Homemade Pepperoni Pizza | Cooking with Kids, a classic recipe with tips and tricks to help get kids cooking. Getting the kids involved in making a well-loved dish like a Pepperoni Pizza for a family meal.
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How to Bake Lamb Chops
How to bake lamb chops is all about a fail-proof method to get juicy lamb chops! Bursting with flavours the entire family will love.
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How To Sear (Flank) Steak
Here we go. By popular demand how to cook and cut steak. Flank steak on the stove to be specific, but all the details are pretty similar between all the steaks. The BBQ instructions will be the same, it’s just a different method for heating it. I will preface this post and remind everyone that I have zero formal training. Everything I’ve learned is through trial and error, and what I share is the best of the best. This is what works well for our family and hopefully it’ll help you in your kitchen too.
First and foremost, I picked Flank Steak because it’s one of the most affordable pieces of steak and it has great flavour. It has enough marbling (fat winding through the meat) to keep it juicy and tender. The key pieces for cooking steak are seasoning appropriately, having a hot pan, knowing when to flip, and how to cut it. I always cook steak to medium-rare. If you like it well done tack on an extra minute or two per side. Let’s get to it.
Seasoning:
Be aggressive. You can see in the photo below how aggressively I seasoned this steak. And I only use salt and pepper. When properly cooked meat doesn’t need much more than that. The salt and pepper should create a very thin layer on all sides of the meat. Here’s the example shot:
Hot pan:
Use a metal or cast iron pan and be sure to get it hot. Basically smoking hot. You want a drop of oil to splatter out of the pan it’s so hot. Use a higher heat resistant oil such as canola oil (other vegetable oils have a lower heat tolerances). Place the oil in your pan and preheat the oil so that your steak gets a nice sear on the exterior. I’d recommend cooking at a medium-high heat.
Knowing when to flip:
The amount of time the steak spends per side is predetermined by thickness of your steak. I watch the steak turn from red to brown on the side and wait for the blood to start to release from the top of the steak. You can see this happening in the photo below. I flipped the steak below immediately after taking this photo. You’ll know the steak is cooked to medium-rare when the sides are brown and blood is releasing from the top.
How to cut:
After your steak has rested (required and always for at least a few minutes), and you plan on serving the steak pre-cut, you should always cut the meat against the grain, on an angle, and thinly. If you cut with the grain the meat will be tough and the texture less than desirable. Cutting on an angle makes it look nice. And cutting it thinly makes it easier for your guests to cut the meat. Photo below gives a demonstration of all 3 aspects (against grain, angle and thinly) on how to cut.
I hope this tips were helpful! If you have any tips or tricks requests please let me know!
If you make a steak and want to show your skills be sure to tag #mykitchenlove.
Enjoy!
It’s Time to Celebrate
Hosting parties, of any size, isn’t for everyone. let alone parties for 20 plus guests. And, even for those of us that love it, it sometimes gets to be too much if we’re not careful. So how do you go about doing it without breaking the bank and ensure the guests have a good time? Read on for tips.
When hosting for a person (bridal or baby shower, birthday, anniversary, etc.) the most important tip is to listen to what the guest(s) of honour would like. In the case of the event I hosted last weekend, with my bestie helping me out, the bride-to-be was very specific in managing dollars spent by guests, keeping it casual, and having some fun with a boozy brunch theme.
To conquer the bride’s (reasonable) requests we held the brunch at my home (because getting a reservation for 20 plus people for brunch in Vancouver is long shot to start with), asked each guest to contribute a nominal amount for a gift box to spoil the bride (such a good gift to spoil anyone! you can find these gift boxes from Old Joy here), and also asked the guests to each bring a bottle of either bubbles or Rosé wine. Any leftover wine was gifted to the bride and her man.
My second most important tip is to make sure the guest list is a solid mix of people. Strangers hopefully. You want people to interact at these events and get to know each other. This makes partying at the wedding a lot more likely and fun for all the guests. For this event, all worlds for the bride combined. Long term junior high friends to recent yoga buddies, everyone got to know each other, laugh, and have a few fun silly moments.
Make life easy on yourself as the host. Ask people to contribute, like we did with the wine. If your expertise lies in the drinks, have guests bring a dish each (assign types of dishes so you don’t end up with multiple versions of bean salad). Manage what you make from scratch. I made three different salads to accommodate all diets (there were a couple of vegans in the house). We also purchased bagels, cream cheese, and accoutrements that allowed the guests to “build” their brunch. The hot ticket item was the Cherry, Mint, and Pistachio Salad from The Picnic cookbook. A combo you wouldn’t normally make, but this was the top and most delicious dish. This meant one night of pitting 2 lbs of cherries though. Most efficient way to this can be found here (you know you want a use for those random chopsticks and empty wine bottle).
