BON APPETIT!!

MENU

APPETIZER - CAMEMBERT

SOUP - VICHYSSOISE

SALAD - FENNEL AND MUSHROOM

ENTREE - BEEF BOURGULGNON

DESSERT - APPLE TART & BAKED APPLE (FOR THE NONDAIRY)

BEVERAGES - RED & WHITE WINE, PERRIER WATER, ORANGEADE (WHICH IS ACTUALLY A FRENCH THING!!)

BON APPETITE!!









FANTASY CAMPFIRE CAMEMBERT
Ingredients
• 1 round of Camembert, with its box
• A splash of white wine
• A sprinkling of chopped thyme leaves
• Pepper

Directions
1. Remove the cheese from its box and unwrap it. Put the cheese back in its box. Poke all over the top with a fork, and splash on a little wine to run into the holes. Scatter over the thyme and sprinkle over the pepper. Close the box. Wrap in foil. Bake at 400ºF/200ºC for 10 minutes or until very hot and runny. Serve immediately with crusty bread.




Vichyssoise
Ingredients
• 4 potatoes, peeled and sliced or chopped
• 4 leeks, sliced and washed
• 2 celery stalks, thinly sliced
• 1 onion (or 3 shallots), sliced
• Vichy mineral water, to cover
• Salt and pepper
• 1/4 cup heavy cream or milk
• Chopped chives, for garnish

Directions
1. Put the vegetables in a pot. Add mineral water to cover. Season with salt and pepper, cover, bring to a boil, and simmer until very tender. Purée and strain into a glass bowl. Thin with the cream, and with more liquid if needed. Cool and chill.
2. Before serving, thin the soup to consistency with more water or milk. (You can also use chicken stock, but if you’re trying to be vegetarian, then obviously don’t.) Check the seasonings. Serve sprinkled with chives.


FENNEL AND MUSHROOM SALAD
Ingredients
• 1 shallot, minced
• 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
• 1 fennel bulb
• 1/2 Pound mushrooms, sliced
• a large bouquet of parsley leaves
• handful of chopped fresh chives
• Olive oil
• 1 pinch Salt and pepper
• Lemon juice, to taste
• Parmesan curls

Directions
1. Put the shallot and vinegar in a ramekin and set aside to macerate. Cut the fingers off the fennel bulb and discard, then peel the bulb. Slice the bulb very thinly into rings. Toss with the mushroom slices and parsley leaves. Dress with olive oil, and season with salt, pepper, and lemon juice to taste. Serve with Parmesan curls on top.

Beef Bourgulgnon

Ingredients
• 4 pounds boneless stew beef, such as chuck or sirloin tip, cut into large chunks
• 2 tablespoons pork fat or olive oil, more if needed
• 2 carrots, peeled and halved
• 2 onions, peeled and halved
• 4 cloves garlic, just crushed
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1 bottle red wine
• 4 cups beef stock
• 1 bouquet garni (made from bay leaf, parsley stems, and thyme)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil, more if needed
• 6 to 8 slices bacon, cut into lardons
• 40 baby onions, peeled
• 1 Pound mushrooms

Directions
1. Heat the oven to 325°F/160°F. Take the meat from the fridge and bring to room temperature, about 20 minutes. Heat the oil in a large casserole. Working in batches, brown the meat well on all sides, removing as you go. When the meat is done, cook the carrots and onions in the same pot until tender and lightly golden. Add the garlic, and cook one minute. Add the flour and cook for 2 minutes. Pour over the wine and the stock. Add the bouquet garni. Return the meat to the pot, cover, and transfer to the oven until the meat is very tender, about 2 hours.
2. While the meat cooks, prepare the garnish: Heat the oil, if using, in a pan and brown the bacon. Remove. Add the onions until browned all over, remove. Finally, brown the mushrooms, and remove. Deglaze the pan with 1/2 cup/125 ml water, reduce, then pour over the garnish. Set aside.
3. When the meat is done, remove it from the pot. Strain the stock, discarding the vegetables. Pour the liquid back into the pot and boil until thick enough to coat a spoon. Return the meat to the pan and add the garnish. Cover and simmer until the onions are tender and the flavours have blended, 10 minutes. Adjust the seasonings. Serve.

