soupnancy

What's cooking - The ingredient:

Asparagus!

André Cormier (our local guy) had his first asparagus out on May 9^th, exceptionally early this year; normally they come after, not at the same time as the fiddleheads.. But what an exciting time the first Quebec asparagus sighting is! Just about every night since, I’ve eaten asparagus in some form (and so yes, my pee smells). My favourite way with asparagus is sautéed in a hot pan (or grilled) with olive oil, then deglazed with a good balsamic or lemon, salt and pepper. Sometimes gratinéed with a hard cheese afterwards (like Valbert, Tomme de Kamouraska, Alfred, Piave or Parm..) I also like it steamed or blanched with a bit of butter for a more ‘au naturel' taste, maybe with a poached egg and tomato.  Or in vinaigrette with EVO, lemon zest and almonds, or yet another favourite, thrown into a sauté of mushrooms at the end. Now that the green is a given, I'll be moving on to Daigneault's white asparagus this week.

Daigneault's white asparagus

More asparagus recipes from the web:

Jamie Oliver’s potato asparagus tart, Jamie Kennedy’s classic asparagus vinaigrette..http://gremolata.com/asparagus.htm

Butter braised asparagus with peas, oyster mushroom and tarragon http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/07/dining/071arex.html?ref=dining

Easy Asparagus with lemon and parmesan http://www.elise.com/recipes/archives/001146asparagus.php

Potato Asparagus frittata

http://bitten.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/04/02/recipe-of-the-day-potato-asparagus-frittata/

Tons of asparagus tips and recipes from the NYTimes: http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/a/asparagus/index.html

And a couple of 'non-asparagus', but timeless recipes ..

Taking out the ‘Q’? Try Beer can chicken from America ’s Test Kitchen http://www.americastestkitchen.com/cookstv/preview/?extcode=L8EN1AE00

Also from Cooks Illustrated :

Almost no knead bread http://www.cooksillustrated.com/recipe.asp?recipeids=4748&bdc=56976&extcode=L8EN1AF00#topOfPage

More spring recipes (for nettles, ramps, morels, asparagus..) 

http://starchefs.com/features/farm_fresh/spring/2008/html/index.shtml

What's cooking - The ingredient:  Fiddleheads!

The season kicked off the first week of May, and now it’s peaking, I have hundreds of pounds in my fridge, I’m pumped, overwhelmed to be honest. I will be cooking them in a myriad of ways in the weeks to come. Because it’s early in the season, and green is fresh and exciting, I will tend towards cold, light and fresh recipes, but the truth is I like them better cooked, even a long time(!), or pickled. As a cook, keeping a green vegetable crisp and bright green is something that has been ingrained in me, but I have since come to appreciate the long cooked green, a different flavour all together, more deeply savoury and long en bouche (unami rich I'm sure). Think sag aloo or sag paneer or stewed collard greens. I’m still timid in serving them this way at the restaurant, but at
cleaned fiddleheads
Fiddlheads and hamhome I’m sold. When you’re sweating them in butter maybe with some garlic and tamari or meat jus, just let them go a little longer, you’ll see. Or try the old Quebecois recipe below, and let it cook some after reheating. They are also great in a punchy vinaigrette, although again the colour goes if you toss them in sauce early; but if you sauce à la minute, the taste doesn't penetrate, so somewhere in between is best, say 20 minutes before serving. Fresh fiddle talk aside, it’s time for me to get preserving. Mason jars of my pickled fiddleheads will soon be available at the market (alongside the fresh of course). 

François told me that from his two days at the market, he has gathered that most people don't know how to cook fiddleheads (some reaching for them raw - a no no!) despite them being a popular rite of spring, which of course is why a few morons get sick every year, and the government issues an annual warning, advising people to cook them 15 minutes.  This long cooking is hardly necessary especially if you get them from a good source, but in any case, a first cooking in boiling water is a must.  We do a double blanch (2-3 minutes each time), changing the water in between.  Refresh and they are ready to cook or eat.  Proceed to sweat them in butter with garlic and seasonings of choice, or to dress in vinaigrette to serve cold.

Quail and fiddlheads, wild ginger and sesame

Piglet loin, fiddlheads with ham, Rassambleu potato cake

nordic shrimp, fiddleheads, wild ginger, sesame

My two favourite recipes for fiddleheads – oh so simple..

Fiddleheads in an Asian inspired vinaigrette

with wild ginger mustard, chili and sesame

Yield: 8 servings

6 c (1 lb) Fiddleheads, cleaned and double blanched

Vinaigrette

1 French shallot, minced

30 ml wild ginger mustard (or 1 tsp minced ginger and 15 ml Dijon )

1 tsp minced garlic

1 red pepper, finely diced

30 ml Tamari

50 ml cider or rice wine vinegar

30 ml maple syrup

10 ml toasted sesame oil

125 ml olive oil

s.q. salt, pepper

s.q. chilli paste

Garnish:

2 Tbsp toasted sesame seeds

Method:

1. Clean fiddleheads, removing dark tip. Blanch twice in lots of boiling salted water for 2 minutes each time. Refresh each time. Reserve.

2. Make vinaigrette by blending all ingredients.

3. Toss fiddleheads with vinaigrette and sesame seeds and serve. As an accompaniment or entrée. Would go with tofu, shrimp or seafood, chicken duck or pork..

Façon Bas du Fleuve (ie long cooked with salt pork and onion)

(adapted from Yves Cloutier’s family recipe)

8 portions

1lb (6c) fiddleheads

1 chopped onion

1 bouquet garni (thyme, bay, parsley and/or celery leaf)

1 c salt pork strips (200g)

2 c water or chicken stock

s.q. salt, pepper

Method:

1. Wash fiddleheads well in several changes of water, trim ends.

2. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, add fiddleheads and blanch once for 2-3 minutes, chill in ice water.

3. Meanwhile, bring the onion, water, bouquet garni and salt pork to a boil, lower heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Add the fiddleheads, turn off the heat and let sit overnight. Refrigerate.

4. Shred the salt pork or remove, reheat and serve.

What's cooking - The Ingredient: 

Snow crab and Nordic shrimp!
crab salad bouchée 

nordic shrimp asparagus radish salad with wild shoots

Now in season and widely available (not to mention a local, sustainable choice)..

I like both with just a drizzle of my Pettinicchi chili oil, or my black olive Belle Excuse oil, a squeeze of lemon and sea salt. With some good bread or garlic bread and a salad. For the first part of the season, it’s straight up.

Once the novelty fades, I’ll dress them up, mix and match. I most often make a composed salad, say with celery, dill and red pepper and lemon zest (my fave), and to make a meal, I’ll add a bed of tomato, asparagus, greens, olives, couscous, almonds, something like that… Or on a different slant, I might go for ginger, coriander and sesame, then add some peas or green beans, kimchi, egg, rice or rice noodles.

In any case, I find both Nordic shrimp and snow crab best eaten cold. I don’t really understand why people fry or serve these hot at all, unless out of the shell. Nordic shrimp are only available cooked but you can get the head on (great snacking food), or peeled and neat. Crab is best fresh and very alive, it takes about the same amount of time as lobster to cook in simmering salted water. This is obviously the best option if you want to eat them hot with butter crab-boil style where everyone gets messy cracking their crab. If you’re serving it cold, you’re still best cooking it yourself, but you can also buy it cooked. It’s a pain to clean, messy and labour intensive, but well worth it, especially if you have someone who likes doing it like my François des bois. Figure 140g of meat per crab and 1 crab per person, or as an entrée 2 portions per crab.

