Foods By Chris

Experimenting a little bit to make the best beef burrito recipe.  This was the baseline with oldeo paso rice, spice pack, and sulsa.  I am now working on breaking it down to improve on it. Do you try and make things from scratch, or stick to flavour packages?

For brunch we decided to keep it light, and just have scrambled eggs and toast. Nothing like a good meal to start the day.  What do you do for a light brunch on Sunday?

One of my favorite ways to cook in the summer is on the BBQ.  Tonight we are having some BBQ chicken breasts, and baked potatoes.  How do you like to cook in the summer?

I decided to post my current favorite Chicken Fajita recipe.   This is a combination of about 3 different recipes, as I wanted it to be a mellow taste with that spicy kick in the end.   I found many are either hot, or mild, with no flavour profile.   My Recipe Ingredients ·         2 Boneless skinless Chicken breasts, thinly sliced; ·         2 Red peppers, thinly sliced; ·         1 Red onion; ·         1 Lime; ·         3 cloves of garlic; ·         Salt and pepper; ·         2 shakes Crushed red pepper flakes; ·         2 drops Green tabasco; and ·         ¼ tsp Chili powder. Directions In a large bowl, place the seaso...

When we decide to have meatloaf for supper, I didn’t know what to use to go with it. Normally I Top it with a ketchup mustard mix.  This time I decided to top it with a gravey made in the same pan as the meatloaf was cooked to get the extra flavor. I ngredients: Meatloaf 1.      1 pound of lean ground beef, 2.      ¼ cup of breadcrumbs, 3.      2 large eggs, 4.      ¼ cups of cream, 5.      ½ an large onion (finely chopped), 6.      3 cloves of garic 7.      ¼ cups of grated Parmesan cheese, and 8.      Salt and pepper to taste. Gravy 1.      3 cups of beef stock, 2.      1 package of beef flavour, 3.      ½ a large onion (finely chopped), 4.      22 oz of chopped mushrooms; 5.     ...

Chicken tacos with craft beer on my back deck.  I didn't take the time to fully chop up the peppers, as we wanted a quick meal. This was shot as part of my craft beer series on my business instagram Instagramcsphotography.ca Do you like chicken tacos?

Another quick weeknight meal.  I was craving  scalloped potatoes, but didn't have the time to make my own.  I forgot how good the Betty Crocker  scalloped potatoes were.  They may make a feature again. 

Another quick we can eat meal. This make ahead meals so that you can cook really fast when you get home from work. I sometimes prep this meal the day before, making it easy to cook the next day. It’s always a great idea when you’re in a rush for supper and you know you’re going to be home late.

This is one of those comfort food dishes. I decided to cope with what I had in the fridge and the covers so nothing really fancy. I always have Parmesan cheese as well as cream in the fridge, and normally dry pasta in the cupboard.  Below is my quick and easy recipe to make spaghetti Alfredo. This is a pretty easy dish to make, and a great week great meal. This recipe doesn’t take long to cook, so its fast.  Its that’s the cook the pasta at the same time as you’re making the Alfredo sauce, that way you don’t have to wait for the pasta to finish. Recipe Ingredients ¼ cups of unsalted butter, ¼ cup of all-purpose flower, 1 and ½ cups of Parmesan cheese (shredded or shaved), 1 cup of cream, 3 cloves of crushed garlic, Dry Spaghetti, Kosher salt (1/2 cups), and 2L of water. Instructions: Bring the pasta water to a boil and then add the half cup of kosher salt. While the water is boiled place is spaghetti in the water. As soon as you place the ...

This is a different post today.  I'm looking for ideas to make the best mashed potatoes possible.  We all know the classics, but I am looking to elevate this to a different level for a upcoming birthday dinner.  What do you think is the fanciest way to make mashed potatoes?

With trying to eat healthy, I decided to try my hand at making soups for use as sauce for different dishes.  I am not a fan of cream of chicken soup on its own, but it is a great topping for chicken dishes.  Recipe Ingredients: 3 cups of Low sodium chicken stock, 2 cups of heavy cream, 1 cup of milk, 1 tsp of olive oil, 1 small onion finally chopped, 2 cloves of garlic, and 1 tsp of corn starch. Directions In a sauspan, heat the olive oil.  once heated till it shimmers; add in the onion and garlic.  Cook the onion and garlic until translucent.  slowly add the chicken stock.  For a smother result, add one cup of stock, and with a puree blender, puree the onions and garlic.  Ad the remainder of the stock, bringing it to a simmer.  Reduce by 1/4, then add in the cream slowly.  while string reduce by another 1/4. The soup should be starting to thicken.  Make a corn starch slury with the milk, and corn starch, and add into...

One of the easiest things to cook on a weeknight.  As its warm, why not cook them on the BBQ.  These burgers are dressed with just the basics,  Ketchup, mustard and relish.

For breakfast today I decided to skip cereal and make a make something quick. I had a cinnamon raisin loaf that I picked up from the local baker and decided to have that and some butter with my coffee. It makes a great breakfast especially when you don’t want to have cereal. What do you like to have for breakfast on a weekday morning?

At work the other day we were talking about quick weekday meals. One of my colleagues said that he likes to cook hamburger helper on those quick we pay nights. Then the conversation went to have hamburger helper has gone downhill over the years since we were kids. So in doing that I decided to buy a package of hamburger helper and cook it taste and see if it’s changed. Well it has. It has definitely gone downhill over the years. So, I think picture of the side the Post-it on my blog and I don’t think that I’ll ever make hamburger helper again. Have you made hamburger helper recently? How did it come out? Do you think it’s changed?