SOFT BAKED APPLES

• 6 medium baking apples, such as Boskop
• 4-6 dried figs
• 1/4 cup chopped almonds, toasted
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup + 2 tablespoons/100 g butter
• 1 tablespoon heavy cream or crème fraîche
• Lemon juice to taste

Directions
1. Heat the oven to 350°F/180°C. Core the apples. Using a paring knife, score a ring around the midriff of each apple, just cutting through the skin to prevent bursting during baking. Stuff the apples with the figs and almonds. Set on a baking sheet, and bake until puffed up and soft all the way through, about 30 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, put the sugar in a saucepan with a spoonful of water and boil to a golden caramel, about 5 minutes, depending on how much water you've added. You want a nice rich caramel colour, but don't let it get too dark. (It can go from caramel to black in a flash so keep an eye on it.) Turn off the heat and stir in the butter to melt. Stir in the cream, and add lemon juice to taste.
3. Serve the baked apples warm from the oven with the sauce poured over and with a generous slump of cinnamon whipped cream or crème fraîche on the side.

APPLE TART
Ingredients
Tart Shell
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup flour
Cream Filling
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup sugar
Topping
• 3 apples, peeled and thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 cup slivered almonds or chopped walnuts

Directions
Tart Shell
1. Heat the oven to 400°F/200°C. Make the crust: cream the butter and sugar. Stir in the vanilla. Finally, mix in the flour to make a smooth dough. Press into the bottom of an 8-inch/20 cm spring-form pan, giving it about a 1-inch/2.5 cm rim. Bake 15 minutes until lightly golden. Remove from the oven.
Cream Filling
1. Beat all the ingredients for the cream filling together until smooth. Make the topping by tossing the apple slices with the cinnamon, sugar, and nuts. Remove the tart shell from the oven. Spread over the cream mixture.
Topping
1. Arrange the apple slices on top, then scatter over the nuts. Bake until the apples are tender and golden, about 40 minutes.


BEVERAGES


Orangeade

Ingredients

2 c orange juice
1/2 c lemon juice
1/2 c sugar
1 c water

Instructions

Stir the ingredients together, pour over cracked ice in tall glasses, and
garnish with orange slices, sprigs of mint, and fresh strawberries or
raspberries. Serves 4.

Red Wine

White Wine

Perrier Water

For the last time...

So, not to sound like a broken record, but I think you guys all know that I don't cook. And I will admit, its not that I CAN'T cook, its just that I don't enjoy it and, quite frankly, its hard to get motivated to cook just for myself. I actually love having people over for dinner because it challenges me to find a recipe, or perfect an old favourite, and appreciate the skill of cooking.

Every now and then the mood strikes me to cook, though, without rhyme or reason. One day a year or so ago, I literally woke up and thought "I really want to cook a pesto lasagna"...seriously, that is what happened. I turned on my computer, headed to www.allrecipes.com (which is always my first stop in looking for new recipers), typed in pesto lasagna, and BAM...new recipe to add to my repetoire!! I've made it a few times, to rave reviews. Although, I must warn you, it does contain spinach, which is apparently a turn off to some kiddies...I served it to a 7 year old, who said to me "Does this have spinach in it? Because that's not going to be good for me"...she then proceede to pick off the cheese and noodles. But whatever, you can't please them all, right?

So, here it is...Jill, sorry for all the cheesy goodness (its for this reason Book Club has never had my pesto lasagna! If you can think of a way to make it so you can eat it, let me know!).

PESTO LASAGNA
Ingredients
1 (16 ounce) package lasagna noodles (I use the ready-to-use lasagna, so you can skip the boiling of noodles)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
1 (16 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed
7 ounces basil pesto
30 ounces ricotta cheese
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded
9 ounces Alfredo-style pasta sauce
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
** I also put in a couple of chicken breasts, all chopped up, to add more protein...makes for one heavy lasgna!

