Spicy Charred Calamari

You know me, I'm always on the lookout for great new recipes.  I found yet another appealing one in the June 2012 edition of Chatelaine magazine, this time for Spicy Charred Calamari.  In the magazine it was accompanied with an Asian Noodle Salad, which I also made, and you'll be able to read about very soon :-)

I've never made calamari before, but have ordered it many times in restaurants.  When this recipe presented itself, I figured...why not now to give it a try?!  It looks like a nice summery meal...stay tuned for the verdict.

Spicy Charred Calamari (Source: Chatelaine, June 2012)

1 package of frozen calamari rings (the original recipe called for frozen whole squid....and to cut it myself...the thought of that grossed me out, so I took the easy route!)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 1/2 teaspoons chili-garlic sauce (I used this version)
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup fried crispy shallots

Peheat BBQ to medium-high.

Allow calamari rings to thaw and pat dry.  In a medium bowl, toss the rings with vegetable oil, chili-garlic sauce, and salt.

Oil the grill, BBQ the calamari until slightly charred and just tender, 1-2 minutes each side.

Serve with the crispy shallots, on top of an Asian Noodle Salad.

VERDICT:
My husband and I both liked this nice change of pace.  We did find that the spicy wasn't spice enough, so next time we would actually turn up the heat in the coating on the calamari.  We did end up dipping our calamari in a hot sauce, because we felt it needed it!  But, it is a meal that we will make again!

Sweet Chili Sauce

My "free" subscription to Chatelaine magazine has inspired me again!  I say "free" because I was able to get a free subscription from purchasing yogurt.  One of those buy a few get a free magazine subscriptions deals...and I am so glad that I picked Chatelaine.  So many great recipes....so much inspiration.  Today's post is part one of two.  You'll have to come back on Wednesday to see part two. 

My husband LOVES Thai Sweet Chili Sauce.  We go through it like crazy.  Well, in the June 2012 issue there was a recipe for Sweet Chili Saice, so of course I had to give it a try!  Here is the recipe:

Sweet Chili Sauce (Source: Chatelaine, June 2012)

3 garlic cloves
2 large red chili peppers
1/3 cup white vinegar
3 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons honey
1/4 teaspoon salt

Bring out your trusty food processer :-)

Remove skins from garlic cloves, cut off ends.  Put garlic into food processor.

Washed, seed and chop the chili peppers. Add to the food processor.

Process until finely minced, scrape the sides as needed to ensure mixing.  Add the vinegar and pulse until the mixture is well combined.

Pour mixture into a small saucepan.  Turn on to medium-high.  Add in the sugar, honey and salt.  Bring to a boil.  Stir occasionally.  Cook until the sauce is syrupy, approximately 15-17 minutes.

Allow to cool, and you are ready to use!

Check back on Wednesday to see what I used the sauce in...

Scrumptious Sunday #18

HAPPY CANADA DAY to my fellow Canadian Bloggers!  It's a big day for us...not only is it Canada's birthday, we are celebrating our youngest's FIRST birthday today!  Woohoo!  So...let's get going, it's time to PARTY! Scrumptious Sunday Link Party #18 is now open. I am looking forward to reading all your recipes this week!

Don't forget, all featured recipes will be shared on my blog, and on my Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest pages!

Scrumptious Sunday #17 - Features

Happy Friday everyone!  Here where we live, today is the first OFFICIAL day of summer break for all the kids - yeah!  AND...we are gearing up to celebrate Canada's birthday!  Woohoo, long weekend!  We are also gearing up to celebrate a very special birthday, our littlest miracle turns ONE in a few days!  We have quite the week ahead of us!

When I pick my weekly features I usually try to pick a breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert.  This week...well..my sweet tooth has taken over!  If you are featured, I sure would love for you to grab a BUTTON (and help promote my blog), thank you so much!

<a href="http://iamaddictedtorecipes.blogspot.com"><img src="http://i1079.photobucket.com/albums/w519/AddictedtoRecipes/addictedbutton.jpg" width="200" height="177" border="0" alt="I was featured, I was Featured by Addicted to Recipes"></a>

Congratulations to this week's features!

Anyone who knows me, knows that I must start my day with coffee.  And Caramel Fraps are my hubby's favourites, so this will suit our family well!