Just make sure you’re buying absolutely fresh (of the day, not frozen and thawed) from a reputable fish monger like La Mer or from the Gaspé stalls or fish stores at the markets (Jean Talon, Atwater).

A recipe for crab salad I posted last year around this time..

http://soupnancy.squarespace.com/whats-cooking-recipes/2007/5/9/snow-crab-or-lobster-salad.html

What's cooking

The dish - Gravelax

It’s spelled so many ways I don’t know which is right. But what it is, is cured salmon, (or any fish nowadays) that gets a salt/sugar/spice treatment and is eaten as such, somewhere between cooked and raw, silky and toothsome, easy to love.

This was one of the first recipes I gravitated towards and attacked as a young cook; my first experiments date to even before cooking school. So it was also one of the first dishes I felt I mastered because I made it so much, and maybe because my boyfriend at the time LOVED it. The original recipe involved a cure of fine salt and sugar, some brandy, pepper and allspice, lots of dill of course, pressed for three days. Served with some mustardy homemade mayo with dill and some blinis or toast (at the time), I didn’t think it could get any better.

Nonetheless, as I grew as a cook, I had a lot of fun playing around with the recipe and eventually did get bored.. In fact, I broke up with the dish when I broke up with the guy, suddenly having no desire to go there anymore. It also happened that at that time in nineties restaurant food trends, ‘smoked’ was coming back in, as was everything raw, and so all the restaurants I was working in were into smoking their salmon or serving it fresh in tartare, cured was out. I was all about it. To shake it up every now and again, I’d riff on the smoked, even go to gravelax, but with gin and juniper, with mirin, soy, ginger and coriander, with vodka, citrus and fennel, with maple, cider and tea, with coarse salt and brown sugar instead of regular salt and sugar, I’d go for a shorter intense cure, a longer un-pressed cure, anything but the classic I once loved. Most were successful, but somehow, none measured up to that first taste memory. I suspected it had more to do with matters of the heart than my evolution as a cook, but no matter.

Fast forward ten years. In parallel with my current tendency towards tradition and simplicity, and because enough time has elapsed that the original association with that ex-boyfriend is dead, I am ready to revisit that old recipe.

The only thing I’m doing differently is using arctic char, and maple brandy and some maple syrup (it is maple season after all). And I’ll probably serve it with a maple enhanced mustard condiment and something crunchy and fresh, maybe glaze it, we’ll see.. but that’s only because this is a restaurant and so a few extra touches are in order; it should be great on it’s own. With toast and mustardy mayo like in the old days.

Gravelax off to cure

cured char (end pieces ready first)

char, maple cured and smoked, root veg remoulade with crinkleroot maple mustard, amaranth and pickled daisy buds

Gravelax

Enough for a party (or breakfast and lunch for a week for two)

1 Salmon filet (around 3lb net), preferably wild or organic

3/4 c sea salt

1 c sugar

1/2 c maple syrup

2oz brandy

2 bunches dill

3T peppercorns, crushed

1T allspice, crushed

Clean filet if it’s not already done (debone, trim). Slice filet in two. Mix salt, sugar and spices together with brandy and maple syrup to make a slurry. Layer filets with salt mixture and dill (make a sandwich with skin outward) with some slurry and dill in between, under and over. Cover with saran wrap and weigh down with another baking dish with tomato cans or whatever you have. Let sit for 2-3 days, flipping at least once. For a thick salmon filet or a whole fish, 3 days is better. My char is thin, so two will be enough. Rinse off, dry and slice. It will keep for a week or so.

A la minute version:

Slice fresh (sushi-grade) salmon thinly on a plate. Add a generous splash of maple syrup, a scant splash of brandy, and a tablespoon or two of olive oil. Brush on (with a pastry brush) to evenly distribute. Sprinkle with sea salt, a generous amount of cracked pepper and a scant crack of allspice and some chopped fresh dill. Cover with saran wrap and press down so that there is no exposure to air. Let sit for an hour or two, serve. Squeeze with lemon or serve on side.

What's cooking - Ingredient

The holy egg

duck eggs

To follow up on my Ode to the egg for Easter (last year) http://soupnancy.squarespace.com/blog-journalessays/2007/4/6/my-easter-egg.html,

Lets get cooking..

Here are some of my favourite ways with eggs at home: see recipes below for.. 

• Gaby’s cheddar scrambled eggs
• Oeuf en cocotte with truffle and tomato
• Frittata
• Bread pudding with berries and chocolate

And some other Easter recipes..

• Baked Ham  http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/241636   Following a similar method, you could use a bottle of red wine or cider, 1 cup of maple syrup instead of the sugar and honey, and add some spices (a few cloves, thyme, bay and black peppercorns)..
• Roast leg of lamb http://www.saveur.com/food/2000/roast-leg-of-lamb-15965.html

• Roasted lamb shoulder – I love doing something similar but with Morrocan spices, and a stuffing using more spice with caramelized onions, olives, raisins, almonds and olive oil to bind.. http://chocolateandzucchini.com/archives/2007/11/slowroasted_shoulder_of_lamb_rubbed_with_rosemary_anchovy_and_lemon_zest.php 
• Italian Easter egg bread http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/106188
• Asparagus with Hollandaise sauce http://www.saveur.com/food/classic-recipes/asparagus-with-hollandaise-sauce-1000031047.html  In case you’re dying for something crunchy and green..

Gaby’s cheddar scrambled eggs

Gaby is a wonderful lady I worked with many years ago before I went to cooking school. She was a jolly great cook, putting out 30+ home style lunches back in the day of the Grumpy’s power lunch all by herself. She made the best soups, but her cheddar scrambled eggs stuck with me because she amazed me by making them in the microwave (you only dirty one dish). I think they are better in the pan, but in a jiff, I will occasionally pull out her trick. The key is too use a low power (50%) for 3 minutes (for 3 eggs), a little less or more depending on the quantity. She would just mix all the ingredients together, cover and zap, stopping to stir once or twice. But still, I think the only way hers were so good even in the microwave had a lot to do with the generous amount of cheese and butter. I make them quite a bit lighter, so I find I have more control in the pan.

Gaby's cheddar scrambled eggs

2-4 portions

6 eggs

a squirt of milk

salt and pepper to taste

Tabasco

Butter 2 Tbsp or more

1/2 cup of grated Medium aged cheddar cheese

Whisk eggs with salt, pepper and a squirt of milk or cream. Add a tablespoon of butter to pan and once somewhat hot, add eggs. Lower heat and cook gently, stirring regularly (the more you stir, the creamier they will be). I like curds, so I don’t stir too much, just enough to keep it from caking. When the curds are formed, but still very moist ( a minute or two later), add the cheese and remaining butter and shut off. Allow to sit to finish cooking to desired doneness.

Oeufs en cocotte

oeuf en cocotte with tomato and smoked salt, fiddlehead salad

8 p

8 duck (or hen) eggs

1/2c heavy cream

drops truffle oil

salt and pepper

Tabasco or chilli paste

2 tomatoes, blanched, peeled seeded and diced

salt and pepper

pinch sugar (if necessary)

1 Tbsp good olive oil

drops good balsamic vinegar

Combine cream with truffle oil, salt and pepper, Tabasco or chilli paste. Break eggs into ramekins. Top with a teaspoon of truffle cream. Cook covered in a water bath at 300F for 20-25min until set but still giggly.

