The BEST Baked Potato

I love Baked Potato....however a lot of the time when I decide I want baked potato, I want it pretty much right away...or on a weeknight at 8pm, when I want to make something quick and not wait an hour for something as simple as a potato to cook. I usually end up with mashed potato's. Much quicker. BUT if you have the time...and really want something delish..never mind pretty to look at, then this is your potato!

Take a scrubbed down baking potato (Russet) and carefully slice though leaving about a 1/2 inch in between each section. Be careful not to slice all the way though (like I did in this one)

 In between in slice, wedge in a thin slice of Shallot

 Now wedge in some squares of cold butter...

 Season the whole potato with Sea Salt and fresh ground pepper.

 Wrap in tin foil and bake at 375 for about 45minutes to 1 hour...or until potato is cooked through.

 Flavour city I tell you! You can just eat this potato as is with a juicy steak...but of course I took it one step further....

I slathered bacon chunks and cheddar cheese all over and popped them back in the oven to melt. It was to die for!!

How to Roast Corn on the BBQ

Many a time I have attended barbeque's where the host will serve Corn on the Cob...boiled in a large pot of water. Now...there is absolutely NOTHING wrong with this!! BUT, when you slowly roast corn on the barbecue...you get soooo much more flavour! Trust me!! Try this!

First thing you need to do is make sure you buy your corn still in the husks.

Gently pull back the husks and remove the silk. Pull the Husks back into place and put all the cleaned corn in a sink full of warm water. Let it sit for about 30 minutes...filling the sink with a little more warm water halfway through to keep it warm.

After 30 minutes of soaking place the corn on your pre-heated barbecue. I like to use a medium-low heat and slowly cook the corn for about 30-40 minutes.

Make sure to turn the corn every 10-15 minutes. The husks form a nice incubator of steam that slowly cooks the corn. Towards the end of cooking some of the husks might have burned off...don't worry..those small exposed pieces of corn will char a little and give extra flavour!

Once complete...cut off the husk and serve with butter, salt and spices...or just eat it plain!

My Version of Paella

I LOVE LOVE LOVE one pot meals...something about throwing a bunch of ingredients into 1 pot and letting it do its thing makes my heart melt. Not to mention that most one pot meals are flavour central!

Now I hope that my Spanish readers are not cringing at this recipe. I have never been to Spain...nor have I had Authentic Spanish Paella...but I watch a lot of Food Network television and make this concoction which I refer to as Paella. It tastes mighty good and I hope you enjoy it!!

 Take about 8 Chicken Breast Filet's and brown them in a heavy bottomed pot with 1 Tbsp of Olive oil and Salt and Pepper to taste. Remove from the pot and set aside.

 While your chicken is browning heat up 6 Cups of chicken broth with 2 Pinches of Saffron in it. You need Saffron to give this dish colour!

 In the same pot that you cooked the chicken in start to brown 1 chopped up Andouille Sausage. I prefer the smoky flavour of this sausage when I can find it...otherwise I use Spanish chorizo. Cook the sausage until it is nice a browned.

 Now add your veggies. I like to add 1 Chopped Onion and 1 Chopped Red Pepper. Once they also start to brown a little I add 2 Cloves of Garlic.

 Now its time to add your rice. I used a wild rice mixture..mostly because I only had about 1 1/2 Cups left of it and wanted to use it up...and it was a great move...it gave the Paella an awesome nutty flavour! Mix the rice around with the vegetables and sausage to release some of the starches by heating it up.

 Add 1 Tbsp of Tomato paste.

 Now add all of the hot saffron broth to the pot..turn the heat down to medium low and bring to a simmer.

 Place your chicken back in the pot and cover. This wild rice cooks in about 35-40 Minutes...so i let this simmer for about 30 minutes before I added the seafood. I did not stir at all!! The burnt crusty rice on the bottom is the best part!! So leave it alone to simmer!

 After 30 Minutes I added about 20 Shrimps and a half pound of washed fresh clams. Cover again for 10 minutes.

 After the 10 minutes when the clams have opened and your shrimp have cooked through I stirred the mixture around and served.

A hearty dish thats for sure!!

Beef Barbacoa Tacos

This past weekend the Latin Community celebrated Cinco de Mayo.....I just celebrated the excuse to eat mexican inspired food because it is just so darn delicious!!!

This dish is super easy to make since it involves your trusty slow cooker. Just throw in your meat and ingredients and let it do its thing!!

The night before place a 5 lb eye of round beef roast in your slow cooker with the following: 1 whole head of Garlic peeled and smashed, 3 Bay Leaves, 1 cup roughly chopped Cilantro, 2-4 Chilpotle Peppers in Adobo Sauce, left whole, 1 Large Sweet Onion Chopped, 1/2 Tsp ground Cloves, 1 Tbsp Salt, Juice of 4 Limes, 1/4 Cup Apple Cider Vinagar, 1 Tsp White Pepper, 4 Cups Beef Stock. Mix everything together very well and turn the slow cooker on low for 8-10 hours (or while you sleep!)

 In the morning your beef will be so tender it will just fall apart! At this point I removed the bay leaves and the chipotle peppers, shredded the meat and placed the whole thing in the fridge until dinner.

 When you are about 1 hour out from dinner place the slow cooker back on high for about an hour to heat it back up.

 Serve on flour tortillas with your favourite salsa, or in my case..lots of fresh guacamole!

Hope you had a fabulous weekend!

Wild Mushroom Alfredo

A girl has gotta have her pasta once in a while...and when you add cream, butter and cheese to it...well...you found the way to my heart...and stomach...and expanded waistline. Sigh...back to the treadmill I go.



In a heavy bottom saucepan on high heat, melt about 4 tablespoons of butter with about 2 cups of mixed wild mushrooms...saute to coat them in the butter and add 2-3 cloves minced fresh garlic. Saute until mushrooms are cooked and starting to brown.

Add about 2 cups of heavy cream to the mushrooms and turn heat down a bit (medium-high). Let the sauce simmer while stirring constantly.

After a few minutes the mixture will start to thicken and deepen in colour. Add your seasoning (little bit of salt and a tsp of fresh ground pepper.

Toss in your cooked pasta and about 3/4 Cup fresh grated Parmesan Cheese. Toss to combine and turn off the heat.

Last step is to toss in about 2 Tbsp of fresh chopped Italian parsley.

Garnish with more fresh cheese and parsley. Prepare to be couch bound for a few hours after this one...I swear I was in a food coma.