Julia Child's French Onion Soup

Just look at that golden, gooey, perfection. It's a beautiful thing!

Soooo, french onion soup is a new thing for me. I've always wanted to try it, but never really did until a couple of weeks back. It was Valentine's Day, I was looking for a tasty appetizer for our romantic meal at home, and having watched Julia Child make her version on an episode of the French Chef, I was inspired to give it a go myself. And by 'myself', I actually mean my hubby. He was head chef on this course, and I, busy prepping other aspects of our meal, just helped when needed. In any case, this recipe was delicious! It takes a bit of time to make but the results are definitely worth it. I would honestly eat that cheesy bread topping every day. I'm not even joking.

Anywho, I would like to mention that although I don't like to post recipes I've tried only once, I'm making an exception with this one. After all, Julia Child is a cooking legend, so you know this recipe is good.

Shalimar Restaurant - Review

So aside from doing a number on my knee, after gracefully descending some concrete steps... this past weekend was a good one. If you've been following my blog, you will remember my friends and I recently formed a foodie group in an effort to organize ourselves into trying several restaurants around town. And as previously mentioned, since the co-founder and I each have a blog, we thought reviews would be a nice touch. After all, if you've never been to a restaurant before, it's nice to have an idea of what you're getting yourself into. Just keep in mind, we're no Karl Wells, so we don't claim to know techniques and pairings on a food critic level, we just know what we like and hope our review can give you an idea of what to expect.

Similar to the last post, we will be breaking our review into what we consider to be the key points of a restaurant outing:

1. Logistics
2. Service
3. Atmosphere
4. Quality of Food & Drink
5. Overall Experience

In addition to a quick note on each category, we've also included our individual rankings out of 10. You can find mine below, and Terri's (foodie group co-founder) on her blog Pop Culture, With Sarcasm.

So without further ado, I present to you the results of our second group outing:

The Touton Mountaineers visit Shalimar Restaurant

Hash

So you've cooked the big turkey, you've fed the masses, you've sent everyone away with a turkey party favour... you're feeling pretty good about yourself! You think to yourself 'I've pulled it off again', when suddenly it hits you, 'what am I going to do with all these leftover veggies?!' Unlike turkey, boiled veggies aren't easy to pawn off on relatives. And as usual, you've overestimated, paranoid you wouldn't have enough to go around. God forbid you not have an endless supply of veggies on hand.

In any case, there's no need to panic! Boiled vegetables make excellent leftovers. They're ideal for cold plates, and are amazing in Hash! In fact, whenever I'm making a cooked dinner involving boiled veggies and salt meat, I like to throw on a bit extra, explicitly for hash!

Cupid Doesn't Flip Hamburgers!

Check it out on Amazon

So today's post is a little different than my normal posts but given it's Valentine's day, I thought why not?! Way, way back in the day, when I was in primary school, The Bailey School Kids book series was my fav! I could never contain my excitement for the next book. Each short novel featured a 'monster', doing everyday, mundane things and throughout the course of the story, the 4 kids (who's names I still remember?!) would discover and get rid of the 'monster'. Cupid Doesn't Flip Hamburgers was one of my absolute favourites and I think of it every Valentine's Day! To be honest, when I see heart shaped cookies with sprinkles and icing (like those below), I think of the book. Apparently, it really stuck with me.

Photo Source

In any case, the story revolves around a new lunch lady whom the kids believe to be cupid. She keeps handing out special heart shaped cookies, which cast a spell on the kids and cause them to fall madly in love with a person they don't typically get along with. So cheesy, but oh so perfect for Valentine's day! Anyway, I think this is a great book and I would highly recommend it for kids in primary or elementary school.

Stewed Chicken with Dumplings

Today, I bring to you another golden recipe from my mom's cookbook, Stewed Chicken with Dumplings! I love this recipe for a lot of reasons... okay, mainly for the dumplings and gravy - I am a dumpling fiend - but aside from that, it's actually pretty simple to make. Everything is cooked in the one pot which means minimal dishes to wash when you're done. That's a selling point if I've ever heard one! Last week alone, I cooked Eggs Benedict (for the 2nd time ever) and in the process dirt 2 pots, a frying pan, several ramekins, a whisk, a bowl, measuring spoons, multiple other utensils and then the plates we ate it on. Maybe this isn't as big a selling point to those of you with dishwashers, but that stuff counts to us dishwasherless folk. But I digress.

