Montreal

 Saturday was such a lovely day, that after we did our little trip to Kemptville, Ron and I decided to hook up to the 401 and just go to Montreal.

 No trip there is complete without spending some time at the Jean Talon Market and a visit to Premiere Moison for some Bread.

 This place also sells a delectable array of pastries, terrines and cold meats. So it is also a nice place to sit down and have a coffee with a sweet or a baguette with some pate.

 We also stopped at the cheese shop there and bought a nice selection of our favourite cheeses. The Bartlett pears were to die for, sweet and juicy.

That day the bakery was highlighting a sweet baguette with walnuts and maple. Ron and I devoured the loaf by ourselves with delicious white creamy honey, on Sunday morning. No guilt here! It was so yummy.

If you have a chance to go before Easter,pick up some bread and their hot cross buns ..lovely!. 

CHICKEN LIVER MOUSSENwith PEAR and CITRUS GARNISH

 I wouldn't even know where to find chicken livers at my grocery store. OK maybe I'm exaggerating, but honestly I don't ever recall seeing them in the meat freezer, and in all of my 35 years of marriage have I served them.

My sister tells the story of some 45 years ago when her and her husband, as newly weds and still a little naive about life, bought their first home after saving their money to do so. Little did they know after putting this money down as a down payment , that there would still be extra costs involved. She recalls how when faced with this dilemma the only choice they had was to cut back on their already meager grocery bill. One option was to buy chicken livers which at the time was the cheapest source of meat . The good news was that for the next 4 months  , she collected about 100 different ways to serve chicken livers. The bad news , her husband now refuses to even look at a chicken liver, let alone eat one!

That being said , I have my own issues with any type of liver, but that's another story. However, I do have a hubby that likes to whip up special little dishes. and  He made this mousse for our special family dinner ,and this was the perfect little appetizer  much to my surprise and very tasty.Everybody agreed.

 This recipe is not one of my sister's but rather our own Ricardo TV cooking show host.  The process starts with melting butter. adding chopped shallots and browning the chicken livers. Season with salt and pepper and deglaze with wine and cognac. Reduce heat and cook until livers are pink in the center.
Transfer to food processor.
Add sugar,oregano &1/4 cup of cream . Puree until smooth.

 Push through a sieve into a bowl. Cover and refrigerate until chilled, about 45 minutes.
In a bowl, whip the remaining cream until soft peaks form.

 Using a spatula, fold the whipped cream into the liver mousse. Adjust the seasoning.

If serving as a teaser, spoon the mousse into individual shooter glasses. Smooth the top and refrigerate  for another 45 minutes or until ready to serve. Or put the entire mousse into a little terrine dish and serve as an appetizer like you would a pate.

Chicken Liver Mousse
1/2 lb. chicken livers. trimmed
2 shallots chopped
2T. unsalted butter
1/4C white wine
1 T cognac
2 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. oregano
3/4C 35% cream
salt/pepper

GARNISH 1 firm pear diced very small
2 tsp. marmalade
2tsp/lemon juice
a few fresh chives
Mix all ingredients

recipe makes 12 shooters.
The morale: Don't turn your nose up to chicken livers, try this recipe and be pleasantly surprised.

CREAM OF ASPARAGUS SOUP

 'No matter how long the winter Spring is sure to follow." Proverb

For me nothing says Spring more than asparagus and rhubarb. After a bit of a hiatus from blogging and having to host a family dinner party on Sunday, I knew that I was going to build a menu around these two ingredients.
The asparagus soup started the meal and the rhubarb pie and a  coffee were the perfect ending to a wonderful meal that was shared between my family and my son's future in-laws.

 There are many great versions of asparagus soup, but I was in particular, looking for a lighter version of a cream of asparagus soup. Came across a few that substituted the cream with yogurt, but in the end decided to go with the basic 'tried and true', version and left the cream as an individual option.