Serve with coarse salt and tomato fondue. Fresh tomato salsa or roasted tomato (confit) would be good too. For an extra decadent garnish, add crumbled bacon, sliced ham or smoked duck. This makes an elegant appetizer, or a light lunch or dinner with baguette and salad.. Sometimes I add sautéed mushrooms or some surprise in the bottom before baking for another layer of flavour.

Frittata

I can’t possibly write one recipe for this. I’ve never made the same one twice. Basically, it’s just an omelette with stuff, baked into a round or square format so that you can cut it into wedges or little squares and serve warm, at room temperature or even cold, eaten out of hand.

You start with eggs, calculate 1-2 per person. Then you choose the stuff, ie. the garnish and some cheese. When it comes to garnish, I would say onions are a must, plus some other vegetables to liven up the mix, and maybe some salty meat like bacon or pancetta or proscuitto or chorizo (although optional). For vegetables, anything in season, anything you like is good, sweet peppers are one of my favourite additions. Something green like spinach or asparagus is nice too. Cooked potatoes are the classic Spanish tortilla (omelette) garnish. I even use toasted bread as a base sometimes, making it good finger food once room temperature. Flavour wise, tomatoes are always welcome, although best added late.

One of my favourite old time catering items was a ratatouille frittata. In another restaurant I worked in, we used whatever good leftovers we had on hand to make the frittata of the day (grilled vegetables, caponata, tuna, smoked salmon, pizza toppings, you name it) always for delicious results. Onions and olives, Broccoli and sun dried tomato, ham and swiss chard, the options are endless. Just keep the amount of garnish to less than half that of the eggs or it won’t hold together. Cheese is not absolutely necessary, but it helps the structure wise and even a bit really boosts the oomph factor. Choose a good melting cheese, ie. something firm like an aged Quebec cheddar or Fetard or Baluchon or a Gruyere or a little Parm. Goat cheese is good too, but in that case you would use less or maybe in combination with a hard, mild cheese. Figure about 20g a person or per 2 eggs (say a good pinch of grated cheese), a cup for a medium pan.

In any case, you need to stew, roast or sauté (in other words, cook) the vegetables or meat garnish you will be using first. Then in a greased pan or baking dish, you place the vegetable garnish, then the mixed eggs, top with the cheese and bake. For a small party (say up to 8), the fastest, easiest way is to sauté your onions and peppers or whatever veg or meat in a fry pan until cooked, then add the egg mix, stirring a little; when it starts to set, you add the cheese and stick it in a 325F oven (or less if you’re not in a rush) until it’s set (anywhere from 10-30 min depending on the size and temp). Pull out, let cool slightly and slice up. Serve with a salad and some good bread. An 8” pan will hold 6 large eggs, a 10-12’’ pan with hold twice that. For anything bigger, use a baking dish.

I hate writing ‘real’ recipes, but maybe you’re dying for a proper one, there are plenty out there, so here you go..

A tasty frittata (potato, onion and sausage) http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/a-tasty-frittata-recipe.html

Asparagus frittata http://www.elise.com/recipes/archives/002019asparagus_frittata.php

Frittata with bacon, fresh ricotta and greens http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/233142

Bread pudding with chocolate and blueberries

12 x 3oz portions

8 yolks

1 cup of sugar

2 cups of milk

2 cups of heavy cream

1 vanilla bean or flavouring of choice

1 small loaf of dry country bread (or day old baguette)

125 g blueberries

½ c couverture chocolate pistoles (or chocolate chips)

pinch salt

squeeze lemon and/or orange

Cube bread. Gently heat cream, milk, pinch of salt and half of sugar with vanilla bean or flavouring of choice. I like to use Labrador tea or wintergreen or spices like star anise, cinnamon, clove, nutmeg or almond paste.. When scalding, shut off, let sit for a few minutes. Meanwhile, break eggs, whisk yolks with remaining sugar and slowly whisk in hot cream mixture, strain. Pour over bread cubes and mix. Let sit for an hour or overnight (refrigerated) until the bread has soaked up most of the liquid. The mixture should be thick but pourable or at least scoopable. Add a little extra milk or cream or maple syrup to loosen up if necessary. Mix in blueberries and chocolate pieces, spoon into buttered ramekins (or a buttered baking dish). Place ramekins on a cookie sheet and bake in a 325F oven for 30-40min or until set.

making bread pudding

bread pudding ready to bake

What's cooking

The dish - Polenta fries

While everyone else is in a rush for spring, I’m holding on to winter.. This week though, I had no choice but to get thinking ahead. The Voir needed my thoughts on maple, so I pumped out my menu for the sugaring off season, and then for another upcoming media event, I had to deliver my spring menu.. I let myself get all dreamy and put myself there momentarily. Knowing me, I’ll want to change it all when the time comes – I hate making menus so far in advance.

Besides, the reality is that it’s still full-on winter, which I actually have no problem with. I’d rather stay put and celebrate that, make the most of it. There are so many winter activities I haven’t yet fully taken advantage of, and many favourite winter dishes I never got around to cooking. One of those is Polenta..

polenta fries (oven baked)

venison two ways, wild mushrooms and polenta fries

I love polenta, aka cooked cornmeal mush. It’s one of my comfort foods in every form, whether soft like porridge, firm and fried, creamy and rich with cheese, or layered with roasted veg and mushrooms in casserole form.. Every time I make it, I end up eating a ton before the dish is even done; burning my fingers and tongue with my over eager taste tests is always a part of the polenta process.

However, I’ve noticed that polenta is generally not a winner menu item, so I don’t make it as often as I would like. Even if I know that I could turn people around, the fact is, polenta is never going to be as likeable as mashed potatoes here, so why fight it too much. I do need to put it on my menu every now and then though, and since its perfect winter fare, I decided to go for it before the snow started melting, but to put it out there in one of its most approachable forms – as fries!

Basically, you make a rather neutral and stiff polenta (between 2 to3:1 ratio of liquid to polenta), cool it, cut it and fry or bake. The polenta sticks could be breaded (flour, egg wash, breadcrumbs) before frying for extra textural crunch, which is probably best if you’re making it on the creamy side. Polenta is a blank canvas, in that you can use the amount of liquid you want depending on the desired texture, vary the type of liquid, and add whatever flavourings depending on your inspiration. The more liquid, fat and added ingredients, the softer it will be. For a stiff polenta (the kind of inedible roll you see in stores) something along the lines of a 2:1 ratio of fine cornmeal and water is at play. A decadent molten version in a high end restaurant may involve something closer to a 4 or even 5:1 ratio, including perhaps stock, cream, butter, truffle oil etc. Because polenta is bland, it’s tempting to load it with cheese, fat and flavourings, and to push the 3:1 ratio, which is fine if you’re serving it soft, but then it gets trickier to make fries.

First of all, a fine to medium polenta (cornmeal) is best for this kind of recipe. For straight up polenta, I prefer a coarsely ground type. For the liquid, I personally like to use a mixture of water and milk because the taste is clean, not too rich, it lends a firm texture without being ultra stiff. I use a little cheese, just enough to pump up the umami, not enough to make the mixture rich or difficult to work with. After all, it is a side to be served with meat and sauce. I might take a different approach if it was in a starring role. But then again, I don’t really like flavouring my pasta dough either, leaving that to the sauce, both for the sake of practicality and for contrast. Same goes here.