This recipe is truly yummy and about the hardest part of making it is peeling and chopping all those veggies. Methinks I'll be making this again very soon!

Fun Fact: When I was younger, I would eat around the vegetables and essentially consume dumplings and chicken! Mmmm... dumplings!

Pistachio-Crusted Salmon

Pistachio-Crusted Salmon with Scalloped Potatoes

I LOVE salmon. There. I said it. I order it in restaurants, I make it at home in the oven, I grill it on the bbq in the summer, and I love it pan fried! So, when I found this recipe for pistachio-crusted salmon (in my trusty Looneyspoons Collection), a new and potentially delicious twist on my fav little fishy, I knew I had to try it. Good call, I've had it several times now, and it never disappoints! I've got one word... yum!

Quintana's Restuarant - Review

In an effort to try out more of the local restaurants, my friends and I have initiated a foodie group, epically (and ridiculously) named The Touton Mountaineers (long story/inside joke)! In a nutshell, the plan is to venture out to a new restaurant every so many weeks for (fingers crossed) good food and obviously good company. And since the co-founders of the group each have a blog, we thought hey?! why not throw in a review while we're at it! So with our next outing on the horizon, I figure it's time to get this posted.

We've broken the review into what we consider to be the key points of a restaurant outing:

1. Logistics
2. Service
3. Atmosphere
4. Quality of Food & Drink
5. Overall Experience

In addition to a quick note on each category, we've also included our individual rankings out of 10. You can find mine below, and Terri's (Touton Mountaineer co-founder) on her blog Pop Culture, With Sarcasm.

So without further ado, I present to you the results of our first group outing:

The Touton Mountaineers visit Quintana's

Located: Churchill Square, St. John's, NL

Honey Boo Boo's Sketti!

You know how it goes, one minute you're watching Adele's acceptance speech at the Golden Globes and the next you're enthralled by your very first episode of Here Comes Honey Boo Boo! The only explanation - YouTube and the bizarre little road it leads you down each and every time you watch one simple video!

Having heard so much about the show (both good and bad), and having only seen brief clips on TV, I was intrigued, and wanted to see what all the fuss was about. Well... you have to watch it for yourself! There is absolutely nothing to prepare you for this family! I don't think I've laughed/been in shock so much in my life! Despite the pure crass nature of the show, and complete lack of manners, the whole family is nothing but a good time. I'm fascinated. They are loving life and you can tell they all love each other. I have burned through the first season in a couple of days (not sure I'm proud of that), and I have to say, aside from what she feeds her kids (ie: bizarre 'multi-meals'), and how much they're allowed to eat in general (I'm looking at you honey boo boo and that ridiculous amount of food you ordered at that restaurant), June is a great mom! Those kids are having the time of their lives!

Now, you may be wondering what this has to do with a food blog? Well, in one of the very first episodes I watched, June prepared some 'Sketti' for supper. That may sound normal and all, but if you've watched the episode you know what I'm talking about! Sketti, to the Honey Boo Boo clan, means spaghetti coated in a butter & ketchup sauce. Yeap. You read that right, and I can see you screwing up your face - just like I did! Check out the video to see for yourself:

Baked Sausage

Lately, I feel I've been posting a lot of recipes that yield 'ugly food'. It tastes damn good, but can leave a lot to be desired for the eyes. Unfortunately, not all of us have a food stylist stowed away in our kitchen, and sometimes, it's just really hard to make certain foods (such as lumpy, cracker-crusted sausages) appealing! Most chefs might argue that a meal is a feast for the eyes and the mouth, but who really cares about the eyes when your stomach is growling and your mouth is salivating?! In any case, I guess what I'm trying to say is, these sausages are delicious, despite their appearance.

Cod au Gratin

Sorry it ain't prettier!

I've been going a little heavy on the sweets lately, both in life and on the blog. Soooo, it being the New Year and all, and time for a detox of sorts, I decided it best (for all of our sakes) that I post some savory dishes! At first, I considered Stewed Chicken with Dumplings, but thought better of it, knowing you're probably all still gagging at the thought of turkey or any of its relatives. Instead, I’ve opted to post a fish dish. 

Typically, my cod dishes tend to go one of two ways - fried with scrunchions and drawn butter, or mashed up in some fish and brewis. But a few weeks back, I found myself craving Cod au Gratin. Now, in all honesty, I had never made the dish myself and had not had it in several years, but I’m proud to say it came out tasting just as delicious and creamy as I remember from home.