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add lasagna and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.
In large skillet over medium heat, saute onion in the olive oil until tender. Add spinach and stir. Remove from heat and stir in the pesto. In a large bowl mix ricotta cheese, egg, salt, pepper and nutmeg.
In a 3 quart greased baking dish, layer the noodles then the spinach mixture, followed by the ricotta mixture. Sprinkle with mozzarella. Repeat the layers ending with noodles on top. Spread the Alfredo sauce over the top and sprinkle with parmesan.
Cover with foil and bake in a preheated oven for 45 to 55 minutes.

Nutritional Information
Pesto Lasagna (without chicken)
Servings Per Recipe: 8
Amount Per Serving
Calories: 701
Total Fat: 39.7g
Cholesterol: 99mg
Sodium: 1033mg
Total Carbs: 53.6g
Dietary Fiber: 4.4g
Protein: 35.6g

ENJOY!

Ode to Julia

Hello Ladies

For my last post I wanted to write something about MTAOFC. I went to Chapters to purchase the book, but it was unfortunately way beyond my book budget for November, perhaps another month. Anyhow, I wanted to include something in the blog from her so I started searching online and I came across this, “How to Boil an Egg”.

I thought to myself, everyone knows how to boil an egg, funny that Julia would feel the need to explain this. Turns out, I have been boiling wrong my entire adult life. So for all 0f you who may be boiling wrong as well, here it goes.

Place room temperature eggs into a pot. (this is so the yolk is in the center, cold eggs have yolks that have migrated somewhere else in the egg, who knew!)
Cover with water
Place pot on stove on high
Bring to a rolling boil
Remove from heat and let stand for 10 minutes
Remove from water
Allow to cool to room temperature before peeling

And voila! The perfect hard egg!

I have tried this several times now (as Abby eats an egg every other day) and it works every time. Thanks Julia for setting me straight.

Enjoy!

p.s. I just wanted to add a thank you, I am sure that you are all well aware of my colossal anxiety when it comes to writing anything. I get the shakes, stomach ache, nauseous, start crying etc. But I feel that this blogging may have helped ease the whole process. Not that I am going to write anything any time soon, God no, it is just nice to be able to write like a normal human, thanks everyone!

And the results are in...

A short time ago, I sent an email (since I didn't want to blog out of line) about my culinary prowess as I prepared 3 hearty meals to set aside for cold,wintery days. As detailed in my email I experienced a few small glitches or hiccups, if you will, in preparing said meals. But at the time, I had yet to sample any of the dishes. Now I have. And I thought you'd all be holding your breath waiting to hear how they really turned out.

First, the cream of carrot soup. Okay, so I haven't actually sampled this one yet. But a quick spoonful before freezing suggested it would be tasty, if not a little salty.

Next, Beth's stew. A few things to note: One, I used the slow cooker SOUP mix instead of the stew mix. Oops. But a bit of trusty corn starch fixed that little problem (this, after I learned from earlier mistakes - see next paragraph). Two, I used the food processor to chop the carrots (since I was chopping carrots for 3 dishes). It didn't so much chop the carrots as shred them. And for a stew, I think you really want bigger chunks. Three, I didn't use the Falls' stewing beef. From what I understand, this also undoubtedly adversely affected the final flavour. Still, overall, not bad. Not great. Not as good as Beth's; yet, still good enough that I'm serving it to company on Wednesday!