Either way, making polenta is easy, but you can’t stray too far from the stove. Bring your liquid to a boil, add some flavourings, stir in the polenta in a steady stream while mixing constantly with a whisk. I generally add some butter or good oil, a pinch of chilli, maybe some sautéed garlic and some thyme or not. Switch to a wooden spoon once it thickens up. Keep stirring regularly over low heat for 10-20 minutes or until the polenta pulls away from the sides of the pan. Then you add the cheese and season to taste and pour it out into a container to cool.

Polenta is great with meat and meat jus, so to accompany a juicy steak, a braised dish or stew, also with sausages, anything tomato based, mushrooms or just on it’s own. It’s fun to play around with too.. Polenta, a true comfort food, and a dear winter companion, is there for you.

Polenta fries

4 p

1 c fine cornmeal

1 1/2 c water

1 1/2 c milk

pinch chillies

pinch salt

1 Tbsp butter

½ c grated Parmesan or other sharp aged cheese

s.q. lemon juice

Prepare an oiled or buttered 8x10’’ baking dish. Bring liquid to a boil, add butter, chilli and salt. Slowly pour in polenta while whisking. Lower heat and stir regularly for about 10 minutes. When polenta has lost its gritty texture, is holding together and pulling off the sides of the pan, add the cheese and season to taste with a squeeze of lemon, salt and pepper. If it’s unmanageably stiff, add a touch of milk or cream, but it should be thick. Pour quickly into a greased hotel pan, cookie sheet, or glass dish, cover with saran wrap and smooth surface with a spatula or another baking dish on top. Put in the fridge until cool and solid. Cut into sticks 1cm wide. Dredge in flour and fry at 350F or space out on a baking sheet with a little extra olive oil (or boletus oil) and put in a hot oven (400F) for 20min or so, turning once or twice until crusty and golden.

Other polenta recipes :

• Increase the liquid and add extra, butter, cheese, or heavy cream to make a soft purée to replace mashed potatoes with a meat dish.
• Or add 1/2 cup cream or milk, some sautéed mushrooms, roast vegetables or sausage in a casserole dish, top with extra butter and cheese and bake for a hearty vegetarian meal.
• A mushroom polenta dish I posted last year:

http://soupnancy.squarespace.com/whats-cooking-recipes/2006/11/1/more-mushroom-recipes-home-style.html

What's cooking

The ingredient - Tongue

tongue before and after first cooking

tongue and cheek, with jerusalem artichoke, mustard balsamic sauce

tongue salad, crinkleroot, tomato and crisp onion

My strongest early ‘bad food’ memory involved tongue, circa age 8 or 10. We had been invited over to a friend of my parents’, and ever thrilled to be ‘eating out’, I showed up with a healthy appetite, only to have my mood abruptly change when a big slab of rugged beef tongue was placed before me. It looked like a giant tongue, felt like a giant tongue and was awfully chewy. I remember trying so hard to politely get it down, being brought up with the strictest of table manners, but I was gagging at every bite. The tortuous meal lasted for hours the way I remember it, with much time devoted to contriving strategies to make it disappear without having to ingest it. Whatever - I survived (and ate it all), but didn’t feel the need to taste another tongue for a while.

When I entered cooking school, I knew that as a cook I would have to put any squeamishness aside and bravely taste anew with an open mind. Tongue was easy enough to avoid for years, since as a chef you have to hunt it down, and it has never been a Montreal menu staple. However with offal all the rage, that might soon change. In any case, I’m already a convert. It turns out that the quality of the ingredients and proper cooking make all the difference in the world. I still can’t figure out what my mother’s friend did to make it so horrible, I suspect that it was an old tongue from an old cow and that she cooked it for too short a time.  Or she boiled it vigorously for two days, I don' know.  I think too that lamb and calf’s tongue are a better bet, sweeter tasting, more tender and more approachable than beef tongue. Venison tongue is delicious too. It all just tastes like a delicate braised meat with the bonus that it is traditionally served with zesty sauces that I naturally gravitate towards like ravigote or gribiche. I went on to serve it myself to many trusting friends and special clients who just swooned until they found out what it was. I even turned a few students around with a lamb tongue demo in crinkleroot mustard vinaigrette tiède.

The tradition of tongue is strong in Europe , especially in Britain and in France , and so it must have been here too until relatively recently (before industrial food, nose to tail eating was THE only way in any meat eating culture). The French put it in pot au feu and in sausage, the British in their boiled dinners and bar treats; it is easy enough to find either pickled or smoked, the Basque simmer it in wine and stock with tomato and onion in ‘ Lengua a la Tolosana’ , the Austrians serve it up with bacon, paprika and cream, and in Brazil, they put in in black bean stew.  It really isn’t so weird after all, and the possibilities are endless.

So, while writing up my Valentine’s menu last week, I was musing about sexy foods, and tongue seemed like an obvious choice; maybe as a part of a duo with the cheek (tongue and cheek), how clever I thought.. I knew some people might balk at the idea, so it would have to play a minor role, slipped in alongside other winner tastes. Anything scary sounding flies better as a small bouchée, entrée or part of a duo or trio, so that people can take it or leave it. They taste one thing, two things, like them and hopefully try that sketchy third thing, only to be pleasantly surprised. With a tough sell you believe in, it’s always best be careful with wording too (crepinette sounds better than caul fat, Lobster mushroom better than Dermatose de la Russule), and to throw winner ingredients around it (scallops, lobster, foie gras, proscuitto, homemade pasta etc) – oh the strategies of making a menu subconsciously appealing.. Anyway, I was determined to pull it off and put in on my menu without too many tricks. We have a devoted customer base, generally attract adventurous eaters, and plus I was convinced that people would love it if they tried it.

François, the easy going gourmand, surprisingly didn’t agree; he knew it was going to be rough going. Sure enough, customers have been ewing and opting out since the menu appeared. The phone is ringing off the wall with people fretting over the tongue. Many people just don’t want to try it. If people didn’t come because of a little tongue, then we had a problem. And even if they do, there is bound to be much discussion at the table, some reluctance, demands for menu changes, ie. juice, weeds, headaches.

Maybe I shouldn’t have written it on the menu, but then why bother serve it at all. My initial enthusiasm is now fading, and I’m beginning to regret my stubbornness. I hardly want to be fighting with customers. But now, it’s too late; it’s on the menu for better or for worse. It’s only an itty bitty tongue garnish, c’mon. I even added an extra amuse on the house, and will arm myself with a substitute for the staunchly fearful, and hope for the best. If anything, it will add some excitement to the night. I’ll report back with customer reaction next week.

In the meantime, to the kitchen I go, because tongue takes a couple of days.. Here is the plan of attack.

First locate a tongue or two. We get them directly from the slaughterhouse, but many butchers also carry them. Maison du Roti on Mount Royal always has veal tongue, lamb tongue occasionally. You must degorge it (soak it in several changes of cold water) and clean it first. Then it is simmered in water or court bouillon. Some people just cook it in water quickly (until it can be peeled), and then put it into their braise. It is easier to cook it entirely and then peel and slice, at which point you can and finish in sauce, a pot au feu or stew, or allow to cool in cooking liquid to serve cold.

I plan on serving mine warm in a boletus mustard veal jus spiked with some aged sherry vinegar, thyme and rosemary, alongside a meltingly tender veal cheek in a softer sauce, some Jerusalem artichoke purée, with some tempura pine mushrooms for textural contrast. However, I do really like it sliced thin and served cold in vinaigrette. I actually have a proper recipe to post because I had to elaborate one for my students last year..