The star of our brunch was this gorgeous and delicious cake made by my talented friend Nikki. You can reach her through email at nikkihearlecakes@gmail.com. I asked for a naked layer cake, a bit more casual than the usual cake for these types of events, and for some flowers to match the bride’s wedding flowers (succulents, blush colour, etc.). It was a brilliant success! Nikki did an amazing job. Everyone loved the lemon buttercream flavour and it was a truly stunning cake.
Find the sweet spot between creativity, fun, and the workload demanded with hosting a party. I asked one of the bridesmaids to help with planning a game and to help figure out transportation for the bride. This took a large amount off mine and my co-host’s workload to focus on other details. Fun details like picking a signature cocktail for the event. A French 75 was my last cocktail obsession before I got pregnant and I was happy to share that joy with the guests through some chalkboard play on a slate placemat.
As for budgeting, things can be fitting without being expensive. The thank you gifts were a steal of a deal. Thank you gifts are not required, but I’ve recently discovered I’m much more of a traditionalist than I thought. I had to assemble the flowers and treats myself, but it was fun for me and most guests seemed to appreciate it. The flowers were a causal addition and the treats were a shout out to the bride’s tastes and our mutual love of Tuti-fruti Jelly Bellies. All this for about $35 for 24 people. I also made two different flavoured waters; much more cost efficient and healthier than soda.
Now, this event wasn’t without stress for me and I am tired from it. Being 6 months pregnant and having 22 month old twins made for a lot of work for me last week. I’m still trying to catch up on other life priorities that got paused. And that’s what life is for me right now. One day and one thing at a time where I’m trying my best. It was also a lot for my husband to take on. He was definitely at the table with me pitting cherries when my lower back started to scream. We watched a lot of horrible Netflix during the cherry pitting session 😉
All those bits make the event what it was. A way for me to have fun with the people I love and to show the beautiful bride-to-be my love for her and her future with her man.
The best way to ensure an event goes off without a hitch is to honour and celebrate your loved ones. Everything else can take a backseat as far as I’m concerned. Here’s to you Lindsay and Darren! May your future together hold everything you ever wanted and all the marvellous surprises you never could have imagined possible.
Enjoy your next party friends! Cheers!
Bagels & Bubbles: How to throw a carefree holiday brunch
Mainly due to the fact that I had so little time leading up to Christmas with all of us fighting one cold or flu after another, we did not get any Christmas cards done. Which is usually my jam; I love making Christmas cards. This year however, the thought made me feel immediately stressed – in a big way. In lieu of cards we decided to throw a very casual holiday open house with our dearest friends … in the morning. Most of our friends are either super busy with Christmas parties at night or have small children that go to bed early. So, a holiday brunch was just the ticket. I really liked the open house portion. We had waves of people come in and out, which ended up being a blessing as our place isn’t big at all.
Needless to say that this brunch was going to land on my plate of responsibilities. My idea for the Bagels & Bubbles came from pure selfishness: I wanted something as completely hands off as possible. My answer was to outsource by purchasing both the bagels and bubbles. The bubbles were primarily less expensive sparkling wine or Prosecco from our local liquor store. The bagels I purchased from Rosemary Rock Salt. Which I’m in love with, their rosemary rock salt bagel is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. Thrown in some smoked salmon or lox, cream cheese, sliced red onion and some capers … and we had a completely carefree holiday brunch ready to go. I also added in my Winter Fruit Salad, which I’ll be posting tomorrow morning. I made the salad the day before so the morning of the brunch was really just laying everything out.
I had a bagel and a big coffee right before all the guests arrived. This allowed me to visit with everyone. I also am convinced that we’ll have more brunches like this in the future. Everyone can make their unique bagels, enjoy some bubbles, and visit in the true holiday fashion. My only regret is that we weren’t able to invite more people. Here’s to making this a new annual holiday event!
Tips for a carefree and hands off brunch:
- only make one dish (but make sure it’s a darn good one);
- outsource by either having a potluck or by buying the rest of the food;
- have coffee, tea, milk and sugar ready for guests;
- put out all the utensils, cups, mugs, plates, etc. to create the casual environment you’re looking for;
- I put out a few extra oranges and bananas for the littles kids who aren’t into grapefruits as well as paper cups for water;
- have nice juice to pair with the bubbles (I used mango and pomegranate/blueberry);
- remember the napkins! (I forgot these and had to run out after people arrived!!!);
- put out the bubbles in an ice bucket and keep a spare or two in the fridge (just use a really large bowl if you don’t have a larger ice bucket);
- eat before your guests arrive, this keeps you available the entire time;
- after the second wave of people I washed a large portion of our glasses to keep up with our guests;
- most importantly socialize and enjoy!