Sauce

“Bring Joy” Drambuie Cream Sauce

Posted on: February 17th, 2013 by Carla Johnson No Comments

“Cooking is at once child’s play and adult joy. And cooking done with care is an act of love.” - Craig Claiborne

What exactly is a “foodie?” The word gets used a lot and was even spoofed in a recent TV ad for Boston Pizza. So, I googled it and found this:

“Noun 1. foodie - a person devoted to refined sensuous enjoyment (especially good food and drink)”

That’s pretty much what Diane Smith Stewart said too. Recently I met Diane through mutual friends and when I asked her about food and cooking she said, “I love to bring joy to others using food!” She loves everything about food. She loves trying new pairings, new cooking techniques and presentations and she is always looking for a new food or recipe from a part of the world she hasn’t yet experienced.

I like Diane because she also really enjoys *sin.* She loves great wine and the finest of spirits. Her favourite drink is the Rusty Nail, a mix of Drambuie and Scotch. It’s possible the name Drambuie came from the Gaelic phrase dram buidheach which means “the drink that satisfies” and I think that suits Diane perfectly.

Carla Johnson Cooking with Sin

Diane & Dwayne - photo credit Diane Smith Stewart

Diane has been married to Dwayne for 20 years and they are not looking back. They are busy parents supporting all the activities of their two teenagers, 18 year old Sarah and 15 year old Cam. They do all that while running two Vancouver businesses, one of which provided the official snow removal services for the Vancouver Olympics in 2010.  Yes, their lives and full and gratifying.

Diane and her daughter. Photo by photoart by Simpson

When she celebrated Robbie Burns Day with friends a couple weeks ago, she whipped up a Drambuie cream sauce for the haggis. Diane is an organic food person. She grows some of her own vegetables and supports local producers, so she made sure she served her sauce with the most delicious, savoury haggis she could find.

Diane also said her sauce is wonderful on ice cream and you might want to eat it straight from a spoon. “But,” she says, “try not to drink it all before supper!!”

“Bring Joy” Drambuie Cream Sauce

 
½ cup Drambuie
¾ cup heavy cream
 

1. Place Drambuie in saucepan, bring to boil and reduce by half (about 10 minutes).

2. Remove from heat and stir in cream. Heat to warm, do not boil. Serve.

Yum!!!!

How to Make a Rusty Nail

Slange Var!

Carla Johnson Cooking With Sin

One of the Diane's gorgeous cakes

You might enjoy more Cooking With Sin recipes for Robbie Burns Day on “Ode to the Haggis” Burns Nicht.

“IPM 2012″ Brandy Cream Sauce

Posted on: September 23rd, 2012 by Carla Johnson No Comments

“When tillage begins, other arts follow. The farmers, therefore, are the founders of human civilization.”
- Daniel Webster

If your September has been like mine, it has been really, really full. Two weeks ago we held our wonderful Best Bites, Taste of the Region fundraiser and this weekend I was invited to present at the International Plowing Match 2012 (IPM) here in Waterloo Region.

Thank you to all the IPM volunteers who pulled off this magnificent event. Hundreds of vendors and thousands of volunteers worked tirelessly for 2 years preparing for approximately 100,000 visitors. Astounding!

Bird's eye view of the IPM tent city in Roseville.

Sandwiched nicely between Anna Olson & Rose Murray. So great to be around the best!

Wonderful to meet Anna Olson in person!

Ontario Gleaners was one of the IPM vendors and my dear friend Shelley Stone, who shared her recipe and story “Special Delivery” Black Forest Cake here, is the manager of the of the Ontario operations. So, it was a perfect fit to share Shelley’s recipe and story at IPM.

Challenges often lead to new and more wonderful things. Shelley’s recipe has brandy sprinkled on cooked layer cake, but for the IPM presentation, I was asked not to serve anything with uncooked alcohol. Getting a little creative, I made a brandy cream sauce instead and it is deelish! Think creamy toffee spiked with brandy! Hello!

Brandy Cream Sauce

1/2 cup butter, softened to room temperature
1 1/2 cups brown sugar, packed
1 cup heavy cream
3 tablespoons brandy
  

1. Fold the sugar into the butter until it is mixed well.

2. Put the mix in a sauce pan and add the cream and brandy.

3. Stir and heat over medium heat until the sugar crystals melt and the mixture becomes a smooth liquid toffee.

4. Can be poured between the layers of the cake or served over the cake slices. When pouring between the layers try trimming off the top of the bottom layer so the cake soaks up the sauce.

