soupnancy

Well at least here and now, with the weather hitting sub-zero, mussels on the mind, and doable with ingredients that are always handy..

Like with my favourite veg or smell, my favourite anything is always changing - a fleeting love affair, but this sauce, in all it’s variations is a keeper no matter what - so old school in essence, so versatile, so comforting, impossible to forget for long..

This week, I was craving mussels, so I made the sauce and while it was on the stove, I went out for mussels, it usually easy to find fresh specimens at this time of year, but didn’t find any worth buying, and so ate it with veal, the next night over pasta, delicious. I eventually got my mussels and made another batch – yum. Since, I’ve eaten it with bread and butter, rice and veg, ham and pintade. I know I’m a sauce girl, but wow does this one make me sing. It really hits the spot when you’re eating alone on a cold night, but it would equally fit in over a sexy dinner for two.

It’s more ‘cuisine de grand mère’ than modern, definitely bordering on classic French, which no doubt explains why you can’t go wrong.. I’m sure many of you have one like it in your arsenal, and if not, well you definitely should. In French cooking speak, I guess it would be a velouté, a riff on a poulette, but who cares, this is how it goes..

Keep in mind that many ingredients can be omitted or added; the basics are onions, white wine, stock, cream, mustard, plus aromatics of choice, a bit of bacon is always a good idea. You could always add more stock and make soup. Add potatoes and clams or corn, you have chowder.. You could bake chicken or pork in it too. Some tomato added in is a nice addition if in the mood. And yes, you could omit the bacon, add more veg, maybe some broccoli, and serve it with a nut studded pilaf for a winner meatless meal. As you can see, the options are endless.

Regardless of how you serve it, I recommend a green salad on the side for crisp, refreshing crunch to balance all that savoury richness.

The best sauce ever

For mussels, poultry, veal, pork, or just about anything

8 p+

 2 c mirepoix (1 small onion, 1 stick celery, 1 small carrot, 1 small leek), chopped

1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil and/or butter

3 strips bacon, chopped

200 g button mushrooms, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 tsp each thyme, fennel seed, chilli flakes

1 bay leaf, 1 clove

1 c white wine

1 L duck or chicken stock (or water), even beef or veal stock

½-1 c heavy cream

3 Tbsp old fashioned mustard or Dijon

s.q. (to taste):

lemon juice

Tabasco or hot sauce

Fresh herbs optional: dill, parsley, chives

Grated nutmeg

Salt and pepper

Sweat vegetables with fat, bacon and mushrooms in a big sauté pan or pot, ok to caramelize slightly too, then add garlic and dry herbs and spices. After a minute or two, pour in wine and reduce down. Add stock and simmer 10 minutes, add cream and reduce slightly, another 10 minutes or more depending on the consistency you desire. Season to taste with mustard and other seasonings. Depending on your stock, how much cream you used, how finely you chopped your veg, your pot and etc, the consistency will vary – you can adjust it by reducing down (watching the taste) or adding a little cornstarch slurry, although I don’t usually find it necessary. If you are using it to sauce fish or meat, then you might want it on the thick side, but if you are using it for mussels, then keep it on the brothy light side, throw your mussels in (make sure your pot is big enough) and crank it for 5 minutes or until they open. Enjoy.

Turkey

With Thanksgiving thoughts lingering, and the Christmas holidays right around the corner, some turkey talk seems over due..

For a good overview of turkey basics, different theories and methods with links: http://www.culinate.com/articles/features/how_to_make_turkey/

There’s always Judy’s bird, a dry-brined hit you could try: (Russ Parsons, LA Times)

http://www.latimes.com/features/food/la-fo-turkey19-2008nov19,0,4842837.story

I have an upcoming date with Ange and American Thanksgiving, at the same time as a slew of bird slaughters here at Morgan farms, which means I will have some pintade, Muscovy duck and wild turkey waiting for me to play with – stay posted for more bird talk..

Tomato Q&A

Been reading your blog and thought you could perhaps lead me in the right direction in terms of 'canning'  40lbs of tomatoes from my greenhouse.
Most are still green and I have rolled most of them in newspaper to rippen.  The others I have set on the window sill.  When enough red ones are ready I stew them (peeled) with some fresh herbs, thyme and basil usually, some onion and green peppers.  I then put them in mason jars and stick them in the freezer.
Ok so you're probably going 'Deb, Deb, Deb, get with the program woman.'    Can you help me Nance?
I appreciate it.
Good shroom hunting.

