of this step X_X)

Quickly pour eggs into ramekin and lightly sprinkle salt and pepper for seasoning, remember that it will be hot

Top with herb and cheese mixture

Add bacon and then return to broiler for 5 -6 minutes until the white of the eggs are almost cooked ( rotate the ramekins once if they arent cooking evenly. Broil for up to 10minutes of you like your egg welldone

Serve with with some freshly oven warmed bread.

Nom Nom Nom

What Thai food taught me.......

2012-08-16T12:44:00.002-04:00

Thai Sticky Rice with Mangoes -Khaaw neow ma-muang

That rice can be a dessert, and it doesn't always have to be pastry or dairy to be considered dessert.
While in Florida... ( i know its beginning to feel like the entire trip was about food) .. we went to this Thai restaurant, the SO had been raving about a particular dessert they sold that apparently contained some sort of rice and mangoes, of course my interest was piqued, turned out it was a "famous" dessert that i had never heard of, Thai Sticky Rice with Mangoes -Khaaw neow ma-muang.

It was sweet coconuty sticky rice, with a coconut cream and toasted sesame seeds and for some reason its always served with freshly sliced mangoes.
The rice was al-dente in texture, not too sweet to be overpowering but sweet enough to be a delicious dessert, The coconut cream was not extra thick, it flowed almost to the texture of a good Crème anglaise.
I fell in love with it immediately, noted to myself to find a good recipe and give it a try when i got back home.
and so i did,

Heres the rceipe.

Ingredients serves 2

1/2 cup of rice Short grain rice

3/4 cup of Coconut milk

1 1/3 tbsp of Palm sugar

1 1/2 tsp of White sugar

1/4 tsp of salt

1/2 tsp of corn starch

1 Mango, washed, peeled and sliced like in the picture

1 tbsp of toasted sesame seeds ( you can toast them in a fry pan for a few minutes over medium-high heat)

First soak rice in water for at least 2 hours before cooking.

Use a steamer to steam rice over boiling water for 20 minutes, i didn't have a sticky rice steamer so i improvise and used a regular steamer , i covered the holes with a cheese cloth so the rice doesn't fall through, if you don't have a cheese cloth, you can use cling film, trust me it works.

While the rice is steaming prepare both sauces, you would need a thin sauce to create the sticky rice and a thicker coconut cream sauce for topping.

To create the thin sauce, add 1/2 cup of coconut milk to a pot with the brown sugar and salt and stir over low heat until dissolved.

To prepare the coconut cream sauce, add the remaining 1/4 cup of coconut milk, white sugar and a pinch of alt into a pot and stir over low heat until dissolved, mix the corn starch with a little bit of water to form a smooth paste the add into the coconut mixture, stir until thickened and no lumps are present, then remove from heat.

By now the rice should have steamed, In a shallow bowl, lay rice and spread flat, add the thin sauce gradually , keep stirring as you add the sauce till you reach saturation point, you will probably use almost all the sauce, just make sure it isn't very wet, you want it somewhat dry and sticky, don't add until its submerged but keep in mind that the rice will absorb some of the liquid, i added until i just started to see coconut milk appear at the top. Stir well and cover for 10-15minutes with a towel.

Serve with the coconut cream and top with sesame seeds, and a side of sliced cool mangoes.

Memories from Mr Biggs

2012-08-12T23:57:00.002-04:00

Scotch Eggs are definitely one of my favorite snacks, always has been, i have memories of going to Mr Biggs* as a kid, those people make the best meat pies and scotch eggs, HANDS DOWN!!!!!

Some of the best memories from Nigeria for sure, a couple for weeks ago i was reminiscing about the amazingness of their scotch eggs and i talked about it so much i started craving the actual snack.
Decided to make some and it turned out so good.

So like the generous person i am, Im here to share the recipe

Ingredients( makes 4)
Pork Sausage 200g
5 eggs
1/2 cup of Breadcrumbs
1 tsp Ground garlic
1 tsp Ground onions
1 tsp Ground Chili pepper
Salt
Flour for dusting
Oil for frying

- Boil 4 eggs in a saucepan for 12 minutes
- Whisk last egg in a bowl and set aside
- Mix Sausage with dry ingredients and salt, mix properly until all the dry ingredients are properly incorporated
- Peel boiled egg and dust peeled eggs in flour
- Mould the seasoned sausage into a half moon in the palm of your hand, and put the dusted egg into it.
- Work the sausage around the egg until it completely covers it.
- Lightly brush the sausage covered egg with the whisk egg
- Roll it around in bread crumbs

Fry the scotch eggs in very hot oil.

