Tuesday, January 25, 2011

MYTH: "Making Bread the Traditional Way Takes Too Long"

"...making bread takes very little actual time on your part - about 15 minutes at the start, to measure, mix, and knead the ingredients is all that's needed, plus a few minutes time and attention to punch the dough down and knead once or twice between provings, then to place the dough into the greased tins. The dough itself and the oven take care of the rest, leaving you plenty of time to do whatever you wish in between!" ~ ©EpicureanPiranha

Next time it’s raining or stormy outside, why not try this delicious recipe for oatmeal bread. I’ve detailed and photographed each step. Creating something so delicious and satisfying from simple ingredients using one’s own hands, without the need for more than a few measuring cups and spoons, is unbelievably satisfying and therapeutic!

I hope you'll have a look at the recipe and be tempted to try it - it's actually very simple if you follow the steps I've fully illustrated. Here is a direct link: Step-By-Step Instuctions for Making Great Bread"

My Mediterranean-style Scallops with Rich Tarragon Tomato Sauce on Linguini



Tarragon is a wonderful, aromatic herb with a lovely flavour somewhat like anise and basil combined, and a hint of lemon. I particularly love tarragon with tomato-based sauces and seafood

So last evening I created this rich tomato sauce finished with a hint of heavy cream, and served it on a bed of linguini fini garnished with large, plump, sea scallops quickly sautéed in butter until golden. Wonderful!

By the way, this would be a perfect recipe for a Valentine's Day dinner for two ♥  Find the detailed recipe, and all the steps you need to make this dish a success, on my webzine: EpicureanPiranha . com

Enjoy!

Saturday, January 15, 2011

Emergency Cake Fix!

Muffins are a great emergency fixe when you have a craving for cake! They’re quick and easy to prepare, bake quickly, and taste best warm from the oven so there’s no waiting :-)

I created these Butterscotch Pecan Bites today for my brother-in-law Ron – he loves having sweet pastries or cake for dessert and is arriving from Alaska with my sister this evening to visit. They’re made with rich 10% fat yogurt, brown sugar, loads of tiny butterscotch bits wrapped in milk chocolate (a recent discovery ), and my favourite nuts, pecans.

The recipe is coming up soon on EpicureanPiranha.com, my epicurean webzine

Sunday, January 2, 2011

Visions of sugarplums …

Sweet treats ....

Delicate meringue kisses of pale pink and green, a deliciously decadent luxury version of “Millionaire’s Shortbread” (layers of buttery shortbread, lightly toasted pecans, rich caramel, and Lindt chocolate), and a rich orange, dried cranberry, and ginger pound cake ~ the selection of  desserts I prepared for our New Year’s Eve celebration dinner.

Happy New Year!

Wishing you all a Wonderful New Year filled with love and happiness!

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Whimsical Christmas Fairy Cupcake

One of the many stunning cupcake (or should I say sculptural?!) entries at Cupcake Camp Montreal 2010 last Sunday, 21st November, at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal. Unfortunately, all I know is that it was an entry by one of the many superb professional bakers participating. Doesn't this little sugar fairy look adorable sitting on her plump, pillowy clouds of buttercream?!

I added the burnt orange snowflakes using a PS paintbrush effect.

Thank you in advance for visiting!

Have a delicious day ~ Epi x

Monday, November 22, 2010

Epi's Caramel Vanilla Kiss & Devil's Delight cupcakes

Wow! Managed to get into Cupcake Camp Montreal 2010 (CCMTL 2010) at the Queen Elizabeth (Montreal, Que) this afternoon (ie: 21st Nov 2010). There were thousands of people!!!

Thanks to the great show of support, to the volunteers and bakers who donated thousands of cupcakes in all, to the celebrity judges, and to the great team at the Queen Eleizabeth, CCMTL 2010 raised $31,000 for the two charities "Jeunesse J’écoute" and "La Tablée des Chefs"! Bravo everyone :-)

I baked over 100 of the yummy cupcakes you see above for CupCakeCamp Montreal last year. The Devil's Delight were an intense, fudgy chocolate cupcake with Swiss meringue salted caramel buttercream, and Vanilla Kiss were made with a rich, buttery, vanilla cupcake. This year, sadly, I was unable to contribute cupcakes ~ but I was there to bring support by buying some, and did manage to get a few photos! It was an awesome event. Also had the pleasure of meeting up with a few Flickr and blogger friends :-)

I'll be posting more photos along with the recipes for my Devil's Delight cupcakes over the next few days, so come back soon!

~ ©EpicureanPiranha

Friday, November 19, 2010

Biscuit ~ Biscotti ~ Biscotto

Home-made biscotti taste wonderful ~ completely different from commercially made biscotti. Fabulous and so simple to make, even a novice cook can prepare these successfully the first time, especially if they follow my hints for success! So why not give them a try and impress someone special?

Go to my webzine EpicureanPiranha.com to find the simple recipe, 4 of my own favourite variations, and to discover a little history of this now very popular coffee-time treat: Biscuit ~ Biscotti ~ Biscotto

Monday, August 2, 2010

Home-smoked, freshly caught mackerel filets, tiny, marinated Ox-eye daisy buds, & beautiful crystallised lilac flowers – a few of the special treats my aunt prepared for us. And her recipe for Smoked Cod Appetisers [Recette également publiée en français : Bouchées à la morue fumée].



Ox-eye Daisies & Other Gaspésian Treats

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

The ©EpicureanPiranha ♥

All rights reserved. ©2010 EpicureanPiranha. All my images are protected under international authors copyright laws and may not be downloaded, reproduced, copied, transmitted or manipulated without my written explicit permission. Use without permission is ILLEGAL.


Hello everyone! My blog is hosted by WordPress on my own servers, but I have many friends whose blogs are here on Blogger. So, I decided to create a page here on Blogger, using my ©EpicureanPiranha name, and I did so for two main reasons:

  1. So I can easily follow all my friends who are on Blogger, as well as other blogs I like, just by clicking on "follow" - then the blog's URL address is added to the list of blogs I follow and voila! I can come back and have a look at the latest posts anytime I want :-)
  2. And also, so that you will be able to easily find my blog, even though it's not on Blogger.

To visit my real blog, please click here  ::   ©EpicureanPiranha


Hope to see you there!