What's Cooking?

It's a Miracle! Easy Rice Pilaf.

This is Mr. What's-Cooking's recipe for rice pilaf. He wasn't totally impressed with me shadowing him around the kitchen and writing down everything he did, but he eventually got into the spirit of it. This is an easy to make pilaf, but it is one of the best I have tasted. This bakes in the oven alongside your other dishes and the cooking time is very flexible. Even my six year old son tells me it tastes great. Well, actually, his exact words were "It's a miracle! This tastes so good!".

It Aint't Pretty - Crockpot Beef Stroganoff

I'm not sure if there is any way to make a Beef Stroganoff look good. It usually tastes good, but you have to get past that first visual. Maybe it's just me but my stroganoff always looks, well, not good. This dish was no different but it was a very easy recipe to do. I chose it because I didn't have to pre-brown the meat and I only had 15 minutes to throw some supper together. In that 15 minutes the meat had to be defrosted, too, so I was really short on time. The recipe inspiration came from the Company's Coming Slow Cooker book, but as per my usual I made a few variations. The original recipe calls for 1/4 cup of ketchup but I grew up in a house that felt that ketchup in recipes was sacriligeous. On occasion I do use ketchup in a recipe but in this case I used some brown sugar, vinegar and a little bit of celery salt. If you prefer, you can use the original ketchup and do penance later. An update from Mr. Chef - a 'traditional' stroganoff doesn't have tomatoes in it, so I guess the proper title for this dish should be "Crockpot Stroganoff-like Beef".

Sausages, Potatoes and Peppers

This is one of my favourite one dish meals, since it is very easy to make. The portions size is also simple to adjust. There are no spices listed in the recipe as the seasoning comes from the sausages that you use. Make sure you use a good meaty Italian or Farmer sausage, not those little breakfast links. The pre-smoked fully cooked sausages don't work in this recipe as well as the raw sausages do. As far as the peppers go use any combination of colours or types that you like - this recipe is cheap AND easy. If you like a little kick, add in a sliced jalapeno pepper.

Unique Chili

Chili has been an ongoing problem for me, or it was until I found this recipe. My chili was always missing that 'something' that was there in everybody else's dish. I found this recipe at allrecipes.com and then modified it to my own tastes and what I had in the cupboard. There are a few ingredients listed that give you the option of an amount to use. I usually use the lesser amount of each ingredient, and the higher amount is what is listed in the original recipe. I should also point out that this isn't the traditional Texas chili as it has beans and ground beef in it.

Waffling the day away

I used to hate waffles. My only experiences with them had been those toaster things and once at a restaurant. Then for brunch one day my mom made these waffles with her new Belgian Waffle maker and I finally got to taste what a real waffle was all about. No pancake mix, no biscuit mix, no shortcuts. Just light, fluffy, delicious waffles. These are great with syrup for breakfast, or with a fruit sauce and whipped cream as a dessert. Or if you're like my family, we eat the dessert waffles in the morning and call them breakfast.

Suppertime Survival - Cookbook Review

(Suppertime Survival, Bev Callaghan and Lynn Roblin, 2005. Published by Suppertime Survival, Toronto Canada) The first thing that I loved about this book is that it is spiral bound so it lays flat on the counter, or rests nicely open in my cookbook stand. Nothing makes me crazier than a cookbook that closes itself. The spiral binding on this particular book is also covered, so the library clerk in me really appreciates that as well. I really enjoy this cookbook. Like I've said before, I read them like they are novels, so I pretty much read this one from cover to cover. One of the first things I noticed, besides the great binding, was that there are very few recipes that call for "Franken-foods" - like cream of something soup. There are a few recipes in the book that ask for more processed food, but most of us do use canned soup or packaged products every once in a while. I was impressed that most recipes called for regular foods that I had in my pantry.

Chef Jason's Pork Loin

Chef Jason is the sous chef at a neaby city's highly regarded restaurant. On a normal day he wouldn't give up any of his recipes to me, but he occasionally gives one up to his wife. Lucky for me that his wife is my sister's best friend. Once he figures out that I've 'borrowed' his recipe to post online he'll probably never let her in on another recipe again.

Tarts - It's All About the Goo Factor.

Butter tarts are a Canadian treat. Pretty much the same as a Pecan pie, only tart sized, we like to think of it as one of our own creations. There is often some debate over whether the tarts should be 'gooey' or 'firm'. Those are technical terms around here. In fact, ask a Canadian sometime how they like their tarts and I'm sure you'll get an interesting answer. Personally, I like my tarts on the firm side -- I like to bite into one and not have it dripping down my chin. Of course, there are a lot of people who get excited over that drippiness and wouldn't have it any other way. Here is my favourite recipe for butter tarts, with the optional of making them firm or gooey.