Lamb’s tongue in vinaigrette (modified Ravigote)

Yield: 4 servings

1 lamb’s tongue, prepared

1 onion

1 clove

1 bouquet garni

1 L veal stock

15 ml white vinegar

Vinaigrette

15 ml Dijon mustard

60ml cider, sherry or good wine vinegar

1 shallot, minced

30 ml maple syrup

s.q. salt, pepper

40 ml extra virgin olive oil

30 ml chopped fresh herbs: parsley, tarragon, thyme

30 ml capers

½ thinly sliced red onion

Method:

1. Soak tongue in cold water overnight, renewing the water 2 or 3 times. Rub with rock salt and rinse. Or soak in lightly salted water for 1 hour. Scrub and rinse. Trim base, removing fatty parts.

2. Cover tongue with cold water or veal stock, add an onion with a clove, a bouquet garni, and 1 Tbsp vinegar per litre. Gently simmer tongue for 1 1/2-2 1/2hrs (lamb about an hour, calf’s tongue 2 1/2hrs) or until tender. The cooking liquid with make a broth that will be later transformed into a vinaigrette.

3. Remove tongue. Peel by making an incision at the base and skinning it towards the tip. Remove skin. Trim any gristle and/or small bones from root end of tongue . Slice and return to cooking liquid to cool or put straight into vinaigrette.

4. Make vinaigrette with Dijon mustard, cider vinegar, maple syrup, salt, pepper, fresh herbs and extra virgin olive oil. Emulsify with some of the veal tongue stock (100ml). Add capers and and onions. Pour over tongue and allow to marinate at least an hour or two, best overnight.

Serve cold or at room temperature in vinaigrette with some crusty bread and salad. Could be served warm too (maybe just use less cider vinegar), with potatoes, cabbage, beets or root veg. And don’t forget, when in doubt add bacon.

Other tongue recipes:

Alternatively, here are some creative recipes from chefs in NYC:

Pickled beef tongue with fried mayonnaise by Willie Dufresne (WD50) inspired by his dad’s pickled tongue, mayo and red onion sandwich. http://starchefs.com/chefs/rising_stars/2005/newyork/html/tongue_onion_w_dufresne.shtml

Pickled Tongue torchon with porcinis and marcona almonds by Chef Akhtar Nawab of The EU in New York , NY http://starchefs.com/chefs/rising_stars/2007/new_york/html/tongue_a_nawab.shtml

And some more traditional recipes:

Tongue with mustard horseradish sauce

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/103380

A corned tongue recipe: http://recipes.lovetoknow.com/wiki/Corned_Tongue_Recipe

Tongue confit from Paula Wolfert’s Cooking of the Southwest of France

What's cooking

The dish - Duck gnudi

'Gnudi' means ‘nu’ or ‘naked’, and here, it refers to a naked filling. I forget when and where I came across this; it went from a scrap of paper to the back of my mind a while ago now. When I saw it, I remember it consisting of greens with ricotta and egg, as in a ravioli without the pasta wrapper. I believe it was poached and then pan-roasted, but anyway, I loved the idea and decided I wanted to try it out one day with sea spinach. It’s not as if it’s anything revolutionary; like I said it is filling. More accurately, it’s a dumpling; add some flour or starchy potato and it is gnocchi, add bread and it’s fancy turkey stuffing, add meat and it’s a meatball. In any case, there was something about the naked name, so catchy and cute, and the appealing notion of straight stuff with no excess dough, most appropriate for certain dishes.

However, good ideas come and go, and I never got around to doing it, almost forgot about it. Until I was composing my duck event menu and looking for something to float in my soup, which of course is a duck broth. I love consommé au naturel, especially if extracted from duck carcass, but customers might find it boring. I have done the traditional stuffed pasta, noodles of all kinds, wild rice, the royale garnish, various vegetable garnishes, blah. I considered making duck egg noodles (but that’s still noodles) or doing a stratiatella with duck eggs, maybe some sea spinach and parmesan, but although delicious, what a mess it is to look at, and what a waste of consommé really. Since meatballs are the rage, I thought of doing duck balls, maybe even duck-matzo balls. No, that would be too heavy. What I wanted was for the consommé to remain intact, clear and flavourful, with a small separate package of flavour to surprise the guests. In came the gnudi idea. Maybe, I could deliver spinach, egg and parmesan without muddying my consommé.

So I mixed the wilted greens (plus some cooked garlic and shallot) with the ricotta, and added the eggs. Seeing that it is a duck menu, I decided to add some ground duck meat to the mix, and a little parmesan to bind. I dusted them in flour and poached them. They turned out just as I had imagined - a cloud of spinach, cheese and duck. If I whipped the egg whites separately, I could perhaps make them even lighter, more like a mousseline.  Even as is, I could brown them in a bit of butter for extra umph, or poach them in my broth. But to keep the flavours clean and my broth grease free, I prefer to poach them on the side and add them to my soup. I sautéed a few up on the side for myself with a drizzle of boletus oil – wow. They would be terrific as a main course, topped with some extra cheese, some more duck, or ham and tomatoes, or some lemon zest, parm and olive oil.

shaping the gnudi

tasty floaters

If you want to make my gnudi, go ahead; you could use ground pork or veal or even leave out the meat altogether and add more cheese. The moral of the story is - next time you’re making meatballs, consider lightening them up with some ricotta and greens, or if you’re making ravioli or manicotti, maybe skip the pasta making and stuffing steps. Naked is kind of fun, and easy.

Duck gnudi

12p  (or 6 main)

1 cup wilted greens (spinach, chard, kale, mustard greens ..), 6 cups fresh

s.q. butter/olive oil

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 French shallot, minced

2 cups ricotta

2 duck eggs (or 3 eggs) 

200g ground duck (or chicken, veal, pork..)

¼ c freshly ground parmesan

salt and pepper

pinch nutmeg

Sweat garlic and shallot in olive oil or butter over low heat for 5 min or so. Optional: Deglaze with a splash of white wine or lemon. Cool.

Blanch greens in lots of salted water, refresh, drain and squeeze dry. Chop.

Drain ricotta in a fine mesh strainer or cheesecloth to get rid of excess moisture.

Mix all ingredients together.

Form into little balls, dust in flour.

Poach in boiling water (gently) for 3 minutes. Lift out and put on a greased tray or in a casserole dish (don’t stack).

Serve as is with a pat of butter, in a broth or sauce, or pan fry in with butter, topped with herbs and parmesan.

What’s cooking

Ingredient – Winter Squash

assorted winter squash

pink banana

squash salad: raw, marinated and fried, some greens, cheese and pickled day lily buds, cider crinkleroot vinaigrette

It might seem late for squash to be a source of inspiration, but not really.. You see, now that winter is here and nothing fresh and local is coming in at all, I have no choice to look to the piles of winter squash and roots from the last harvests waiting to be transformed. Because our winter is so long, I often wait to the last minute to start my long affair with the stuff that keeps. When the squash first come out, there is still plenty of other stuff around, so I’ll use them a little, but save the royal treatment for when they can be the star. Once the squash is knocked off, the roots will get their turn at being the center of attention veg wise, and by the end of winter I will be quite tired of both, yearning for crisp and green. Let’s forget about that for now..

