And so it is, the first month of the year is almost over. The newness of 2011 has worn out and although the thrill ride of the holidays is definitely tucked beneath shadows of gift wrappers past, I couldn’t be more excited to finally let you know what’s been cooking up in my kitchen! Casey, the talented force behind Kitchen Play, organizes monthly events that bring bloggers and PR professionals together — in the name of food and all things food-related. Several weeks ago she informed me there will be an all-Canadian Kitchen Play event…and would I want to join? Uhm, yes!

I was curious to find out which company or organization we will be working with and what “secret ingredient” participants will be asked to use for the recipes. My anxiousness beefed up (hah!) while I waited for more details from Casey. A few days later, she revealed that we would be sponsored by no other than the Canadian Beef (www.beefinfo.org). Smile.

Would you like to “play” along with us in the kitchen?

Try any recipe for this month’s Kitchen Play — go crazy and put your own twist!– for a chance to win $100 from Canadian Beef. So what are you waiting for? (Please refer to the complete contest rules.)

I love beef. I love my steaks. Ribs. Even offal. My assignment was to create an original entree recipe using, yes, beef! Wheels started turning and one of my initial recipes consisted of tender cuts, but quite expensive. After testing it,  I realized that won’t fly on a regular weekday meal; not even on a weekend. The truth is, I would have filet mignon with salt and pepper cooked medium rare with some sizzling butter and sauteed mushrooms on a regular basis . I’ll also take grilled wine-marinated top blade steaks. Given a good quality piece of meat, I will just let its amazing flavor and texture dazzle me. However, this is not the time to go down the beaten path and there is definitely more to beef than grilling steaks! I wanted to create something that’s different from the norm, but still hopefully a dish that everyone can enjoy.

Heather (Travis), the Beef Information Center‘s director of Public Relations, told me that they are open to any and all ideas. I like that. If you know me, I will go there. After experimenting with one idea after another, and eating one mistake after another (yes, I end up with disappointing meals, too!), I took several deep breaths… Beef is hearty. It’s filling. When done right, it makes a world of difference between blah meat and a cleaned out plate that begs for more. I wanted that feeling from my dish. It’s odd how recipes start out in my head. For this main course, the goal was to get that feeling of eating something so good you sit back and unconsciously rub your belly out of happiness and satisfaction. Plus, it’s winter, so I was looking for that element of heat. Soup. Spice. To keep the cold away.

I decided on some chili. But what can I do to it? I sure love the different textures when I make it with ground meat and chunks to chew on, and the heartiness a good chili brings. However, given my Asian roots and upbringing, I still admittedly look for flavors of home: coconuts, coconut milk, lime (in the Philippines we have a citrus called calamansi)…

So. What if?

This isn't your usual chili.

What if, with careful manipulation of the ingredients, I can make this North American favorite with an Asian twist? Do I go there? Do I dare put coconut milk in my chili? Yes, yes yes!

Beef goes really well with coconut milk, which goes hand in hand with chili. How about a double kick from chipotle chili and sriracha? The flavor is full, but I didn’t like the taste to lose its novelty, so let’s add a burst of freshness from cilantro.

A spritz of lime.

Finish it off with warm garlic rice. I would go so far as to eat it with coconut garlic rice. Wow.

Rinse, repeat.

Was that a Chili con Coco? Chili con Coco Loco?

A creamy and refreshing hearty chili. Who knew?

Ooh, and what is that something else you taste? You can’t really figure it out, but it’s there.  You’ll just have to scroll down and check the recipe! There are a couple of things you might not expect in this chili, but trust me, they make it so good. :-)

As I sit back and relax, and enjoy a full belly of chili goodness, I hope you’ll try it. It’s now my new favorite chili.

Thank you again to our sponsor, Canadian Beef, and Kitchen Play for letting us “play” in the kitchen to bring you new ways to enjoy beef in your meals. And don’t forget, you can join us for this month’s event by cooking along for a chance to win $10o from Canadian Beef!

   Get the recipe for Asian Style Beef Chili with Garlic Fried Rice

After a busy day, there’s nothing more that I want than fast food. Not the McD kind or the pizza kind. I want something I could fix ASAP without having to fret over ingredients I’m missing. You must think I just bake and eat baked goods all the time with everything that I’ve been posting lately, but I still do cook. I want to spend my time in the kitchen wisely (=quickly), making something that’s good enough to eat and enjoy, but still healthy. I mean, cutting out the part where I drink wine is eating healthier, right? Aha.

There were still fresh pasta and prosciutto from my last trip to Granville Island, and a bunch of almost- forgotten Swiss chard that commanded attention or they will take a direct trip to the food scrap recycling bin. And then there’s the leftover ricotta from my crumb cake baking, plus a lonely shallot bulb.  I’m not organized enough to have my market loot assigned into dishes and menus, so this is a regular plight: Get available and/or in-season ingredients and figure it out in the kitchen later. The pantry and fridge supplies my cooking notes, and sometimes we orchestrate some magic. This one will be added to my pile of go-to quick food, with the greens adapted to what’s in season or easily available.

Simple food can be satisfying, you just have to be willing to try. And don’t forget to check what you already have in your kitchen. Yes, that is a lesson for myself as well.

If you’re into Swiss chard, check this other recipe, too: Eggplant & Chard Lasagne. It’s a vegetarian dish that has a good chance of winning the meat lovers over. :)

Happy weekend!