Homemade Starbucks Caramel Frappuccino Light from The Better Baker

I LOVE cinnamon buns, especially my Mom and Grandma's.  Hint hint...Mom and Grandma...if you are reading!  (ps, someone has also been asking for elephant ears...another hint!)

Cinnamon Roll Casserole from The Rickett Chronicles

Popsicles are huge favourites in our house.  All my boys LOVE them

Watermelon Lemonade Popsicles from Homespun with Love

Cherry Cheesecake Frozen Yogurt Pops from Vanessa's Values

And of course, I HAVE to have dessert.  And who can resist these?!

Red Velvet Cheesecake Cupcakes from Crazy for Crust

All of these recipes will be pinned to my Pinterest account, posted on Twitter, and shared on Facebook!
Just a reminder, this week's Scrumptious Sunday Link Party goes live Saturday - at 8 pm PST. Can't wait to see what you bring to the party!

Guest Post - Tara from Noshing with the Nolands

Hi All, I am Tara Noland from Noshing With The Nolands. I am very grateful Dawn has allowed me to guest post today here on her beautiful blog. I have started blogging just over 4 months ago and I am loving it. Cooking has always been a passion for me and now even more so that I am able to share recipes with all of you. I started cooking and baking at a very young age for my family and friends. I have cooked lots of different cuisines but one of my favourite chefs was Julia Child. So I am so thrilled that I have been asked to do JC100 which is celebrating what would have been Julia Child's 100th birthday. I get to relive a lot of the recipes I made so many years ago and also try some new ones. I am given an assignment each week of one of her recipes and try to recreate that recipe as well as she has done it. Which honestly is pretty easy if you follow her flawless instructions. My husband and daughter share in the love of good cooking and dining with me. I have a daughter with a voracious appetite that is not picky at all because we have never let her be.

As I said before I have cooked a lot of different cuisines and the recipe I am sharing with you today is Moroccan. It is a caramelized onion and raisin over Moroccan chicken resting on a bed of couscous surrounded by vibrant orange carrots. A delicious meal, full of flavour and texture. This is a recipe that I came up with just playing around with some spices and flavours. My newest addiction is Umami paste and it is toted as taste number 5, after salty, sweet, bitter and sour. I am starting to add it to so many marinades etc. It is great! You can find it over at Laura Santtinni. A little goes along way to boast the flavour of anything.


Moroccan Chicken

1 1/2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken thighs

Marinade
1/3 cup olive oil
3/4 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. coriander seed, ground
1/2 tsp. ginger
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. cloves
freshly ground pepper
1/2 tsp. Umami paste
1 Tbsp. honey
Juice from 1/2 of a lemon

Mix all ingredients for the marinade together. Place chicken in a Ziploc bag and pour in marinade. Let sit for 6-8 hours refrigerated. BBQ on a medium low grill for 15-20 min. or until cooked through.

Caramelized Onion and Couscous

1 large sweet onion, thinly sliced
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1/2 cup raisins
1 Tbsp. sugar
3 whole cloves
1 cinnamon stick

1/4 tsp. each pepper, ginger and nutmeg
1 pkg. couscous
chicken stock
bay leaf
salt and pepper
Cooked carrots
Parsley to garnish

In a large saucepan heat oil over medium high heat and add onion and stir. Cook covered for 15 min. and then add the raisins, sugar, cloves, cinnamon stick, pepper, ginger and nutmeg. Cook covered over low heat until very dark brown but not burnt about 45 min. Discard the cloves and cinnamon. The cloves are hard to see. I usually get Ken or Amber to help me locate them!! Keep the onion mixture warm. Cook the couscous according to the package directions substituting chicken broth for water and placing in the bay leaf. When the couscous is done remove the bay leaf and fluff with a fork. Season with salt and pepper. Place the couscous on a large platter in the center and top with the grilled chicken followed by the caramelized onion and raisin mixture. Surround chicken with the cooked carrots and garnish with parsley. This is a lovely feast that I am sure you will all enjoy!!

Thanks again Dawn for this opportunity and I hope you come over to see what else we are cooking at Noshing With The Nolands. There is at least one new post everyday!!

Fudgey Nutella Brownies with Cream Cheese Icing

A few weeks ago, Amy from One Artsy Mama posted on Facebook that she had never tried Nutella before.  Well, neither had I, and so I commented that I was in the same boat.  Sure, I see lots of recipes with Nutella in the link parties that I host and participate in, but I had just never ever tried it, or thought to try it in some baking.  Well, that all changed when Amy issued a challenge last week, inviting all of us - new and not new to Nutella, to join her at "Go Nuts Day" and to take part in her link party!  Of course I HAD to accept the challenge, and I was off, searching for a recipe for my family!

