Product Review: Budweiser BBQ Sauce

Yeah - so I bought this BBQ sauce AGES ago.  Then it sat around in my pantry collecting dust and this week I decided that I'd finally had enough of looking at it.

And everything else that's in my pantry. 

So I'm cleaning it out.

Starting NOW. 

I did up some root beer pulled pork because it's easy and fast and I don't have to mess around a whole bunch.

Because I was so busy.  Busy being lazy.

It was an awesome day.

I love the idea of beer in BBQ sauce.  The tangy, smoky flavours.  Yum.  Probably why I bought this sauce in the first place.

And you know what?  It is delicious!  Dark and smoky, exactly what I expected it to be.

I'd definitely go for it again!

Disclaimer:  I didn't get paid for any of this - it's just my honest thoughts.

Drunken Spaghetti - A 100th Blog Post

It's my 100th blog post!  I had totally intended to so something different - but it's not. quite. there yet.  Which is a bummer and I'm totally stumped - but I'm working on it.

One night I was watching 'Come Dine With Me Canada', which is a five episode show where five different people get together, each one throws a dinner party, and they all critique each other's hosting and cooking skills.

Basically it's my worst nightmare.

Not that I'm a crappy host or cook or anything, I just couldn't handle the trauma of being judged by strangers - the people I host and cook for are SUPER biased because they already like me.

And my cooking.

Anyway, one of the participants made this Drunken Spaghetti and I was thrilled by the whole idea.

I ran right over to the website and saved the recipe in my file, but I saw that Jessica over at The Novice Chef had made a Drunken Spaghetti of her own and decided that hers should be the one I should try. 

Because I totally trust her judgement.

So how do you make it???

Aren't you dying to know?

The recipe itself turns out to be INCREDIBLY simple.

Bring red wine and water to a boil in a large pot.

Before we go any further I should tell you that my camera, as of late, has decided that it hates my guts and has been taking the weirdest pictures.  Which is totally lame because I missed out on some great shots at Kay's wedding....  Gr.

Continuing, add in the spaghetti and cook to al dente.

Reserve some of that cooking liquid, drain the rest, and set aside.

Then, in a deep frying pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat until shimmery and throw in sliced garlic and crushed red pepper until the garlic is soft and fragrant.

Add in some fresh red wine and the reserved cooking liquid and bring to a boil.

To that, add the cooked pasta stirring well and cooking until the liquid's all absorbed.

Let's just pause for a second and admire that gorgeous color.....  It's beautiful.  Seriously.  I love it.

Then add the nuts, cheese, and a little more olive oil and toss.

Then devour.  Er, serve.

Don't be afraid to throw on a little extra Parmigiano-Reggiano too!

The wine permeates the pasta and imparts a delicious flavour.  It was so easy to put together it could easily be served on a weeknight, but it's decadent enough that you could serve it to company or for a seriously romantic dinner.

Not that I have a lot of occasion for that last one.

And it's PER.FECT. for a 100th post celebration!

Anyway.  I HIGHLY recommend that you race right over to Jessica's blog for the recipe - tell her I sent you and that I say 'Hi!'.

Source:  The Novice Chef

Norwegian Almond Cake

Welcome to a new year at Adventures of The Cane Girl!

I have a confession to make...  I don't make resolutions.  None.  Not one at all.  

Why you ask?

Because my follow-through sucks.  Big time.

Look, for example, at this blog.  I go through spurts and down-time more than anyone else.  Partly it's my job which takes me out of my kitchen for huge chunks of time.  Secondly, it was a promise I made that this pastime wouldn't segregate me from my family and friends.

After wrapping up a wonderful holiday with my family, I returned home and lined up a few dinners and visits with some wonderful people.

This particular evening, Ron and Diane came for dinner and I served them a fantastic dinner of Champagne Shrimp and Cream Sauce Pasta (which I do plan on featuring here soon!) and this cake.

And I'm going to tell you about it now.

First off, the recipe calls for finely chopped almonds.  I had my concerns when I saw that I had o fold the whites into said almonds.  So I bought these very fluffy looking ground almonds and called it a day.

Secondly, when I saw that I had to fold in whipped egg whites (like making an angel food cake), my poor heart sort of dropped.  Angel food cake scares the bejeezus out of me.

But I carried on anyway.

This cake actually ends up being a two day process.

On the first day, separate the yolks from the whites of five eggs.  But don't be like me.  Dump each white into a separate dish just in case you break the yolk on the very last egg and contaminate your
whites and then you have to dump ALL those whites because now they won't whip.  Ugh.

Do this because you need the whites for the next day.

Yes.  I went through 10 eggs to make this cake because I'm a dope and I had my over-confidant pants on.

In a saucepan over low heat, whisk together the yolks and sugar.

Then add the cream and heat until very thick.  You'll know when it's time because when you dribble a little bit of the mixture on top, it'll kind of stay there.  I did have to turn the heat up though because it took FOREVER to thicken.



When the mixture reaches the thickness that you're looking for, remove the pan from the heat and stir in the butter until the butter is completely incorporated.

Cover with plastic wrap, pressing the wrap lightly on the top of the mixture and refrigerate overnight.

The following day, take out those egg whites (or if you're like me - crack and separate 5 more eggs), let those eggs come to room temperature.

While the eggs are coming to room temperature, there are other things to do.

Preheat your oven to 400°F.  Now, this may seem hot, but the oven does need to be 400°.

