Guacamole Salad - Awaken Your Palate

Simple ingredients can yield an exquisite dish

Every time I pick up a new bag of avocados, I can't help but reminisce on my love for a smooth and savoury guacamole. Comfort food at it's best. When challenged with creating a salad for the lunch menu at Household China and Gifts this past Sunday, I was able to translate this love into one of my most favourite dishes yet. The result? A light, super fresh salad with bright and savoury flavours, perfect for an easy snack or to zest up a holiday family meal.

Pre-Method

Some general tips here,

- Always buy avocados before they are fully ripe and let them ripen in a paper bag. If you buy them when they look ready to use they are often overripe and you will have wasted your money. Unless you find cheap ripe ones at a local market.. they make great guacamole :)

- I like the contrast and sharpness red onion gives this dish, however white onions will also work.

- Ensure ingredients are chilled first if serving soon after making.

- Make ahead and let marinade in the fridge an hour before serving to let flavours develop. 

- If you are sensitive to garlic or onions, simply switch garlic for ginger and onion for shallots.

A Guideline,

You'll need:

- Avocado

- Tomato

- Red Onion

Dressing:

- Fresh Lime Juice

- EVO oil

- Garlic

- Cilantro

- Salt & Pepper

- Cayenne

- Honey

Method

1. For the dressing add fresh lime juice to a bowl, about ½ - ¾ of a lime per avocado. Press and roll limes first to make squeezing easier. Then add 1 - 2 tbsp EVO oil.

2. Mince garlic and sprinkle with salt. Using the flat side of your knife grind into a paste and add to dressing bowl. This way the salt helps release the juice and the flavour will distribute better. A mortar and pestle will also work but just save yourself the trouble.

3. Mince cilantro and add. Season to taste with salt and pepper.. and actually taste it! A couple good dashes of cayenne will add a welcome spice to the dressing. At this point the dressing should be sharp and alive, almost even a bit too strong. Adjust as necessary. Keep in mind it will season the mild flavoured salad ingredients. To balance these flavours add a small spoon of honey. Too much will ruin the dressing as sweetness is not a key flavour. Mix dressing well. Refrigerate to let flavours combine.

4. Slice/dice avocado, tomato, and red onion to desired sizes, but pick a size and stick with it, add to a bowl. Ratio is typically equal amounts of each, less onion if you prefer.

5. Add dressing to the salad. Gently mix, ensuring everything is coated well. 

Done! Serve Chilled

*Finishing Bonus Marks

- Line a plate/bowl with iceberg or romaine lettuce, the crisp/crunchier the better. Place Guac Salad over top

- Garnish with cilantro leaves

- Serve with a small lime wedge

**As always!

Let me know how it turns out for you, feel free to post your questions, comments, and stories below :)

Asian Style Stirfry - The Turning Point

Simple, Savoury, FAST, & Absolutely Delicious

International flavours have never been faster, easier, & tastier...

So I've had a crazy birthday week which accounts for my lack of posting content, but during the weekend I decide the stirfry I was making was a more than worthy contestant to share with you guys.

I say "The Turning Point" because this recipe not only puts many great techniques into practise, but allows for growth in perspective. Knife skills, fresh ingredients, palate and taste, even presentation, can all be learned from this dish and be applied to every meal you make. I mean, unless you don't want to create a huge improvement in your cooking...

 Before we start I must give credit to Jaime Oliver and the video of his that inspired me. In his "Dream School" series, Jaime switches up the standard curriculum in a way that gets students more involved and excited about learning. In the "Cooking Class", he teaches a variety of techniques (namely knife skills and 'seasoning to taste' in the video I'm referring) and a dish that allows students to apply the techniques.

When I first watched his video showing how to make stirfrys I was blown away by the impact he was able to make, firstly with solid technique, and secondly being applied to possibly the fastest, easiest, tastiest, and most healthy dish ever. I was certainly spurred on to continue refining my knife skills (because we can never stop improving), and also to make some stirfrys :)

Check out the video here, my version of the recipe is essentially the same but with a few twists.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5z_d0soK1cI

This was probably my 11th time making this stirfry in particular, it's really just that good. I'd also like to think that I've pretty much nailed the dish since this one was by far the best one my kitchen has produced. The savoury, spicy & ultimately fresh flavours is really a breath of fresh air after being stuck in a routine of meals with predictable tastes.