:)

Grand Marnier Baked Spare Ribs

2012-08-08T10:06:00.001-04:00

I've been out of sorts for about a month, battling the spirit of laziness and procrastination, its been kicking me in the butt, not just in terms of updating this blog, but also keeping in line with school work, and my health.

My last semester in school is starting and i am starting to get buckled down by the pressure of worrying, not getting anything done just constantly worrying about getting things done.

Woke up today with a better zeal, taking charge and im going to get of my butt and get things done. Updating this blog regularly again will be my measurement of how much im getting done because it'd show that im not slacking anymore.

Anyway back to food, the recipe today i baked spare ribs, i had had this when i spent time in Florida, the SO makes his with an amaretto liqueur, the ribs were fall of the bone juicy and sticky with sweetness from the amaretto after it burns of alcohol. I modified it when i got home because i didn't have the amaretto liqueur and i still has some grand marnier left over from my attempts at making duck a l'orange
Peep the recipe below.

9 Beef/Pork spare ribs
3/4 cup of grand marnier
Juice from 2 oranges
1 tbsp of diced ginger
1 tbsp of diced garlic
1 tbsp of diced onions
1 tbsp of olive oil
Salt
Chilli pepper
1 tsp of dried rosemary
1 tsp of dried thyme
Seasoning
1 tbsp of ground onions
1 tbsp of ground ginger
1 tbsp of ground garlic.

In a pressure cooker, combine ribs and dry ingredients, salt, seasoning and chili, put enough chili pepper as you can handle for a slight kick to offset the sweetness we would be getting at the end.
Put enough water to just cover the ribs, mixed it all properly and then cover pressure cooker and leave to boil for 20minutes.

I don't have a pressure cooker so i boiled mine in a non stick pot for 1hr 20 minutes on medium heat, first leave heat on high and once it starts to boil reduce to medium, check regularly to add enough water so that it doesn't dry and get burnt, we are slow cooking to get the ribs very soft.
Preheat oven to 350degF.
After the ribs are cooked, in a non stick fry pan on medium-high heat, put in olive oil and saute diced onions, ginger and garlic for 3 minutes.
Deglaze pan with the grand marnier and continue to stir until it burns off alcohol for 3 minutes, add in the juices from the oranges and 1 cup of stock from the liquid left from boiling the ribs.
Add the ribs into the fry pan and stir till it is all coated with the liquid.

Cover pan with foil paper and leave in the oven for 10minutes, take out pan and turn ribs to the other side and return for another 10minutes uncovered.

Serve with a fresh salad.

Birthday Giveaway (CLOSED)

2012-07-17T10:45:00.000-04:00

So its my birthday in exactly a week and i decided to do a giveaway for it, well because i am awesome like that and because i really appreciate you guys visiting this blog over and over every time, leaving comments, not leaving comments ( well i prefer if you do of course ).

I have received emails, tweets from people that read my blog and comments on instagram, i recently opened a tumblr page also, where i post pictures of food i cook, things that arent here yet, and pictures of food, or food related things that catch my eye, visit it at designcooklovetumblr.com
The aim of this blog is to show that an amateur cook can still achieve a lot with just passion and a good taste palate, i have no formal training and everything i know i have taught myself, from books and cooking shows, i experiment with my cooking and it really is the one thing that de-stresses me.

I am giving away an amazing cookbook, very easy to follow, tons of pictures in it for every meal, which to me is the best kind of cookbook, not just step by step directions but pictures also, so you know if your end product is correct, especially for us amateurs, i love Thai food, LOOOOVE!, so id be giving away a thai cookbook

All you have to do

-Follow me on Blogger (compulsory)
-Follow me on tumblr, well if you have tumblr please :D
-Follow me on twitter @happybbb just because i tweet the best things, im serious, lol
-Follow me on instagram happybbb, because i take the best pictures, YES, i do, -____-

-Leave a comment with your name and email and stating that you have followed my blog and any of the other social networking sites
-Tell me one thing you feel i can do to improve my recipes or posts, maybe something i am not doing right, the aim after all is to post recipes that you can follow easily :)

and for the book you win

This giveaway is open to anyone anywhere in this world, as long as you read my blog, i will send this book anywhere to get to you :)

Winner will be chosen at 12:01 am on July 24th, the first minute of my birthday.