Hi Debbie,

What you're doing sounds fine if you have the freezer space, and plan on going through it in a matter of a few monthes.  Since I do hundreds of pounds, I can them.  Plus I love the look of mason jars in the dining room, on the counter and in the cupboards; they make good hostess gifts too.  I make tomato sauce because that's what I eat, and it allows for swifter processing.  Many people put up whole tomatoes or tomato purée which is more versatile. The thing is, the product needs to have sufficient sweetness, salt and acidity, as well as be processed properly in order to successfully seal, which is why those kind of recipes require salt, lemon juice or vinegar and some heat processing.  A sauce is cooked, naturally more concentrated (more salty, sweet and acidic) than pure tomatoes. 

Anyway, what I do is:
Wash, peel and seed tomatoes (at least half - a few seeds never hurt anybody).
Make tomato sauce with onions, garlic, herbs & spices, wine, etc, reducing down. I finish it with fresh basil, olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper, a pinch of sugar (depending on tomatoes).. 
Meanwhile, I put the clean mason jars through the dishwasher rinse cycle, then line them up on a baking tray in a 200F oven for at least 30min.  I put the caps in a pot of boiling water.
I set up my station, making sure I have clean tongs, a funnel, towels etc., then pull out the jars one or two at a time so everything is boiling hot, fill them up with hot sauce, wipe the rim and seal with a top and screwcap (don't screw in tight until after the seal has 'popped').  An assembly line for this is best.
Then I set the jars aside and wait til I hear the magical popping sound of success as they cool and naturally seal.  At this point, the ones that no longer have a nipple (now a sunken dimple) can be secured tight.  The ones that don't' I put in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes, remove and wait for the pop. 
So far, thousands of pots later, I haven't had one faulty jar (knock wood).
Hope that helps, happy canning!
Nance

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.

Rabbit, Rabbit, Rabbit

I’ve had rabbit on the mind. To my delight, François showed up last week with some fresh specimens from one of our neighbours (maybe because I had been whining that it had been a while since we’d eaten a good rabbit..). So I cooked it up a few different ways and put it on the menu. I also had to get my course outline and orders in for an upcoming class I am giving on the subject, so it helped me get into the mood.

rabbit, fiddleheads, tomato crinkleroot dressing

braising rabbit legs

rabbit two ways, wild ginger mustard sauce, root veg

Since my first taste, I have loved rabbit. I’ve cooked it many times, and when it was on one of my menus or coming from the station I was working, I paid special attention to it; it was always my fetish dish, and inevitably heartbreaking because no one ordered it. I recall one exquisite dish that involved a mousseline with truffle (stuffed loin) and another I loved in gelée with pink peppercorn that I laboured over night after night only to have it sit in my fridge. If only they knew what they were missing out on I would think and swear,  ‘!?%$%*!!!’ (multiple obscenities in both languages). So obviously, when I went out to dinner, I made a point doing the opposite - eager to happen upon the rabbit marvel that was surely hiding quietly in someone else’s kitchen MEP.

If it’ is on the menu when I’m out, you can be sure I’m having it. Which means I’ve had some fabulous rabbit dishes and some less than stellar renditions over the years. I remember being served a brilliant rabbit dish at Globe way back when Dave and Fred were there, and I also once really enjoyed a rustic hunter style dish at Da Emma; I’ve let the flops fade from my memory. The thing is, rabbit is tricky. Well, it’s just that it can easily be dry, especially when the commonly farmed breed (New Zealand) falls in careless hands.

There are meatier, more flavourful breeds like the Silver fox or the American Chinchilla making a comeback; for more info and in depth rabbit talk, see the article in the last Art of Eating (Number 76). Maybe it was that terrific piece that stimulated me (the way AofE articles do), but then there were the two bites of a tease I had on a Valentine's tasting menu at the Relais Champêtre in St-Alexis, or perhaps it’s the fact that I drive by three ‘rabbit for sale’ signs every day on my way to work, although now two are covered in snow.  One is on a make-shift cardboard hand-written sign on someone’s lawn surrounded by knick-knacks strewn about, which are presumably also for sale; another reads ' A Vandre'.  Now I hate to be judgemental, but if you don't know how to spell 'for sale' or if your home looks like a junkyard, I tend to be a bit scared you haven't read the rabbit manual.  I'm hardly jumping out of my car seat dying to buy your rabbit no matter how much I love rabbit.  In any case, I got the message, the signs were sent, it was clear that it was high time I got to cooking rabbit again.  I made sure our rabbit came from the third one, the taxidermist (see sign below).. 

a rabbit sign (on my way to work)

rabbit in the raw

proscuitto rabbit loin rolls, ready to go

It’s unfortunate that rabbit has fallen out of favour because it was once a traditional food, and easy to raise or hunt (after all, rabbits breed like rabbits and like to eat vegetable scraps). People today don’t think to cook rabbit, maybe because they aren’t readily available and only available whole, making it more work intensive than buying ready-to-go cuts of meat.