Finally, Vic's meat pies. These had a lot to live up to (my memory had built these up to epic proportions in the 2 years it took me to actually make them from the recipe Vic gave me around the time of Hannah's birth). As you might recall from the email, I had a little misunderstanding with the corn starch - and thereby inadvertently added a rather shocking amount of it to the pot. Last night, I pulled a meat pie from the freezer with equal amounts hope and trepedation. I started defrosting it in the microwave. It seemed to be taking forever. I switched to full power. Some progress. I returned to speed defrost, afraid of scorching the outside before the inside had thawed. When it appeard to be thawing satisfactorily, I returned to full power. A small, nagging voice in my head said, "It seems odd that it's been in the microwave for almost 10min. and isn't ready yet..." At last, it was heated through. And still very solid. Oh, so very, very solid. I cut part of it into bite-sized pieces for Hannah, and put the remaining portion on a plate for myself. Before I had a chance to sample my own, Hannah announced that she was "all done". Her plate was still full. She went on to explain, "I don't like this. I can't eat it." A little deflated, I started to eat my portion. Something wasn't right. At all. However, because I waited so long to make these, because they still took so much effort, I ate everything on my plate. And then I ate everything from Hannah's plate. Someone was going to have meat pie for dinner and it was quickly becoming obvious that someone had to be me. And there are still 7 more portions in the freezer! As for poor Hannah, she quite happily gobbled down all her Kraft Dinner and even asked for seconds.

On a positive note, I made play dough yesterday and it turned out just fine! It might even taste better than the meat pies...

Nutella Face

We are in the age of ‘perfect parenting’ friends! The age where we as parents and caregivers are scrutinized for any harsh word uttered at our offspring and scolded for any type of slip up. Current culture is actively directing us toward 100% compliance on patience, kindness, cuddles and positive discipline. Comply or be ostracized my friends. Today’s Parent, Dr. Phil and The Mom Show are out to find delinquents so be warned. Harsh glares are shot our way should we find ourselves in the middle of a warzone with our two year old that just happens to be in a full on fish out of water flail session on the grocery store floor. Sly comments will be made as you duck under the iconic big M archway for some quick and easy fast food on a Friday night after a long week. This is the age! Jump on the bandwagon or be shunned. This is the era of perfect parenting ladies and yes, it’s a conspiracy!

It’s true; I am complicit in this cultural conspiracy. I have wholeheartedly bought into the current age of perfect parenting. I parent my child much differently than my parents cared for me and certainly different from how my grandparents nurtured my parents. I actively read and research on the latest and greatest techniques for discipline. I love to learn about my own daughter’s personality and the strengths and weaknesses of her nature. I touch, cuddle, hug and speak softly. I read to her daily. I distract, sing, dance and direct kindly towards positive choice. I give choice. I empower. I say no. I take her to the park even in the winter. I love. I love so much.

But, I feed her Nutella. This is my confessional for I have sinned. I have also fed her: chocolate, multiple boxes of macaroni and cheese, Kool-Aid Jammers, pizza, French fries, chocolate milk, pudding cups, Tim Horton's donuts, Sprite and the list goes on.

Being pregnant with baby number two I have lost my mind and memory. These are hefty personal sacrifices that I have accepted. However, in order to share the wealth and joy I’ve passed along the sacrifices to my child. I have been unable to comply with the unwritten perfect parenting rule of ‘feed thy children the most healthy of foods that have been plucked from the rich soil from thine own hands’. I have not offered her lovely Canadian food guide choices and have certainly not given her the daily suggested amount of omega 3 fatty acids. I have disobeyed and outright picketed against being a perfect parent. I’ve even allowed copious amounts of Treehouse into her little life.

My hope for the near future is a speedy return to the days of keeping up with the Jones'. The days where spinach, granola and whole wheat were staples in our diet. Let this blog and book inspire me!

Into the Mix

I am forever on the hunt for recipes to throw into the mix, and by that I mean, good old stand-byes that I can throw together quickly and that are both healthy and nutritious. For this posting I thought I would share with you one of my favourite recipes that makes a regular appearance at our dinner table. It is from the cookbook "Eat, Shrink, and Be Merry" which is chalk full of healthy dinners. Enjoy!

