Category Archives: Show Stoppers

• Anniversary Chicken (or Pan Seared Chicken Breasts with a Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Cream Sauce)

  Submitted by Katrina on Mon, 01/04/2013 - 5:20

  Tags:chicken, Cooking, cream sauce, pan seared, recipe, roated red peppers, tomatos, vegetables
  

  

  It’s ironic really that I call this Anniversary chicken, seeing as I was supposed to make it for our anniversary and instead we ordered pizza at nine at night once the kids were in bed. Happy five years hunny! Three weeks later though, I finally got around to making it. On a Monday night. When I had the kids at a nursery rhyme pre-school thing all morning, and classes at the gym that night. What I’m trying to tell you is, this is not a meal to make on a busy night. This is a meal that takes a lot, and I mean a LOT, of prep time, but it’s worth every minute.  Read more...

• Cheese Triangles

  Submitted by Katrina on Fri, 04/01/2013 - 6:02

  Tags:appetizer, cheddar cheese, cheese, cheese spanakopita, cheese triangles, Cooking, feta cheese, freezer, make ahead, phyllo, phyllo pastry, recipe, Spanakopita, spanakopita triangles, stuffed pastry, stuffed phyllo
  

  

  This is hands down my favorite appetizer. My Mom used to make it all the time for holidays, and I asked her to for me for Christmas, but I just didn’t quite get my fill, so I whipped some up for New Years too. You may have already heard of them before, but probably as Spanakopita, a Greek pie of sorts, usually filled with spinach and cheese. Be brave with this recipe, if you like spinach, go ahead and add it. I’m not a huge spinach lover, so I choose not to. This is a pretty basic recipe for it, so you could pretty much add whatever you wanted to the filling, different cheeses, some spice, onion, whatever you can think of.  Read more...

• Steak au Poivre (steak in a cognac cream sauce) & Roasted Garlic and Parmesan Mashed Potatoes

  Submitted by Katrina on Mon, 20/08/2012 - 10:28

  Tags:cognac cream sauce, cognac sauce, Cooking, cream sauce for steak, cream steak, garlic mash, garlic mashed potatoes, mashed potatoes, recipe, roasted garlic, roasted garlic mashed potatoes, steak, steak au provire, steak sauce
  

  

  I got an email a few months ago telling me about the Courvoisier Collective Challange. Courvoisier Cognac was looking for people to create recipes using their cognac, and then post them up on their site. It’s open to culinary students, and home chefs, in Ontario.

  This is why I’m going to beg and plead for your help at the beginning of this post, before the recipe (but only for the next 3 days). Pretty pretty please, with a cherry on top, can you go to this website and vote. If you liked my steak, by all means, click away for me. If you didn’t, that’s ok too, because there are tons of fabulous recipes there that I’m sure will wet your appetite. You don’t need to make an account or anything, just enter your birthday (they need to make sure you’re older than 19), and click on your favorite recipe. That’s it.  Read more...

• Panzanella (Tomato and Toasted Bread Salad)

  Submitted by Katrina on Mon, 11/06/2012 - 8:37

  Tags:bread and tomato salad, bread salad, Cooking, cucumber salad, grilled bread salad, panzanella, recipe, toasted bread salad, tomato salad
  

  

  I’d like to introduce you all to my new favorite lunch. I haven’t quite convinced Oliver that it’s a lunch (he always side-eyes salad), but if I throw a hot dog on a plate with this beside it, he’s quite happy to pick away. Silly boy. If you already know Panzanella salads, well first off, lucky you and why didn’t you tell me about them sooner. Second, you may think that this is not a panzanella. Look, I like cheese.

  Who doesn’t like cheese? If you are one of those crazy people (cough, Bo), who doesn’t like cheese, just leave it out.  Read more...

• Spaghetti alla Carbonara

  Submitted by Katrina on Tue, 29/05/2012 - 10:03

  Tags:best carbonara, carbonara, Cooking, easy carbonara, garlic, pancetta, pasta, pasta a la carbonara, pasta alla carbonara, recipe, show stopper, ultimate carbonara
  

  

  Pasta, pancetta, garlic, Italian cheeses, and white wine. Let’s call this STOP PAYING A TON OF MONEY TO GO OUT FOR GOOD PASTA! And forget about good pasta, we’re making great pasta. Great pasta dishes start with great pasta though. I often make my own, but spaghetti and I don’t get along that well fresh. With the attachment that I have it always comes out stuck together… I just can’t get the flour right I guess.  Read more...

