Red Dragon

Here's a cheese I loved so much that I simply had to write about it! RED DRAGON! I think since my last post about cheese I pretty much established that my taste in cheese is savoury, tangy and strong.  

I've noticed through my visits to quite a few cheese shops and my exploration (thus far) into the "Cheese world" that many of our Middle Eastern cheeses are kinda left out, unknown, undiscovered and that's a little sad to me but of course that doesn't mean I'm missing out on them, a trip to an Arabic Grocer solves that problem! And you can always find a local Arabic or Turkish store in your area and see what you come across, you may find something entirely new!

 These are the cheeses that I grew up with and love, the ones I remember always having in our fridge, from all the different varieties of crumbly, soft and creamy fetas to string cheeses, strong hard almost Romano style Egyptian Cheese and lavishly shaped braids soaked in brine, my father often couldn't resist bringing buckets of these cheeses over the boarder with him from Turkey on his way back home from his travels.

Let's get back to Red Dragon, I picked this cheese up from Country Cheese in Durham, Ontario.  A very cozy little gem of a place. They like to focus on local and "home grown" cheese especially, which I think makes them quite unique but they also carry quite a variety, and seem to be offering more and more everytime I drop in. 

Red Dragon I'm told is an English cheese, it has mustard in it, a grainy mustard too for some texture and has that sharp dijon almost horseradish after taste.  Anyone who loves mustard or horseradish will love this.

It's a creamy medium textured cheese which is what I love about it so much because it melts so beautifully (we're not talking melting or anything) just on your tongue, it's as good in flavour as a condiment/sauce/ spread in itself paired with some roast beef in a sandwich, it's really all you need.  Creamy, pungent and oh so delectable!

I was craving some roast beef as soon as I left the shop but I had some lamb in my shopping bag and whipped up some home-made burgers which I grilled.  

Lamb appreciates some tanginess so this was perfect!

If you're wondering about the pickled okra, it's so easy to make, you'll find the recipe here on my blog and it's probably my new favourite pickle. 

Road Trips

For the last two weekends we have been hanging out west of the city in St.Jacob's, which is always terrific of course with the farmer's, flea and antique markets! There is never a dull moment and here is a little photo gallery of the "day"
We discovered a cool maple syrup museum, along with a railroad museum and much more all in one building on the main road in the town of St. Jacob's.... there are galleries, shops, pottery shops, quilting, tons and tons of fantastic stuff to browse and buy.

Such a fun time!  I'm looking forward to going to my first maple syrup festival this spring and I promise (as always!) there will be pics! 

A piece I picked up at one of the two antique markets in St.Jacob's close to the farmer's and flea market buildings.   This will be beautiful on my kitchen table!

My sisters love Little Caesars but I've never had it before so we indulged ourselves in two pizzas late in the evening after the long day out.

Jappie lounging on the sofa :) Cute as ever.

We just had to make another trip out at midnight to get some McDonald's ice cream - it's a bit of a ritual of ours :)

Here's a little field mouse I found in the morning before leaving my home, he seemed to have passed away of natural causes but I think he deserves a little tribute and since I had to run out so quickly (running late) I gently placed him in the bed of flowers. May the little sweet baby rest in peace.

Simplicity

Lately I've not had a lot of time to cook, but that hasn't stopped me!  As you all probably know by now that my style is slow cooking (and by that I don't mean using a crockpot because I don't even own) but from scratch home cookin' and of course my beloved Middle Eastern recipes!   Our grandma's spent most hours of their days cooking and out of their kitchens came amazingly delicate and intricate recipes like hand stuffed and rolled grape leaves, different variations of kubbah (which are doughs stuffed with filling and either fried, baked or simmered in rich stews)  and so many more beautiful dishes.

On the flip side there's a lot to be learnt from having really little time on hand when it comes to meal prep. I love Jamie Oliver' 30 and 15 minute meals and Nigella's cooking because what I've learned from watching these cooking shows is that sometimes it's OK to cut  down on steps and still make something fabulous to eat!

Whether it's cooking long and slow or quick there is always something to learn and acquire new techniques and perfect cooking skills.

I made a second visit to Country Cheese (I wrote about my first visit here) and picked up some fun cheeses.  They have these lovely fresh cheese curds on a weekly basis that are flying off the counter (literally.. so gotta get there early!) 

I also picked up an interesting cheese which was flavoured in house, they rub it with a lemon infused olive oil and then roll it in dried herbs.  I forgot the name of the cheese but if you go in there and ask them they'll know what you're talkin' about.  It's such a nice snacking cheese, I love the hint of lemon (I love lemon in everything) but find that it really cuts the richness!  Very addictive. 

I've experimented a little with it in cooking, and like a parmigiano reggiano it's perfect to just grate in last minute. The first recipe I made was a pasta in a plain cream sauce which then I shaved/grated quite a bit of this cheese onto it  A few globes of cherry tomato to garnish the plate and it was perfection!  

It's also a perfect breakfast cheese as you can see we enjoyed with an array of fruit, fresh bread and vegetables.  I put a Middle Eastern spin on this spread, which really is how I like to enjoy my cheese! Give me some bread, olives, ripe tomatoes, cucumbers and I'm good to go!

I will add that this lemony cheese is also PERFECT shaved in large curls over a plate of fresh pasta in tomato sauce.Those herbs are great especially in the dead of winter when I can't get to the supermarket to pick up fresh herbs (not to mention they're so expensive)

This cheese is a keeper!

My last favourite thing when it comes to simple meals and I've written about this before but I'm going to say it again, I LOVE those flame savours by Highliner, amazing fish fillets that cook up in 24 minutes, just so perfect! I now make them twice a week.

Back to blogging

 I've been away for a while, of course busy with my new kitties but also completed a month of chiropractic treatment which involved three sessions a week for four weeks.  I didn't realize how much of a commitment it was, or rather how busy I would be preparing for these appointments but glad to have got through it and now I can focus on cooking, baking, and everything that I love.  

With spring just around the corner it's a wonderful time of year! So much hope and anticipation for warm weather, preparing those seedlings and just getting in the fresh spring mode!

The series of photos below doesn't scream "Spring" but they're a few I had on my camera during the last month.  I've been focussing on reading, some décor too and just enjoying life and taking things "slow"  (Reading Carl Honoré's "The Slow Fix")

As you all know I love sharing products and things I love with all of you so today I'm showing off my new incense globe (or Aromatherapy Pendant)  it's by Pixie Glass works, a Canadian company who was also featured on Dragon's Den (where I initially noticed them)

Basically the pendants are made of a super strong glass and blown in a specific way where even if you tilt or jiggle it the incense (essential oil) does not spill out but because of the tiny hole (that's where you carefully and patiently fill it with an eye dropper) it emits the essence and scent which is just lovely!

I do have their basic clear pendant necklace which I will feature later on because I haven't been able to wear it (still looking for an oil to fill it with that appeals to me)

Recently Dr.Oz talked about the calming effects of Aromatherapy,  this is definitely a cool product if you're anxious or stressed.

Even though it's a necklace I hung it from the mirror in the car so now the car smells great!  Perfect for those long car rides and road trips. Maybe even selecting a calming oil and scent may help with traffic! 

It's good to be back! I have some exciting things lined up for summer as well, with fun products and recipes so stay tuned ;)

P.S I am not being paid to endorse any of these products, they're simply things I've discovered, purchased and enjoy and hope you can enjoy them too!