What are we eating ? | Desire for lightness

Just before the weekend, all readers who cook ask themselves this eternal question: what are we going to eat? In order to inspire you, The Press suggests some suggestions for seasonal recipes that will make your mouth water.

Snack: salmon muffins

“It’s a winning recipe,” says nutritionist Stéphanie Côté. It is prepared in advance, freezes very well and can be added to lunches at the last minute. For a complete dinner, the nutritionist suggests adding raw vegetables, yogurt and fruit.

Yield: 12 muffins

Preparation: 15 minutes

Cooking: 25 minutes

Ingredients

• 5 eggs
• 60 ml (1/4 cup) olive oil
• 60 ml (1/4 cup) milk
• 2 cans (213 g each) salmon, drained and broken up with a fork (yields 330 g)
• 120 g (1 cup) grated sharp cheddar
• 2 green onions, finely chopped
• 1 zucchini, grated
• 2 garlic cloves, pressed
• 2 tbsp. tablespoon fresh dill, chopped
• 130 g (1 cup) whole wheat flour
• 1 C. teaspoon baking powder (baking powder)
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Preparation

• 1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F).
• 2. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs with the oil. Add the milk, salmon, cheddar, green onions, zucchini, garlic and dill, and stir with a wooden spoon.
• 3. In another bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt and pepper. Pour over the batter and stir with the wooden spoon just enough to moisten everything.
• 4. Divide the preparation into 12 cavities of a muffin mold lined with paper (or silicone) or lightly oiled cups. Bake in the center of the oven for 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.
• 5. Unmold and let cool on a wire rack. Accompaniment: serve the muffins with raw vegetables.

Conservation

These muffins will keep in an airtight container for five days in the refrigerator or three months in the freezer.

Source : Children — 21 days of menusby Stéphanie Côté, nutritionist, Know what to eat collection, Modus Vivendi editions.

Published in La Presse + on September 13, 2018.

Quickly done well: red bean salad and creamy avocado vinaigrette

Two vegetables are not very popular with me: zucchini and avocado. I integrated them into this salad a little more incognito and it was a success. The vinaigrette is tasty and creamy to perfection.

I have chosen vegetables which are in abundance either in our gardens or in the markets; but we could choose them according to what we have at hand.

Ingredients for the salad (for 6 servings)

• 1 can kidney beans, rinsed and drained (or other legumes of your choice)
• 1 bell pepper, diced
• 1 celery stalk, diced
• 1 zucchini, thinly sliced ​​using a mandolin (or a spiralizer)
• 1 small seeded garden cucumber, cut into thin strips using a mandolin
• 1 cup baby spinach, coarsely chopped
• 1 ripe peach, diced
• 1/4 cup pumpkin seeds
• Cilantro or fresh basil, to taste
• Sprouts of your choice, to serve

Ingredients for the vinaigrette

• 1/2 large ripe avocado, peeled
• Juice and zest of 1 large lime (or 2 small limes)
• 1 C. maple syrup
• 3 tbsp. olive oil
• About 4 tbsp. water
• 3 tbsp. tablespoon fresh cilantro or basil, coarsely chopped
• Salt pepper

Preparation

• 1. In a suitable container, emulsify all the ingredients for the vinaigrette using a hand blender (start with half the amount of water and add more as needed). Season generously and set aside.
• 2. In a salad bowl, combine all the ingredients for the salad, except the sprouts. Add 3/4 of the dressing, mix, then add the rest if necessary. Season well and serve immediately with the sprouts.

Published in La Presse + on August 16, 2018.

Call me boss! : seafood paella

The great Spanish chef Quique Dacosta was in Montreal recently and agreed to show columnist Marie-Claude Lortie how to make a paella.

For 4 people

Ingredients

• 220 g of paella rice, “bomba” or “senia”. You can find it in delicatessens. If you do not have access to this type of rice, you can use risotto rice, but you will have to rinse it thoroughly and for a long time to remove all its starch.
• 1.3 L of fish stock. It is a crucial part of the dish, which sets the tone. It has to be tasty.
• 4 or 5 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 C. pimentòn, smoked paprika
• 1/2 tsp. saffron
• Monkfish in cubes, cleaned squid in slices, prawns… In all: around 600 g of seafood and fish. You can also add cooked lobster to the dish when it is ready.
• Salt and pepper

