SPAGHETTI AGLIO E OLIO - A SIMPLE ITALIAN CLASSIC

Leave it to the Italians to create an incredibly flavourful pasta dish using only a few inexpensive ingredients! This absolute classic is one of my all-time favs and takes less than 10 minutes to whip up. In my household, we like to serve it alongside meat dishes like my mom’s coveted rack of lamb recipe or occasionally by itself with a few added shrimp on top! If you are looking for a quick, student-friendly pasta dish to whip up or something to add to a protein as a side, you can’t go wrong with a simple yet flavorful dish like this one!

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INGREDIENTS:

Serves 4 People

2 TBSP of Olive Oil
4 Cloves of Garlic - Minced
1 Pack of Spaghetti - cooked al dente
Italian Parsley - Roughly Chopped
Parmesan Cheese - Grated
Salt and Pepper

You can also add chilli flakes to make it a little spicy or a few shrimp!

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DIRECTIONS:

Bring water to a boil on the stove, salt, and cook your pasta.

When pasta is almost ready, heat up your olive oil on medium heat in a large skillet. When hot, add in your garlic and cook for 2-3 minutes. If you like a little spice, feel free to add in some chili peppers too.

Once garlic is fragrant, add in your cooked pasta, sprinkle on some grated parmesan, and some roughly chopped parsley.

Salt and pepper to taste and serve with more parmesan on the side.

Enjoy!

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I hope you enjoyed this recipe as much as I do. If you have any comments please leave them below and I'll be happy to answer them as soon as I can! Happy cooking!!!

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MOM'S OVEN ROASTED ROSEMARY GARLIC RACK OF LAMB

An oven roasted rack of lamb recipe!

One thing I love about coming home is eating my mom’s cooking! This week, my mom taught me some of her specialties including her coveted oven-roasted rosemary garlic rack of lamb! Best served alongside her Aglio e olio pasta, this dish is on repeat weekly in our household. If you are looking for a super easy recipe to make this weekend that you can prepare ahead of time, you have to try this oven roasted rack of lamb! It is soooo good and always a crowd pleaser!

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INGREDIENTS:

COOKING TIME: 25 Minutes

Serves 4

Rack of Lamb (8-9 ribs) - trimmed
1/4 CUP of Olive Oil
2 TBSP of Fresh Rosemary
2 TSP of Fresh Thyme Leaves
8 Garlic Cloves
Zest of 1 Lemon
Salt and Fresh Cracked Pepper

Kitchen Tools:
Food Processor
Baking Sheet
Meat Thermometer

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HOW TO COOK RACK OF LAMB:

In a food processor, add in your olive oil, rosemary, thyme and lemons zest, pulse until finely chopped.

Salt and Pepper rack of lamb on both sides before covering in marinade and setting aside for 1 hour at room temperature on a baking sheet.

When ready, set oven to 450 and cook lamb for 15 minutes before rotating the baking sheet and continuing to cook for 10 minutes to ensure it cooks evenly and to medium rare. If you have a meat thermometer, for medium rare lamb the internal temperature should be at 130-140 degrees.

When meat is ready, remove from oven and let rest for 10 minutes before chopping it up into individual portions. This will allow the juice to redistribute.

Plate and serve.

Enjoy!

Oven roasted rack of lamb with rosemary and garlic

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I hope you enjoyed this oven roasted rack of lamb recipe as much as I do. If you have any comments please leave them below and I'll be happy to answer them as soon as I can! Happy cooking!!!

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HOMEMADE FORTUNE COOKIES

Thinking of making a customizable treat for someone in your life? Perhaps Valentine’s Day is coming up, maybe you want to cheer a friend up or you need the perfect gift for your anniversary. Look no further than this easy to personalize fortune cookies recipe! Not only can you leave super cute handwritten notes for someone inside or notes of encouragement but the cookies themselves are pretty addictive! When creating my fortune cookies I noticed that it is important to work quick which is why I recommend making your notes or messages ahead of time and having them already prepared. Additionally, when creating customized fortune cookies, you want to make sure you don’t make the batter too thick so that they dont turn into mini pancakes. Instead, spoon out as much as you need and spread it out in a circular motion so you can almost see the parchment paper underneath. Lastly, I would also recommend creating only making two fortune cookies at a time as you need to work fast and it can get harder the more you make at one time. Enjoy!

