All posts tagged: Winter

Eggnog Rice Pudding

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We are on to day seven of my #12DaysOfChristmas series, and today I’m giving you a delicious recipe that can be served as a holiday dessert or even as a holiday breakfast. This recipe for Eggnog Rice Pudding is very festive and will warm you up and keep you energized this holiday season. Thanks to my friend Pauline who suggested this idea as a blog post for this series! Which Variety of Rice to Use? I’ve made (and eaten) lots of rice pudding in my day, so speaking from experience, I have a key variety of rice that I like to use in my rice pudding recipe. Arborio Rice is my favourite because it is short-grained and really starchy. These properties really make the rice pudding nice and sticky and thick, just like the rice pudding should be! Unlike most recipes, I do not like to pre-cook my rice. I find that it doesn’t turn out creamy enough and the milk doesn’t get a chance to really infuse through each rice grain. So instead, I …

Pear & Goat Cheese Tartlets

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I am back with another wonderful #AppyHolidays recipe this week! This recipe is for all of those who like something a little bit elegant and complex in flavour, but don’t want to spend all day in the kitchen creating it! These Pear & Goat Cheese Tartlets are great little appetizers to serve at a cocktail party or as a first course of your holiday dinner this year, perhaps with a side salad! Using the Best of the Season The late fall/early winter is when pears begin to come into season here in BC. And when they start arriving, I can’t stop myself from eating them! They’re sweet and have a nice subtle flavour, making them the perfect fruit to pair with other ingredients! Plus, if you can find locally grown pears (yes, those exist here in B.C.) then you will be on your way to making a wonderful seasonal and local recipe! A Delicate Combination of Flavours and Textures When combining sweet and savoury flavours, I like to keep things simple with basic, but good …

Broiled Grapefruit with Ginger and Honey

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I have been going through my previous posts and I noticed that I haven’t posted a breakfast recipe in a while! Shame on me! I know that breakfast can vary throughout the week–from a quick bowl of granola or a smoothie on a weekday to an elegant spread of pancakes or perhaps some smoked salmon bagels on the weekend. There’s a lot of in between! One great breakfast dish that is suitable for either a weekday or a weekend is this recipe for Broiled Grapefruit with Ginger and Honey. It has a beautiful presentation and it can be made in just a few minutes, which is perfect for those busy weekday mornings! Seasonal and local ingredients As with most of my recipes, I like to focus on seasonal and local ingredients. While we unfortunately cannot grow grapefruits here, I opted to use them since they are in season right now. Actually, they are close to being out of season, which means spring is coming!!! I used the ruby red variety for the beautiful bright pink …

Traditional Mulled Wine

Traditional Mulled Wine

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If you are looking for a festive drink to serve this holiday season, look no further than this recipe for my Traditional Mulled Wine. This sweet, spicy and warming drink is perfect for any holiday party! If you have never had mulled wine before, it is basically red wine that has been warmed with a variety of sugar and spices, often spiked with hard liqueur. Sounds dangerous right? It is! The exact recipe for mulled wine can vary depending on where you come from. Different recipes exist across Europe and throughout North American households. Key Ingredients You can use any dry red wine that you prefer. Since it is being simmered with spices, it doesn’t have to be high-quality or very expensive. I recommend using a Spanish red table wine for this type of recipe, similar to what you would use when making sangria. These table wines are easy to drink, low in cost, and still taste great. My recipe for Traditional Mulled Wine uses most of the traditional spices including cinnamon, star anise, clove …

Carrot, Ginger & Turmeric Soup

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The holidays are upon us and that means there will be lots of treats and rich foods to indulge in. While these foods should be enjoyed this time of year (tis the season after all), we don’t want to let our waistlines get too out of control. To avoid this, I have come up with this delicious recipe for Carrot, Ginger & Turmeric Soup. Not only will it keep your waistline trim, it uses all fresh, seasonal ingredients and it will keep you healthy all winter long! The Inspiration Behind the Recipe This recipe was inspired by a recipe for Ginger & Carrot Soup that I found in Vitamix’s cookbook. I love my Vitamix and use it every single day. I honestly don’t know how I lived my life without one! While the Vitamix recipe is delicious, I find that it is a little too “fresh tasting” as the recipe directs the cook to add raw carrots to the blender. It has that fresh carrot taste, and isn’t sweet like carrots should be. So, I …

