Heaven Scent (+ An Exciting Announcement!)

Certainly we eat with our eyes, but equally important to our senses is our sense of smell. Our noses capture those enticing aromas that trigger our memories, make our mouths water, and pull us into a dish. 

You might even say that those aromas are Heaven Scent

Images in collage from Freeimages.com

This week we are making those Diana Henry dishes that are aromatic and heavenly smelling. Sweet or savory,  ...what heaven scent aromas will capture you?

Post and link your aromatic dish by Sunday, March 8th.   Please remember to link a thumbnail image and leave a comment after you link so that we don't miss out on your dish.
 
New to IHCC?  Need help linking up?  Check out our Welcome page. If you have any questions, please leave a comment below and we will get back with you.    

If you missed last week's February Potluck, be sure to click on the links and check out all of the wonderful dishes everyone made. 

***Exciting Announcement***

World-renowned chef Jacques Pépin is turning 80 this year and we want to celebrate! 

To honor the master, we will be cooking along with Pépin at IHCC for the next six months, beginning on April 6th, and lasting through October 4, 2015--and we invite you to join us!

There is a little something for everyone with Pépin's vast collection of over 20 cookbooks, plus his numerous online recipes. Not only can we learn the art of French cooking and practice classic techniques, Jacques Pépin cooks a variety of other cuisines and even has recipes for quick and easy dishes perfect for busy nights. A chef's chef, he is revered and admired by so many and we are excited to cook along with him!

Photo from Kahakai Kitchen (& Jacques Pépin's recipe for Tomato Chowder with Mollet Eggs can be found here.)

If you aren't familiar with Jacques Pépin, check out his biography, The Apprentice: My Life in the Kitchen, (it's a fascinating read with recipes) or look him up online--many of his videos are on YouTube, including some of his classic pairings with Julia Child. April's Jacques Pépin themes are now up on the sidebar so you can start planning. (April's Mystery Box Madness Challenge ingredients will be coming soon!)  

As Chef Pépin likes to say, "Happy Cooking!"

An InLinkz Link-up

February Potluck!

Oh, yes ... we all love a Potluck around here!

And, what's not to love, when Potluck means not only do you get to choose the recipe, but you also get to choose the chef.

That's right, choose any Diana Henry recipe you like, or if you prefer take the opportunity to revisit any one of our previous nine IHCC chefs:

Nigella Lawson

Mark Bittman

Giada de Laurentiis

Jamie Oliver

Tessa Kiros

Rick Bayless

Madjur Jaffrey

Yotam Ottolenghi

Donna Hay

Nigel Slater

That makes for a veritable smorgasbord of English, American, Italian, Mediterranean, Mexican, Indian, Middle Eastern and "modern Australian" recipes to choose from.

To join in just post and link your February Potluck dish from any one of our IHCC chefs by Sunday 1 March.  Please remember to link a thumbnail image and leave a comment after you link so that we don't miss out on your dish.

New to IHCC?  Need help linking up?  Check out our Welcome page.  If you have any questions please leave a comment below and we will get back with you.

If you missed our Curds & Whey theme last week, be sure to click on the links and check out all the fabulous dishes everyone made.

An InLinkz Link-up

Curds & Whey!

 Little Miss Muffet

Sat on a tuffet,

Eating her curds and whey;

Along came a spider,

Who sat down beside her,

And frightened Miss Muffet away.

*artwork courtesy of http://www.mothergoose.com

   This week we are making Diana Henry dishes featuring or containing Curds & Whey, or their more modern interpretations--yogurt, labneh, cottage cheese, feta, ricotta, and other cheeses. (And hopefully dishes that are free of any curious spiders!)

   Post and link your Curds & Whey dish by Sunday, February 22nd.  Please remember to link a thumbnail image and leave a comment after you link so that we don't miss out on your dish.
 
New to IHCC?  Need help linking up?  Check out our Welcome page.  If you have any questions, please leave a comment below and we will get back with you.   

  If you missed last week's February Mystery Box Madness, be sure to click on the links and check out all of the wonderful ways our ten mystery ingredients got used.  

 

An InLinkz Link-up

Mystery Box Madness: February 2015!

Each month we choose a variety of ten mystery box ingredients from which to cook.  It's up to you to select at least three of those ingredients and chose a recipe featuring those ingredients from one of our eleven IHCC chefs!  We love to see which chef you chose to cook with, which ingredients you select, and the reason (or story) behind the recipe you share! Are you ready for February's challenge?