Ooh-la-la-sagna

Sauce:
8 oz mild italian sausage
8 oz extra lean ground beef
1 cup chopped onions
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1 jar (700ml) tomato pasta sauce
1 can (540ml) diced tomatoes with herbs and spices, undrained
1 tsp basil
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
pepper

12 uncooked lasgana noodles
2 cups (454g) ricotta cheese
1 pkg (10oz) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 egg
1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

To make sauce: Remove casing from sausage and break into small pieces into a deep skillet. Add ground beef, onions, and garlic. Cook and stir over medium-high heat until meat is no longer pink. Stir in oregano and crushed pepper flakes. Cook a minute more. Add pasta sauce, tomatoes, basil, vinegar and pepper. Bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes.

While sauce is simmering, cook lasagna noodles according to package directions.

In medium bowl, mix ricotta, spinach, parmesan cheese, and egg.

Assemble lasgans in a 9x13 baking dish. Spread 1 cup of meat sauce over bottom of baking dish. Top with 4 lasagna noodles. Spread 1/3 of remaining sauce over noodles, followed by 1/3 mozzarella. Top with 4 more noodles, 1/3 sauce, all of the ricotta mixture, and 1/3 mozzarella. For top layer: 4 noodles, 1/3 sauce, 1/3 mozzarella.

Cover lasagna with foil and bake at 375 degrees for 35 minutes. Uncover and bake for an additional 15 minutes. Let stand, uncovered, for 10 minutes before serving.

Makes 10 servings. Freezes very well; I usually make a pan and then put half in the freezer.

Grunge Gourmet

Julia and her adventure in French cooking reminded me of a group of women in the Peterborough area who get together once a month for a gourmet meal club. They make these mouth watering meals complete with soup, salad, wines and desserts (in addition to the entree of course). The meal is celebrated together and then critiqued and rated. I was once allowed to look at the binder of recipe's completed to date and they were extravagent but awesome. I wonder how many of those women in the gourmet meal club went on to reproduce those meals days after? How many of them, or us for that matter, have some of the ingredients on hand to 'whip up' gourmet meals? I'm certain that I don't. It was after having had a similar conversation with my cousin that she told me about an opposite meal club that she was a part of called the 'Grunge Gourmet'.
The group was started for busy, fast-paced women who were looking for practical meals with short preparation times that their families will eat. Much like our group, the hostess makes the meal for the entire group and does all of the clean up as well. The attire is very casual - track and/or pyjama pants are encouraged. Much like other meal clubs, they produced a cook book of their favourite recipe's over the years and didn't just keep it to themselves, they had it published by a small publisher in Brockville Ontario. The group, and their story, was such a success that they were featured in the U.S. Publication of Women's World magazine a couple of years ago. Since I have an 'in' with one of the club members I was able to get my hands on their cookbook quite easily. So I thought I'd share a recipe (or two) from their book with you this week.
I came across this one and think that it sounds quite interesting. I'm hoping someone will try it and report back.

Aunt Sharon's Hawaiian Sandwich

1/2 hamburger bun
Peanut butter
1 can sliced pineapple
sliced cheddar cheese

Spread peanut butter on 1/2 of hamburger bun. Top with a slice of pineapple followed by a slice of cheese. Pop under broiler until cheese melts.

- As I said... sounds quite interesting.....

This one sounded a little better....

Taco Round

1 package of taco seasoning
2.5 cups grated cheddar cheese
1 package of ground beef
1 package of jumbo crescent rolls
1 container sour cream
1 jar of salsa
Shredded lettuce

Cook ground beef in frying pan. Strain off fat. In a bowl mix cooked ground beef, taco seasoning and cheese. On a pizza stone or baking pan, unfold the triangles of the crescent rolls. Separate them and arrange them on the stone to form a 4-point star with an open circle in the middle. Be sure that the triangles overlap slightly. Scoop the beef and cheese mixture onto the inner circle of the crescent rolls to form a ring of meat. Fold the four points back towards the middle and secure. Follow the instructions on the crescent rolls to bake. Cut and serve with sour cream, salsa and lettuce.

clean eating

Heather, a friend of mine (Em's as well), has been 'clean eating' for over a year now and speaks so highly of it. Essentially, clean eating is eating food when it is closest to its natural state...lots of fruits and veggies, whole grains, natural sweeteners and lean protein.