As you can see, the soup , after blending, can stand alone. It was tasty, smooth and velvety even without the addition of the cream. In the end I chose to add the cream as a garnish and swirled it around the asparagus tips. ( not shown in the photos).

The recipe is very basic and quantities will vary accordingly depending on how many people you are serving.
The basis starts with, leeks that are washed and cleaned and sliced, in this case you can use both the white and part of the green stems. Saute these with a sliced onion in some butter and olive oil.
I like to roast the cleaned and sliced  asparagus ( discard woody ends) in the oven with a coating of olive oil salt and pepper. Add everything to either a homemade chicken stock or vegetable stock . I like to include a large diced potato. Simmer until everything is soft, adjust seasoning and then blend when cool in small batches.
 The soup can be made a day ahead,  then reheated before serving. At this point the addition of cream/yogurt can be added for additional richness, garnishes can be shredded cheese, bacon bits, asparagus tips or swirls or dots of extra cream. Enjoy

NO KNEAD BREAD

I love baking bread and so does Ron there is something very cathartic about it and very spiritual. However I am also always on the look out for quick bread recipes.  I came across this video by Mark Bittman on You Tube. In case you don't know him, he has written numerous cookbooks his latest is at Chapters, and also write for the NEW YORK TIMES. But gals save your money and go to you tube, where you can see countless video of him in action, cooking and baking.

This recipe caught my eye, because |I am all for the short cuts! and when I saw that you don't need to knead this dough, well I was sold.

Now I am a convert and have this bread on the go all the time in my house.

I made two loaves this day, and while talking on the phone left the second one in a little longer and henceforth the darker texture but none the less still delicious.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13Ah9ES2yTU

I always like to play with the recipe, by fooling around with the quantities but basically here is the recipe that any 4 year old can do.

3 cups flour

1 1/2 cups water

1 1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. yeast

MIX by hand just to incorporate ingredients

COVER and leave for 12-24 hours

Next day

Pre heat oven to 500F

When temperature is reached, preheat Corning dish and lid in oven.

TAKE out dough and fold over a few times to form a squarish round shape,

COVER with towel.

When the corning dish or cast iron pot is hot carefully remove from oven and plop in your bread from the tea towel.

Cover your pot with lid , this creates steam and helps your bread rise and bake.

Bake for 30 minutes at 500.

Remove lid and continue baking for additional 20 minutes until desired color is reached.

(20 minutes yields dark crust, 15 minutes yields golden crust)

Please check out the video on You Tube.

TURKEY POT PIE

I know that most of you probably have some turkey left over from the holidays. Our house is no exception. We enjoyed the roasted bird on thanksgiving, had the hot turkey sandwiches later on that week and also enjoyed some midnight raids to the fridge for a snack on those drumsticks.But thankfully, we are now going to put the bird to rest with some turkey pot pie.

This recipe is not only great with leftover turkey but also chicken.It is healthy, easy, a real autumn comfort meal and also quite tasty.

1 recipe for your favourite pastry dough

2 med. onions chopped

2 stalks celery chopped

2 carrots peeled and sliced

2-3 potatoes diced and boile2T. vegetable oil 2 tsp. thyme 3T. parsley chopped

1tsp. oregano

1 cup chicken broth

1 cup milk

( i also had some Chardonnay wine left over which I added for an extra flavour boost)

1/4-1/3 cup flour Depending if you added any extra liquid like the wine)

1 can of peas, or what ever vegetable you have left over and you think will make a nice addition to your pot pie.

Pre heat oven to 425F. In a large pot heat your oil and saute your onions, celery thyme, oregano,and carrots until tender. Stir in your flour and continue to cook constantly stirring over low heat. Add your stock and milk. Bring to a boil and continue stirring until mixture thickens. Add turkey, vegetables and pre-boiled potatoes. Season with salt , pepper, and parsley. Roll out pastry dough and cover whatever vessel you have used for your turkey mixture. Either individual servings or 1 large pie plate or casserole. Bake in pre heated oven for 15. minutes lower heat to 350 and continue baking until tops are golden , about another 20-30 minutes.

