We try to keep up with as many Canadian food bloggers as we can, and these are just a few of the great posts we came across this month.  Enjoy! Salsa Verde Pulled Chicken Sandwich http://closetcooking.blogspot.com/2010/04/salsa-verde-pulled-chicken-sandwich.html We’re big fans of getting more out of a meal, and making it simple and delicious.  This pulled chicken sandwich from Closet Cooking (link: http://closetcooking.blogspot.com) is a great way of using up leftover chicken, and sounds perfect for a weekend lunch on the patio.

Pho Ga (Vietnamese Chicken Noodle Soup)

http://www.eatingclubvancouver.com/2010/04/pho-ga-vietnamese-chicken-noodle-soup.html If you’ve ever had pho (pronounced “fuh”) at a Vietnamese restaurant, you know that it’s chicken soup taken to the next level.  Eating Club Vancouver (link: http://www.eatingclubvancouver.com) has a great step-by-step description of how to make pho at home, along with a great primer on Vietnamese herbs.  Getting your hands on some of these ingredients may take some doing, but it’s worth it.

Citrus Chicken

http://www.foodieprints.com/item/2384 Finally, a few takes on citrus chicken from our friends at FoodiePrints.  These look like a great lower-fat take on lemon chicken, and we can’t wait to try these out!

This brandy chicken recipe is perfect for a cozy family dinner.  Like wine, brandy adds a rich flavour that can stand up to the deep sage flavour.  Once the alcohol has been cooked off, the result is a sauce perfectly complemented by cooked apples and sage. You can even substitute regular brandy with apple brandy for a more intense, sweet apple flavour. Granny Smith apples are the best for this dish as they maintain their shape and texture during cooking, but feel free to use other firm, tart apple varieties. Do you have a favourite brandy recipe? Share your favorites in our comments section! Brandy Chicken with Sage

When it comes time to make a simple but flavourful dinner, one of the most common staples of Canadian households is a pan-fried chicken breast. It can be breaded, rubbed, glazed or sauced to easily add to the flavour, and when cooked properly, it's simple and doesn't add a lot of fat to the cooking process.  So, what's to know about pan frying?  Well, as it turns out, there are a few easy techniques that will help you make your chicken seem like it came from a chef's kitchen. The first thing to consider is the pan http://www.chickenfeeds.ca/2010/04/technique-choosing-a-pan/. Personally, I prefer stainless steel for its ability to keep a consistent, medium-high heat. If you just cringed at the thought of your chicken breasts sticking to the pan and covered in oil, read on - this is for you. When you're heating a pan, a few things are happening. At a molecular level, the atoms that make up the steel begin to vibrate - randomly at first, but as they begin to vibrate faster, the surface of the pan begins to change. As the pan reaches a consistent temperature, the surface normalizes, and no longer clings to what is placed on it.  This takes some practice and some familiarity with your cookware, but the easy test is to place a few drops of water in the middle of the pan. If it evaporates, it's not hot enough. If it stays together in a droplet that looks like a ball of mercury and skates along the pan, it's at exactly the right heat. You'll have to play around with this, but with my pan, it takes about 10 minutes at medium-high heat to get to this stage. Once you've wiped any testing water away with a towel, turn the heat down a bit and pour in a small amount of oil. It should shimmer in the pan, and distribute along the surface like "legs."  For this type of heat, it's best to use an oil with a higher smoke point, like peanut oil or regular olive oil (not extra virgin). If the oil smokes, it's too hot, and you should wipe out the pan (don't pour water into it) and start again. Assuming, however, that you've reached the perfect consistent temperature, pat dry the chicken breast with paper towel and place it presentation-side down in the pan until it develops a nice, brown crust. At this point, make sure that you don't overcrowd the pan. Doing so can rapidly drop the temperature of the pan and does not allow moisture room to evaporate. Flip, and cook until juices run clear and the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees Celsius. If you're cooking a particularly thick piece of chicken, you may want to put the pan in the oven to finish the chicken, but for most, you should be able to cook evenly in the pan. The advantage of this method is that the same reaction that causes the nice brown crust on your chicken also creates tasty bits left in the pan, called "sucs."  By deglazing the pan by pouring in a small amount of wine or stock, you can keep all of that flavour and use it in a sauce. Hopefully this will improve your pan frying technique and make those easy weeknight meals even tastier. If you have any questions, be sure to ask them in the comments, and we'll try our best to answer them for you!

