macaroons mania

I needed to bake this week end. I had a lot of sweet coconut on hand so I went crazy an did coconut macaroons cookies - chocolate and plain.

Chocolate Coconut Macaroons

4 ounces semi sweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped
3 large egg whites
1/4 cup cocoa powder
3/4 cup granulated white sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups sweetened coconut

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a stainless steel bowl(I used a glass bowl as I don't have stainless yet!), over a saucepan of simmering water, melt the chocolate. Set aside.



Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk together the egg whites, cocoa powder, sugar, salt, and vanilla extract. Stir in the coconut and melted chocolate, making sure the coconut is well coated. If the mixture is too soft, refrigerate for about 30 minutes.
Place small mounds (about 1 tablespoon) of the dough on the parchment-lined baking sheet, spacing several inches apart. Bake for about 15-20 minutes or until the macaroons are shiny. Remove from oven and let cool on the baking sheet for about 10 minutes and then place on a wire rack to cool.



Makes about 20 Macaroons.



Coconut Macaroons

4 large egg whites, at room temperature
1 cup granulated white sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup cake flour
2 1/2 cups sweetened coconut

In a stainless steel bowl (I used a glass bowl as I don't have stainless yet!), placed over a saucepan of simmering water, whisk together the egg whites, sugar, and salt. When this mixture is warm to the touch, remove from heat and stir in the vanilla extract, flour, and coconut. Cover and refrigerate for about one hour, or until firm.




Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (170 degrees C) and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Place small mounds (about 1 tablespoon) of the batter on the parchment-lined baking sheet, spacing several inches apart. Bake for about 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool on the baking sheet for about 10 minutes and then place on a wire rack to cool.


Makes about 2 dozen Macaroons.



Enjoy!

Cretons

For those of you that had the chance to live or visit Quebec, there is a thing we Frenchies love to put on our toasts. It’s call cretons. Don’t be thrown away by their look and what’s in it; it is truly delicious.

1 pound (450 g) of ground pork
1 cup of breadcrumbs
1 grated or puréed onions
Salt and pepper
I add a little bit of garlic salt (garlic one day, garlic everyday!)
2 ground cloves
A dash of cinnamon
1 cup of milk
1 cup of chicken broth

How to?



Put all the ingredients in a large pan. Let simmer for an hour or a little bit more a low heat. I like them very creamy so I process the mixture in my food processor so they have a creamy texture. (You can skip this step if you don’t mind the “Crumble”). Pour in a plate and let refrigerate.






Spread all over your toasts and yummy!

Wintery soup

I like unconventional taste and I love trying different stuff. A while ago, when I was still living in Quebec, I went to a restaurant where the soup they served was a pear and celery soup. I just loved the taste; I then went crazy online to find a recipe that would allow me to indulge at home on something similar. Sadly, I can’t recall where I found it. There are multiples website that advertise such recipe and I even found one that add Stilton cheese to it (it’s going to be my next soup try I think).

Anyhow, I felt cold yesterday and all I wanted was soup. Here is the recipe.

Pear and celery creamy soup

• 3 tbsp butter
• 5 c finely chopped celery
• 4 onion, sliced
• 1 c minced fresh chives
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 6 c chicken stock
• 3 ripe pear, peeled, cored, and, sliced
• 1 c 10% cream(I used 2% organic milk to make it lower in fat)

In pot, melt butter over medium heat. Cook celery, onions, chives, thyme, salt and pepper, covered and stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes or until softened.
Pour in stock; bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 10-20 minutes or until celery is very tender. Add pears; cook for 10 minutes or until pears are tender.
Get your blender out and puree the mix. Return to pot; pour in milk or cream and heat through without boiling.

I normally decorate with a hint of cream (to do a pattern) or some thinly sliced pears.


Sadly, the picture isn't the greatest - I need a macro lenses!