An Asian Style Stirfry like this can easily be tailored to any particular diet, the only real difference is if you want to leave out the meat, if you're restricted from garlic, or are a cilantro hater (if so we can't be friends, sorry) ;)

Pre-Method
In the video Jaime uses (from start to finish) cilantro, garlic, ginger, green onion, hot pepper (all to flavour the dish), beef strips, red and yellow pepper, mushrooms, zucchini. Then worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, honey, & fresh lime juice (if it's not fresh it won't work) to create the distinctive sauce. Then noodles, and cilantro to finish. 
Here's what I used:

All the same ingredients with the addition of a carrot, 3 chicken breasts instead of beef strips, and probably 3x the vegetable volume of what Jaime used in his video. After all I was making this for 3 people, and I still ended up with leftovers... never a bad thing :)
Again, this is all about you, your likes and dislikes, and what's in your fridge. Go ahead and use up the broccoli, throw in some spinach at the end, even try baby bok choy or bean sprouts for a more ethnic touch, it's all good!
*I suggest making one or two portions when you first try this, it's easier to get a better result

A Guideline for 2 servings,
You'll need:
- Oil (usually I'd say olive but any high temp. oil will do)
- Your preferred meat (or not), preferably cut to equal sized strips to ensure equal cooking. Again, I used chicken breasts. One breast is sufficient for 1 or 2 servings. Once you've made this a couple times you can experiment with seasoning your meat. This time I used salt, smoked paprika, cumin, and thyme 
- Noodles. I used rice noodles, depending on the style one section will do
- 2-3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 inch stick of ginger, minced
- 1-2 tbsp cilantro stems, minced
- 3 green onions/scallions, lightly minced
- 2-3 tsp hot pepper, minced. My small red one there was either a cayenne or a hot red finger pepper
- A selection of vegetables. I used: 1 small carrot or half a large one, 1 small zucchini, 1 whole coloured pepper or two halves, 4 mushrooms and 1/2 cup cilantro
- The sauce includes: worcestershire sauce (which I didn't use because it contains anchovies), soy sauce, honey, and fresh lime juice

Method
*You know how this goes, prep your ingredients first! Then you can focus 100% on cooking. 

1. Let's talk Noodle Science first. Here's the best way to prepare them avoid turning them to mush.
Put dry noodles in a large bowl/container, add cold water to cover. This begins to soften the noodles so they will cook very quickly once added to boiling water. They take a minimum of 10 minutes to soften but this can be done hours or a day in advance, just cover the bowl. Also, to make them easier to work with I like to cut them where they bend, this makes it much less hassle to incorporate in the stirfry than a knot of foot long noodles. 
Add water to a pot and set on max heat, add a little salt, cover. Once boiling vigorously, add noodles. Cook about 1 minute then test for doneness. If needed cook 30 seconds more, 2 minutes is likely too long. 
Immediately drain and rinse under cold water, this stops them from overcooking in their own heat. But now your noodles are cold! Warm them back up by rinsing under warm/hot water.
Now you're a pro noodle cook! You'll never mess these up again :)
To make things easier on your first stirfry, cook your noodles first. Again, so you can focus on the other important stuff.

2. Prep meat (or not). Cut into strips, add to bowl, and season if dezired (not necessary). Set aside.

3. Mince garlic, ginger, cilantro stems, green onions, hot pepper. Set aside.

4. Thinly slice vegetables. This is where good knife technique will come in handy and not only speed up the process but give you great control of dezired size of whatever you cut (not fingers right?). Think about what will cook faster vs. slower, what you want to stand out or fade back, etc. This will determine how you cut your veggies. Doing it all on one large cutting board means less plates or bowls, overall much more convenient.

