Chicken Barley Soup

Growing up I was always told that the best time for soup was when I was sick, or cold, but now that I am older, I realize I need soup whenever I'm in need of some good ole' fashion comfort food. Tiring days, lazy Sundays, they're all good fits for soup, and more specifically - Chicken Barley Soup. It is simple, cheap, and so full of flavour you almost forget it's soup. 

You will need:

• 3 chicken breasts - cut in small cubes
• 1/2 cup pearl barley
• 1 thickly sliced large carrot 
• 2 stalks of thickly sliced celery
• 1 diced small onion
• 14 oz of diced tomatoes
• 5 cups of chicken broth
• 1/2 tbsp dried parsley
• 1 tbsp dried oregano
• 1/2 tbsp dried thyme
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tsp oil

Here's what to do

1. Heat your oil in a soup pot on medium heat
2. Add chicken breast and onion, fry until chicken is 3/4 way cooked
3. Add chicken broth along with celery, carrots, and barley. Raise heat until broth is at a boil for 15 minutes
4. Add dried herbs, salt & pepper, tomatoes, and boil for another 15 minutes.
5. Add broth if too flavourful, or dried oregano for a stronger taste.

Voila! Soup for dinner. Serve with sliced french bread or dinner rolls!

With love,

Donna & Buck

Perfect Broccoli Slaw

You will need:

• A full head of broccoli
• 1 large peeled carrot
• Half a red onion
• 1 cup of mayo
• 1 teaspoon of sugar
• 3/4 marble or cheddar cheese

How to make:

1. Wash and chop up the head of the broccoli
2. Grate carrot and cheese
3. Chop up red onion finely
4. Put all veggies in a large bowl and mix in mayo and salt. Refrigerate for 15 minutes. 
5. Serve as a side dish

With love, 

Donna & Buck

New Orleans Jambalaya

Jambalaya is my favourite Cajun food. It's simple to make and has a distinct taste you'll love and won't get enough of!

What you need:

• 1 cup of brown rice
• 4 cups of chicken broth
• 2 stalks of celery, chopped by 1/4"
• 1/2 chopped green pepper
• 2 stems of green onion
• 3/4 cup diced tomatoes
• 3 Italian sausages, or 2 andouille sausages (sliced)
• about 15 shell-less shrimps
• 1 1/2 tablespoons paprika
• 3/4 tablespoon cumin
• 1/2 tablespoon cayenne pepper
• 1 tablespoon butter

How to cook:

1. In a small pot or saucepan, cook rice in 2 1/2 cups of chicken broth. Add along a few tomatoes. When finished, set to side.
2. Melt butter in a stock pot on medium heat. Fry sausages in butter until brown, continually flip so they are cook on both ends. Add cayenne pepper, paprika, and cumin and fry for another 5 minutes. 
3. Add celery, onions, tomatoes, and peppers. Cook until tomatoes are melted into a sauce. 
4. Add rice, 1 cup of broth, and shrimps, cook until all the veggies are soft. If it gets too dry, add broth.
5. Serves 4. Eat and Enjoy! 

With Love, 

Donna & Buck

Quick and Easy Garlic Coconut Shrimp!

Tired from work or school? Forgot to defrost meat? No problem. Garlic Coconut Shrimp is the way to go! If your shrimp are still frozen, just place them in a bowl of hot tap water for about 10 minutes, and then follow the rest of the recipe. Serve this dish over white rice.

Here's what you need:

• 1 pound of peeled shrimp (about 25)
• 1 regular can (400 ml) of coconut milk
• 6 medium garlic cloves
• 1 1/2 cups of water
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 bottom piece of lemongrass, sliced into halves.
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon of chili powder
• 1 teaspoon cayenne powder
• 1 teaspoon of onion powder

Here's how to make it:

1. Pulse water, garlic, and salt in the blender a few times. ensure the garlic is in little chunks and not pureed. 
2. Pour over shrimp and leave to marinate for 10 minutes.
3. Heat olive oil in a pan on medium high heat.
4. Strain the water from the shrimp leaving the garlic in. Add to pan along with lemongrass and fry for about 4 minutes.
5. Pour half the can of coconut milk, cayenne pepper, chili powder, and onion powder to shrimp. Cook for another 10 minutes on medium heat gradually adding little bits of coconut milk to keep the amount.
6. Serve over rice and enjoy! 