Here are your February 2015 MBM Ingredients:

Cabbage
Mustard
Yogurt
Freekah or Bulgur Wheat
Za'atar
Tomatoes
Sausage (any kind)
Carrots
Basil (fresh, dry, any kind)
Almonds

Your dish should contain at least three of these mystery ingredients, and you get to choose any dish from our current guest chef, Diana Henry, or any one of our previous ten IHCC chefs:

Nigella Lawson
  Mark Bittman
 Giada de Laurentiis
  Jamie Oliver  
Tessa Kiros
Rick Bayless  
Madjur Jaffrey
Yotam Ottolenghi
 Donna Hay
 Nigel Slater

Which mystery ingredients and chef are calling out to you?

If you are up for the challenge, make and post your dish by Sunday, February 15th.  Please remember to link a thumbnail image and leave a comment after you link so that we don't miss out on your dish.

New to IHCC?  Need help linking up?  Check out our Welcome page.  If you have any questions please leave a comment below and we will get back with you.

If you missed our Eats Meets West theme last week, be sure to click on the picture links and check out all the healthy, happy belly dishes everyone made!

And, if you have a suggestion for March's Mystery Box Madness ingredients we would love to hear it! Please leave a comment on this post below.

An InLinkz Link-up

East Meets West

Photo courtesy of Deb at Kahakai Kitchen

This week we're exploring the theme East Meets West ... Choosing Diana Henry fusion dishes with a global influence.  In recent years many Asian ingredients, previously unavailable in many parts of the West, have exploded onto the market.  Mysterious curry pastes, miso, fish sauce, lotus root, all manner of noodles, Vietnamese rice papers, mirin, rice wine vinegar, and so many more wonderous ingredients, which were previously unheard of, are now readily available in supermarkets and Asian specialty stores that have popped up in just about every town.

What's even more exciting is that, as well as exploring the use of these ingredients in traditional and authentic ways, we have also found ways to embrace these ingredients and use them in ways that bring excitement and flavour to many more Westernised dishes.  If you live anywhere on the Pacific Rim in particular, you will have discovered these fusion style dishes in abundance.  And now it's your turn ...

Get those cookbooks out or look at any of the appropriate online sources, choose any Diana Henry recipe for a dish that is the perfect marriage of East Meets West, and post your dish by Sunday 8 February.

Please remember to link a thumbnail image below, and leave a comment after you link so that we don't miss out on your post.

New to IHCC?  Need help linking up?  Check out our Welcome page.  If you have any questions, please leave a comment below and we will get back with you.

If you missed our Veggie Variations theme last week, be sure to click on the links and check out all the wonderful dishes everyone made.

An InLinkz Link-up

Veggie Variations!

Ah Veggies...

So many varieties--so good, and so good for you! 

This week we are celebrating those Veggie Variations!

Photos used in collage are from www.freeimages.com

Choose one of Diana Henry's many meat-free, veggie-filled dishes and show your veggie love! 

Post and link your veg-filled dish by Sunday, February 1st.   Please remember to link a thumbnail image and leave a comment after you link so that we don't miss out on your dish.
 
New to IHCC?  Need help linking up?  Check out our Welcome page.  If you have any questions, please leave a comment below and we will get back with you.   If you missed last week's January Potluck, be sure to click on the links and check out all of the wonderful ways our ten mystery ingredients got used. 

An InLinkz Link-up

January Potluck!

It's time for our January Potluck!! This week you can choose any recipe from any of our IHCC chefs! That's right, choose any Diana Henry recipe you like, or if you prefer take the opportunity to revisit any one of our previous ten IHCC chefs:

Nigella Lawson

Mark Bittman

Giada de Laurentiis

Jamie Oliver

Tessa Kiros

Rick Bayless

Madjur Jaffrey

Yotam Ottolenghi

Donna Hay

Nigel Slater

That makes for a veritable smorgasbord of English, American, Italian, Mediterranean, Mexican, Indian, Middle Eastern and "modern Australian" recipes to choose from.

To join in just post and link your January Potluck dish from any one of our IHCC chefs by January 25th, 2015.  Please remember to link a thumbnail image and leave a comment after you link so that we don't miss out on your dish.

New to IHCC?  Need help linking up?  Check out our Welcome page.  If you have any questions please leave a comment below and we will get back with you.

If you missed out on our Along The Spice Trail theme last week, be sure to click on the links and check out all the spicy dishes everyone shared. 

An InLinkz Link-up