5. This is where things get really interesting. I could just say, "skillet, med-high heat, 3-5 minutes, then add 2-3 tbsp oil", but this conflicts with me morally a little. For best results you should be cooking at med-high heat. However most people use teflon pans. Upon purchase their packages clearly state they should be used on no higher than medium heat. Most times we need higher heat than that so we crank it up. This leads to leeching of teflon chemicals into our food. This issue with pans is a whole other huge can of worms that I definitely will be discussing in my next post and how to avoid it. In the meantime I suggest using whatever you have that will take the heat and is at least somewhat non-stick.
So, skillet, med-high heat, 3-5 minutes, then add 2-3 tbsp oil.

6. Add minced seasonings, then meat strips. Toss and coat the meat with seasonings, spread out strips, and allow browning to begin. Chicken is more forgiving and can handle being cooked/browned a little longer. Beef is not. There is a fine line with beef strips between soft & delicious, and hard & dry. 2 minutes for beef strips absolute max.

7. As soon as any pink or rawness is gone from the meat or it has browned slightly, add all the vegetables except the cilantro leaves. Toss and sauté 2-6 minutes, depending on size and amount. If a touch more oil is needed add some. You're looking for softening of the veggies but still retaining some bite.

8. Add worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, honey, fresh lime, and toss. Use your instincts here. You can always add more. You're looking for a glaze, not a runny sauce. If runny, cook for another minute. If not, add cooked noodles now along with cilantro, but keep a few leaves for garnish. Toss into stiryfry, coat evenly with sauce. Give the noodles a taste. Check for salt (soy sauce, worcestershire sauce), sweet (honey), tang/acid (lime), add any deficient flavours according to your taste. This is the key to a bright, savoury stirfry.

9. Turn off the heat, ensure ingredients are well combined, take off heat source. To finish, add stirfry to middle of plate, garish with cilantro leaves, squeeze in a little more lime.

Done! Serve Hot**

*Bonus Marks

- Bias cut green onion and/or sesame seeds also makes an excellent garnish
- Drizzle sesame seed oil over stirfry just before removing from heat

- Go traditional. Eat using chopsticks.. it's fun if anything :)

**Final Note

At 2:30 in Jaime's video you'll notice he still has some vegetables left on his cutting board. Welcome to balance and ratios. He left these extra veggies out to retain a balance of ingredients. The "right" amount of meat, noodles, and veggies can really be the deciding factor on this and other dishes. A sea of noodles with sparse elements is not very pleasing. Same goes for if every bite you take there's not a strip of meat to be found. I've totally started to mix in my noodles, only to grab a handful and remove them to retain the "right" ratio. 

Feel free to share your stirfry adventures below, Happy Cooking!

Hot Chicken Nachos - SCARY Good

These make anything in the fridge fair game

Forgive my lame reference to Halloween. Yes I'm a day late (blame the latest Transformers movie for being 2.5 hours long), but I didn't want to miss out :)

Here at Dezired Cuisine I really love the idea of making meals that cover as many bases as possible. That means protein, fruits/vegetables, grains, time efficiency and of course flavour! This makes it easier to come up with a single dish rather than many to equal a full meal. One of the easiest dishes to make that includes all of these would have to be nachos.

I've found several benefits with these:
- Literally anything in your fridge/cellar is fair game: onions, tomatoes, mushrooms, olives, peppers, jalapeño, beans, cabbage, broccoli, cucumber, zucchini, cilantro, spinach, kale... you get the idea
- Because the ingredients are diced and sautéed (hence, "Hot" Nachos) it becomes VERY easy to start adding veggies that you or your kids may otherwise dislike.. as long as you don't tell them ;)
- A few minutes of prepping extra ingredients means you get 2, 3, or even 4 meals!

Pre-Method
Again, these can be made with just about anything. The amounts of ingredients I will mostly leave ambiguous as this will depend on your goal... one personal meal vs. enough to last half the week vs. hiding kale in it for your kids. However this should help give you an idea to get started. This gave me two big meals.