Then, take out a 9 inch spring form pan and liberally grease the pan with butter.  In the bowl of a stand mixer, start whipping the eggs until they hold a firm peak.

In a medium-size bowl, whisk together the ground almonds, baking powder, and icing sugar.

Then gently fold in the whipped egg whites until well combined.

Pour the batter into to prepared pan and bake in the preheated oven for about 30 minutes or until the top springs back when lightly pressed.

Remove the cake from the oven and cool completely in the pan.

Once the cake is completely cooled, remove the custard from the fridge.

Gotcha on that one hey?

You want to take out the custard now so that it will have a chance to warm up slightly so you can pour and spread it on the cake easily.

Run a knife around the outer edge of the pan to release the cake, just in case it stuck a little. Remove the outer ring of the pan.  I ended up having to use the knife to lift the bottom edges of the cake because it did seem to stick a little.  Remove the cake from the bottom of the pan onto your choice of plate.

Then, pour on the custard and spread it out to the edges.  Don't be afraid to let it go over the sides.

I suppose you could put in the extra effort to make it pretty, but I decided to leave it a little rustic looking.

I like it like that.

Then serve.  The recipe didn't say if the cake could be left out or if it should be refrigerated, but since I cooked the ever living heck out of the eggs for the custard - I'm sure it was fine on the counter for a couple of hours.  But anything longer and I would be much more comfortable with it being stored in the fridge.

For being (what I consider) such a simple, old world cake - it was really, really good!  But - let's be honest - old style recipes never really ever go out of style.

The custard was quite rich - so be prepared to pace yourself, and the almond in the cake was the perfect texture - light and sweet with a gorgeous crust.  This cake would be perfect paired with a light, summer dinner.

It was incredibly tasty - don't be fooled by the hot mess above....  It's a very impressive cake to feed to company!

This is the Cane girl - signing off.

Mac & Cheese Mondays: Herbed Mac & Cheese

Soooooo - I have something to tell you.  I'm not ACCURATELY reviewing this recipe from Michelle at Brown Eyed Baker.

The reason I'm not accurately reviewing this recipe is - because - well.....  One of the major components is mushrooms.

BEFORE you start telling me about how wonderful and delicious mushrooms are and how their awesome flavour creates magical happenings in all your dishes, I want to you to understand something.

I LOATHE mushrooms in a way that cannot be described.  I believe they have their own special circle in hell.  The second - no - in the MILIsecond that I know I have a mushroom in my mouth, I am forced to completely eject everything in my mouth into a napkin or a garbage can.

Picture this, if you will - a lovely, sunny summer afternoon.  A little girl of about 6 and her brother of 4 are outside in the backyard playing when their mother calls them in.  They both come in chewing away in delight.  The mother proceeds to tell them to open their mouths when they refuse to tell her what they are eating.  They finally oblige and the mother finds their mouths chock full of backyard mushrooms. 

The mother FREAKS and rushes the little children to the emergency room.  The little brother of 4 is promptly given ipecac and smartly does what the ipecac is designed to make him do.  The little girl, however, after seeing what happens to her brother, promptly develops an iron stomach and somehow HOLDS BACK.  Ipecac will not work on this little girl.  So the doctor, in a worried fit, gives the little girl activated charcoal. 

Yep - you read that right, ACTIVATED CHARCOAL.  The little girl with the iron stomach finally relinquishes her overwhelming plethora of backyard mushrooms and they are both sent home safe and sound. 

No mushroom poisoning for those two.

It wasn't until I was 30 or so that I discovered that most varieties of mushrooms that grow in our backyards are actually edible and WON'T poison you, and that if you have an abundance of mushrooms in your backyard, you should get out there with a mushroom field guide and harvest away!

In one serving of activated charcoal, this little girl went from swiping and chowing down on mushrooms off the grocery store shelf when her mother wasn't looking, to a grown-up girl who will spit and gag in a public place if even the tiniest of morsels of mushrooms get into her mouth.

Yeah.

Clearly my hand is being forced in this situation.

Let's move on to this recipe.  You don't really want to hear about any more of my childhood trauma.

Originally, I was going to opt out of using fresh herbs and just use dried in this recipe.  But because I was taking out a major flavour component, I needed to do something else. 

So fresh herbs it had to be - even though I now owe the grocery store my first born child because fresh herbs cost, like, a zillion dollars in Canada.

Here's all the stuff.

To start off with, melt some butter in a pot.

Then add the flour and whisk to combine.

Then add the chopped fresh herbs.

Then slowly add the milk and stir constantly until thickened.

Once the milk has thickened, add the cheeses and salt and pepper.  Stir until all the cheese is melted and the sauce has thickened up even more.

Then add the cooked pasta and stir to coat the pasta with the sauce.

Pour the pasta and sauce into a casserole dish and top with some extra cheese.

In a separate bowl, melt butter and mix with any type of breadcrumb, I used Panko - because they were in my pantry.

Bake in a preheated oven until the breadcrumbs are golden and the sauce bubbles - mine took about 20 minutes.

Let stand for about 5 minutes and then serve.

I liked that I'd get a little bit of each different herb in each bite.  The Tarragon really stood out the most overall in the dish.

This mac and cheese was great as is, and if you're brave enough to make it with the mushrooms I think it would be just fine too!

Just leave out the activated charcoal.

This is the Cane girl - signing off.