   Get the recipe for Linguine with Braised Chard and Prosciutto

New year, new recipes to conquer. I love trying something new. I’ve been on the lookout for a genuine Black Forest Cake recipe so I can compare it with the bastardized version I grew up with and I found one in a German cookbook I found at the library late last year. For some reason I thought I would need fresh cherries when I saw them at the market. Rarely do I buy fruits that are out of season, but I felt compelled to break my own rules sometimes for the sake of baking expeditions. When I got home and looked at my recipe again I guess I only needed bottled sour cherries! I was left with a rather expensive bag of cherries.

What to do…what to do with more than a pound of cherries? And they weren’t sweet enough to enjoy eating.

I turned to Twitter and sure enough my ever reliable friends had a lot of suggestions. In the end, the cherry clafoutis won.

Chef John pointed me to his video recipe and insisted I leave the pits be. Ken sent me the recipe he uses (from Martha, I believe) and it for pitted cherries, vanilla bean and kirsh (love). I created a compromise clafoutis: using whole cherries with kirsch custard, AND baking a small dish with pitted cherries to test if there really is a different. I also followed John’s method of pre-baking a layer of custard to keep the cherries from sinking down to the bottom of the pan. Brilliant!

Light, fragrant, mildly sweet bites of fluffy custard with fresh bursts of cherry goodness. And I have to say, the unpitted cherry owned the pitted cherry clafoutis by a landslide. Forget for one moment that you will bite into seeds. It’s a tiny price to pay for the great flavor.

Oh, and by all means, please use fresh vanilla beans if you can. Absolutely divine.

I can’t wait to bake more! Shall we make a pact and get ready to bake clafoutis come cherry season? Next time, I’ll take Barbara‘s recommendation and try Julia Child’s recipe. I’m also counting on the Tartine recipe I have from their book as well!

   Get the recipe for the Cherry Clafoutis

Have a wonderful 2011 everyone! We hope the new year will bring us all some good surprises and lots of reasons to smile.

And for us here at Gourmeted.com, we’ve got more recipes in store for you. The holidays have been busy, but we can’t wait to get back to our regular posting.

For once I am actually on time to announce the winners of the Donut Pans!

Congrats, Esi and Naomi! I’ll email you both for your mailing addresses. Cheers!

“It’s the most wonderful time of the year…”

Wishing you the loveliest of holidays spent with the ones you love! Ho Ho Ho!

Wild mushrooms sauteed in butter, salt, and pepper, over toast, poached egg and fresh hollandaise sauce. In a perfect world, I would have this every other day. On the off days, I’ll have my soaked-overnight French toast.

With the chaos that comes with Christmastime, I look forward to the basics: cooking and spending time with the family, sleeping in, and having a good hearty brunch unencumbered by work or troubles.

What are you looking forward to this holiday season, sans the busy-ness?

P.S. Don’t forget to join my donut pan giveaway if you’re interested in trying baked donuts at home. :)

Oh, boy. There are no excuses. I didn’t have time. The holidays just crept up on me and I didn’t even get a chance to do my annual holiday mail signup! I’ll set up a New Year’s one — that’s the plan. :) What little extra time I have, here it is…in Vegas before my flight back in the cold north.

I love my donut pan that’s about the size of a quarter baking sheet. I’ve always wanted to bake donuts, but my prior experience with a popular recipe I found online was a complete disaster. A bread is NOT a doughnut. These ones though were cake-y (my preference). They dry up after a day, BUT if you enjoy it the day of, it’s a pleasure to eat.

And I did mention it’s baked, right? No need to deep fry!

I have to “blame” my fellow Leo, Tracy of Shutterbean.com for luring me with her donuts a few months ago. Hey, no regrets, I’m baking these babies again soon for the holidays. Perhaps I’ll try a more fruity version since I already have so much chocolate in mind.

The recipe came from the packaging of the donut pan, and I’m glad it worked out for me. Hope it does for you, too!

And I know what you’re thinking: “But I don’t have that pan, Joy!” So here’s what I’ll do: I’m giving a pan each to TWO lucky winners. ‘ll keep the rules simple: just leave a comment or (re)tweet this post, and I’ll be picking the 2 winners on the 27th of December. This is only open to those with US and Canada mailing addresses because shipping would be too expensive outside of North America. I feel so bad about this, but next time I’ll have something else for international readers.

Oh, and if you think the donut pan will be rarely used in your kitchen aside from donuts, fear not! Make donut shaped rice crispies, small portion donut-shaped brioche french toast with the hole filled up with fruits, donut-shaped granola bars, and so much more. I love “playing” with food, and this is no different. It won’t be a white elephant in your kitchen, I promise.

Hopefully I’ll post again before Christmas. :) HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Chocolate Cake Donuts
Adapted from the Norpro recipe

• 1 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted

1. Pre-heat oven to 325°F with the rack in the middle. Spray a small donut pan with cooking oil.
2. Combine flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl.
3. Mix eggs, sugar and vanilla in a large bowl, until thick, scraping the sides at least once.
4. Combine milk and butter in a small bowl. Pour and combine with the egg mixture alternately with the flour mixture in 3 increments, until smooth and soft.
5. Fill donut pan 2/3 full for each donut. Bake for 8 minutes until the donut tops dome up. Cool in the tray propped on a cooling rack and carefully remove after 5 minutes. Repeat with the rest of the batter.
6. Frost with your choice of icing or sprinkle with confectioner’s sugar for a lightly sweet treat.