Cretons

Cretons is a french-canadian meat pate, which is only made at Christmas time in my family. If you've never had it, you're in for a real treat! My favourite way to eat it is on a piece of fresh baguette with some dijon or grainy mustard, or on toast with mustard. Nothing else.

My Mom has been making this recipe for ages which is courtesy of Marc Garneau's (the astronaut) grandmother, Rose-Alma. If you make the whole recipe you will have A LOT of cretons. I make a third of the recipe which yields 4x 2-inch ramekins, which is enough for my husband and I over the holidays. You can freeze it, but mine sometimes don't even make it to the freezer!

I caution you that I have never made this without it sticking to the bottom of the pot, but that's no reason to not try it...it's THAT good!

3lbs ground pork
2-3 cups dried breadcrumbs
1 large onion, grated
3 cloves of garlic, chopped (use 2 if you are making a third of the recipe)
1 tsp ground cloves, a must!
3 cups of milk (use 1.5 cups if you are making a third of the recipe)
salt
pepper

Combine all ingredients in a large heavy bottom saucepan. Season with salt and pepper. Cover and simmer very gently until thick, about 2 hours, stirring occasionally. Spoon into ramekins, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

Remember the mustard for eating! And send me your feedback if you try it.

Jam Thumbprint Cookies

I can't believe I have not yet posted a recipe for a dessert or cookies - I love to bake, so it's shocking! Shocking I say! But, if there's got to be a first, then this is a good one.

These are a Christmas staple for me. I have been making them for years, and for good reason: they are yummy. And everyone who has them thinks so too...as evidenced by how fast they disappear. With a hot cuppa tea, it's a delish treat (or even breakfast as I've been known to do!).

Jam Thumbprint Cookies

1 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 egg yolks
3 tbsp milk
2 tsp vanilla
2-2/3 cup flour
2 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
jam - I prefer raspberry

Cream butter and combine with sugars and egg yolks, blend well. Mix in milk and vanilla. Add all dry ingredients and mix until just blended. It will seem dry at first. Place on a piece of plastic wrap and pull up sides until the mixture comes together, then wrap and chill for 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350F. Roll out 1 inch balls and place on cookie sheet. Make a dent in each one with your thumb and fill with jam. Bake for 12-15 minutes. Let cool briefly then remove to a cooling rack. Store in an airtight container, placing parchment paper between each layer so they don't stick.

Yummmmmmy.

frenchy spaghetti

This spaghetti dish comes from my childhood. When my Dad was away my Mom would let us have this, not often, but it was a real treat. In my family it was known as "spagatti blanc" but nowadays it's commonly referred to in my house as frenchy spaghetti. It's easy, and dare I say quite tasty for a rainy day quick meal.

Combine:
cooked spaghetti
butter
beef Bovril, powedered not liquid

The amount of butter and bovril is a matter of taste, I like it buttery, my husband not so much. So play around and see what you think...

the Mike special

Mike is GREAT at making anything breakfast having to do with eggs. And we often eat his concoctions for dinner too. A while back he made a warm spinach salad from one of Tyler Florence's cookbooks, which we both loved, and has since evolved into his own interpretation as an eggs benny.

I hope to keep tasting different varations of this recipe, but this plating had to be captured and shared...

1 shallot, minced
2 garlic clove, minced
handful of mushrooms, chopped
1 bunch kale, stems removed
multigrain bread, sliced
eggs
serve with bacon

Place bacon slices on baking rack over sheet pan in 400F oven until crisp. Rinse kale and set aside.

Mince shallot and garlic and chop mushrooms. Fry in 1 tsp of olive oil until mushrooms are browned. Add kale and cook until kale is softened.

Meanwhile bring a pot of water to a simmer, add a tsp of red wine vinegar and poach eggs.

Serve toasted homestyle multigrain bread, topped with mushroom mixture and one egg. Bacon on the side. Eat right away so egg can run all over everything....yummy....

Chucumber

My taste buds are back baby! Second trimester has brought back the desire for colourful foods - salads and fruit - and the desire to get back into the kitchen and cook with loads of flavour.

Last Christmas I bought a cookbook mostly for the pics - which is not uncommon for me. But this one turned out to be a gem, and was one in the Journey for Food Lovers series. It's "The Food of India" with lovely, well captured pictures and tasty recipes. As with all indian cooking, there is often a long list of ingredients which can be intimidating. What I noticed as I drooled while flipping through the book, was that many recipes used similar ingredients but in different proportions or different preparations. So I decided to give it a go and stocked up on a few key spices, namely turmeric, curry leaves, cardamom pods, coridander and cumin seeds. Garam masala is a good option to have on hand and one that I have been using for a while now, but there are many masalas to choose from depending on your recipe (see below).