Also some key flavourings I like to add and you should try first are:
- Garlic/Ginger
- Oregano
- Fresh Ground Black Pepper
- Cumin/Chili Powder
- Chili Flakes or Fresh Chili (if you're sensitive to spicy foods only add a little)
Add a teaspoon at a time and don't forget to TASTE after!! (This is called "season to taste", I will use that phrase frequently in this blog)

A Guideline, 
You'll need:
- EVOoil (extra virgin olive oil)
- Chicken (obviously Vegans can skip this). Using leftovers would be a super easy option, I used meat from a Sobey's roast chicken. Anything will work
- A selection of vegetables. In the order of cooking I used:
Red onion, mushrooms, (4 cloves garlic, use less if you wish), olives, tomato, spinach, green onion, and a mediocre non-deli marble cheese to finish (again, whatever's in the fridge, Vegans can skip ;)
- Salt
- Chili Powder
- Cumin
- Oregano
- Fresh Ground Black Pepper

Method
*to smooth out the process have you ingredients prepped/diced/minced ahead of time, this way it's easy to focus on cooking and your techniques

1. Set a large skillet on med+ heat. Once hot, add oil. Having diced the chicken, add it to the pan. Season to taste with salt, pepper, chili powder and cumin. Sauté until slightly crisp. Remove to bowl

2. Using the same pan add another splash of oil. This time add your diced onion, a pinch of salt (to season and help release water) and sauté until translucent. Then add mushrooms, salt again, and sauté. Use your judgement. If more oil is needed, do so now. After 2 minutes add black pepper

3. Once mushrooms are cooked to your dezire, add fresh chili/chili flakes, minced garlic, and a piece of ginger the size of your thumb, cut in half. This will impart it's flavour but will be removed at the end. Sauté 30 more seconds

4. For the other vegetables, use and order of what needs longer vs. shorter cooking. This is determined by density. Things like peppers, beans, or olives should go in now. More delicate ingredients like spinach, green onion, cilantro will be last. Otherwise the order is up to you.

5. After sautéing denser ingredients but before moving to the next, add your other spices.. chili powder, cumin, oregano. Continue adding your veggies, and a pinch of salt or two.

6. Once you've reached your leafy items remove skillet from heat and add them. They will wilt quickly and shouldn't be overcooked (unless you're trying to hide kale). After wilting, remove ginger chunks and add dezired amount of cheese and mix slowly to melt. Non-deli cheese will give a nice texture but real cheese like Cheddar (my fav), Monterey Jack, or Parmesan for example will really boost flavour. Then season to taste with salt and pepper

7. Lay your favourite tortilla chips on a plate and microwave for 20-30 seconds. This ensures they will be crisp, plus warm chips never disappoint :) Then simply add Nacho mix over chips.

Done! Serve Hot**

*Bonus Marks

- Squeeze a little fresh lime juice over the end result to add even more depth
- Mince chives or green onions and garish

*Final Note
I do use more detail in my recipes in hopes that it gives you the space to use your own creativity and develop your instincts. A rigid, simplistic recipe rarely lets anyone do this and they fall into the "Gotta Follow The Recipe" trap. Happy Creating!

Oatmeal Fruit Salad - Breakfast of Champions

Toss some fun and flavour into your morning ritual

Oatmeal, one of the most hearty cereal grains out there. High in vitamins, minerals, fiber, and protein, this is my personal favourite choice in the mornings because it's also quick to cook! 

Many people find steel cut or rolled oats too bland and if given the choice, would opt for the more common, pre-sweetened packs with attractive flavours like "Maple and Brown Sugar" or "Apple Cinnamon". While any oatmeal product is a big step up from glorified cereals, creating your own flavours means much more variety and fun... plus it's super simple! 

*CAUTION: SCIENCE AHEAD*
There are several highly argued opinions on breakfast options, what you can and can't eat, or if you should even eat at all. From my research and personal experience your first meal of the day is the most important. This is because while you sleep, your body is essentially fasting. When you eat your first meal, all of the nutrition elements are used to their fullest potential and generally not stored (as fat). The better nutrition you include in this meal the happier your body and the more energized you feel. Whether this is an early meal, later in the afternoon, or anywhere in between, just make sure it's a good one ;)

Here I made my oatmeal with a Maple Cinnamon flavour, then added a ton of my favourite fruits (ataulfo (yellow) mango, strawberries, cherries). Topped with some crunchy granola for some more texture and we're done!