Maintaining a blog is a lot of work.  Writing regularly in two different blogs is a feat few people can manage, but caterer and foodie Kelly Brisson of Nosh Foods (link: http://noshfood.tumblr.com/) and The Gouda Life (link: http://thegoudalife.tumblr.com/) does just that – it’s no wonder she’s been called (link: http://www.apt613.ca/2010/03/28/interview-with-kelly-brisson-modern-day-julia-child/) a “modern-day Julia Child.”  We caught up with Kelly to talk to her about how blogging has affected her business and home cooking. 1.     What sparked the decision to start food blogging? To be honest, I started blogging to save my friends/family the trouble of my CONSTANT food talk. I figured if I had an outlet to talk as much as I want, as often as I want about food, I wouldn't need to go on and on about it so much in person. I was wrong... but the blog is still a great outlet and something I feel very passionate about. 2.     Has writing about food changed your experience of food, either how you eat or how you cook? It's really challenged me to try new things. Everyone has a few things they are really good at, but who wants to read a blog about the same 10 ingredients used over and over in an ever-so-slightly-adjusted recipe? I certainly wouldn't read it. I've really tried to use ingredients I'm not too familiar with in methods I normally wouldn't use. 3.     Since starting your catering business, do you find it's easier or harder to make home-cooked meals? It leaves a lot less time to do more involved recipes that I'd like to try. I've been sticking with fairly simple, straight forward recipes lately. I would love to be able to do both [catering orders and home cooked dinner] in a night but I don't want to burn myself out too fast. 4.     What's your best tip for home cooking for anyone who's intimidated or doesn't enjoy cooking? Cook with good quality, seasonal ingredients. The better the ingredients are, the less you'll have to fluff them up with other items. A simple salad of tomatoes, avocado, goat cheese and balsamic drizzle is one of my favourite dishes and it takes 5 minutes to prepare and no cooking skill whatsoever. 5.    What's the strangest flavour combination that you've ever prepared? Two recent combos that I've tried are: -Sweet potato/peanut butter soup. I definitely recommend it to anyone who hasn't tried it. -Tabasco Butter. Sounds odd, but the vinegar/butter combo meshes so well. Every month, we feature a new Canadian food blogger that we like to read.  If you have any suggestions for bloggers you’d like to see interviewed here, leave them in the comments.

Stuffed chicken is one of the classic dinner party dishes, is simle to make and looks elegant on any plate. Our version features three kinds of cheeses and a choice blend of classic herbs and spices. This recipe calls for dried herbs, but if you have fresh herbs, just make sure they’re chopped fine, and increase the amount by about half, since drying concentrates the flavour. Do you have a stuffed chicken recipe that’s a sure-fire hit?  Tell us about it in the comments. Spinach-Stuffed Chicken