Here is a link to a magazine called "Clean Eating" (original, eh? ha). It has a great FAQ section as well as some yummy recipes.
http://www.cleaneatingmag.com/minisite/ce_index.htm


Here's a link to the website about the Eat Clean Diet:
http://www.eatcleandiet.com/

And here's a link to Tosca Reno's website (the author of the book that Heather follows);
http://www.toscareno.com/ (less helpful, but interesting to note she is from Toronto).
This way of eating is not new. Tosca has just branded the name and made a fortune off of an old, basic, simple idea.

Anyways, something to think about. I don't know much about it myself but I like the premise of it.

Happy eating... clean or not.

Hello from Florida...

I am writing this email from a freezing cold meeting room, while the Florida sun shines warm and bright outside...so, not getting the tan I had hoped for :) Guess that's what I get paid the big bucks for, though!


Day 6 of eating restaurant/hotel food breakfast, lunch, and supper, and I must say - I miss my grilled cheese, English muffins and peanut butter, and cereal for dinner!! I know, I shouldn't complain, but restaurant food gets old fast for me! And, to be honest, I haven't had great food here...best meal of the week was ordering pizza and wings into the hospitality suite last night. The more I travel, the more I find that fancy restaurants are pretty overrated, at least for my simple tastebuds! After two days of that this week, I made sure to convince my co-workers to find a good Irish pub for some chicken fingers and fries (and beer)...heaven!

Best non-food related experience of the week - spotting a baby alligator in the "water hazard" (aka swamp) when we were golfing yesterday!

Sorry for the short blog, but I better start paying attention here again...

I'm not looking forward to packing my flip flops away again, but I can't wait to eat a bowl on Mini-wheats in my own house tomorrow!!

Chocohotopots!

This week I wanted to share with you my #1 recipe. Chocohotopots! The warm and sensually gooey chocolatey lavay cakey dessert. This is my version of Emily’s Brownies. It is my go to dessert when I don’t feel like trying a new recipe or just want something simple and delicious. I didn’t come up with it, but make it all the time to general applause by everyone who eats it.

I have made this dessert more than any other and I have never changed or altered the original... it is just that good. (oh, I do add margarine instead of butter, but if you could eat butter why use anything else? This recipe makes me wish I could eat butter, I can’t imagine how much better it would taste... anyhow...)

I have over the years developed a super will power when it comes to this dessert and can be content eating only half a ramekin, I know that might seem shocking but it is true. This then allows for the 4 dishes to last 8 days! I can think of nothing more blissful that warm chocolaty goo for 8 days in a row.

It is super simple – 5 ingredients and takes about 20 minutes to make (yes just 20, includes the time it takes you to get stuff out of the cupboards, and make the dessert, but not including bake time though). So... if you ever need a chocolate pick me up, this is it!

(p.s. I hope I haven’t built it up too much, don’t you hate when that happens? You get all excited and then it just doesn’t measure up? I can guarantee that this isn’t one of those cases!)

Enjoy ladies

Ingredients

• 1 stick plus 1 tablespoon unsalted butter (yes you do need the tablespoon, it is weird as it is converted from metric)
• 4 ounces semisweet chocolate, with 60 percent cocoa solids (really the darker the better)
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup superfine sugar
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 4 (2/3 to 1-cup capacity) ramekins

Directions

• Place a baking sheet in the oven and preheat to 400 degrees F.Butter the ramekins with 1 tablespoon butter.
• Either in a microwave or in a bowl suspended over a pan over simmering water, melt the dark chocolate and 1 stick butter, then set aside to cool a little.
• In another bowl, mix the eggs with the sugar and flour with a hand whisk and beat in the cooled butter and chocolate mixture.
• Divide the mixture between the 4 buttered ramekins.
• Bake for about 20 minutes, by which time the tops will be cooked and cracked and the chocolate gooey underneath.
• Place each ramekin on a small plate with a teaspoon and serve. Make sure to warn people that these desserts will be HOT!