Main Dishes

Homemade Cast Iron Meatballs (how to make them Italian-style)

April 3, 2020 by Sylvia Rose 5 Comments

Making homemade meatballs is a simple thing to do and so much more flavorful than buying frozen ones! Dust off your cast iron skillet and learn how to make your own italian meatballs from scratch.

cast iron skillet full of homemade meatballs

MAKING CAST IRON SKILLET MEATBALLS

First off, you don’t need a cast-iron skillet to make these homemade meatballs.

If you’re finishing off the meatballs in the oven, however, I do recommend using an oven-safe pan.

The reason I recommend cast iron? Because I’m a hardcore fan and think cast-iron cookware is the bee’s knees.

It’s easy to work with cast iron, it lasts forever, and it’s toxin-free.

RELATED: How to Cook with Cast Iron

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Pan-Fried Chicken Caesar Salad (the BEST caesar salad ever)

March 20, 2020 by Sylvia Rose 9 Comments

This chicken caesar salad is going to make all other caesar salads pale in comparison once you take your first bite. Flavourful panko-crusted chicken, crisp romaine lettuce, garlicky homemade dressing and the easiest croutons you will ever make. You won’t want to go back!

PAN-FRIED CHICKEN CAESAR SALAD: A GAME CHANGER

Congratulations, you have just struck Caesar salad gold!

I have no idea how many chicken caesar salads I have eaten in my life, but this pan-fried chicken version is to-die-for.

I must warn you: there are a lot of steps involved.

You’ll have to clarify butter, make your own caesar dressing, and fry up some croutons.

I’m telling you…it’s WORTH the extra work.

I hope you love it as much as I do!

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BBQ Pulled Duck: A Simple Slow Cooker Recipe

March 6, 2020 by Sylvia Rose 3 Comments

BBQ pulled duck is a fun spin on pulled pork. Paired with a homemade stout barbecue sauce, this easy duck slow cooker recipe will make your kitchen smell amazing and your taste buds sing!

As much as I love it, not everyone eats pork.

BBQ pulled pork is one of those classic American recipes that people love for its sweet, smoky flavour.

It’s a summertime favourite and makes an excellent addition to a backyard barbecue or a Superbowl party.

While one can always turn to BBQ pulled chicken to get their mock pulled pork fix, chicken doesn’t have the same meaty depth that duck offers.

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Kefir-Brined Chicken (an Easy Sheet Pan Dinner)

February 28, 2020 by Sylvia Rose 4 Comments

This kefir-brined chicken is juicy and bursting with flavour, and it couldn’t be easier to make! Learn the basics of brining so you can put this easy and wholesome sheet pan dinner on the table this week.

First off, if you can’t get your hands on milk kefir, don’t worry about it. You can easily swap the kefir out with buttermilk if that’s easier for you to get your hands on.

I just happen to be swimming in milk kefir because I make my own at home.

Kefir, by the way, is a fermented milk beverage that’s basically a drinkable version of yogurt.

Boasting more probiotic power than yogurt, it’s easy for the body to digest and is good for gut health.

This post may contain affiliate links, meaning that if you choose to purchase something after clicking on one of the links in this post, I may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you.

Plus, it’s a great way to sneak in a daily dose of cod liver oil for those omega-3’s! You’ll have to check out my post on making milk kefir to get the scoop on that story.

homemade milk kefir — `This is milk kefir. The lumpy stuff is the live culture that converts the milk into kefir.`

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Fiery Chipotle Chili (a slow cooker recipe)

January 3, 2020 by Sylvia Rose 8 Comments

This fiery chipotle chili hits the spot on the coldest of days. Learn how to prep it, set it, and forget it with this easy slow cooker recipe.

EVERY POT OF CHILI HAS A STORY

My cooking journey began the day I started university.

Prior to that, the extent of my cooking prowess was preparing a pot of Kraft Dinner for my brothers and heating soup.

Left to my own devices and being too frugal for the school cafeteria, I began navigating my way around the kitchen.

One dish I learned how to make was stovetop chilli. I would brown my meat, toss all of the ingredients into a pot, bring it to a boil and then simmer for 15 minutes.

I would finish it by dousing it with Tabasco sauce because I didn’t know about chipotles in adobo sauce.

The onions were crunchy, but I was proud of myself. Then one day, to my great insult, someone suggested that I sauté my onions.

How dare they!

They were right, of course, and thankfully I took it to heart.

Then several years ago I was gifted a Crock-Pot for Christmas and that changed everything.

Over the years, my spices and core ingredients have stayed consistent with minor tweaks here and there, but slow cooking and the discovery of chipotles in adobo sauce dotted the i’s and crossed the t’s.

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A French Canadian Tourtière Recipe

December 6, 2019 by Sylvia Rose 4 Comments

This French Canadian tourtière is the taste of the holidays for many Quebecers. A flavourful beef and pork filling wrapped in a flaky pâte brisée pie crust, how can anyone go wrong?

There’s a region in Québec that’s a couple of hundred kilometres north of the famous St. Lawrence River, up the Saguenay River, called Lac St-Jean. I have family who live there and if they hear someone call a meat pie that isn’t from Lac St-Jean a tourtière, they are quick to disparage it.

There are tourtière recipes out there that are branded as Lac St-Jean style, but really, everyone’s recipes are so different that it’s hard for me to understand what makes that a tourtière, and my tourtière a meat pie.

By the way, here’s some food history for you. The name tourtière comes from the cooking dish these pies used to be prepared in, and the dish itself is of French origin.

Oh, and just so you know, this is not a tourtière from Lac St-Jean, nor is it in that style. It’s a French Canadian tourtière. The family can flay me later.

RELATED: Bacon and Sauerkraut Quiche

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