Pre-Method:
- Generally the oat to water ratio is 1:2, often 1/3cup oats to 2/3 water. But don't always settle for just water, you can use of all sorts of milk as well.. cow's, coconut (my fav), rice, almond, etc.
- Sugar, cinnamon, and other spices like salt, nutmeg and allspice are always great options to try. Don't know how much to use? Add a dash, then taste! Then, using incredible powers of deduction, decide if you need more. I usually use 1tbsp of sugar for my 2/3cup of oats. Salt will also help to balance sweetness and bring out the other flavours. 

A Guideline,
per 1/3 cup oats you'll need:
- 2/3 water or preferred milk
- 1/2 tbsp brown sugar or maple syrup
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp salt
- Your dezired fruit(s)

Method:
1. Measure your water or milk and add to a pot. Set on stove and bring to boil

2. While waiting, add preferred sweetener, cinnamon, salt, or other additions like raisins, vanilla extract, nutmeg, etc.

3. Once boiling, add oats, and mix. Reduce heat to minimum. To reduce liquid faster and for a denser result, leave the lid off. Otherwise put the lid on

4. Mix every few minutes to ensure nothing is sticking to the bottom of the pot and that everything cooks evenly

5. While waiting for the liquid to be absorbed, prep your desired fruits. I prefer using cold fruits that have been refrigerated, they cool the oatmeal faster. Frozen fruit would do this too

6. Once oatmeal is fully cooked, remove into a bowl (or don't, I always eat straight from the pot. One less dish to wash :). To finish add fruits

Done! Serve Hot**

*Bonus Marks

- Adding crunchy granola will perfectly contrast the oats and fruit

- Try recreating common flavours to get more comfortable with these ingredients.

Some Ideas:

- Maple and Brown Sugar

- Apple Cinnamon

- Cinnamon and Spice

There are so many ways to make this your own...

Just remember to keep tasting! Feel free to share your creations below!

Bacon Cado Hashbrowns - Comfort Food

Reimagine what you can do with simple ingredients

I can't even begin to tell you how many hashbrowns I've cooked and eaten in this short life of mine. For the longest time this would be my go-to choice for breakfast. Sure it would cause me to start my day a half hour early, but cmon who doesn't want bacon, hashbrowns and creamy avocado first thing in the morning? I've experimented with different fruits, vegetables, meats and cheeses and one thing always remains the same... anything on h.b's is simply amazing :)

If you're Vegan and looking to try this just skip the bacon & cheese! (and maybe even try your own substitute). There are so many ways to make these depending on what's in your fridge.
Btw if you're in trouble with the spouse this would also make a great "forget what I did yesterday" breakfast in bed.

You haven't had hashbrowns until you've tried these, so let's get started!

For 4 H.B's you'll need:
- 4 hashbrowns ;]
- 1/2 pack of bacon (500g)
- 1 avocado
- Real Cheddar cheese
(whatever you have will work)
- Thin onion slices
- Salt & Pepper
- Cayenne

Method:
*to smooth out the process and have your ingredients prepped ahead of time

1. Turn on two appropriate sized skillets to medium heat, one for h.b's one for bacon. If your h.b's are frozen (most are) put them in a single layer on a plate and microwave for 1 minute just to get them ready to cook. Once your skillet is hot, add a little oil, spread by tilting the pan, and add your h.b's. These cook in 5-10 minutes per side, depending on how brown you want them

2. Cut bacon package in half and start adding strips to the pan, have a paper towel lined plate ready. Cook half the package to desired crispness and remember to keep draining the grease. Set bacon aside

3. For me this is a small but critical part of getting the best result. Once you flip the h.b's for the first time keep an eye on when the second side is halfway done. At that point add your cheese to the h.b's, still in the pan, and cover with a lid for 1 minute to melt the cheese. Then uncover and add thin onion slices and bacon strips in whatever fashion you please, turn off the burner, and cover again for a few minutes til bacon is hot and begins to steam. This way when you serve it everything will be cooked perfectly (I really try not to use that word) and still be hot throughout. Transfer to serving plate

4. Halve your avocado, poke out the pit, and peel off the skin. This is my preferred method of prepping avocados. Thinly slice each half and spread out on cutting board. Sprinkle with a little salt (or not if you're watching your blood pressure) freshly ground pepper, and a tiny dash of cayenne (don't worry the 'cado cuts through the excess heat). Using your knife or other flat utensil, take half of each half and place on each H.B

Done! Serve Hot**

*Bonus Marks

- Roll a lime and slice into quarters, this adds a super nice zing when drizzled over

- Wash and thinly slice chives or green onions and sprinkle over H.B's to garnish

There are so many ways to make this your own...

