Foods By Chris

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...

There is nothing like a BBQ stake after a long day.  I like to have my steak with fried onions and mushrooms, along with a baked potato.  This stake came from my local butcher, and was a 12 oz Striploin.  I can tell you I was stuffed at the end of that meal.  The steak was coated in salt and pepper for a few hours before cooking.  Then placed on the hot grill to cook.  near the end I added the Bullseye Original BBQ sauce. How do you like your steak?

Pancakes are one of my favorite things to have for breakfast.  I decided to take a few different shots of them.  I can never seem to make them into perfect circles. Does anyone have any tips on how to make the pancakes a perfect circle?

Everyone likes to have pasta.  Homemade pasta is simple and easy to make, and if you want to make it without a knife, invest in a pasta maker.  With pasta makers being around $15-$30 for a manual one.  its an investment you will use in the kitchen. This simple recipe is easy to make, and serves 4 depending on size.  If you judge your portion size like the food companies, it will feed 8 to 10 people (or a family of 4 normal people).  Once you make pasta, you will likely do it for every meal. This recipe can be used for regular pasta, if you remove the xantham gum and just use all purpose flower.  Gluten free flowers need  the xantham gum to make the bonds that are normally formed by the gluten Ingredients: 2 and 1/4 cups of gluten free all purpose flower; 2 heaping tablespoons of xantham gum; salt and pepper (optional but recommended); and 5 large eggs. Instructions: In a mixing bowl combine all the ingredients.  with a...

One of my favourite make ahead dishes for the winter.  It can easily be prepared in advance, and placed in the fridge and baked in a few days.  This dish is traditional made with lamb, but we prefer ground beef. Ingredients: Filling: Olive oil; 4 cloves of garlic (minced); 1 Large onion (finely chopped); 2 Celery sticks (chopped small); 3 carrots, chopped; 1/3 cup of flower; 1.5-2 lbs of ground beef; tomato paste (3 table spoons); Red wine to degalze, about a glass; 2 beef oxo packs; a tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce; and salt and pepper to session. Topping: 1.5Kg of potatoes; 1/2 cup of milk; 1.4 cup of non salted butter; and salt and pepper (white pepper works best) to taste. Instructions: To make, fry up the ground beef until brown, and drain off the excess fat.   remove the beef from the pan, and use the olive oil to fry the onions and garlic until fragrant, then deglaze the pan with the wine.  Then ad back ...

Grilled Cheese sandwiches are always a favourite for a quick lunch. I like to make mine with a fresh cheddar cheese slices from the delay section, and not the prepackaged American cheese.   With Covid 19 we have.been cooking lunch more than the occasional weekend, as we are home most days.   I Have been enjoying the cooking, and trying to perfect the craft of food photography, hence the blog to challenge myself. What have you made for quick lunches?

This is another quick weeknight meal.  It was made the easy way with a jar of VH Butter chicken sauce, 2 cubed boneless skinless chicken breasts, as well as a cubed yellow pepper, 3 cloves of minced garlic, as well as 1 onion.  Even when using premade mixes, I like to add flavours to help elevate the sauce to one that gets rid of the high sodium taste that goes along with them. Weeknight meals can always be hard, and sometimes you only have a few min to cook, so this 10 min meal is easy.  I cooked mine in a wok, as the cubed chicken cooks quicker then it would in a frying pan.  We like to have this on rice, as its simple and light. What do you make for quick weeknight meals?

This is a simple weeknight dish.  It can be made with canned cream of mushroom soup, or homemade cream of mushroom soup.  In my case I opted for homemade cream of mushroom soup.  I served it with pram crusted potato slices.  This is a simple easy weeknight meal, and is ready in about 30 min. Have you made Pork chops in cream of mushroom sauce before?   how did they come out?