Then there’s the reality that many Quebecois (and North Americans in general) have a bunny complex, skittish about eating something cute. In a restaurant setting, you know there will always be a chick squeamish about digging into Thumper (and it doesn’t help that we have a set menu at JS..). It’s hard to convince someone who’s emotionally biased like that. Saying it’s just like chicken doesn’t work. Even though it’s true; many compare it to chicken, and indeed many recipes for rabbit and chicken are interchangeable. Of course, it’s not the same, but chances are if you like chicken, you will like properly cooked rabbit. In an old Larousse (I think) there is a note on how to distinguish it from cat, so I guess it resembles cat too (in the skinned raw state I guess)– I can’t comment there; as far as I know, I have never eaten cat. And if it tastes like rabbit, well then I’m game.

Rabbit has such a unique, delicate, delicious flavour, it's fabulous in terrines and confit, and it makes the best stock. That’s why I think it is best stewed gently, but really it’s almost necessary to separate the loin from the legs (as for most birds and beasts) for correct doneness. The legs are easy, a regular braise for a little over an hour with some wine, stock, aromats, maybe some mustard and cream, or some wild mushrooms, or with tomato, herbs and olives.. The saddle or loin is best cooked in a short time, but still gently. Because it is lean, barding (covering in fat like bacon) is a good idea for a pan-roast, but I’ve found the best results with a short but low temperature sous-vide poach for tenderness, followed by a quick sear for flavour, and a rest in the juices. This recipe is inspired from Chapeau Canada (David Hawkesworth at West) - a bit of work maybe, but well worth it.

I can't finish a rabbit speel without mentioning Thomas Keller's treatment in his famous French Laundry Cookbook.  Not only does his reverence for rabbit and enticing recipes inspire and make you a believer, but his rabbit story is a gem.  It was a defining moment in his career when he was faced with a live rabbit hours before service, and he had to kill and skin it himself, after which trauma, he knew he had to do it justice and treat it with care in making the finest dish he could, not wasting a scrap - hammering home the importance of respect for the ingredient.

Saddle of rabbit with fresh herbs and and wild ginger mustard

Yield: 2 servings

- adapted from David Hawkesworth (West, Vancouver)

40 g caul fat (optional)

1 rabbit saddle, deboned

2 Tbsp chopped fresh herbs (rosemary, thyme, tarragon, chives..)

4 slices proscuitto

s.q. salt, pepper

15 ml olive oil

20 g butter

30 ml wild ginger mustard or wild mushroom mustard

200 ml chicken stock

Method:

1. Lay two pieces of caul fat on counter ( 8” squares) and place the proscuitto in the middle. The caul fat helps hold the package nicely together, but it’s not absolutely necessary. Lay the rabbit loin on top of the proscuitto, then sprinkle with herbs, season with salt and pepper, roll up, wrap in plastic wrap and tie ends with string.

2. Poach in 53C water for 30 minutes, refresh. Alternately, bring water to a boil, add rabbit rolls, turn off heat and let sit for 40 min. Cool immediately.

3. Slice rabbit into thick medallions, remove plastic. When ready to serve, pan sear medallions to nicely brown in olive oil, (standing up on the proscuitto edges to keep the rabbit meat ultra tender). Deglaze pan with chicken stock or a little white wine or water, let medallions sit down in jus and finish in medium-low oven to warm through (5 minutes).

4. Remove rabbit to rest and plate. Meanwhile, reduce pan juices down, whisk in butter to make pan jus, season to taste and serve over rabbit with a smear of mustard. The mustard can also go straight into the sauce if you want.

Another recipe I'll be doing with my students (with the legs this time): rabbit stew or civet revisited, a twist on a traditional recipe without the blood..

Civet of Rabbit

Yield: 4 servings

1 rabbit or hare, cut into serving pieces

1 c diced onion

½ c diced carrot

½ c diced celery

4 slices bacon, cut up

100g mushrooms, sliced

15 g dried porcini, rehydrated (keep soaking liquid, decanted)

30 ml red wine vinegar

250 ml red wine

3 ea parsley, thyme sprigs

20 g salted butter

20 g olive oil

700 mL chicken or duck stock

20 g unsweetened chocolate, chopped

s.q. flour for dredging

s.q. salt, pepper

Method:

1. Cook bacon to render the fat, add the mirepoix and cook, stirring over medium low heat. When soft, remove, leaving fat in pan.