Chucumber is a refreshingly tangy, spicy, crunchy dish. Great served as a side dish or with chapati for a snack. The key to this dish is to chop all the ingredients into a small consistent dice, which allows you to get a bit of everything in every bite. This is my version:

1 small red onion
1 english cucumber (or 2 field cucumbers, deseeded)
1 tomato
1 pepper
1 red chile
1 green chile
fresh lemon juice
handful of cilantro leaves
handful of unroastedd, unsalted peanuts, roughly chopped
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1-1/2 tsp chaat masala

Chop the onion, cucumber, tomato, pepper, red and green chiles and combine in a bowl. Squeeze in the juice of one lemon. Coarsely chop the cilantro leaves and add to the mixture. Set aside.

In a small skillet, heat 1 tbsp of canola oil (use a neutral veg oil here, olive oil would be too strong). Add the peanuts and salt, fry for 1-2 minutes, until you can start to smell the peanuts. Keep an eye on them though, nuts tend to burn quickly. Add the pepper and chaat masala and fry for another 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.

Once the peanut mixture has cooled, add to the veggie mix - if you do this too early the veggies will realease a lot of liquid due to the heat and salt.

Serve with thin chapati and ice cold beer. Perfect for an afternoon snack on the deck.


Masala

Masala is known as a warming mixture of various spices, usually one or all of the following - cumin, coriander, turmeric, cinnamon, cardamom. The outcome depends on the proportions. There are sweeter masalas and spicier ones. If you are buying masala for this recipe look for one labelled "chaat" or ask for a spicier version than garam masala, which tends to have a higer cinnamon note.

Traditional chaat masala uses amchoor powder which imparts a lovely sour note. I didn't have chaat masala or amchoor powder in my cupboard, so I improvised...you can try your own version and adjust as you like.

1/2 tsp coriander seeds
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
pinch of salt
2 dried chillies
6 peppercorns
1 cardamom pod

Toast the coriander and cumin seeds in a small heavy skillet. Place in a mortar and pestle or small spice grinder. Add the salt, dried chillies, peppercorns and cardamom pod. Crush together until you get a coarse mix. *If you want to make this into a paste and add that sour note, squeeze in the juice of one lime.*

if you were stranded....

I started pregnancy with a relatively normal first trimester. I haven't really experienced morning sickness, more like evening nausea...curled up on the couch, wishing the light at the end of the tunnel would come, sort of nausea. This is why there has been a lag between posts. My desire for food has definitely changed.

Meat, yuck. Fish, yuck. Salad, yuck. Bread, YUM!

I get my veggies from soups, which I find I can tolerate ok. But my all time favourite get-me-through-the-day food is the beautiful bagel. I like the bagel so much that it's my "if you were stranded on a deserted island and could only have one thing" item. One year in high school I had a bagel and cream cheese for lunch every day. True, ask my mom. And here I am, back to the good old standby. Lately my choice of bagel has been the wonderfully chewy, sesame crusted delights from Benny's Bagels in Vancouver. Toasted and topped with cucumber & dill cream cheese. Thanks to Mike for the accumulated mileage to purchase my lovely bagels - he's been busy as I had 3 bagels in one day a few weeks back! Yeah, but I'm eating for 2 right?!

This week, there is no recipe (cooking hasn't been my forte for about 17 weeks now!) so what I encourage you to do is find your deserted island food pick, or go back to your old favourite standby and enjoy it with all your lovely taste buds.

Camping BLTA's

I love camping. The main reason I like it so much is that Mike enjoys to cook, clean and generally putter around at camping, which means I can sit by the fire with my book and ree-lax. Perfect.

That said, a good menu is necessary when camping, or else it's just not worth it. When we camp with our friends P&T we always trade off meals - so they make a dinner and breakfast and we make a dinner and breakfast. It works out really well and you cook less and clean less. Again, perfect.

Recently we camped at Otter Lake, near Princeton BC. Our dinner included BLTA's - Bacon Lettuce Tomato and Avocado sandwiches. Can't go wrong with that. Instead of the usual suspects, play around with the ingredients - use ciabatta buns and thick cut smokey bacon, smear on some flavoured cream cheese instead of mayo, use a nice dark lettuce and orange heirloom tomatoes. Don't forget the salt and pepper.

You'll be very happy to be camping.

For the cholesterolly-challenged

Some of my friends are...ahem...getting older. And with that, the problems of an aging body. Things like Flemmish Asparagus are out of the question when you're trying to lower your cholesterol, keep your heart-a-ticking, or your blood sugar level. But that doesn't mean sacrificing flavour flav.

