I can’t believe I’ve had this blog for almost 2.5 years and I have yet to share my peanut sauce recipe with you.
Strange, given my obsession with homemade condiments.
Alas, the time has come — this is the perfect dipping sauce for Sesame-Nori Popcorn Chicken.
Go ahead giggle. That was the hole point of standing the sausages on their ends in the muffin cups. Which requires a little bit of fiddling and a pair of tongs, just so you know.
It all came about when a friend asked me for a recipe for Spotted Dick. Seems her hubby wanted to know what a Spotted Dick looked like. But when I told her it was steamed-suet pudding….well, we came up with another plan with an equally risque name.
Toad in the Hole is an old English comfort-food standby. Sausages, lovely and browned, cooked in Yorkshire Pudding batter that rises light, crisp and hollow — so you have a bowl for the gravy. :) Continue reading
For all you doubters out there, let me start off by telling you that Howard was not a happy camper when he saw me getting a green pizza crust ready to go in the oven.
“What is that?”
“A zucchini pizza crust. Cool idea, eh?”
“Ummm…no, not really. What do we have for back-up?”
O ye, of little faith.
Yeah, yeah…he’s a cutie pie. He melts just about everybody’s heart with a quick canine grin and one wag of his bottle-brush tail.
But he’s also got a dirty secret. One I haven’t wanted to share. You see, Koda eats other dogs’ sh*t.
More accurately, it’s only one other dog’s poo. But it’s poo and it’s gross and I can’t believe that a dog who gets fed TOP-QUALITY dog food, wetted with homemade free-range chicken stock, everyday for breakfast and dinner (not to mention some pretty nice treats in between) has any use for feces, other than a brief obligatory whiff.
And then he tries to give you a kiss…ick. Continue reading
How’s your winter garden doing? If you live in one of the more temperate zones in the northern hemisphere, you may still have some chard left — or even better, you may have some spring chard just starting to make an appearance. And if your herb garden is also showing signs of rejuvenation, then stop there for some chives and such on your way back inside. Otherwise, just go to the store and get some, ok?
You probably haven’t heard of Capuns before, unless you’ve spent a lot of time in eastern Switzerland. Capuns are a regional dish that I was recently introduced to online by a friend who shares my obsession with the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon. When she explained to me that Capuns are spaetzle dough mixed with bacon and cheese and rolled in chard leaves, I literally left our conversation mid sentence to google this glorious-sounding dish that was completely new to me.
Baked in broth and cream and topped with more cheese, Capuns are a fabulous special-occasion side dish that are a little fiddly to get started, but are worth the extra time to prepare. They go together like cabbage rolls, but the result is a creamy, cheesy treat your guests will remember for a long time after.