2. Season and dredge rabbit pieces in flour, sauté and brown evenly.

3. Deglaze with vinegar and wine. Return vegetable mixture to pan.

4. Sauté mushrooms in butter and oil on the side and add to pan, along with diced reconstituted dried mushrooms and soaking liquid.

5. Add stock and bouquet garni. Bring to a simmer, and lower the heat to a low simmer. Cook until rabbit is tender (pulling off bone) and sauce is thick, about 1 hour.

6. Near the end of cooking, stir in chocolate. Taste and adjust seasoning.

7. Serve with rice lightly spiked with cinnamon, and/or roasted root vegetables or sweet potatoes.

Some other recipes, classic and not so..

First, one note: I find the cooking times often on the short side for the legs, probably because they don't want to overcook the saddle when the rabbit is cooked whole. Don't be afraid to throw the legs back in or use only legs for a ragout type recipe and cook longer. If you're cooking a large quantity (as I do), you can figure 2Hr (as opposed to one) for the legs to be perfect, ie. melt in the mouth, easily coming off the bone but not pasty.

Jamie Oliver’s Rabbit stew with dumplings

http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2008/02/cook-the-book-rabbit-stew-with-dumplings.html

Chef Simon’s Lapin à la moutarde (with detailed pictures, but in French)

http://www.chefsimon.com/lapin_moutarde.htm

From Gourmet:

Braised rabbit with egg noodles http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/108101

Paella with rabbit and artichokes http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/234657

From BBC:

Rabbit with calvados, port, thyme, bacon and juniper

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/database/rabbitwithcalvadospo_681.shtml

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 - 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.

Squash soup

4 L

2 L squash chunks (Hubbard, butternut, sweet mama or potiron)

1 onion, minced

2 carrots, minced

1 stalk celery, minced

2 tsp minced garlic

2 tsp minced ginger

pinch curry powder

pinch chili

1 c cider or white wine

2 L chicken stock

2 c milk

2 Tbsp maple syrup

1 Tbsp lemon juice

s.q. salt

1 Tbsp butter

s.q. olive oil

Toss squash pieces with a bit of oil and roast on a baking sheet at 400F for 30-45 min. Meanwhile, sweat mirepoix in a bit of oil until soft. Add garlic, ginger and spices, stir-fry, deglaze with wine, reduce. Add stock and simmer.

When squash is caramelised and somewhat tender, remove and add to soup.

When everything is cooked through, blend, season, thin with milk to desired consistency and finish with butter. Top with desired garnish.

Garnishes:

Crisp squash and fresh herbs.

Cooked bacon, ham or smoked duck.

Soft goat cheese or parm.

Mushrooms or mushroom oil.

Toasted coconut and sesame oil, coriander or basil.

Leek soup

4 L

½ onion, chopped

1 stalk celery, minced

3 leeks, sliced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1c white wine

1 tsp thyme

3 L chicken or vegetable stock

2 potatoes, peeled and chopped

1 c cream

2 Tbsp fresh dill

s.q. salt, pepper

s.q. lemon

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 Tbsp butter

Sweat onion and celery in oil over low heat until translucent. Add leek and garlic and sweat slowly for 10 minutes. Deglaze with white wine, reduce down. Add potatoes, thyme and stock. Cook 20-30 minutes until potatoes are soft. Add dill and cream, cook 10 more minutes, blend and season, finish with butter. Thin to desired consistency with milk. Serve and top with garnish of choice.

Garnish with:

Fresh herbs like chives or parsley or dill.

Cooked seafood, steamed clams or mussels (add juice), or smoked salmon.

Stewed leeks.

Truffle oil.

Bacon.

Asian style soup

First you need a flavorful light stock. A homemade duck, chicken, oxtail or beef stock is ideal. You can also make a good vegetable stock with onions, carrots, celery and mushrooms, some dried porcini or shitake.... If you use canned stock, I would definately add some vegetables or meat to the soup and watch the soy so that it doesn’t turn out to salty.

You make the soup base, then you can add noodles, wontons or julienned vegetables, a tofu or meat garnish, whatever you like. You can make it more like a hot and sour by adding some sherry vinegar or rice wine vinegar, a pinch of sugar and more chili. This can be served as a meal too, just pump up the garnish ...