EDIT:

YAY!!!! Thanks for participating guys

@doll Congratulations :), Now id need an address to send the book to, email smilingbbb@gmail.com

Baked Salmon and Braised Orange Fennel.

2012-07-11T23:58:00.000-04:00

I tried fennel for the first time last night, i had watched a lot of cooking shows where it was used as an ingredients, mostly in salads, id usually stare at the huge bulb in the grocery store with confusion, wondering how exactly i could make any thing i can possibly enjoy eating out of it.

It has a very weird scent that i suppose might work in some dishes, i wasn't exactly drawn to it, reminded me almost of a anise seeds.
I had heard somewhere a while ago that fennel worked well with orange, well i love cooking with oranges so i decide to buckle up and give this weird veggie a try ( its a vegetable right or herb maybe?).
Here is what i made

It turned out amazing.

The fennel was softened but still had a bite, the orange combined with that smell of the fennel is a match made in heaven, drizzle some lemon juice on it, and i was in paradise, the fish was delicious too, of course, cooking salmon is an art, doesn't take anything to end up with overcooked dry salmon. Here is the recipe.

Ingredients

1 salmon fillet

2 tbsp of Panko breadcrumbs mixed with 1 tsp of dry parsley

1 egg, whisked and sesoned with salt and chili

Seasoned flour ( i seasoned with rosemary, salt and pepper)

1 tbsp of Olive oil

Half of a large fennel bulb

2 tsp of Sugar

1 cup of chicken stock

2 tbsp of Olive oil

Orange juice from 2 medium sized oranges

1 tbsp of orange zest

salt, pepper

2 lemon wedges to serve.

Preheat oven to 350degF

lightly coat the skin of the salmon with seasoned flour, next brush it lightly with whisked egg, sprinkle panko crumbs on the skin until it is fully covered and looks like this

In a fry pan with 1 tbsp of Olive oil on medium-high heat, lay salmon skin side down and leave to brown for about 2 minutes, watch closely so it does not burn. when the crust is brown, turn salmon, skin side up and leave for 1minute on the stove, then put pan in the oven for 12minutes.

After 12 minutes, bring salmon out of the oven, turn it,skin side down on a flat plate and season with salt and black pepper, then flip it, skin side up ad leave to rest for 3minutes.

Meanwhile, cut fennel into 6 wedges, be careful to leave enough of the root on so that the fennel fronds stay together.

Boil in water for 5minutes, then drain.

In a pan, add 2 tbsp of Olive oil and saute Fennel with sugar until all sides are mostly brown not burnt, add in chicken stock, orange juice, and orange zest, salt and pepper and leave to boil until sauce almost reduces completely.

Serve immediately with lemon wedges. Fresh lemon juice complements it.

Garnish with the dill like part of the fennel.

Panko Shrimp with a Sour Cream Chili dip

2012-07-11T23:33:00.000-04:00

Felt like snacking a couple of days ago and nothing beats a crunchy snack. We had gotten some fresh shrimp from the seafood market that i planned to use to make a green curry, but i decided to deep fry them instead after coating with some panko crumbs, to create one of my favorite appetizers ever.

Ingredients

1/2 pd of shrimp, de-shelled and deveined

5 tbsp of panko bread crumbs

1/2 tbsp f dry parsley

2 tbsp of all purpose flour

1 egg

1 tsp of dry rosemary

Chili

Salt and black pepper

Whisk the egg with some salt and pepper and set aside

Mix the panko crumbs with the dry parsley and set aside

Season the flour with salt, pepper and dry rosemary and set aside

First dip the shrimp in the seasoned flour, shake lightly to dust off excess flour

Then dip in the whisked egg

Lastly coat it with the panko crumb and parsley mixture, i usually just dip it into the bowl of panko crumbs

Deep Fry in Very Hot oil, until the shrimps brown. serve immediately. its not very nice when cold.

If you are frying a lot of shrimp, leave your oven turned on to 200degF and store shrimp in the heated oven as you fry the others.

I reckon this would also turn out well if you bake in the oven also, just lightly spray with an olive oil spray and bake in a 400degF oven for 20minutes or until brown.

To make the dip, you can do this while the shrimp is frying, or even before you fry the shrimp.

Ingredients

3 tbsp of sour cream

1 tsp of sweet chili sauce

1 tsp of sriracha or any hot sauce, don't use Tabasco because it changes the taste.

1 tsp of balsamic vinegar

1/4 tsp of chili flakes.

Stir all ingredients together in a bowl and serve with shrimp.