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INGREDIENTS:

Makes about 20 Fortune Cookies

4 Egg Whites
1 Cup of Flour
1 Cup of Sugar
4 TBSP of Water
2TSP of Almond Extract

You will also need:
Hand Mixer
Whisk
Medium Size Bowl
Baking Tray
Parchment Paper
Muffin Tray

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DIRECTIONS:

Write out your ‘fortunes’ on strips of paper 4.5-5 inches in length.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a medium size bowl, beat egg whites with a hand mixer until stiff peaks form .

Add in your flour, sugar and almond extract, and mix with a whisk until it turns into a paste.

Add in your water and continue to combine with a whisk.

Line a baking tray with parchment paper and make circles with the mixture about 4.5 inches in diameter. You don’t want to do more than three at a time (I found my sweet spot to be 2) and don’t make them too thick or else they will come out like pancakes. So make sure they are thin!

Bake for 4 minutes or until edges brown slightly.

Remove from oven allowing to cool for 5 seconds before quickly but carefully pealing the pancake off the parchment and folding it in half with one of the notes inside. Pinch the sides together before folding it in half again using a cup or a lip of a bowl (see below photo for demo).

Place in muffin tray to cool and harden.

Flip parchment paper over and repeat. NOTE: You don’t want to use a piece of parchment paper more than twice otherwise the cookies start to stick to the paper.

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I hope you enjoyed this homemade fortune cookies recipe as much as I do. If you have any comments please leave them below and I'll be happy to answer them as soon as I can! Happy baking!!!

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CHOCOLATE RICE KRISPIE TREATS FOR VALENTINE'S DAY

If you are looking for a fun Valentine’s Day recipe that is not only adorable but easy and fun to make, I highly recommend trying this chocolate rice krispie treats recipe!

When it comes to the best rice krispie treats recipe this one takes the cake because they are so incredibly soft and chewy! Of course, the steps for this recipe are the same for regular rice krispie squares but I thought using a heart cookie cutter would be a great fit for Valentine’s Day. This recipe for chocolate rice krispies will have you reminiscing about childhood bake sales and exchanging Valentine’s day cards with friends. Speaking of exchanging, they are also super fun to decorate and make a great gift so my advice is to double the recipe and giving a few away! Enjoy!

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INGREDIENTS:

Makes Apx 12 Hearts

1/2 CUP of Unsalted Butter
5 Cups of Marshmallows - separated into two portions - 1 of 4 Cups and 1 of 1 Cup.
6 Cups of Rice Krispies Cereal
1.5 TSP of Vanilla Extract
2.5 CUPS of White Chocolate Wafers
Pink Food Colouring

You Will Also Need:
Heart-Shaped Cookie Cutter
Baking Tray
Wax Paper

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DIRECTIONS:

In a large sauce pan melt the butter on medium heat.

Once melted add in 4 cups of marshmallows and reduce heat to low. Continue stirring until completely melted.

Next, remove melted marshmallow and butter mixture from heat and add to large bowl with the Rice Krispie cereal, remaining marshmallows and vanilla extract. Mix until well incorporated.

Using wax paper, line a baking tray and press the rice crispy into the baking tray creating an even thickness all round. Place the baking tray in the fridge for 20 min to cool before removing and cutting out heart shapes using a heart shaped cookie cutter. Place the hearts on a wax paper lined baking sheet. NOTE: You can take the remainder of the mixture that you were not able to use and press it into the heart shaped cookie cutter to create 1 or 2 more heart shapes so you don’t have to waste any of the precious mixture.

Using the ‘double boil’ method, melt the white chocolate wafers. Set 1/2 aside and add a ladybug size amount of pink food colouring to it. Stir well to turn the chocolate pink.