RED and GREEN PEPPER JELLY

You know the saying when life hands you lemons make lemonade? Well last week some very good friends gave my sister bags of peppers and well you guessed correctly,  pepper jelly is what we turned it into, and now we have enough to enjoy ourselves and to share as gifts for the holiday.

Here is a sample of the 12 jars that were made from the batch of mostly green, yellow and red peppers.

I searched high and low for a good  pepper jelly recipe, and in the end chose this one from the Chatelaine archives,on YouTube entitled ,'How to make red pepper jelly". www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynNygsa1dll

This recipe is great at breakfast over your bagel and cream cheese, on a cracker on it's own,my husband even puts it over peanut butter , but as we are coming into holiday season why not have some on hand over your warmed Brie wheel or jazz up your jar and give as a house gift with the recipe because after all food is for sharing. Enjoy!

Just in case this link does not work I will include the recipe here.

STERILIZE 3 JARS

6red peppers

3C. sugar(or Splenda substitute follow their direction)

1/2 C. apple cider vinegar

1-2tsp. Tabasco(Chipolte flavored)

1pouch liquid Certo ( pectin)

1.Clean peppers and quarter

2.Pulse and process in a food processor.

3.Drain the peppers and squeeze the pulp through a sieve until you have 1 cup of pepper juice.

4.Over medium heat bring to a boil the juice, sugar, vinegar and Tabasco. Boil for 3 minutes skim off the foam.

5. Add the liquid pectin and bring back to a boil for another minute. If necessary skim off the foam again.

6. Pour into jars,clean off rims and seal.

TOU GIAOURTIOU or ALMOND and YOGURT CAKE WITH CITRUS SYRUP

 I know what you are all thinking, not another cake! Believe me I am also cooking not just baking, but I just had to blog about this delicious Greek ALMOND and YOGURT CAKE with CITRUS SYRUP.

The cake tastes even better the day after it is made,when it has time to fully absorb the syrup. Serve the cake on it's own or with vanilla  Ice Cream  or with fresh fruit ,or like I did with some whipped cream.

This Greek cake recipe comes from a lovely book called The Foods of the Greek Islands by Aglaia Kemezi. I hope to make some more recipes from this cookbook so please stay tuned.

DIRECTIONS

1 cup sugar

3 large eggs separated

2 T. unsalted butter softened

1 cup yogurt

1 cup fine semolina

1 cup all purpose flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1/3 cup brandy

Grated zest of 1 lemon

1 cup coarsely chopped unblanched almonds

SYRUP

1 1/2 cup sugar or 1 cup sugar plus 3 tablespoons honey, or 4-5 tablespoons marmalade

1 1/4 cup water

Zest of 1/2 a lemon removed in strips with a vegetable peeler

3-4 T. Brandy

Preheat the oven to 400 F. Grease a 10 inch round cake pan or a springform pan

Set aside 2 tablespoons of the sugar. In a large bowl, with an electric mixer, beat the remaining sugar with the egg yolks until light colored, 2-3 minutes. Beat in the butter yogurt and semolina.

Sift together the flour and baking powder. Beat the flour mixture into the egg yolk mixture, together with the brandy and lemon zest.

In a large bowl beat the egg whites until they form peaks. Fold them into the batter. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and sprinkle with the almonds. Press then lightly with a spatula so that they are almost completely submerged. Sprinkle with the remaining 2 T sugar.

Bake for 40 minutes or until top is golden brown.

Meanwhile make the syrup

Stir the sugar , water and lemon peel in a small saucepan and bring to boil Reduce heat and let simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat if using marmalade add now. Add the brandy.

As soon as you remove the cake from the oven , remove the lemon peel from the syrup and very slowly spoon the syrup over the cake evenly and saturate the entire surface. Let cool before serving. Store at room temperature.