Sylvia Rose

Easy Cheese Fondue: Everything You Need to Know

November 15, 2019 by Sylvia Rose 3 Comments

Cheese fondue parties are as hygge as it gets. Master this delicious communal meal with these simple tips and tricks to throw a stellar fondue party and to make a store bought bag of fondue taste incredible.

WHAT’S CHEESE FONDUE?

Cheese fondue is up there on my list of things I love.

Fondue is a French word that translates to “melted”, so a cheese fondue is a cheese that’s melted.

A pot of it.

It’s the perfect meal to gather your favourite people around the table to dip various food items into the melty, cheesy goodness.

Like raclette and hot pot, it’s an intimate communal meal that’s special and unique. Knowing that, is it any surprise that fondue parties were all the rage in the ’60s and ’70s?

By the way, cheese fondue is just one type of fondue. There’s also meat fondue and chocolate fondue, but we’ll talk about those another day.

Also, this post may contain affiliate links, meaning that if you choose to purchase something after clicking on one of the links in this post, I may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you.

If you need more hygge in your life, you’ll want to host a fondue party! And in case you missed the hygge train, it’s a Danish mindset about creating cozy comfort. If you want to learn more about it, Meik Wiking wrote a book about hygge in 2017.

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Easy Roasted Garlic for Big and Bold Flavour

November 12, 2019 by Sylvia Rose 3 Comments

These roasted garlic cloves are big on flavour and make a healthy condiment you don’t want to be without. The next time you fire up the oven, toss in a couple of heads of garlic for the easiest roasted garlic you will ever make.

the easiest roasted garlic tutorial ever

THE EASIEST WAY TO MAKE ROASTED GARLIC

Easiest roasted garlic, you say? Well, here’s a new flash: all roasted garlic is the easiest!

Considering the beautiful simplicity of this flavourful bulb, it doesn’t seem to be used very often except by restaurants and the consumer packaged goods industry. And why not?

If you had to choose between plain hummus and roasted garlic hummus, which would you choose? Or what about butternut squash soup and roasted garlic butternut squash soup? Unless you’re a purist, the chances are you’d be reaching for the latter in both cases. Not only is it delicious added to recipes, it even sounds good.

HOW TO MAKE ROASTED GARLIC VIDEO

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Pork and Shrimp Burgers with a Spicy Asian Slaw

November 8, 2019 by Sylvia Rose 2 Comments

Cast-iron skillet pork and shrimp burgers bursting with rich Asian-inspired flavours.

COOKING WITH CAST IRON

Pork and shrimp burgers are one of those recipes that grills up beautifully on a barbecue, but when it’s raining or freezing outside, firing up the barbie quickly loses its appeal.

As for non-stick pans, well, there are all kinds of problems with those, which you can read about in my article on cast iron cooking.

The reason I love cooking up burgers in a cast iron skillet is that cast iron conducts heat really well and once seared, I can pop the pan in the oven and forget about it for twenty minutes while I do something else.

Have you tried cooking with cast iron yet? I swear, once you make the switch, there’s no going back. The toughest part is learning how to cook in cast iron and how to care for it.

PORK AND SHRIMP BURGERS RECIPE VIDEO

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How to Make Vinaigrette from Scratch

November 5, 2019 by Sylvia Rose 12 Comments

Making salad dressing from scratch doesn’t need to be complicated. Learn the basic formula behind making great tasting vinaigrettes and never buy salad dressing from the store again!

A SHORT LESSON IN READING LABELS

Do you remember the last time you studied the label of a commercial salad dressing?

One of my favourite salad dressings when I was a kid was a zesty Italian dressing made by a major player in the consumer packaged goods industry.

Do you want to take a look at some of the ingredients?

Soybean and canola oils (ask me another day why those aren't good for you)
Xanthan gum, a thickening agent which appears safe, but may lead to digestive problems if consumed in large quantities. It is pervasive in the food and cosmetics industries, and is also a common ingredient in paints, adhesives, and pesticides.
Potassium sorbate, which "maintains quality", but may also lead to allergies if consumed in large quantities
Calcium disodium EDTA to "maintain flavour". In other words, it's a food preservative. It's also used in prescription medications and in eye drops. How appetizing!
Monoglyceridesto prevent oil separation (an emulsifier). Do you know what monoglycerides are? Trans fats. You know, the kind of fats that increase your chances of stroke and heart disease.

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Buttery Shortcrust Pastry Recipe (Pâte Brisée)

November 1, 2019 by Sylvia Rose 2 Comments

This buttery pie dough recipe calls for just four ingredients: flour, butter, salt, and water. Embrace the butter and learn how to make this simple pie dough for your sweet and savoury pies!

When I was in high school, I worked at a pizza shop after school taking orders, slinging pizzas, washing dishes, and greasing pizza pans with lard. After two years of smelling like lard after my shifts, I swore it off. But maybe that isn’t fair. Maybe quality lard is better than the stuff that came in those big white buckets at the pizza shop, but I need some convincing.

Do you know what else I won’t use?

Shortening.

The ingredients list will tell you the story of why I won’t use it. I know some folks swear by shortening for the world’s flakiest pie crust, and maybe that’s true, but I don’t want the flakiest pie crust. I want the best tasting pie crust.

I want flavour, purity, and simplicity. Bring on the butter!

This post contains affiliate links, meaning that if you choose to purchase something after clicking on one of the links in this post, I may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you.

Update: Quality lard is better than the stuff that came in those big white buckets at the pizza shop. Reading Sally Fallon’s Nourishing Traditions changed my mind.

RELATED: Epic Maple Bourbon Pumpkin Pie

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10 Reference Books You Need For Your Kitchen

October 29, 2019 by Sylvia Rose 12 Comments

Here are ten kitchen reference books everyone should have on their shelf. From cooking, baking and fermenting, to general culinary know-how, there’s a bit of something for everyone. How many of these are on your shelf?

JUST THE FAVOURITES

I read a lot of culinary books. As a bibliophile and a lover of food, it’s perfectly natural that one of my reading interests include perusing kitchen reference books from cover to cover.

Over the years I have amassed quite the collection of cookbooks, so I thought it would be fun to cover some favourites. Some of these books were recommendations, others I checked out from the library before purchasing, and two of these were gifts.

In my humble opinion, books make the best gifts, especially cookbooks. They’re so practical and inspirational! Even if you know your way around ingredients and don’t need a recipe tying you down, there’s plenty to be learned from the titles I’m sharing with you today.