Preparation

• 1. Heat the broth. Make sure it is well salted and peppered to taste.
• 2. Heat the oil in the skillet over high heat, but be careful not to burn it. It is important that the dish is horizontal and that the heat is distributed as evenly as possible over the entire surface (important if you are making the paella on a barbecue).
• 3. Fry the saffron and the pimentòn in the oil.
• 4. Brown seafood and fish in oil for one minute. (If you add lobster, boil it separately in its shell and add it, warmed, to the rice just before eating.)
• 5. Pour the rice into the pan and coat it with the flavored oil.
• 6. Pour the hot broth into the pan. Mix well.
• 7. Distribute the seafood so that there is evenly all over the surface. When it’s time to eat, directly from the dish, the guests must each have their share, their area in the dish, with equal amounts of seafood and fish.
• 8. Leave to cook for 18 minutes without touching anything. It is normal for the rice to stick a little. We love the crunch. If there is a real lack of liquid, you can add a little boiling water.
• 9. Let the dish rest for 5 minutes when it is ready before serving it, to “relax” the rice.

We bring the dish to the middle of the table and we eat directly from the dish, with a spoon, each guest having his “zone”.

Published on lapresse.ca on July 12, 2018.

Guilty Pleasure: Classic Scones

Fresh cream and raspberry jam are the ideal accompaniments for these scones.

Ingredients

• 2 cups wheat flour
• 2 tbsp. baking powder
• 2 tbsp. sugar
• 1 pinch of salt
• 1/4 cup fat (your choice: butter or margarine)
• 1 egg
• 1 cup milk (approx.)

Preparation

• 1. Mix, in a large bowl, all the dry ingredients using a whisk to aerate them and reproduce an express sieving.
• 2. Incorporate the fat, very cold, into the flour using a pastry blender, avoiding touching it with your fingers so that it does not melt.
• 3. Beat, in a measuring cup: one egg and add milk until the total volume of liquid is 200 ml.
• 4. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, then add the liquid all at once. Fold mixture to moisten flour, but do not stir; the dough will not be perfectly smooth, rather lumpy. It’s normal !
• 5. Shape the dough into the shape of a disc 2 to 3 cm thick, with your hands, on a floured work surface. Cut into 8 wedges or in circles using a cookie cutter or a glass.
• 6. Bake on parchment paper in a preheated 375°F oven, until the scones begin to brown.
• 7. Serve warm with heavy cream of your choice, raspberry jam and tea.

Watch out for some fruit

The basic recipe for scones can be modified almost endlessly, according to our salty and sweet desires, with spices, cheese, cold meats, fresh or frozen fruits or vegetables. On the other hand, avoid those that contain too much water, such as strawberries or apples, which will harm their texture.

Freezing

Scones can be frozen before baking without the texture suffering too much. If they are after cooking, the result is more disappointing.

The oven

Preheat the baking sheet a few minutes before putting the scones in it so that they start to rise as soon as they are put in the oven.

Butter or margarine?

Scones made with non-hydrogenated margarine will be softer, but will taste better with butter, notes Peggy Regan.

Speed, speed and more speed

Scones should be made as quickly as possible to keep them light and crumbly in texture, and to avoid gluten development. Prepare everything you need before starting the recipe.

Cut in one go

Try to cut as many scones as possible on the first layer: the leftover dough, reworked, will give denser scones.

Source: recipe by Peggy Regan of Gryphon Bakery.

Published on lapresse.ca on June 5, 2015.

Health ! : “Between Kebek and Istanbul”

Claudia Doyon did not take a drop of alcohol in January. She took advantage of this downtime to taste non-alcoholic spirits and fell in love with Alphonse produced by the Appalaches distillery. “Its rose scents remind me of Turkish sweets,” she says. She offers a trip to Istanbul by bringing together the exotic flavors of saffron and chilli in her alcohol-free cocktail, recalling that all these ingredients are also produced in Quebec.

Ingredients

• 2.5 oz from Alphonse, Appalachian Distillery
• 1.5 oz honey and saffron syrup
• 1 oz lemon juice
• 1 egg white or a few drops of emulsifier
• 2 dashes of Bitter Flowers
• 1 pinch of fleur de sel
• Hot pepper powder to garnish

Preparation

• 1. Prepare the syrup by bringing a quarter cup of honey and half a cup of water to a boil. Remove from the heat and add a few strands of saffron. Leave to infuse for a few hours, then remove the filaments using a sieve.
• 2. Once the syrup has cooled, combine all the ingredients, except the chilli powder, in the shaker.
• 3. Shake without ice until foam forms.
• 4. Add ice to the shaker and shake again for a few seconds.
• 5. Strain into a cup and add a dash of chilli powder to decorate.

Published on lapresse.ca on January 31, 2022.