Tip! Shelley’s recipe uses simple boxed cake and I made it *sin*ful by replace most of the water with red wine. :)

Carla Johnson "Cooking With Sin"

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How to Make a McD Big Mac at Home

Posted on: July 13th, 2012 by Carla Johnson No Comments

Carla Johnson "Cooking With Sin"

I am from the Two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions – all on a sesame seed bun! generation. Recently MacDonald’s decided to turn an customer inquiry into a how-to video. The ingredients are shared, and they are all very simple, but the amounts are not given.

First, a blast from the 1970′s past.

The customer’s inquiry was about how to make the sauce and the chef shares not only the sauce, but the construction of the whole burger. I know the 2 patties are small, 45.4 g/1.6 oz. each. I always thought the sauce was Thousand Islands dressing!

What is the Sauce that is in a Big Mac?

Curious about the nutritional information? Here is the Canadian site for all McDonald’s menu items.

Here is just the Big Mac info.

Big Mac nutritional information

Okay, so there was no *sin* in this one, but some would say the whole fast-food industry is sinful in its own way. :)

 Carla Johnson "Cooking With Sin"

Click here so we can connect on Facebook!

Cooking With Sin
I invite you to join the CWS Facebook group too!
and
Follow me on Twitter @Carla_Johnson

*Sin*cere Season’s Greetings!

Posted on: December 23rd, 2011 by Carla Johnson No Comments

Wishing You and Yours a Peace-Filled Holiday.

May Goodwill and Blessings Fill Each of Your Days!

~ Carla

 

To help you celebrate, here is a collection of links to several great recipes I hope you and your loved ones will enjoy.

Instead of store-bought egg nog, try one of these:

“Pretending to be Tipsy” German Eierlikor
“Wedding Pudding” Dutch Advokaat
“Hand Made” Egg Nog
 

Easy Apps:

“We Are Family” Rye Bread ‘n Brie & Fondue
“Goddess Supper” Potted Cheese
 

Saucy Sauces:

“Comfort & Joy” Cranberry Sauce
“Father & Son” Bourbon Sautéed Mushrooms
“A Little Leftover” Wine Jelly
 

One-of-a-Kind Salads:

“Pork Ninjas” Salad Dressing
“Poverty Line” Potato Salad
“Stuck on Reduction” Watermelon Salad
 

*Sin*-ful Side Dishes:

“Comfort of Home” Sherry Potatoes
“Proud Mary” Fried Green Tomatoes
 

Distinctive Desserts:

Pumpkin Pie in the Great Outdoors
“Thank You” Chocolate Cupcake Bombs
“Fight Night” Kahlua Cookie Cake
Milk & Cookies for the “Real” Santa
 

The-Morning-After Breakfasts:

“Sisterhood” Maple Rum Crepes
“Working Past Midnight” French Toast

 
 
“Blessed is the season which engages the whole world in a conspiracy of love.”
- Hamilton W. Mabie

“Pork Ninjas” Salad Dressing

Posted on: December 22nd, 2011 by Carla Johnson No Comments
“Here’s a toast to the roast that good fellowship lends,
With the sparkle of beer and wine;
May its sentiment always be deeper, my friends,
Than the foam at the top of the stein”
~ Anonymous

Take a chef who loves pork, make him a die hard fan of the TV show Iron Chef, then give him a BBQ team with off-beat humour and an unmatched flare for the grill. What could you possibly name that BBQ team? …“Pork Ninjas!”

Jason Rees is loved by his fans for his extraordinary panache for all things culinary. His BBQ team “Pork Ninjas” competes all over the country and wows every crowd with their smokin’ grillin’ expertise. When Jason turned 30 he commemorated it with a very fine flying pig tattoo.


http://www.bbqblog.ca/2006/12/my-love-of-bbq.html

Pork Ninjas’ Salad Dressing


1/4 lb. bacon, cooked and crumbled
1 cup blue cheese, crumbled
1/2 raw red onion, sliced thin
1/2 cup cream ale
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 teaspoon granulated garlic
1/2 teaspoon mustard powder
pinch salt
ground white pepper to taste
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
splash of hot sauce

1. Loosely toss the bacon, blue cheese and onions.

2. In a separate bowl make the beer dressing by combining the rest of the ingredients, and whisk briskly until the beers flattens out.

3. Crumble the cheese-bacon-onion mixture over your favorite potato salad or cobb salad, then drizzle the beer dressing over top of the entire thing.

4. This dressing is truly rocking when served super fresh, so you don’t want to store it to use later.

*G-F Tip! Make this dressing with gluten-free beer and voila!

 Want to check out another salad dressing with beer? Try “Poverty Line” German Potato Salad