Try playing with the layers and ingredients to make your own amazing combination. Feel free to share your creations below!

Stay Tuned for THE FIRST RECIPE

This blog is for:

- Those who love incredible flavours, wholesome food 

- Those who are looking for solutions to their allergen-free cooking, plus Vegan/Vegetarian ideas

- Anyone who wants to learn how to straight up COOK!

Be there when Dezired Cuisine loses it's virginity to an incredible recipe

Nothing beats fresh fruit :]

Welcome to Dezired Cuisine!

Let's get this party started!

Starting a food blog has been on my mind for quite some time now. Recently a great opportunity to begin one has presented itself & now I have some serious motivation to just get this thing going!

This thursday (in 2 days time), my fellow classmates and I have a powerpoint presentation due as our midterm (I love college) in a computer applications class. I immediately wanted to do mine on something close to my heart and also something I believe can be one of the most beneficial areas in someone's life. Food. 

About Me and My Adventure

Ever since I was brought into this world I had allergies.

This immediately caused issues with things like school, travel, social events, and restaurants, of course all leading back to the concept of food. During the first 75% of my life my mother would do her best to cook and feed me with the knowledge she had, but I needed more excitement, more flavour, more variety… I needed to learn how to cook.

It really all started for me when I moved away from home for the first time to a university residence, where I paid ridiculously steep prices to live with 4 other guys and be part of the "community". Before moving in, each resident was required to purchase a super expensive meal plan. This was fine as I knew the close proximity social gatherings & binge drinking parties would be well worth whatever I paid. Anyways.. I had to set up a meeting with the head chef of the cafeteria to make sure they could actually feed me. Which they assured me they could.

They were right, they could feed me, but the meals I had were a complete and utter let down. Boiled vegetables, french fries, grilled chicken... I paid $3000 for 8 months of this!?!? Can you say "rip off"? I didn't want to keep spending my Uni-Dollars on this so instead I made it a point to buy nearly all of my food from the grocery store and cook it myself. The rest of my meal plan money I spent on delivery from Swiss Chalet.. you know for those long study periods ;]

One time I went grocery shopping and a good Caribbean friend came along with me. As we passed the first few produce tables he picked up a white bulb and asked, 

"Do you use garlic?"

"No not really" I replied, "what do you do with it?"

"You NEED garlic! You can use it for anything!"

I really wasn't sure what to make of garlic at that point but after a couple bags of garlic, spices & many groceries later, we left the store. I was completely unaware of how this trip would eventually allow me step into an entirely new way of looking at food and life.

Fast forward over 4 years later and literally almost everything in my life has improved. In regards to food I now know more about the Culinary Arts than any other area of interest... food has quickly become my way of life. With the food allergies I have no one could simply teach me how to make incredible meals. No one could simply impart their intuition on me. I couldn't just work in a restaurant or go to school for it. Everything I know how to do now was learned the hard (and fun) way :]

I am now at the point where I want to show and teach others what is possible with food, and not only people with allergies but those without too. My recipes do not discriminate as many others do. This blog is for:

- Those who love incredible flavours, wholesome food 

- Those who are looking for solutions to their allergen-free & Vegan/Vegetarian cooking

- Anyone who wants to learn how to straight up COOK!

Already I have overcome so many barriers that held me back from discovering the true gratification and independence inherent with being able to cook and provide others and myself with exceptional nourishment. So far I have hosted numerous cooking “dates” with friends, exposed them and my family to a variety of knowledge, inspired those around me (including myself!), and I hope to continue doing so for as many people as possible.

Come dive into my world of food and discover your Dezired Cuisine!