All posts filed under: appetiser

Smyles’ 5 Ingredient Tomato Soup

“I’m the first to admit I’m not much of a cook. But since soup mainly involves tossing everything in a pot and waiting, it’s one of my better dishes.” ~ Suzanne Collins ~ There is something about cold, wintery, blustery days that just calls for soup. We have had plenty of them in the last few weeks and soup is indeed my comfort food of choice at the moment. This soup is one of my sister’s. I don’t really deviate in any way from her recipe, until it comes to the toppings. When I did my vegan month, back in November, she suggested this as something that could work quite well during it. And, boy, was she right! In fact, I’d get up early once a week, and make the soup (minus the blending) before I went on my morning walk. At that time, like now, we were in the middle of a national lockdown (and just in case you are reading this in 100 years, it was Covid-19 times!), and I was working from …

New Year’s Eve Sausage Rolls

“I do adore food. If I have any vice it’s eating. If I was told I could only eat one food for the rest of my life, I could put up with sausage and mash forever.“ ~ Colin Baker, The 6th Doctor New Year’s Eve. Either you love it or you hate it. I think I fall into the camp of “hate it”. I’m not sure why but I don’t particularly like it and I’ve never really gotten the whole “party” atmosphere of the holiday. That being said, I do have some treasured memories related to the holiday as a child – going outside with the neighbours and banging pots and pans, hearing the fog horns, being beeped by all the taxis and the excitement of movie nights and that illicit feeling you have as a child staying up way past your bedtime and eating lots of fun food. In my family, we have some weird traditions. One is having an egg flip – my dad would line up the glasses with whisked egg and …

Cheese-y Tuna Burgers Three Ways: Mustard, Pesto, and Sweet Chili Sauce

“Is this chicken, what I have, or is this fish? I know it’s tuna, but it says ‘Chicken of the Sea.’” – Jessica Simpson Does  anyone else remember the hilariously bad things Jessica Simpson used to say in the early 2000s? Every time I think of tuna that quote comes into my head and I get a little giggle. And I think of tuna a lot as it’s my favourite fish along with mackerel. I love adding tuna to salads, sandwiches, and finding new and exciting ways of using it. So, I’m a wee bit ashamed to say that Jessica Simpson tends to pop into my head a lot more often than I’d really like! Growing up in my family, Friday’s were always meat-free days, so my parents would get out the big heavy chip pan and make homemade chips (french fries) on the hob. Dad’s chips were always of a thicker cut, golden and fluffy. Mam’s chips were always a bit thinner, darker and, if you were lucky, crispy the whole way through. We’d slather butter on …

Guest Post – Roasted Creamy Tomato Soup

This recipe was provided by one of my best friends here in Korea and who keeps me on my toes by editing my spelling, run-on sentences etc! I’m hoping next time she shares one of her absolutely amazing desserts! Thank you, Becky, for being an amazing friend, editor and, most of all, sharing this recipe and feeding me! It was delicious.  – Maggie @ Spoon in a Saucepan I am honored to be a guest blogger on Spoon in a Saucepan. – Becky If one thing is for sure, I wouldn’t consider myself a cook. A baker, yes (I can whip up some mean cakes and cookies), but not a cook. I often listen with envy as Maggie and other friends describe a delicious and simple meal they have just whipped up with ingredients they had on hand, and “Oh it was super healthy too,” they say. To me, simple means spaghetti with sauce out of a jar, and when I look at the carrot, onion, and green pepper in my fridge I see a carrot, an …

Fusion Tuna Gimbap (참치김밥)

“A picnic is more than eating a meal, it is a pleasurable sate of mind.” -DeeDee Stovel When I moved to Korea back in May 2012, one of the first foods my brother introduced me to was gimbap. It’s basically a seaweed roll (gim = seaweed, bap = rice) stuffed with tasty ingredients: egg, ham, crab stick, carrot, perilla leaf or spinach, danmuji (yellow pickled radish), and cucumber. Additionally, tuna, bulgogi, or kimchi can be included. You nearly always get a side of danmuji to eat with it. However, danmuji is one of those foods that I hate with a passion, outside of gimbap and bibimbap, so having it as side dish to my gimbap never happens. However, it works really, really well in gimbap, giving texture and bite to the seaweed roll. My favourite kind is the chamchi or tuna gimbap and I’ve been known to eat two chamchi (tuna) sangak gimbap (triangle gimbap) at a go! These gimbap are in the shape of small triangles and usually are filled only with rice and tuna …