Chocolate Salami

Salame di Cioccolato or chocolate salami is the perfect light dessert to serve after a heavy and rich holiday dinner. Not only is the presentation quite adorable, but also the combination of Grand Marnier, dark chocolate, pistachios and crunchy cookies is AMAZING!

The chocolate salami can be prepared up to 2 weeks in advance and frozen. Simply thaw a few minutes before serving.

This dessert is perfect to be served with a nice glass of Port and pieces of firm cheese such as sharp Cheddar, Swiss, Parmesan or Emmental.

Eat.

This video came out about a year ago and it's truly an amazing clip. The "Eat" video is part of 3 short films that were developed by an amazing group of travellers. You should definitely check out "live" (my personal favourite and still gives me goosebumps after watching it way too many times) and "Learn".

That's it for now!

Enjoy!


 
EAT from Rick Mereki on Vimeo.

Chicken Shawarma

In Montreal, the snack of choice after a late night of drinking is a delicious shish taouk sandwich. Thanks to the large Lebanese community in Montreal, many restaurant offer this delicious sandwich. A shish taouk is a Montreal-style shawarma sandwich. The term shish taouk is technically inaccurate; it refers to Turkish style skewered chicken. However, in Montreal, a chicken shawarma is generally referred to as a shish taouk.

The combination of delicious grilled chicken, garlic sauce and fresh pita is the perfect remedy to prevent major hangovers the following day.
Boustan is my favourite spot to grab a quick sandwich at 3:00 am.

Shawarma is a middle-eastern dish that consists of small pieces of seasoned beef, lamb, turkey, goat or chicken. The traditional method for making shawarma consists of placing the marinated meat on a spit and slowly roasting it over a flame. While cooking, the meat is shaved off and served with hummus (chickpea seasoned paste), tahini (sesame based sauce), tabbouleh and pickled turnips. The meat can also be wrapped in a pita bread and served as a sandwich.

Tabbouleh Salad

This salad is easy to make and the perfect side dish for any Mediterranean or Middle-Eastern dish. Most recipes for Tabbouleh call for lemon juice but I find that the grapefruit juice really adds a subtle sweetness and freshness to the salad. Tabbouleh is also a great condiment for wraps and sandwiches. 

I prefer couscous for this salad as the grains are smaller but bulgur or quinoa will also work well. 

Hummus

Hummus is such a versatile condiment.  It’s delicious with some flat bread or as a sauce for shawarmas or falafels.  It’s also an incredible spread for sandwiches.

For a more rustic version of this sauce, you can mash up the ingredients with a fork instead of using a food processor.  You can also add other ingredients to season your hummus:  Roasted garlic, a pinch of cayenne pepper, sundried tomatoes, or roasted red peppers, etc.

Bacon Jam

I've read about bacon but never got around to actually taste or prepare it.  Every time I read the delicious ingredients of this jam, my mouth waters.  So finally last weekend, I made a fresh batch and boy, oh boy! was it ever delicious!  It's rich, smoky, salty and sweet... It is a bit time consuming but the end product is worth every minute spent in the kitchen.

You can serve this jam with pancakes, eggs or French toast for brunch. You can also use this jam as a spread for sandwiches (think BLT or grilled cheese!) or to accompany cheese and crackers.

There’s a lot of difference recipes out there and I combined a few of my favorite ones to create this perfect jam. 

Why not prepare a nice jar for your loved ones for the holidays?

Once prepared, this recipe can be stored in an airtight container for up to a month.