With love, 

Donna & Buck

Chicken With Garlic And Tomatoes

Chicken with tomatoes and garlic is perfect dinner for a mid week day. It's simple, delicious, and can be served alone, over pasta, or rice. 

You will need:

• 8 chicken thighs
• 8 cloves of garlic, lightly crushed
• 1 can (28 oz) diced tomatoes
• 1 can (14oz) whole tomatoes
• salt and pepper grinder
• 3 tablespoons butter
• fresh herbs - parsley, rosemary, oregano
• 3 tablespoons of red wine, white wine, or red wine vinegar
• Squeeze of lemon juice

Here's how to cook it

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. In a dutch pot, or a oven safe frying pan melt 2 tbsp butter on stove to a medium high heat
3. Sprinkle salt and pepper over chicken and cook in butter for about 5 minute, continuously flipping
4. Take out chicken and put to side. 
5. Add other tbsp of butter with wine, and cook for another 2 minutes. 
6. Add tomatoes, herbs, lemon juice, garlic, and chicken into pot. Let cook for 15 minutes.  
7. Place pot, with lid, in the oven for an additional 40 minutes
8. While this is cooking, you can make your pasta, rice, or side dish
9. Serve and enjoy!

With Love, 

Donna & Buck

Rainbow Cheesecake

Need a colourful and tasty way to impress your friends coming over on the weekend? No problem. Woo them with Rainbow Cheesecake. It's fairly simple, but mind you, takes up to 8 hours to make.

Here's what you need for the filling

• 4 packages of regular cream cheese - I prefer No Name
• 3/4 cup of sour cream
• 1 1/4 cup of sugar
• 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
• 4 large eggs
• just under 1 cup of whipping or heavy cream
• food colouring (red, yellow, green, blue)
• A 9" pan, springform or silicone 

For the crust

• 2 cups of finely crushed graham crackers
• 1/4 cup of softened butter
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon 

Now to make the crust

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and grease your pan. 
2. In a mixing bowl, mix together crackers, sugar, cinnamon, until mixed completely. 
3. Pour butter in mix bit by bit, and using your hand, mix together
4. When you are able to grab the mix and it stays in shape, your crust is done. You probably won't need all the butter
5. Place crust in your pan and pat down until firm and smooth (I like to use a cup for round pans, and a box for square ones to help pat down crust)
6. Place in oven for no more than 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, remove and set to side.
7. Open your oven to cool down completely, then reset to 325 degrees. 

Finally the cake

1. With an electric mixer or a super strong hand, mix the cream cheese until smooth
2. Add sugar and mix until smooth again
3. Add vanilla, sour and whipping cream and again, mix until smooth. 
4. Add 1 egg, mix until smooth, and repeat for other 3 eggs. Whip whole mixture for another minute
5. Pour filling into 6 different bowls, evenly
6. Add food colouring (red - 25 drops, orange - 18 yellow, 6 red, yellow - add until yellow (same for green and blue), and purple 16 red, and 12 blue)
7. Starting with red, pour filling directly in the middle of the pan. Let sit for 30 seconds, and do the same to the other 5 colours
8. In a cookie sheet, fill half way with water and place your cheesecake in the middle. 
9. Place in the oven for 1 hour and 40 minutes. 
10. When done, take out cheesecake and place in fridge for 4 hours minimum. I prefer to leave it over night. (I also place it on a kitchen towel so it doesn't damage the fridge)
11. Finally, taste the rainbow, and enjoy :)

With Love, 

Donna & Buck

Deep Fried Ravioli

Deep Fried Ravioli is hands down my favourite weekend snack, and now seeing the Super Bowl is coming up, can be the ultimate snack to serve to your friends. It's incredibly tasty and only takes about 15 minutes to make. 

Here's what you need (for 24 ravioli):

• 1 package of cheese filled ravioli, if frozen, completely thawed
• 1 large egg
• 1 tablespoon whipping cream. 
• 1 cup Italian seasoned breadcrumbs (or Italian seasoning mixed in regular breadcrumbs)
• 2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese
• a bowl of marinara sauce, as much as you like, and warmed to serve. 
• oil for frying. 