On a nice hot Sunday, I was trying to figure out how to make a roast beef dinner, without using the oven.  I decided that the BBQ would work as a great oven, and decided to use that.  As I wanted to cook everything at once, I used a cast iron dutch oven. The cast Iron radiates the heat better than most, so is not affected so much by variable temperatures on a BBQ. My recipe is for four people, or 16 if you follow the new serving sizes mist packages have. Recipe: Roast The roast of your choice, I recommend 5 lbs for 4, as it will shrink; 8 Potaitos halved; 8 Carrots halved; 1 and a 1/2 carton of beef stock salt and pepper to taste Gravy 2 packages of beef flavour 1/2 carton of beef stock 2 tsp of corn starch 1/2 cup of cold water Instructions: Season the pot roast with salt and pepper and let rest.  Peel and half the potatoes and carrots.  Heating the Dutch oven on the side-burner of your BBQ, while the BBQ heats up to 500F....

Sunday is always a great day to make a big breakfast.  My favourite breakfast for a Sunday is Bacon and eggs. How do you like your Breakfast on Sunday?

I always thought it was hard to make cream of mushroom soup. I like to use it as an ingredient in different dishes, and not on its own.  So with a little bit of time on my hands, I decided to make it for myself.  It was great this way, as I control the salt, fat and contents.  I used half for the dish I was cooking, and canned half for use later.  It was relatively simple to make, and quite simple ingredients.  Ingredients : 1 pack of mushrooms, chopped; 1 1/2 cups of chicken or vegetable stock 1 cup of heavy cream 1/4 cup of butter 2 cloves of garlic 1/2 an onion Salt and pepper to taste Directions Chop the mushrooms, and in a saute pan, melt the butter (unsalted is best, do you can control the salt). Once melted, add in the mushrooms and saute until they have sweated out all their excess moisture. Once the mushrooms are sweated of most of their moisture, add in the finally chopped garlic and onion. When the garlic becomes fragrant and the onion tra...

On a nice summers night there is no better way to cook than BBQ.  I decided to BBQ some chicken breasts with baked potatoes.  I decided to wash it down with some craft beer. What do you like to have with your BBQ chicken?

On another nice warm day, I decided to make cheese burgers.  I like to use the least amount of processed ingredients as I can, so even the cheese is fresh sliced by the delay at my local supermarket. I decided to have a bit of fun with this burger shot, and shoot it on the railing of my back deck.  What do you like to have on your burger?

A shot of a beef stir fry that I made.  Stir Fry is one of our go to quick winter dishes, and not something we have in warm weather.  As it was warm out, and I needed a quick meal to cook, I decided to cook this using the propane side burner on my BBQ.  Have you used your BBQ's side burner to cook a meal? if so what did you cook?

Something a bit different tonight.  I am going to review the KFC Boneless box.  I have not had KFC in a number of years, so after getting in late night, I decided to get some fast food on the way home.  I am not sure if it was the KFC that I went to, or has the spice blend changed to the point where they can be confused with Jane's Chicken nuggets/strips from the grocery store?  The chicken tasted nothing like I remember, the gravy was bland, and the chicken was dry.  I'm not even going to start on the fries, they are best compared to the fries left over from a McDonald's meal bought a day ago and forgot about.  On the bright side, the macaroni salad tasted like the Johnson's one you buy in a container at a grocery store. Have you tried the KFC boneless box?  What did you think?

I came across this nice creamy french chicken dish one day, and decided to give it a try.  It came out quite nice, and the cream sauce made a nice topping for the mash potatoes that i served as a side.  When I make this again, I will post a recipe along with more pictures.

BBQ Kebab.  For supper tonight we decided to have some BBQ kebab's with some salads.  I had never made bbq kebab's before on the bbq, so it was fun giving it a go.  They are simple to make, cook, and great for a summer meal. Have you made Kebabs on the BBQ before, how did they turn out; and what did you use on them?

Last night we decided that we would get takeout from a local restaurant that had just reopened after its closure during Covid 19.  This is the number 5 combo from Diamond House, in Oromocto NB. What is your go to kind of takeout? 

This was my first attempt at making pasta Aglio made famous by the movie Chef. It was a simple dish, and came out well.  I think I seasoned a bit too much as it was salty. It is simple to make, as you saute the garlic in the olive oil, add in some crushed red pepper flakes, parsley, and salt and pepper.  The toss in the pasta, and mix in the Parmesan Cheese. 

After a busy day, with neither of us wanting to cook, we decided on pizza.  Its the perfect mid week meal.  We ordered this from Greco, as it is the fastest.  This is a shot of a 12" Greco works pizza.

This was my first attempt at making homemade ravioli.  The pasta kept separating, so in the end it was really just pasta and meat in a marinara sauce. This was made with homemade gluten free pasta, so that may have been why I was not able to get them to stick together. Can anyone give me some tips on how to keep the pasta together? 

Having time, I decided to make pasta Bolognese.  It is a dish that I always liked, and decided to make it myself. It was no where near the best I have had, that is reserved for a small restaurant just outside Nijmegen (you would think that it would have been better in Italy, but it wasn't).  Here is my recipe for pasta Bolognese: Ingredients 1 tablespoon olive oil 2 tablespoons butter 1 large onion, finely chopped 2 large carrots, finely chopped 2 celery stalks, finely chopped 4 cloves garlic, chopped 1 pound ground beef 1 pound ground pork Salt and freshly ground pepper 1 cup white wine 1 can (28 ounces) peeled San Marzano tomatoes 1 cup cream freshly grated nutmeg 1 cup heavy cream 1 cup fresh grated parmesan cheese  1/2 cup chopped parsley Fresh pasta Directions: Heat olive oil and butter in a large Dutch oven, over medium high heat, until the butter is melted. Add onion, carrots, and celery, and sauté until softened and beginning to c...