Blueberry Frozen Yogurt on a Cold Winter’s Night

I eat a lot of ice cream in the winter.  Don’t get me wrong…I love a soft serve on a hot August day as much as the next girl…but I seem to eat a lot more of it at this time of year for some reason.

I suspect it’s the wood stove — we rely on our cast iron fire box as our primary heat source in January and February — and the fact of the matter is that it’s a little big for our cozy living room.  Nine years of experience means we now light small, low fires that burn slow.  But at some point almost every night, we have to open the front door for a few minutes to let the heat escape.

And, since one of us is up, we may as well have a bowl of something cold to lower our core temperatures, right?

Call it medical necessity.

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Pork Scallopini with a Porcini-Gorgonzola Pan Sauce

Actually, what you see pictured is more a schnitzel than a scallopini.  But I’m going to do something radical here, and suggest that you not do what I did.

We love a good schnitzel around here.  Pork tenderloin, chicken…I make a lot of schnitzel around here.  So I kind of went on auto-pilot here until it got time to dress it up a bit.  I’ve been working pretty hard, locked up in my office, and our meals haven’t been as elaborate as late.

As I was dredging the pork, I remembered the dried porcinis and gorgonzola in the fridge.  Immediate visions of this glorious pan sauce burned my third eye, and at that point I realized I had over-breaded.  Too much breading (and too much clean up too).

So, like I said, don’t do what I did.  A simple dip in some seasoned flour is all there is to it.

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Nutella-Filled Pretzel Balls

Some of you may have noticed that things have slowed down some around here.  It’s true — since late last year, I’ve gone from 3 to 4 posts/week down to 1.5.

Which is hard for me, ’cause I love Island Vittles.  This little blog is like my baby; I’ve watched it grow and evolve for 2+ years now, and I like the way it’s maturing.  It’s grown up a lot — it’s not overly whiney — but it does stand up and take a stand when appropriate.  The pictures have gotten way better, and it’s starting to show up on Google.

So what’s the problem?  Well, see, IV is still just a blip in the big blue ocean of food blogs.  My hundreds of views/day isn’t going to get me noticed on even the most sensitive radar.  This isn’t a hobby for me.  My dream is to make a living writing/talking about food.  I’m on the radio regularly and I write in various online/paper publications, but a gal’s gotta make a living.  I’ve been told I need a niche.

And that’s what this is all about.  I’ve found a niche, and I’ve been working away at it since November.  Outlander Kitchen features historical food inspired by the fictional world of Diana Gabaldon, the widely popular author of The Outlander series. … Continue Reading

Everyday Bread

Many of you will know that my last year’s New Year’s resolution was to bake all of our bread.  I shared a few recipes last year, like the Caramelized Onion-Beer Bread and Stinging Nettle Loaves, but I held back others, trying to adapt and perfect them first.

Today’s recipe was one of those.  Funnily enough, it’s also the one I’ve made the most.  I started months back with a basic white bread from The Bread Baker’s Apprentice — but then added a little rye for chew and flavour — which meant that I had to play with amounts of yeast, sugar and salt to make sure everyone plays nicely (and, more importantly, consistently) together.

It took me a few months, but the time has come.

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Za’atar Crusted Tuna with Buckwheat & Barley Risotto

I expected Howard to fight me on this one — so I only gave him a small scoop to start and topped it with a little extra tuna. (He’s a sucker for seared tuna.)

But he’s not fond of buckwheat, see…I’ve tried a few variations, but never received a lot of enthusiasm in return.

So I was a little surprised when he came back to the kitchen looking for more before I had even finished taking the photos of my plate (food blogging can be a drag at dinner time).

And then I sat down and had mine — and went back for more, almost right away.  It’s full of simple flavours, and the juxtaposition between the seared, almost cold, tuna and the creamy comfort of the barley/buckwheat is a surprisingly perfect pairing of opposites.

In other words, it’s really, really good.

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