Spaghettis’ mania

I love pasta, I can have pasta as side every day; however, I don’t – because my ass would never forgive me. Pastas are an easy quick meal on week nights when you have a busy day. I am tired of buying pre-made food and I also would like to avoid the expense of buying something not so good for me.

I am not so much the tomatoes sauce and herbs pasta lady; I love my sauce to have some meat and vegetables. Once again, I browsed on my fairy book (my mum recipes) in order to find her spaghetti/lasagna sauce recipe. I had a good 8 big tubs of yogurt filled with the sauce, ready to be frozen for use on a busy night with no inspiration for cooking (if that ever happen).

Super simple meat spaghetti sauce

- 1 lbs of ground beef
- 1 lbs of ground pork
- 1 big onion (diced)
- 2-3 garlic cloves
- 1 small can of tomatoes paste
- 1 medium can of tomatoes sauce
- 1 big can of crushed tomatoes
- 1 or 2 cups of diced/sliced carrots
- 1 or 2 cups of diced celery
- 1 or 2 diced green pepper
- 2-3 pack of mushrooms (sliced – to add 30 minutes before the end)
- 1 bottle of chili sauce (Heinz the best!)
- 3-4 bay leaves
- Parsley
- Oregano
- Basil
- Italian spices
- 1 tea spoon of worcertshire sauce
- 4-5 table spoon of HP sauce
- 2-3 drop of Tabasco (more if you like it spicier)
- 1 tea spoon of sugar

Cook the meat in a big (I mean BIG) pot. Once it is cooked, drain the fat. Put back on the heat and add everything but the mushroom. Let simmer for 4 hours and at the 3:30 mark, add the mushrooms.

Don’t forget to stir regularly!

Sprinkle Parmesan on top and you're in heaven!

Hearty meatball stew with baby potatoes

It has been cold in Calgary lately and for me, cold mean: hearty soup and stews. What better idea than going back into my childhood memories again and pick a recipe from fairy mum? We were3 children and even though I’ve never lacked of anything; my mum always cooked for us using quality ingredients, but taking the time to watch for sales and buy big quantities. It is insane the saving one can do when cooking home meals instead of buying ready to eat. When you also take in consideration that by cooking, you are in charge of the fat/salt and sugar content, it’s a win-win situation.

Anyhow, with this in mind, this recipe yields about 4 reasonable portions for about $10 worth of ingredients.

Ingredients:

- 1 pack of ground pork meat (about 2 pounds)
- About 20 baby potatoes
- 2 pouches of “ragout” sauce (that is the tricky part, my mum send me some through the mail from Quebec- I am sure brown gravy would do just right – I’d avoid the beef stew as it is darker and saltier.)





It’s a pretty easy dinner to do. Make small meatball with the ground pork. Wash the baby potatoes, if they are too big, cut into two pieces. On a big pot, prepare the gravy, once its reach a boiling point; throw the raw meatball in it one by one (so they don’t stick together).




Bring to boil again and add the baby potatoes. Reduce the heat to medium-low and let it cook covered for 40 minutes. It is very important to stir every now and then as the gravy can form a “crust” and the meat ball can stick to the bottom of the pot.



Enjoy!

Seared duck breast on a warm spinach salad.

I finally got around finding good duck in Calgary. Thanks to the farmers market, I am now sure that I will always have inspiration, fresh products and other meats than beef or chicken.

My husband and I went to the movie on Friday and before, we went to play few games of pool. We love to have a wager and this time, it was who was going to cook (as if I wouldn’t be cooking anyway). I lost, therefore I had to cook Saturday and Sunday night (I didn’t hate losing that much to be honest, I had the following menu planned).

Duck breast on warm spinach salad with white wine and shallot dressing.