Over at Averie Cooks, I found this recipe for Fudgey Nutella Brownies with Cream Cheese Frosting.  These sounded divine, so I chose this recipe for "Go Nuts Day"...here is the recipe:

Fudgey Nutella Brownies


4 squares Baker's Chocolate (semi-sweet)
3/4 cup butter
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons espresso or brewed coffee (optional)
1 cup flour
1/2 cup to 2/3 cup Nutella

Preheat oven to 350F.

Foil line a 9 x 13 pan (or in my case, an 8 x 12 pan) with tin foil and spray with cooking spray.

Melt the chocolate and the butter.  You can do this in a saucepan or in the microwave.  I went the microwave route and heated the two for 45 seconds, enough to melt the butter, and then stirred the chocolate and butter until the chocolate was melted and mixed well. 

Stir in the sugar, followed by the eggs and then the vanilla.  If you choose to add in the espresso, do so now (I did).

Stir in the flour until just moistened, approximately 30 strokes. Do not overmix!  Pour the batter into your prepared pan.

Measure out your Nutella and drop/drizzle/dollop along the top of the brownie mixture.  Do not stir it in.  Use a knife to make swirls with the Nutella in the top of the brownie mixture.

Bake the brownies for 25-28 minutes.  Be sure to check at 25 minutes to see if a toothpick comes out clean.

Allow the brownies to cool completely.

Cream Cheese Frosting

1 package cream cheese (8 ounces), softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups of icing sugar (or more, depending on your icing preference)

Combine the cream cheese and butter, mix very well.  Be sure to scrape sides of mixing bowl with spatula to ensure proper mixing.  Mix until smooth.  Slowly add the icing sugar until desired consistency is achieved.  When the brownies are cooled, thinly ice them with the frosting.  Too much frosting takes away from the fudgey goodness of the brownies.

Store brownies in an air tight container in the fridge.  These will also feeze for up to three months.

The original recipe notes that this frosting recipe makes WAY more icing than you will need.  Please do take note!  You can cut the recipe in half and still have plenty of icing to frost the brownies.

VERDICT:
At first, I over-iced the brownies, and found that the icing, which is delicious, took away from the fudgey goodness of the brownies.  My husband agreed.  So, I took some of the frosting off of the brownies, and just like that...AMAZING.  Tasty, fugdey, brownies.  Next time I would probably skip the espresso, neither of us noticed the flavouring.  But we did notice the Nutella.  Not overwhelming, but still good.  Oh and we all enjoyed licking the Nutella spoons and measuring cup when I was prepping the dessert.  Our 5 year old just said "mmmmmmm" when he tried the Nutella.  A nice treat!

Thank you Amy for issuing the Nutella challenge and for hosting us at "Go Nuts Day"!

Strawberry Lemonade

A few weeks ago I shared with you a recipe for Strawberry Infused Vodka...that sure was tasty...and since then I've also made some Blueberry Infused Vodka, another delicious treat!  Both of these pair nicely with Sprite/7-Up and the Strawberry version really paired nicely with Strawberry Lemonade.  Ever since I made this lemonade, I have been craving more...good thing I have more lemons!  Now if only the weather would smarten up!  Here is the recipe:

Homemade Strawberry Lemonade (Source: My Baking Addiction)


1 cup sugar
1 cup water
Fresh strawberries
1 cup fresh lemon juice (approximately 6-8 lemons, freshly squeezed)
4-6 cups cold water

Combine the sugar and 1 cup of water in a saucepan.  Heat over medium heat until the sugar is disolved, stirring occasionally.  Allow to cool.  This makes your simple syrup.

Squeeze/juice the lemons.

Take the strawberries and 1/2 cup water and puree in a blender.

Combine the cooled simple syrup, pureed strawberries and the lemon juice in a large pitcher.  Add water - start with 4 cups and taste.  Add more water as your taste prefers. 

VERDICT:
Oh.My.Goodness.  This was so so good!  What a perfect summer drink, I look forward to enjoying more to cool off from the heat of summer.  The lemonade was a hit with everyone in the family!