I have been making turkey burgers for a long time and love them, however I know several people who don't like poultry burgers since they can be bland and dry. Ground turkey or chicken burgers, unlike the good old beef patty, should be well seasoned, almost meatloaf style. I prefer to make all my burgers sans egg, but if you like the consistency egg gives, then go ahead and add one in...that is, if you're not suffering from the above-mentioned bodily defuncts ; )

Here's my healthy standby for your burger cravings.


TURK-BURGER
Makes 4 patties

1lb ground chicken or turkey (I prefer turkey)
1 inch piece of fresh ginger
1 large garlic clove
cilantro, or any fresh leafy herb
salt
pepper

whole grain buns
big pile o' spinach
pickled onions (recipe follows)
optional, lowfat curry mayo (recipe follows)

In a large mixing bowl, grate the ginger and garlic. I find these best grated so you don't get large chunks when you bite into your burger. Add finely chopped cilantro and salt and pepper to taste. Mix in the ground bird but be sure not to overmix as it can make the burgers gluey. And who wants that. Form into 4 patties.

Heat your bbq and lube the grills with some canola oil. Toss on the patties. Let each side char before flipping and be sure to close the bbq lid to create the "oven effect".

Toast your buns. Top with spinach and pickled onions and condiment of your choice, curry mayo is great on these burgers but if you have to avoid the white stuff, then go for a really good mustard.

Eat. Smile.


PICKLED ONION
This recipe comes from Anthony Sedlak's cookbook.

1 cup water
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup sugar
1 bay leaf
salt
red onion, sliced

In a small saucepan, combine water, vinegar, sugar, bay leaf and salt. Bring to a boil then pour over the sliced red onion and stir. Set aside to cool then drain. This will keep in a sealed container in your fridge for 2 weeks, if you can stand not to eat them all right away...


CURRY MAYO
low fat mayonnaise or tofunnaise
curry powder
pepper

Super duper easy...mix ingredients and refrigerate for a few hours so flavours can blend.

Say cheese

What better place to go than Paris if you love cheese? Well, ok, Holland would do as well, but France was where I travelled and encountered lovely shops every day, calling my name to come in...

The french know their cheese, and they have a plethora of goat cheese. It's hard to choose which variety given the array of options, from little round "pucks" coated in fuzzy mold to towers with a hard rind and gooey interior. In North America we don't have as many options - most of us know goat cheese as that white stuff packaged in a tube from the supermarket.

Why settle for that?

Seek out a local cheese maker and discover something new and tasty. Whatever cheese you choose, grab a baguette and head to a nearby park to indulge...yes, I mean do this now, even if you aren't in Paris.

Flemmish Asparagus

My first entry....hmm, what to start with. So many food choices. I'll start with a starter. Makes sense, non?

Mike and I recently spent a weekend in Bruges with some friends. If you've seen the movie "In Bruges" then you know that it's a beautiful gothic town in Belgium. It's in the northern half of the country where the people speak Flemmish, which is where the name of this dish comes from. (I highly recommend the movie, by the way.)

We went to de Gastro Food Experience and had Flemish Asparagus as a starter : braised asparagus with a hollandaise-style sauce. Although the dish was delish, we all wondered about the lumpy hollandaise....

It wasn't until I came home and Googled this dish that I learned it is made with hard boiled eggs, not raw eggs, which lends to the lumpy texture. I have adapted the recipe somewhat...it is commonly made with very large white asparagus, which are sometimes hard to find, even in season. If so, use the largest green ones you can find.

Serves 4

16 asparagus spears, use the fat ones
stock - veggie or chicken is best

3 soft boiled eggs
1/4 cup melted butter
1 tsp dijon
1/2 tsp lemon zest
salt & pepper
lemon juice
more stock as needed

Preheat oven to 350F

Snap the first asparagus spear, then trim all the others to the same length. Peel the bottom of any really woodsy ones. Place in a shallow baking dish and pour in some stock just to cover the bottom of the pan - do not completely cover the asparagus. Bake for about 15 minutes until just tender.

Soft boil the eggs, then peel and place in a mini food processor or chop finely by hand. Add the butter, dijon, lemon zest and salt and pepper to taste. The mixture should be the consistency of runny gravy. If yours is too thick, then thin it out with some stock. Set aside until asparagus are ready.

To serve, line up 4 asparagus on each plate. Add lemon juice to the egg sauce then place a large spoonful over the middle of the asparagus spears.

Great served warm. Enjoy with a cold Belgian ale!