Over the past month, I’ve made slaw, salad, mash, polenta, latkes, soups and several desserts with a variety of winter squash. Here are some simple examples with guidelines:

Squash slaw : Raw, marinated butternut squash (or acorn or pink banana) in a salad:

Julienne the squash and toss it with a pinch of salt, of sugar, a good cider or white wine vinegar, and a shot of olive oil and or nut oil. Serve it in a salad with almonds and herbs, or as an accompaniment. .

Spaghetti squash comme ça

Slice in two, seed, cover and microwave for 10 min. Scrape the ‘spaghetti’ off with a fork. Sauté in butter and garlic, a few chilli flakes. Or add a touch of cream and grated cheese and cook as a gratin..

Pancake, latke or roesti: Buttercup, Pink Banana or something starchy works best.

You could actually use any squash, but with a watery one, you would need to add potato or more flour. With a starchy variety like this, you get the full squash flavour and no gumminess. Grate it, mix it with a handful of flour, a pinch of salt and spice (I like curry and chili), some grated onion (squeezed dry) or minced shallot and a scant pinch of baking powder. Add a few beaten eggs just to bind. Drop into a hot pan with oil and sear on both sides cooking it like a pancake. Finish in oven if necessary. Serve as an accompaniment or as an appetizer or hors d’oeuvre topped with something like sour cream and smoked salmon or chutney and yogurt.

buttercup polenta, sautéed spaghetti squash

marinated pink banana

Fried pink banana

Soup: Use Hubbard or any combination of winter squash

Halve or cut into big pieces, seed and roast the squash in an oven at 400F until tender. Meanwhile, sweat a mirepoix (chopped onion, carrot, celery, leek if you want) in a little butter or oil. Add some garlic, some ginger, a pinch of chilli. Deglaze with a splash of white wine, cider, cider vinegar or sherry vinegar. Scoop out the squash meat and add, along with poultry stock (and/or water) to cover, but barely. Cook for another 20-30 min. Blend. Add a little cream or milk or water to rectify the consistency. Add salt and pepper, a spoonful of honey or more likely a squeeze of lemon to taste. Strain if you’re feeling fancy.

Purée : A starchy one is best, otherwise, add some mashed potato.

Roast in the oven, scoop out the flesh and pureé in a food processor (or pass through a food mill), adding a good measure of butter, maybe a splash of stock or milk or cream (not usually necessary especially if you have a squash with some water content). Season to taste (salt, a squeeze of lemon, a shot of Sambal or Tabasco ).

Fried: The starchiest ones again are best. If it’s too sweet, it will burn. You can always give them a water rinse or soak (but dry well) if you want to cook as fries. Squash is great in pakora, tempura works well too, but you can also just coat in flour and/or cornstarch and fry at a lower than usual temperature (275- 300F ). Too high a temperature and they will darken too much (and lose their sweetness), too low and they won’t be crisp. You also have to be able to leave them in long enough in order for them to crisp up.

Dessert : A firm, sweet one works in a dessert where you use them as you would fruit, as in a pie filling or crumble. The softer ones are best used puréed as in pumpkin pie, in compotes, or flan mixtures. Flavour wise, squash or pumpkin pairs well with apple, pear and spice.

My colleague, Isabelle brought in an apple-squash crisp as a staff treat, and I was then inspired to make a chausson. Either way, you want a squash that you can cut up raw, that cooks up well and somewhat retains its structure. Butternut works well. Almost any squash will work, you just may need to add a tablespoon or two of flour to the mix. You just add the diced squash to your apple mixture. At least that’s what I would do at home. But at the restaurant, you want everything to be cooked just so, so I sautéed the apples and squash cubes separately to make sure they were both cooked properly. I was looking for something aldente because the chaussons would finish in the oven. I added butter, sugar, honey, lemon, spices like cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger among some other wild things, some almond powder to bind (a good pinch of flour would have been fine too) and stuffed my phyllo pastry, cooked it at 400F for the first 10 min. and another 20min at a lower temperature. You could also just top the mixture with crisp topping or biscuit dough for a cobbler type thing.

I’m sure it would make a good ice cream too (in purée form), as it certainly makes good crème brulée, mousse and pannacotta.

Snow Crab Salad

Yield: 8 appetizer portions

2 2 ½ lb crab (or about 400 g crabmeat)

6+ L water

2 Tbsp salt

1 celery stalk, minced

½ small red pepper (no pith), brunoise

2 green onion, minced

1 Tbsp chopped chives

1 tsp chopped dill

pinch chili or tabasco or Sambal or cayenne

50 ml homemade mayo (2 yolks, dijon , lemon, extra virgin olive oil)

s.q. lemon

s.q. extra virgin olive oil

s.q. salt

Method:

1. Bring plenty of salted water to a boil, submerge crab and lower heat. Cook for 8-12 minutes (until bright orange and legs come off easily). Refresh.

2. Make mayo.

3. Blanch salicorne if fresh. If frozen, just thaw (it’s already been blanched). Set aside for garnish.

4. Remove crab meat from shells, being careful not to get any bits of shell, especially when extracting the meat from the body.

5. Combine meat with seasonings and season to taste.

Serve as is, in a bun or as an hors d’oeuvre stuffed into a tomato or zucchini slice..

I like it straight up alongside a crunchy sea asparagus or green salad and some toasted baguette (with ramp butter).

You can change it up by lightening up by omitting the mayo (using just lemon and olive oil), or by changing the flavour combination by using ginger, soy or fish sauce, lime and coriander for an Asian slant, instead of the Greek lemon, dill combo.  You could also go tomato, tarragon, and horseradish for that cocktail sauce taste or just garlic and olive oil, whatever you feel like really.. Just be sure not to overdo the garnishes and seasonings so that you can taste the seafood!

Fiddleheads – 5 recipes

Oh so simple, with butter and garlic. 

Pickled, as a condiment or to jazz up a compound salad, as in a shaved fennel salad with dill and smoked salmon. 

Hot with shallots, bacon and meat jus, sherry vinegar for a nice side dish to accompany meat, fish, eggs, cheese or pasta. 

With Bercy butter for the veg wary carnivore. 

In an Asian inspired vinaigrette with wild ginger mustard, chili and sesame for a sure crowd pleaser. 

For an elegant, hearty entrée, dress them up with duck confit, balsamic glaze, black pepper and shaved parmesan.

Fiddleheads with butter and garlic

Yield: 8 servings

400 g 1 lb Fiddleheads, cleaned and double blanched

1 Tbsp minced garlic

2 Tbsp salted butter

pinch chilli flakes

spash Tamari 

s.q. salt, pepper

s.q. water

Method:

1. Clean fiddleheads, removing dark tip. Blanch twice in lots of boiling salted water for 2 minutes each time. Refresh each time. Reserve.

2. Sauté garlic for a minute or two in butter (no color). Add blanched fiddleheads to pan and warm through, adding a few drops of water if necessary (to emulsify butter). Season and serve as is, or add garnish of choice (chopped herbs, ramps, bacon, sundried tomato...)

Fiddleheads with Bercy butter

Yield: 6 servings

300 g fiddleheads

200g beef marrow

100 g butter

1 tbsp minced shallots

100ml white wine

1 tbsp chopped parsley

10 ml lemon juice

s.q. salt, pepper

Method:

1. Wash and trim fiddleheads, discarding any that are opened or black.

2. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Blanch twice for 2-3 minutes at a time, refreshing after in an ice bath, and using fresh water the second time.

