A simple thing called Asparagus Salad

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1 clove garlic, grated
• 1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil or Grape Seed Oil
• 4 sprigs tarragon, leaves removed and chopped
• Salt and ground black pepper
• 1 bunch asparagus, woody ends discarded, thinly sliced on an angle
• 1 pound  ham, cut into very thin strips
• Crusty bread 

In a medium-size bowl, whisk together Dijon, vinegar and garlic. Add the oil in a steady stream while whisking then add tarragon, salt and pepper to make the dressing. Add the rest of the ingredients to the bowl and toss well to coat. Serve with crusty bread alongside.

A simple thing called comfort food

There are days in ones life that no matter how logical your brain is about eating great healthy food, that all you can eat is what reminds you of a happy childhood moment. Here is our Cheesy Macaroni with Tuna. Just the smell of it means it's all going to be ok!

Ingredients:
2 C. uncooked Macaroni
1 Can of Chicken and rice soup
1/2 C. of Cheez Whiz
1 Small can of white flaky tuna
Salt & Pepper to taste.

Cook the pasta to the desire firmness, drain and return to pot. Add the Cheez Whiz, stur till melted. Add the Campbell Chicken and Rice soup (no water) and add the tuna. Mix well. Season to taste and serve.

A simple thing called food camping edition

Even while camping, I enjoy creating food. I find it exciting to make and enjoyable to eat. It does not need to be complicated, just a bit of love mixed with butter, herbs and camp fire does the trick. Oh and let's not forget the entire roll of aluminium foil.

We went to Cape Breton Hideaway campsite in Nova Scotia, it was so beautiful. These recipes are part of what we ate during our adventure.

This is my partner Michael who made sure the fire behaved while we were cooking the pork tenderloin.

I can't take full credit for this roast because we bought it already seasoned from the grocery store. The reason I added it, was because it was amazing and simple. you wrap it up, place it in the camp fire coals and there you go. I brought an instant meat thermometer just to be safe.

These was the side we made with the pork tenderloin.
2 Small onions cut in wedges
4 Garlic cloves whole
1/2 a green bell pepper cut length wise
1 Carrot cut length wise
10 Mushrooms quartered
A handful of green beans (ends trimmed)
2 tbs Butter
3 tbs Canola oil
1 tbs of Garlic & Onion powder, Marjoram, Thyme.
Salt & Pepper to taste

Beef Skewers (We used what we had available)
Marinade:
1/4 C. Canola Oil - 1/4 C. Orange juice
2 tbs Garlic powder
2 tbs Black pepper

Add vegetable (Bell Pepper, Tomato, Small Potato, and Onion) on the skewers in between each piece of meat.

This was my favorite, because I love mushrooms.

1 Cup of mushrooms quartered
2 Cups of small white potato (pre-boiled ) then quartered
6 Strips of bacon cut in pieces (leftover pre-cooked from breakfast)
1 Onion finely sliced
2 tbs of Garlic & Onion powder, Marjoram, Thyme
2 tbs Butter & 3 tbs Oil
Salt & Pepper to taste

Everything was wrapped in multi layers of aluminium foil and cooked  either on the fire or in the fire. Enjoy your next camping trip, and if not, you can make this for your next BBQ.

Wild Mushroom, Onion and Pesto Pizza

1 med. Onion (regular or red) thinly sliced
5-7 White button mushroom sliced
10-15 Wild mushroom sliced
2 Large garlic clove (to infused the oil and mushrooms)
1-2 tbs Garlic olive oil
1-2 tbs Grapeseed oil
1 tbs Pesto or homemade
Salt and pepper to taste.
1 PC Pizza crust
1 Cup Mozzarella
1/2 Cup Fresh Parmesan
A palm full fresh basil leaves (if they are large, minced the leaves)

Slice Onion and the mushrooms, heat half the oil in the pan. Add the garlic to infuse the oil further. Add the onions and let them sweat. Add the mushrooms and the rest of the oil on top. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Mix everything around till the mushrooms soften. Add the pesto and mix well. Set aside for a few minutes.

In the meantime, grade the mozzarella and the fresh Parmesan and set aside.  

Place the pizza crust on a baking sheet, add the onion, mushroom and oil to the crust spreading evenly.  Add the cheeses and sprinkle fresh small basil leaves.

Put the pizza under the broiler till the cheese is melted to your taste.

Enjoy!

A simple thing called Japanese-style steak salad

I made this salad for my partner for dinner and he gave it 4 out of 5 stars.

750 g of steak
3 tsp Wasabi paste
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp Grated fresh ginger
2 tbsp Rice vinegar
3 tbsp Pickled ginger ( optional)
1 tbsp Of the picking liquid from the ginger
2 tbsp Sesame oil
3 tbsp Vegetable oil.
100g (3 1/2 oz) Baby spinach
100g (3 1/2 oz) Mizuna or watercress, trimmed
4 Radish thinly slice with a vegetable peeler
1 Cucumber (short) peeled and cut into ribbons with a vegetable peeler
3 tbsp Toasted sesame seeds



Generously season the steak with salt and pepper, cook in a pan with oil or on the barbecue till desire doneness. Remove, cover and let sit for 5 mins.

to a large bowl, add the wasabi paste, mustard, ginger, rice vinegar, pickled ginger, picking liquid, and 1/2 tbsp of salt and whisk together.   Whisk in the sesame oil and the vegetable oil, then add the spinach, mizuna, radish and cucumber. Toss well together.

Slice the steak across the grain into thin strips, add to salad, give a quick toss. Serve immediately and sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds.

My favorite cooking tools: The spoon holder

Some men finds the new stronger computer exiting, some find the new video game exiting, I love cooking tools/ gadgets. I love finding ways to make things more efficient, cleaner or simply more fun. The tool of the day is the spoon holder, it clips to any pots and it ensures your dirty cooking utensils to drip in the pots not on your counters. I purchased mine at Wal-mart for a few dollars and I think it was well worth it! I comes in four different colours to suit your taste.

My favorite things: Gourmet Garden Spice Paste

There is nothing better than fresh herbs and spices, but I believe that if fresh isn't available, there are close second best. I've grown to love the Gourmet Garden Spice Paste, which you can find at your local supermarket in the vegetable isle. It definitely has it place, I use to always buy fresh herbs at the grocery store and they would go bad before I had time to use it all, This is how I got to try the herbs in a tube. I also grow fresh herbs in nice pots outside in the summer and bring them in when the weather gets colder. So give it a try and see if you can introduce more herbs to your everyday food!