Grilled Basil and Chili Shrimp

For tonight’s dinner, I choose another light meal that is also quick to make. I usually only like shrimp when it’s grilled (not in curries for example), so I tried this recipe that I put together (and successfully tried out) a few weeks ago. This dish goes perfectly well with white rice on the side, or simply serve it as an appetizer. You’ll witness some finger licking I promise you!

Basil Chili Grilled Shrimp (for 3)

– 500 g of precooked shrimp
– 2 garlic cloves, minced
– 1 Tbsp of fresh basil leaves, chopped
– 1/2 tsp paprika
– 1/2 tsp crushed dried red chilies
– 1/4 tsp salt
– 1 Tbsp red wine vinegar
– 1/8 cup olive oil

Marinate the shrimp with all the ingredients above for the time that it takes you to prepare the white rice (20 to 25 minutes).

Heat a wide skillet and pour the shrimp with the marinade and grill on high heat until the shrimp is cooked and the liquid has totally evaporated. If you like your shrimp to be golden and crispy, leave the shrimp for an extra few minutes in order to grill well.

Serve with white rice or as a warm appetizer with a ketchup-mayo dip. MIAM!

The Colors They Are A-Changin’

Nothing Gold Can Stay 

Nature’s first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf’s a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.

– Robert Frost

Lemon Rosemary Salmon Filet

This recipe is from  my dear friend H. I find it rather easy to put together on a Monday night like tonight. Follow the easy steps and you won’t go wrong. And you’ll have yourself a delicious meal!

What you need for this delicious and buttery salmon is 500 g of salmon filet, one large lemon, 3 Tbsp of olive oil, a sprig of fresh rosemary and some salt. Squeeze the lemon, add the olive oil and the rosemary and salt. Pour them over the salmon filet and cook on medium heat in a covered pan for 10 minutes or so (flip sides), or until the salmon turns light pink.

That’s pretty much it!

Impressive, no?

Top Cafes in Plateau and Mile End, Montreal

Everyone who knows me knows that I am a huge lover of coffee, not because I am addicted to it but because I really enjoy the taste of it. However, I cannot have it black. I can have it sugarless, but I have to add milk or cream to it. Before coming to Canada, I always added milk to my coffee (or simply had a cappuccino), but in Canada it is very popular and common to add 10% cream (half and half) to your coffee. Now I take my coffee with a little bit of 10% cream, and man the difference it makes!

(Entre Le Cafe et La Plume)

(Le Depanneur Cafe)

(Kahwa Cafe)

So, the first thing that I did when we first got to Montreal was try out all the cafes in the neighborhood, and every place I went to I made sure that I took their business card. Needless to say, I now have a box full of business cards for cafes, bistros and little restaurants in Plateau and Mile End. And anyone who lives in Montreal (or has been to Montreal) knows perfectly well how quaint and artsy these two neighborhoods are. So, here is my list of the top cafes that I’ve been to, in alphabetical order.