3. Meanwhile, poach diced beef marrow in salted water for 2-3 minutes, drain.

4. Combine marrow and shallots, sweat a couple of minutes in a saucepan, deglaze with wine, cool.

5. Add softened butter, seasonings and combine to make compound butter.

6. When ready to serve, warm butter with half as much water and reheat fiddleheads.

Fiddleheads with shallots, bacon and meat jus, sherry vinegar

Yield: 6 servings

300 g fiddleheads

100g bacon

20 g butter

1 tbsp minced shallots

30 ml sherry vinegar

100 ml meat glaze (or reduced meat stock or demi-glace or pan drippings or miso)

1 tbsp chopped parsley and tarragon

s.q. salt, pepper

Method:

1. Wash and trim fiddleheads, discarding any that are opened or black.

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Blanch twice for 2-3 minutes at a time, refreshing after in an ice bath, and using fresh water the second time.

2. Meanwhile, slowly cook bacon in a frying pan. When just about cooked, pour off excess grease (keeping a little), add shallots, cook until translucent. Deglaze with sherry vinegar, then meat jus or stock. Reduce down until a sauce like consistency.

3. Add fiddleheads and warm through. Toss in butter, fresh herbs and season to taste.

Add softened butter, seasonings and combine to make compound butter.

Pickled Fiddleheads

With shaved fennel salad, lemon, walnut oil

8p

400 g 1 lb Fiddleheads, cleaned and double blanched

1 c mirepoix (chopped onion, celery, leeks)

2 c dry white wine

2 c water

1 c white wine vinegar or cider vinegar

½ c sugar

2 Tbsp salt

1 Tbsp. pickling spice

1 tsp fennel seeds

5 sprigs each of parsley, thyme and dill

1 head of fennel, trimmed and sliced finely on the mandolin

2 Tbsp freshly chopped herbs (parsley, dill, chives)

s.q. lemon juice (1-2 lemons)

¼ t extra virgin olive oil

s.q. salt, pepper

1 tsp lemon zest

2 Tbsp walnut oil

2 Tbsp chopped fresh walnuts or almonds or pine nuts

Garnish: (Optional)

120 g shaved parmesan or aged cow or sheep’s milk cheese

Note: You could remove walnuts and serve this with smoked salmon or fish..

Method:

1. Clean fiddleheads, removing dark tip. Blanch twice in lots of boiling salted water for 2 minutes each time. Refresh each time. Reserve.

2. Make a court bouillon by boiling water, wine, vinegar, sugar, salt, pickling spice and herb stems for 30 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, slice fennel thinly and toss with lemon juice, a bit of olive oil and half the chopped herbs. Season and mix. Allow to sit so that fennel softens.

4. Strain court bouillon and reduce by 1/3. Pour over blanched fiddleheads. Toss in the lemon zest, allow to cool. Add the rest of the chopped parsley, dill and chives, and the rest of the olive oil. Season to taste.

5. To assemble salad, spread fennel mixture on plate as a bed, top with a mound of pickled fiddleheads in center, top with nuts and cheese, drizzle with walnut oil or hazelnut oil.

Fiddleheads with duck confit, Reggianno and balsamic glaze

Yield: 8 servings

400 g 1 lb Fiddleheads, cleaned and double blanched

1 tsp minced garlic

1 Tbsp minced shallot or onion

1 Tbsp unsalted butter or duck fat

8 confit duck legs (prepared/bought)

80 g shaved parmesan Reggianno or Quebec cheese of choice

s.q. chopped fresh herbs (parsley and/or chives and basil)

s.q. mixed greens

Balsamic reduction

1/2 cup balsamic vinegar

2 tsp sugar

Optional

4 ripe tomatoes

¼ c basil leaves

Method:

1. Make balsamic reduction by combining balsamic vinegar and sugar and reduce gently until slightly syrupy, cool.

2. Clean fiddleheads, removing dark tip. Blanch twice in lots of boiling salted water for 2 minutes each time. Refresh each time. Reserve.

3. Heat up duck confit in oven.

4. Meanwhile, sauté garlic and shallot gently in butter or duck fat until soft and translucent (a few minutes), add blanched fiddleheads and warm through. Season with salt and pepper and parsley, chives, and/or basil.

5. Serve duck hot with warm fiddlheads, top with balsamic glaze and shaved parmesan. Serve with a simple green salad and or a tomato salad.

All of these can can be served as an accompaniment or as a main dish.

Mushroom Barley Stew

8p (main)

400 g fresh mushrooms, sliced

15g dried porcini, rehydrated, chopped (reserve liquid)

2 Tbsp olive oil

2 Tbsp butter

1/2 onion, chopped

1 stalk celery, chopped

1 carrot, diced

3 cloves garlic

2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 c red wine

1 L beef stock (or mushroom stock)

1 c barley, rinsed (mondé, not pearl)

2c chopped tomatoes with juice (1 can)

1 Tbsp chopped fresh thyme

½ tsp worchesterchire

1 cup carnaroli or arborio rice, rinsed

1 tsp chopped rosemary or sage (or half dried)

s.q. salt, pepper

60 ml cream or sour cream (optional)

Boil water (min. 1 L). Parcook barley 10 minutes, drain.

Sauté mushrooms in olive oil, when colored, add butter.

Add chopped vegetables, and stir, allowing to caramelize a little.

Add garlic, after a minute, deglaze with vinegar and wine, cook down, add worchesterchire.

Add beef stock and herbs, bring to a simmer, add parcooked barley and tomatoes.
Cook 30 minutes, or until barley is done and stew is thick.

Finish with cream if desired, season to taste.


Mushroom Leek Risotto

8p

2 c carnaroli or arborio rice, rinsed

15 g dried mushrooms, rehydrated in 1 L of hot water

120 g fresh mushrooms,diced

1 leek, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 c white wine

1 L chicken stock

100ml cream

2 Tbsp butter

½ c grated parmesan

s.q. salt, pepper

s.q. olive oil

Sauté fresh mushrooms in olive oil. When colored, add rice and leek, lower heat. Cook, stirring until rice is well coated and leek is translucent. Add garlic. A minute later, deglaze with wine, cook down.

Drain rehydrated mushrooms, keeping liquid. Decant, and add to rice. Add stock, cook over low heat, stirring regularly for 20-25 min.

When rice is tender but still holding its shape, add cream. Minutes later, take off heat and stir in butter and parmesan. Season with salt and pepper.

Mushroom Root vegetable gratin

12p

11x13 baking dish

3 potatoes, sliced thinly

1 celery root, sliced thinly

2 L thinly sliced vegetables of choice ( 3 parsnips and/or parsley root, 2 beets or 6 sunchokes or 2 carrots, 1 small butternut squash)

4 Tbsp flour

2 french shallots, minced

2 Tbsp mixed herbs (any combination of thyme, rosemary, sage, parsley)

s.q. salt, pepper

1 c grated cheese (swiss, cheddar, parm...)

2 c chicken stock

100 mlcream

s.q. butter

Butter baking dish. Place potato and celery root slices, overlapping, to form bottom layer.

Toss other sliced root vegetables with shallots and herbs, season generously with salt and pepper. Mix in cheese and flour. Layer evenly over potatoes. Top with a layer of potato slices. Pour chicken stock and cream over top.

Bake at 400F for 1 hour, or until a knife comes out clean.

Serve right away, or refrigerate and press (with aluminum foil and a weight like a can of tomatoes) to portion into nice squares the next day, before reheating.