Winter Spices

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Happy December, everyone! I can’t believe how fast this year has come and gone… but I can say that this year is going to go out with a bang! Amongst all the exciting events that are coming up, I am looking forward to all the delicious treats that are to come over the holiday season! If you follow me on Instagram (@seasonserveblog) you will know that for the month of December, I am bringing back my holiday blog series called AppyHolidays! For this series, I will be posting a fabulous holiday appetizer that you can serve at a holiday party that you may be hosting or to bring to a holiday party that you are attending this season. This has to be one of my favourite series on the blog since appetizers are my favourite part of any meal! In addition to AppyHolidays, I am also working on another festive blog series for December called The 12 Days of Christmas! If you are into food blogs, you will have probably seen other food bloggers run …

Soup Series: Beef Stew with Dumplings

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I couldn’t get through my #SoupSeries without including a meat-based soup. And while this isn’t a soup, I still think that this qualifies to be in the series since: 1) it’s warming, 2) contains rich broth and veggies and 3) makes you feel all cozy inside. So here it is, my recipe for Beef Stew with Dumplings. While soups and stews can contain both meat and veggies, they are a bit different. The main difference between a soup and a stew is consistency. Obviously a stew is thicker (i.e. not as watery) because it uses less stock or water in the recipe. Also, while others may not 100% agree with me on this, the size of the chunks of meat and veggies are much larger in a stew than a soup. I love biting into a big, tender piece of meat or carrot. It just makes it seem much more hearty, rich and filling! To make a great beef stew you need to build lots of flavour at the beginning when you are cooking the …

Soup Series: Cauliflower and Roasted Garlic Soup

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Just like I mentioned in my Fried Cauliflower with Coconut-Curry Dipping Sauce post, I can’t seem to get enough of cauliflower these days. I love the dense and hearty texture of this cruciferous vegetable in the late fall and early winter. It just seems to really fill you up and keep you warm. Speaking of keeping you warm, you wouldn’t suppose this yummy veggie would keep you EXTRA warm in soup form? Hey, I’m looking for any heat I can get- it is the rainy season after all! So there it is, in all its cauliflower and garlicky glory, Cauliflower and Roasted Garlic soup! My partner and I had a version of this soup last spring at Artisan Eats Cafe on Bowen Island. It was so warm and comforting on this cold day, and that view was really amazing! I however, could have done without the semi-burnt toast and tons of cream in the soup. But from the first spoonful, I knew I had to make this at home! And clearly it was a very memorable …

Soup Series: Homemade Congee

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Looks like the dreary rainy weather has finally set in here in Vancouver. Up to today, I have not seen the sun in two weeks, which is fairly typical for the southern coast of BC during this time of year, but caught a glimpse of it today for about three hours, before it got dark again. I really love the rain, I jut hate when it rains incessantly for months on end. Plus it is dark, cold and just not welcoming at all. But being the eternal optimist that I am, I am choosing to make the bet of this situation and look at the silver lining of these rain clouds. How, you ask? Through indulging in the most warming and comforting meal there is: SOUP! The beginnings of vegetable broth <3 I could honestly eat soup every day for the rest of my life and never get bored of it. There are so many different variations of soup including bisques, chowder, broths, stews, chili, and so on. Plus, there are so many ingredients that …

Rosemary Roast Beef with Red Wine Sauce

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Now, there’s nothing that says “I’m an adult” more than cooking yourself a roast beef. I mean- who does that besides moms and grandmas? Not any young adult I know! While cooking a roast beef can be a bit daunting, it is actually really easy as the oven does most of the work. Just follow these four tricks and you will have a nice, juicy roast- perfect for Sunday suppers! The first trick is to take the roast beef out of the refrigerator at least 30 minutes before you want to cook it. Allowing the roast to warm up to room temperature ensures that it cooks much more evenly throughout. If the center of the roast is still cold, then it won’t cook evenly, leaving you with an overcooked outside and a rare middle. The second trick is to sear the roast before baking in the oven. After rubbing the beef with olive oil, seasoning with salt, pepper and dried rosemary, and stuffing it with garlic, I use a well-seasoned cast iron pan to sear the roast on …