A big part of your cooking starts with your cookware. If you don't have the right tools for the job, it's a lot harder to create what you want, even if you have the proper technique. Pans are something that every cook uses almost every day. It can be used for frying, searing, sweating vegetables, or making sauces. Besides your knife, it's likely the most versatile piece of cookware you own. So what do you need to consider when you're purchasing a new pan? The first consideration is price. You can spend any amount of money on a good pan, but the good news is that you don't need to. Of course, cheaper pans tend to be just that - thin-bottomed and aluminum, preventing the heat from distributing evenly. If you can, aim for the happy medium between the Cadillac and the lemon. The second consideration is the type of pan. There are three main types to consider. First, the cast iron pan. If you're a seasoned chef, you can do anything with this, up to and including a perfect fried egg. But, if like most of us, you want to spend time with your family instead of seasoning your pans, cast iron isn't a great day-to-day pan.  It's a valuable addition to your arsenal, but takes a lot of care. The non-stick pan is very handy, but you often have to sacrifice convenience for durability, especially in the lower end. Most nonstick pans can't handle a high heat, and some can flake their coating, which in many cases is not particularly healthy.  You can buy nonstick pans that are durable and can be safely used at high heat without hazardous coatings, but they tend to be quite expensive. However, if your kitchen budget allows, they're definitely worth the money. Finally, there's stainless steel. For me, stainless steel strikes the balance between convenience, durability and price.  A good stainless steel pan costs between $50 - $100, and usually has a good thick base for distributing heat.  With a little practice, they're virtually non-stick, but perform much better at higher heat, which doesn't make them the best choice for things like eggs. Ultimately, the type of pan you use is up to your taste and budget.  Personally, I use a quality nonstick pan for more delicate dishes or when I'm in a hurry, and a stainless steel pan for when I'm cooking meat or larger items that require high heat or are to be transferred to the oven.  I also keep around a cast iron pan for the odd use, but for the most part, the other two are my main rotation. Keep in mind that when you're buying pans, going with the cheapest option usually means that you'll have to replace them more often. If you spend a little more upfront, you'll usually end up with a product that will last you much longer and give you better results than the cheaper alternative.

Are you yearning for the warm breezes of the Mediterranean and the rhythmic sound of fandango?  I hope so, because for our last culinary destination, we’re headed to Spain! The simple yet diverse tastes of Spanish cuisine come from healthy regional ingredients such as olive oil, fresh herbs, legumes, fruits, vegetable, nuts and meat, to name a few.  Spanish people love their food and like many European cultures, each meal is treated as an occasion to bond with family and friends! The Spanish typically eat their dinner very late. In fact you’ll almost never find a restaurant in Spain that is open before 9 p.m.  But just because the Spanish like to eat late doesn’t mean you have to.  You can enjoy a home cooked Spanish meal like our Spanish Chicken and Rice in under an hour, which should also give you a little extra time to dance the fandango – even if it’s just in your living room.

Want to impress your dinner guests? You can't fail with our recipe for Sesame Crusted Chicken. The black and tan sesame seed coating adds a great visual element, and it couldn't be easier to make! The light wasabi cream sauce is the prefect complement to the artful chicken in this Japanese-inspired dish. Wasabi can be a little overwhelming if you’re not used to it - so add as much or as little as you like – just be sure to taste! Have a great recipe that features wasabi? Let us know your favourite recipes in the comments! Sesame Crusted Chicken with Wasabi Cream Sauce

