One Wacky Strawberry

This wacky strawberry is not a fruit. It is a cat.

Strawberry lives in a tiny store with his loving mom. He is very selective as to which customers he replies to when you call him by name. Even more selective which ones he allows to play with him.

No one knows his age. He was rescued by the store owner from a left behind situation. Look how big his paws are and how muscular he is.

While Strawberry may be selective as to who gets the privilege of holding him, everyone loves Strawberry.

Recipe Time - Chicken Dijonnaise

Continuing with sharing the recipes for the chicken dijonnaise and potato cake dinner, here's the chicken one (For potato cake recipe, click here).

Chicken Dijonnaise - Country Inn Cookbook

Lay out 8 deboned chicken breasts (you can lay 2 at a time with one on top of the other). Lightly season with salt and pepper and bake for 30 minutes in a 400 degrees oven.

In a sauce pan:
Melt 3 Tbsp butter then add 0.25 cup minced onions
When onions are soft, add 2 Tbsp flour and cook for 1 minute
Add 0.25 cup white wine, 0.5 cup chicken stock, 0.25 cup heavy cream and 2 tsp dijon mustard
Cook while whisking until thickens

Pour the sauce over the chicken and sprinkle with walnuts.

 

Recipe Time - Potato Cake

Chicken Dijonnaise and Potato Cake is a meal worth sharing.

Potato Cake Recipe - The Flavour of Holland

Peel & Boil 1lb of potatoes
Mash the potatoes with 3 Tbsp butter and 0.75 cup milk, salt and pepper
Mix in the mash 3 eggs, 2 Tbsp grated cheese of any kind and a pinch of nutmeg

Grease a loaf pan (I typically use parchment paper) and sprinkle with breadcrumbs
Pile the mashed potato mix into the pan and bake for 45 to 50 minutes in a 350 oven

 
 

Severe Tibisti Addiction

Yes, I cannot resist Tibisti - this is my third visit in four months (and sure going back there).

This time the theme was 'ultimate carnivore' feasting.

Chicken, steaks, ribs and lamb - each with the right combination of spicing and flavours that will work well only with that type of meat. This chef is a meat cooking magician.

A great gear-up to upcoming Lebanon trip in a month. For those not able to join me, you have Tibisti.

 

Tibisti Grill/Lebanese Cuisine

6990 Victoria Drive

Vancouver, BC

tibistigrill.com

Read also:

 Truely Lebanese & Back to Truely Lebanese.

 

 

Got Craft Tour

(continued from yesterday's Got Craft Tour)

More food.

Is it because this is a food blog that I seem to be attracted to all these food items, or is it because the food artisans have better displays than others?

The Local Churn makes six flavoured butters, by hand. A perfect size to buy a few to try at your leisure; I picked up three: Peppercorn brandy, parmesan bacon and almond and dates.

These are the more 'traditional' flavours. Check the website for more.

http://thelocalchurn.ca

Jam and butter go hand in hand. But with wacky butters, one needs similarly fun and wacky jams. That's where East Van Jam comes in.

The options are all unique with the most fascinating names like serene nectarine or madam cherry. The cardamom rose apple jelly is sold out. But how could I have resisted The Tom Cat tomato spread (more on this once I try it).

http://eastvanjam.com/

The Salt Dispensary makes their own smoked salts with all sorts of added flavours.]

I probed them on salts to reduce high blood pressure, but alas, no luck.

But I did have a great time admiring the beauty of the product and the display - so colourful.

www.thecollectivehive.com

And if you are not impressed so far with the quality of Got Craft Vancouver 2015, check what I stocked up on - Archie notebooks; nothing can be cooler for my image at work.

Got Craft Tour

Got Craft Vancouver 2015 is, by far, the best craft fair I have been to in Vancouver.

I went in with a limit of 3 purchases, and a bit skeptical to find even 3 unique, yet useful items to buy at such fairs.

With close to 70 vendors across multiple categories, my purchase limit went up from 3 to, well, I stopped counting.

While blogging 70 vendors is beyond somerville kitchen mandate, today and tomorrow I will talk about some of my favourite picks starting with, who else, but VOKRA!

VOKRA is all about eliminating cat homelessness and overpopulation.

Completely volunteer run, VOKRA rescues homeless cats, places them in foster homes until one of the 2000+ cat lovers adopt them this year.

If a rescued cat is sick, VOKRA's no kill policy means the cat will be looked after by fosters until time to pass on. Please, click HERE and donate (even a toonie helps).

Karla is passionate about teas and her passion is contagious.

Mesmerized by the packaging and smells, I walked out with 3 of these teas.

And based on our land, it is easy to buy these beauties along with other unique tea ware at 

http://karlasspecialteas.ca

Nothing will go better with the fancy tea other than The Lemon Square.

Hand made decadent and addictive squares that come in a box of one or four. They freeze well, stay in the fridge for a week or so and, if you are watching your diet, each square seamlessly splits into four mini bites.

http://thelemonsquare.ca 

If you prefer coffee to go with your lemon squares, you can take a look at Inasequoia Karuna.

Well, it is not really coffee (I was fooled too). It is coffee scrub that is supposed to be great for your skin.

Try it HERE. 

Want more Got Craft finds? Tune back tomorrow.

May is Lady K Month

somerville kitchen is super excited to have Lady K back in the kitchen, bringing colour, elegance, finesse and flavours to somerville kitchen.

Lady K's specialty and her favourite soup is her version of lentil soup. She makes it the Lebanese way with cumin or the Kuwaiti way with white lime and noodles. We ended up with the flavourful Lebanese version tonight.

The soup was served with delicate greens cooked with caramelized onions, with the picture not doing justice to the finesse of Lady K's cooking.

Thank you for the elegance of eating you brought to somerville kitchen tonight.