Here's how to make it:

1. Pour oil into a small saucepan until oil is 2 inches deep.  Put on stove to medium heat. 
2. In a small bowl, whip together egg and milk.
3. In a separate bowl, put bread crumbs. 
4. When oil is hot (I throw a little piece of ravioli to see if it's ready), dip ravioli in egg mixture for about 3 seconds. Lift up and allow all excess mixture to drip off.
5. Place wet ravioli in breadcrumbs and shake until completely covered.
6. Put ravioli in oil and fry for about one minute, or until the ravioli gets puffy, flip over and cook again for 30 more seconds
7. Place ravioli on a plate with paper towel
8. When all ravioli is done, sprinkle Parmesan, or sprinkle as you go and eat :) 

Hope you like it! With love!

Donna & Buck 

Chicken Couscous!

This is the perfect mid-week, super easy recipe that the whole family can enjoy. Couscous is popular among Indian, Moroccan, and Middle-Eastern recipes, but I find that doing it this way is the tastiest! 

Here's what you need:

• 6 pieces of boneless, skinless chicken thighs
• vinegar (for washing meat)
• 2 teaspoons yellow turmeric 
• 1 tablespoon garam masala
• 1/2 tablespoon salt
• just over 1 cup of couscous
• 500 ml of chicken broth
• 1 medium yellow onion, sliced thinly
• 3 cloves of garlic, sliced
• zest and juice of 1/2 a large lemon
• 2 stalks of chopped parsley leaves
• 1/3 cup of raisins
• a handful of sliced almonds
• optional: 1/4 cup of dried apricots

Now here's what to do!

1. Wash chicken in vinegar and dry with paper towel. Take the larger thighs, and cut in half, making about 10-11 pieces.
2. In a bowl, add 1 teaspoon of turmeric, and 1/2 tablespoon of masala, with a dash of salt. Mix chicken thighs in seasoning until completely covered. 
3. In a non-stick pan, heat a tablespoon of oil on medium-low heat. When oil is hot, place all piece of chicken thighs on the pan for about 8-10 minutes. Flip chicken and cook again for another 2 minutes. Take out of pan. 
4. In the same pan, add another tablespoon of oil, and cook the garlic and onion for about 6 minutes. Add the other teaspoon of turmeric and 1/2 tablespoon of masala and sit for another minute. 
5. Pour broth into pan. Let boil for a second, then bring back down heat to a simmer. Add back the chicken thighs. Let sit for 35-40 minutes, covered.
6. When chicken looks ready all the way through, take chicken out with a slotted spoon and add couscous to pan. Add lemon juice, raisins, almonds, and apricots if using. In case there is not enough broth to cover the couscous, add boiling water, so have ready just in case! Cook 5-10 minutes. 
7. Just before finishing the couscous, add the zest and parsley. Fluff and serve immediately. Serves 4. 

Sit and enjoy! Hope you like this recipe! Let me know if you make adjustments! 

With Love,

Donna & Buck




P.S. If you don't have garam masala, don't fret! I have provided a substitute 

Garam Masala Substitute

Now I don't recommend using a substitute for masala, just because the flavour is so distinct, but seeing it is rarely used amongst most recipes, I can understand if one doesn't want to buy it by the package. 

Here's what you need:

• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 paprika
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 cayenne pepper
• 1/4 blended or crumpled bay leaves 
• 1/8 ground cloves

Blend mix together and use amount needed. It may seem like a lot of work, but it's as close as you can get!

Good Luck!

An Intro To Buck and Donna!

Hello everyone!!

My name is Donna and I am a 19 year old student living in Ottawa, Ontario. I am originally from Toronto but I came to the big O' for school at Carleton U. 

I have two loves in my life. Food. And my dog. 

When I stare into my dog Buck's eyes, I am always inspired to start stirring something up, and the entire time he will sit right my side. Whenever Buck and I have company, people always ask for my recipes, so I thought this would be a great way for us to share with the world how we come up with our concoctions. 

I will aim to have a new recipe out every week! Some may be new innovations, and some may be my variation of popular dishes. 

I hope you enjoy my recipes as much as I do! I can't wait to share with you!

Donna & Buck

This is buck.