• Ultimate Flourless Chocolate Espresso Cake

  Submitted by Katrina on Wed, 02/05/2012 - 6:07

  Tags:capital grille cake, capital grille chocolate cake, chocolate, chocolate cake, chocolate espresso cake, Cooking, flourless, flourless cake, flourless chocolate cake, flourless chocolate espresso cake, recipe
  

  

  Alright folks… I’m about to share Bo’s favorite dessert recipe, but first, a bit of a back story.

  When Bo and I got married we went to Bahamas for 5 days, then hooked back up with my family in Florida for the annual vacation. We also decided to go out for one really nice dinner to celebrate, something we hadn’t done before. We’re pretty much a roadhouse family most of the time when we go out to eat. We were driving down International Drive in Orlando, went past The Capital Grille, and said “there”.

  Fate was sealed.  Read more...

• Flavor Packed Potato Fans

  Submitted by Katrina on Tue, 24/04/2012 - 11:39

  Tags:Cooking, potato, potato fans, potatoes, recipe, sides, sliced potatoes
  

  

  I’ve tried about a half-dozen versions of potato fans, and I kept coming up with the same complaint –  the potato itself had no flavor. Finally, I decided to just go rogue. Take what I had learned with the prep, but amp up the seasoning of the potato.

  I was not disappointed.  Read more...

• Crusty, Rustic, No Knead Bread (aka the easiest bread you’ll ever make)

  Submitted by Katrina on Tue, 03/04/2012 - 9:43

  Tags:bread, Cooking, crusty bread, easy bread, easy crusty bread, easy no knead bread, farmer's bread, le creuset bread, no knead bread, quick and easy, recipe, rustic bread
  

  

  Seriously, this is THE easiest bread I think you can make. I am terrified of making bread, it always goes back to this one time a couple of years ago that I tried to make an Italian loaf and it turned out like a skinny rubber snake. An experience like that can scar you.

  I came across this recipe on Pinterest here, and she found it on a couple of other sites, but as far as I can figure out it originated from Le Creuset. Makes sense seeing as it bakes in a Dutch oven.  Read more...

• White Wine-Braised Chicken and Potatoes

  Submitted by Katrina on Sat, 24/03/2012 - 10:32

  Tags:carrots, chicken, chicken and potatoes, chicken with leeks, chicken with potatoes, Cooking, easy chicken dinner, easy wine braised chicken, leeks, one pot meal, potatoes, quick and easy, recipe, wine, wine braised chicken
  

  

  Let me just start off by saying that I really loved this dinner. After about 5 good bites, sampling everything and rubbing my crusty bread around in the little bit of sauce that drained to the bottom, I looked Bo in the eyes and said without an ounce of doubt “Yep, this is in my top ten”.

  Two minutes later, because I’m always afraid to commit to my favorite meals, I started back peddling, “Well, I’m pretty sure it is. Yep, it’s definitely in the top ten, but that’s as of right now, you now. I’m not committing to top ten for life or anything but right now, certainly for the next few months at least, top ten for sure”.  Read more...

• Mama Dorosch’s Carrot Cake

  Submitted by Katrina on Tue, 20/03/2012 - 10:14

  Tags:best carrot cake, cake, carrot cake, carrot cake with cream cheese frosting, carrot cake with cream cheese icing, carrot cake with walnuts, Cooking, cram cheese icing, cream cheese frosting, easy cake, easy carrot cake, family recipes, recipe, ultimate carrot cake
  

  

  EDIT: Sorry everyone, I’ve updated the flour, it’s 2 cups! So, so, so sorry about that!

  I can take absolutely zero credit for this cake. It’s my cousin’s Mother-in-Law’s recipe and after watching me drool over the cake for a year she was kind enough to share it with me. It is the ultimate carrot cake. It’s so moist, so full of flavor, and just made up of the perfect texture. I couldn’t believe how simple it was when she gave me the recipe.  Read more...