If you or someone in your family has a food allergy or sensitivity, you likely have come across recipes you can’t make as written. Whether it’s gluten or dairy, soy etc…I’m sure you’ve sometimes wondered how to make something you wanted to eat without the ingredients you need to avoid. Of course, sometimes it just can’t be done, especially when it comes to baking, but often it can. Sometimes it involves changing what you consider to be your staple recipes. I’ve become sensitive to dairy and while it’s not life threatening it can be extremely uncomfortable. I no longer cook with cheese or milk…although butter is okay. This means no more cream sauces or just adding cheese to add flavour. I can no longer eat one of my go-to comfort foods, macaroni and cheese, but there are still many recipes that I can. When buying products at the grocery store the best approach is to always read the label and know your ingredients. If you are sensitive or allergic to a spice, for example, you can easily either eliminate it or replace it with spices that do agree with you. If you can’t eat gluten there are now a lot of gluten-free products available at your local grocery store or on-line. Gluten is a little trickier because it’s in so many food products and you have to know what ingredients contain gluten. Get to know them…it will make you feel a lot better if you avoid them. The easiest route to accommodating sensitivities or allergies is to cook from “scratch” at home. That way you know exactly what is going into each meal. I’ve often eaten at restaurants and have been surprised to find out when the dish was presented to me that it included dairy when it wasn’t listed as an ingredient. When you’re eating out, always ask the waiter before ordering. When cooking at home, the easiest option is to eliminate the ingredient, especially if it’s something that the recipe can do without. You can also replace it depending on what it is and what’s its purpose is. Look at this as your chance to experiment! It’s easy to replace regular pasta with gluten free like rice or corn. Make sure you read every ingredient of even your most basic staple…you might be surprised. A friend of mine gave me some hot chocolate mix this morning that she can’t use. Her husband bought it at a really good chocolate store in town thinking that it was gluten free, however wheat starch was right there on the label, which of course she can’t have. Who would think that hot chocolate mix has wheat starch? If you have to replace flour you can usually use gluten free cornstarch, brown rice, potato or even chickpea flour. They are all great for coating and browning meat, making a roux or thickening a sauce. An even easier way to thicken a sauce is simply by reducing the sauce. Depending on the size of the recipe, it could take an extra thirty minutes but it’s worth it because as the sauce reduces it intensifies in flavour. Also, be sure to check out some new websites. There is a lot of information available on substitutions, food allergies and sensitivities and recipes to accommodate them. One year I made a dairy free chocolate cake for my son’s birthday party because one of his friends attending had a severe allergy to dairy and it turned out better than I could have imagined. The other day I was going through some blogs and found one with a Julia Child recipe which I made for supper that night. The recipe is from the blog Living in the Kitchen with Puppies.  It’s a very simple recipe that is very easily prepared for a week night dinner. It turned out that I didn’t have any regular flour left so I used brown rice flour to make it and it turned out just as well. Here’s the recipe for you to try. Remember I used brown rice flour instead of regular flour.  It is a little more time intensive to clarify the butter but definitely worth it and it makes all the difference in the recipe.

Feeling a little mysterious?  I hope so, because this week we are heading to a place that holds some of the world’s greatest mysteries!  Egypt here we come! We may not be able to solve the mystery of the Pyramids but we certainly can help you discover the culinary world of Egypt! Egyptian cuisine holds as much history in it than its country.  Each dish is influenced by the flavours of Syria, Turkey, Greece, Lebanon, Palestine and other Mediterranean countries. Over the years, these simple and hearty dishes have been modified with fresh ingredients and spices that make Egyptian cuisine truly unique. A meal in Egypt usually consists of meat, vegetables, salad and rice, potatoes or pasta and local fruits are served for dessert.  Yogurt and cheese are also a big part of the Egyptian diet and are used in various dishes.  In fact, this recipe for Egyptian Chicken Kebabs with Mint Potato Salad will give you a good knowledge base for what ingredients are used in everyday Egyptian cuisine.  Enjoy! Bonus Egypt Trivia: Did you know that the Egyptians were the first to invent the oven that could be used in a home?

As the cold days of winter become more and more a memory, try this Mexican-inspired dish bursting with colour and sweet citrus flavour. The pineapple combined with a couple of jalapeño peppers ensures just the right amount of heat to offset the sweetness of the fruit. Try adding in some seedless grapes for even more fruit flavour! Do you love pairing sweet with savoury?  Tell us about your favorite fruit dishes in the comments section! Pineapple Almond Chicken (Pollo Almendrado) with White Rice (Arroz Blanco)

Can you believe that we’re already at week three of our culinary world adventure?  That means only two more weeks to go!  As they say “time flies when you’re having fun.”  Speaking of fun, you’re going to love this week’s destination.  Thailand here we come! Good food is a very important part of Thai culture and each meal is treated as a social affair. In fact, at a traditional Thai table, you will find an assortment of fragrant dishes that are shared by all and enjoyed with a main staple of white rice. Traditional Thai meals combine an exotic flavour balance of sweet, sour, spicy, salty and bitter just like you’ll find in this tantalizing recipe for Thai Lime Curry!  The blend of hot peppers and spicy curry are complemented by the tanginess of lime and the sweet, rich flavour of coconut milk. It’s no wonder that Thai cuisine is enjoyed by people all over the world!