Mushroom Squash Shephard’s pie

12 p

(11x13 casserole dish)

1 kg fresh mushrooms (or a combination of fresh and dry, rehydrated), chopped

1 onion, minced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp ground cumin

1 Tbsp thyme, rosemary

1 Tbsp tamari

1 tsp worchesterchire

2 Tbsp sherry vinegar

1 L corn kernels

1 large butternut squash, halved and seeded

2 potatoes, peeled and quartered

2 Tbsp butter

¼ c breadcrumbs

s.q. salt, pepper

s.q. olive oil

Roast butternut squash at 400F flesh side down on a roasting pan with a little olive oil for 45 min, until soft. Remove flesh and mash or purée in a food processor.

Meanwhile boil potatoes in salted water for 30 min. or until tender. Drain and steam dry. Pass through a food mill or mash well. Combine well with butternut squash and butter.

Sauté mushrooms in olive oil. Add onion, lower heat and cook 10-15 minutes until onions are nicely soft and caramelized. Add garlic, stir a minute, deglaze with sherry vinegar, add tamari and worchesterchire and remove from heat.

Butter baking dish. Spoon in mushroom mixture and press down evenly. Add corn kernels evenly over top. Spoon butternut squash – potato mix over. Sprinkle with breadcrumbs.

Bake at 400F for 1 hr. until hot throughout and crusty on top, serve.

Mushroom Polenta

12 p

(11x13 baking dish)

2 c polenta

1L milk

1L water

1 tsp salt

1 kg mushrooms, sliced

1 onion, diced

4 cloves garlic

2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar or sherry vinegar

1 Tbsp thyme and rosemary

2 oz butter

2 c grated mixed cheese with at least a little parmesan in there

s.q. salt, pepper

s.q. extra virgin olive oil

Generously butter baking dish.

Sauté mushrooms in olive oil. When nicely colored, add garlic and lower heat. Cook a few minutes, add herbs, and deglaze with vinegar, season, reserve.

Heat water and milk to a boil, add polenta in a slow, steady stream, lower heat, and stir continously until mixture is thick and starts to come off sides of the pot (15-20 min). Cook a few minutes longer, remove from heat, add butter and salt, toss in cheese.

Stir mushrooms into polenta and spoon into dish. After a few minutes, it will have set enough to portion and still serve hot. Otherwise, refrigerate until ready to serve. Cut into nice portions and reheat. You can reheat in the oven, or coat with flour and pan-fry for a crispy exterior and melting interior...

Mushroom cheese crepes or quesadillas or ravioli, even pizza...

8p

1 lb (454g) mushrooms (you can use a combination of fresh and dried, rehydrated)

2 french shallots, minced

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 Tbsp mixed herbs (thyme and rosemary or tarragon or dill or basil or parsley or sage....)

100 ml white wine

1 c ricotta

¼ c parmesan (you could replace the ricotta and parmesan with any cheese mixture that is a combination of soft and hard, use Brie or gorgonzola and cheddar or Emmenthal or Parm or Asiago or..)

2 eggs

¼ c breadcrumbs

*Add sautéed cubed zucchini or butternut squash, and/or bell peppers, artichokes, anything you want...as long as it is not too wet, to the final mixture.

Sauté mushrooms in olive oil. Add herbs, deglaze with white wine. Remove from heat. Stir in egg, and then the cheese and breadcrumbs.

Use as a stuffing in crepes that you will bake or in quesadillas (tortillas) that you will fry or in ravioli that you will boil. Or spread on a pizza shell or bread and bake.

My favorite ways with tomatoes

Tomato salad with crinkleroot oil, smoked sea salt and greens, maybe some cheese or a poached egg to take it up a notch.

-Slice tomatoes, drizzle them with some good olive oil. I use crinkleroot oil (wild horseradish) for its arugula like bite. Sprinkle on some sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper, a few chili flakes. Dress the greens the same, but with restraint, adding a splash of a good vinegar like balsamic or sherry. Add some fresh mozzarella or some Reggiano, any good cheese. If I want to make it more substancial, I’ll add a poached egg or some garlic toast, some smoked duck or some lardons.

Fresh tomato salsa, “tortilla soup”, and gaspacho

-Halve and seed tomatoes, squeezing out excess juice, and dice. Add some minced shallot, some freshly chopped coriander, a squeeze of lime and/or red wine vinegar, salt, chili, pure or in the form of tabasco, some olive oil. You might want to add a pinch of sugar depending on your tomatoes.

-When I’m alone, I don’t seed or juice them. It makes for watery salsa, but when I’m done, I have this tasty liquid into which I like to dump all the bits of chips from the bottom of the bowl to make “tortilla soup”. It makes a snack into a meal, perfect for midnight after a shift, in front of the TV.

Fresh tomato sauce

-Generally, I prefer a quick cooked tomato sauce, that has that fresh tomato taste, with lots of olive oil. Sometimes, I’ll pump up the mirepoix (vegetable) ratio, add wine, more seasoning, and cook it longer, if I want something more complex, or if I’m adding meat.

-In any case, start by sweating some onions. I usually add a bit of minced carrot and celery, some red pepper. Then garlic, a touch of white wine, good vinegar or lemon juice. Then the spices. I use chili, fennel seed, thyme and oregano. Then go in the tomatoes. Canned is fine, although I usually use half canned, half fresh. If you don’t like skin, then blanch and peel your tomatoes, seed them if you want. You might not want to use all the juice, especially if you won’t be cooking it long. Stick in a bay leaf, even a cinnamon stick if you’re feeling adventurous (particulary good with a pork based sauce). Simmer for 30 min or 1 hour, longer if you’re doing a big batch. Pull out the aromats, douse with a good measure of good olive oil, salt and pepper, and blend.

-With this base, you can play around.....

-add anchovy, olives and capres

-add bacon and mushrooms, (and cream or not)

-add beans, extra peppers and pork or not, spices (cumin, chili, oregano, thyme, cinnamon)

-add curry, yogurt, shrimp or chicken, coriander and coconut

-add tarragon, lemon and cream for mussels, any seafood or chicken

Roast tomatoes as a topping for fish, pasta, even meat

-Halve tomatoes (preferably Roma), toss with olive oil, garlic cloves, herbs of choice, and roast on a baking tray at 400F for 30 minutes. Pull out, peel off the skins if you want, and serve along with the pan juices to dress up fish, meat, pasta or eggs.

-You can do this over a very low heat (160-200F) for hours, and then you have confit, use in the same way.

Ratatouille

-Degorge (slice and salt) your eggplant for at least half an hour. Wipe dry.

Dice up all your vegetables ( 1 onion, 1 eggplant, 2 zucchini, 1-2 red pepper). Mince up 1 celery stick, a couple of cloves of garlic.

-In your big pot, sweat an onion, add a little minced celery, one or two diced bell peppers. Then goes in some minced garlic, some chili flakes, some cumin seeds, maybe some fennel seeds, some thyme, a little rosemary. Deglaze with a ½ cup or so of red wine, and a good shot of red wine vinegar.

-On the side, in a frying pan, saute your eggplant in a good measure of olive oil, toss into big pot. Sauté zucchini in more olive oil, and add to ratatouille. Add a good pinch of salt, sugar and pepper, and allow to simmer for 30min-1 hour. Throw in some fresh basil, and rectify seasoning.

-serve hot or cold, with couscous, pasta, lamb, sausage, eggs or poultry... anything