Duck

When cooking duck, it is important not to remove the fat (It’s the best!). You have to cut little diamonds in the fat, but make sure you are not cutting the meat itself, Season well with salt and pepper. Pre-heat the oven at 350 degree. Heat a pan that can also be put in the over (I used either my stainless one or our good old cast Iron one). Do not add butter or oil, there will be enough fat for it not to stick. Once the pan is very hot, throw the duck breast skin side on the pan and cook for 6.5 minutes. Turn on the meat side and cook for another 2 minutes. Then put in the oven for 6 more minutes. Duck should be served pink.



Warm spinach salad

- 2-3 garlic cloves sliced not crushed (I used 4.. addiction)
- 1 medium shallot thinly sliced (Red onions would do)
- Oil
- 2 table spoon of butter
- ½ cup of white wine
- Juice of 1 lemon
- Salt
- 1-2 lbs of spinach.

Heat the pan, once hot, turn on low heat; put the butter and the oil. Add the garlic, after 30-45 second, add the shallot. Let them get soft but make sure you don’t caramelize the shallot, the heat should be low. Add the wine and lemon juice (Wine first, I don’t know why, but my mum always told me to put the wine first). Let simmer, and then add the spinach. Toss around until wrapped in the vinaigrette and let the spinach reduce size.



Take the duck out of the oven; let the meat sit for 5-10 minutes and then slice. Lay the spinach on a nice plate, and then add the duck on top. Decorate with some lemon quarter to drizzle juice on top.




Very healthy, very yummy.

Gordon Ramsey inspiration

F word+ Food Network+ Gordon Ramsey= happy me. We’ve learned that we have the cable. So I asked my husband to record some TV show that I like (most of them are from food network). He recorded F word for me as I do love the simplicity of Gordon Ramsey’s recipes.

As all of you in a relationship may know (or if you are a man), men do like meat. I don’t think they love something better than meat stuffed meat. Wait!!! They do love something better than meat stuffed meat; they adore meat stuffed meat wrapped in bacon. So when I saw in a F word episode a simple recipe, I had to give it a try.
I out-did myself with this one. I love it, he loved it and it gives tons of leftovers. Although I adapted the original, the essential is there and it is so simple to do!

Chicken legs stuffed with sausage meat and pistachio, wrapped in bacon. (Does that ever sound yummy?)



Chicken

• 6 boned-out chicken legs or thighs (this is the longest part to do- butchering)
• sea salt and pepper
• approximately 24 slices of bacon
• 3 tbsp olive oil

Stuffing

• 350g good-quality pork sausage meat (I did 2 recipes: 1 Italian hot, 1 honey garlic)
• handful of skinned pistachio nuts, roughly chopped
• 1 egg yolk
• 4 thyme sprigs, leaves stripped and chopped
• handful flat parsley, chopped
• half a cup of onion (My addition)
• 1 garlic clove (my addiction… eh… addition)

How to?

If you are trying to reduce your grocery cost like me, you probably buy boned chicken and butcher them yourself (lot of work but meh, where is the fun in cooking otherwise?) You have to pound the meat after so that it is more flat. (Google if you don’t know what I mean) If you don’t care about saving cost, or prefer white meat, use chicken breast.

To make the stuffing, mix the sausage meat with the pistachio nuts, egg yolk, thyme and parsley and season well with salt and pepper.

Open out the chicken legs or thighs, season with pepper and divide the stuffing between them. Roll up to enclose. Lay about four bacon slices on a board, overlapping them slightly. Put one stuffed chicken portion on top and wrap the bacon around to cover completely. Repeat with the rest of the chicken.

Cut six very large pieces of foil. Wrap each chicken parcel tightly in foil, twisting the ends to seal. Roll back and forth to even the shape. Poach the chicken parcels, two or three at a time, in a large pan of boiling water for 25-30 minutes, until the chicken is cooked. Allow to cool in the foil, then refrigerate for 30 minutes (this helps the bacon to ‘set’ around the chicken). Remove the foil and pat dry to remove any excess moisture.

Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan and carefully sauté the chicken parcels until the bacon is brown and crisp on all sides. Transfer to a warm platter and rest in a warm place.

And now…. Enjoy!