Dip each heart into either the white or pink chocolate until half the heart is submerged before placing it back on the baking sheet to dry. You can also use a fork or piping bag to create decorative patterns on top using alternating chocolate colours.

Store hearts in cool place until you are you are ready to enjoy.

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I hope you enjoyed this chocolate rice krispie treats recipe as much as I do. If you have any comments or suggestions about how to make rice krispy treats please leave them below and I'll be happy to answer them as soon as I can! Happy baking!!!

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PIRI PIRI CHICKEN WITH ROASTED VEGGIES - A PORTUGESE CHICKEN RECIPE

If you’re looking for something healthy and easy to make for dinner tonight that will transport you to the beautiful country of Portugal, may I suggest trying this easy Piri Piri chicken with roasted veggies? Best marinated a day in advance, this Portuguese chicken recipe doesn’t take long to make and always comes out super juicy. I love how the vegetable roast alongside the Piri Piri chicken in the excess fat to perfection until their exterior is crunchy and their insides are soft. Since Piri Piri sauce can be a little spicy and very juicy make sure to pair the chicken and veggies with a simple side like a helping of rice for a well-rounded authentic Portuguese chicken dinner.

Want to try making your own Piri Piri Mix at home? Check out Chef Mireille’s Piri Piri Spice Blend Recipe!

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INGREDIENTS:

Serves 2 people

- Piri Piri Chicken Glaze -
4 TBSP of Olive Oil
3 Garlic Cloves - pressed
2 TBSP of Piri Piri Spice Mix - For premade I like the clubhouse Piri Piri spice mix or the Farm Boy Mix however you can also check out Chef Mireille’s Piri Piri Spice Blend Recipe and make it at home!
2 TBSP of Lemon Juice
1 TSP of Lime Zest
Salt and Pepper
Whole Chicken - butterflied (mine was about 3.5 lbs) or you can use chicken thighs or quarters

- Roasted Veggies -
2-3 Yukon Potatoes - washed and cut in large pieces. I like to put my cut potato pieces in water while I prep all my ingredients so they don’t oxidize and turn colour. Drain water before use.
2 TBSP of Olive Oil
2 TSP of Piri Piri Spice Mix
Salt and Pepper
1 Large Carrot - chopped roughly
2-3 Shallots - chopped roughly
3 Lemon Slices or Wedges

- Garnish -
Parsley

- Fun Tools -
Meat thermometer

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DIRECTIONS:

The first thing to do is marinate the chicken, preferably for a minimum of 4 hours or better yet overnight. In order to do so you must create the glaze.

Heat up the olive oil for your chicken glaze in a sauce pan and add in pressed garlic. Once they become fragrant (about 2 minutes) add in your Piri Piri spice mix, lemon juice, lemon zest, salt and pepper. Stir and set aside to cool.

Wash and dry your chicken before coating it with the glaze. Make sure to coat both sides of the chicken well before covering with plastic wrap and storing in the fridge. Alternatively, you can also do this in a zip lock bag if you can find one big enough.

When you are ready to start cooking, preheat oven to 375F on convection roast (if you don’t have the setting, roast or bake is fine) and remove your chicken from the fridge. Place chicken and all the glaze in the middle of a sheet or roasting pan.

Next, toss your potatoes in olive oil, Piri Piri mix, and salt and pepper until evenly coated. Place potatoes in the sheet pan surrounding the chicken along with roughly chopped carrots and shallots. Garnish with lemon slices before roasting in the oven for 45-55 minutes on the middle rack or until tender.

If you have a meat thermometer the minimum for chicken is 165. You can use it to check if the chicken is done or you can check manually by cutting into it to see if it’s pink inside. If the chicken is done and the potatoes are not, feel free to take the chicken out of the sheet pan and cover it with aluminum foil to keep warm before placing the veggies back in the oven until they become tender.

When potatoes are ready, add chicken back in and serve!

Enjoy!

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I hope you enjoyed this Piri Piri Chicken Portugues chicken recipe as much as I do. If you have any comments please leave them below and I'll be happy to answer them as soon as I can! Happy cooking!!!

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