4L ( 12 p)

225g mushrooms, sliced

2 Tbsp minced shallot or onion

1 Tbsp minced garlic

2 tsp minced ginger root

s.q. chili paste (like Sambal or Sriracha)

1 tsp curry powder

1 tsp Chinese five spice or (star anise, coriander seed, cinnamon, fennel, peppercorn)

1tsp black bean paste

3 L Duck or chicken stock or beef stock or vegetable stock

1 c Bok choy or Napa cabbage, sliced thinly

2 Tbsp hoisin

1Tbsp fish sauce

2 Tbsp fresh lime juice

¼ c coriander leaves, chopped

1 bunch scallions, chopped

2c fresh bean sprouts

3c par-cooked rice noodles or wontons

s.q. salt, pepper

s.q. tamari

Sauté mushrooms, lower heat, add shallot or onion and cook a few minutes to soften. Add garlic, ginger, black bean paste and spices. After a minute, add stock and simmer for 10-15 minutes. Stir in the lime juice, the hoisin and season to taste. You might want to add a little vinegar or more lime, some tamari or soy, more chili or a pinch of sugar. Then add the cabbage, and any meat or vegetable garnish you are adding. Add your cooked noodles. You could use pre-cooked wontons instead. When hot throughout, check seasoning and serve, generously garnishing bowls with fresh coriander, scallions, and bean sprouts.

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.

Squash salad with chanterelles

8 portions (entrée or light lunch)

Ingredients:

1 butternut squash

400g chanterelles (and/or black trumpet mushrooms)

160g smoked duck (or ham or bacon...), cut into thin strips

8 c arugula or mixed greens

¼ c toasted almonds, chopped

Vinaigrette:

75 ml cider or sherry vinegar

1 tsp dijon mustard

1 Tbsp minced french shallot

30 ml maple syrup

150ml extra virgin olive oil

30 ml walnut oil (or any nut oil), optional

s.q. salt, pepper

Make vinaigrette by blending all ingredients. Peel and seed the butternut squash, and cut into julienne (thin strips) using a mandolin. It needs to be cut thin because it will be served raw. Marinate with some of the vinaigrette at least a couple of hours to soften slightly.

In a hot pan, sauté the mushrooms in some olive oil. When nice and brown, remove from the heat and toss with some vinaigrette.

Toss greens with a little vinaigrette, and assemble salad. Form a colorful base with the squash, scatter the mushrooms and duck over, top with greens, and sprinkle with almonds.

Mushroom and corn chowder with spinach

4 L (12 portions)

Ingredients:

1 small onion, diced

1/2 leek, chopped fine

1 stalk celery, minced

500g mushrooms, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

pinch chili flakes, thym, caraway seeds

1 c corn kernels

2 diced potatoes

10g dried boletus or porcini, rehydrated

100ml white wine

2L chicken stock

250ml heavy cream

2c spinach, chopped

2Tbsp chopped dill and/or parsley

s.q. milk

s.q. olive oil

s.q. salt, pepper

s.q. lemon juice

Rehydrate dried mushrooms in hot water for at least 20 minutes, while you prepare other vegetables. Chop mushrooms, decant soaking liquid and reserve.

In a soup pot, sauté fresh mushrooms in olive oil. When colored, add onion, celery and leek. Sweat over low heat for a few minutes. Add garlic and spice.

Deglaze with white wine and cook down. Add stock, potatoes, rehydrated mushrooms and soaking liquid. Simmer for 20 minutes until potatoes are just about fork-tender. Add corn, chopped spinach and cream, simmer 10 more minutes.

Finish with herbs, a squeeze of lemon, salt and pepper. Taste and rectify. Thin with milk to desired consistency.

Salted herbs

4 L (8x500ml mason jars)

1 Leek

4 Carrots

3 Parsnips

4 ribs celery

4c Spinach

1 small bulb Fennel

2 bunches Parsley

2 bunches Basil

1 bunch Dill

1 bunch Thyme

1 bunch Rosemary

1 Tbsp Black pepper

2 Tbsp Fennel seed

2 Tbsp Coriander seed

1 tsp All spice

1 Tbsp Juniper berry

Lemon zest (from 2 lemons)

2 c Salt

Dice vegetables very finely. Chop herbs. Grind spices. Grate lemon zest. Mix well all together and layer with salt, store in airtight containers in fridge. Can (in mason jars in boiling water) to keep longer than a month.

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