What are we eating ? | Easy recipes

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.

Hungry: cilantro and green onion pesto, on corn

Ingredients

• 2 cups fresh cilantro
• 1 cup green onions (mostly the green part, reserve the white and tender green for garnish)
• 2 minced garlic cloves
• Juice of a lime
• 1/4 cup pumpkin seeds, roasted (7-10 minutes at 325°F)
• A pinch of ground cumin
• Salt and pepper
• 1/4 cup olive oil or more neutral vegetable oil
• 6 cobs of unpeeled corn
• Chipotle Mayonnaise
• 1 cup panela or feta or ricotta salata cheese, crumbled
• chilli powder

Preparation

1. Place cilantro, scallions, garlic, lime juice, pumpkin seeds, cumin, salt and pepper in a blender or food processor, then chop finely.
2. With motor running, drizzle oil over greens and continue blending until desired consistency. This can be more or less smooth, to taste.
3. Place the corn on the cob, with their leaves, on a large baking sheet. Bake at 350°F for 45 minutes. Leave to cool a little, then peel, leaving the leaves attached to the base. For a pretty presentation, tie the leaves with string. Before serving, lightly char the corn on the barbecue, if desired.
4. Chipotle mayonnaise is an ingredient that Nick and Nathalie always have in their refrigerator. It is prepared in a blender, with one liter of mayonnaise for half a (small) box of chipotle in adobo sauce.
5. Just before serving, spread the corn with chipotle mayonnaise, then with the cilantro pesto. Sprinkle with chili powder, sprinkle with cheese and remaining chopped green onions.

Good to know

You can also serve this pesto in tacos, on nachos, in sandwiches, with fish, etc.

Source: recipe by Nick Hodge, chef and co-owner of Icehouse Restaurant and Sugaree Farm.

Published on lapresse.ca on September 7, 2017.

Quickly done well: Boston salad, buttermilk vinaigrette, marinated endive and radicchio

Makes 2 servings

Preparation: 1 hour

Ingredients for the vinaigrette

• 2 egg yolks
• 2 pinches of salt
• 200ml sunflower oil
• 200ml buttermilk
• 2 tbsp. Dijon mustard
• 1 C. old fashioned mustard
• The juice of a quarter of a lemon

Ingredients for the pecans

• 250 ml syrup made of equal parts water and sugar
• 250g toasted pecans
• Sea salt

Ingredients for the radicchio

• 100ml water
• 100ml rice vinegar
• 50g sugar
• 1/4 leaf radicchio

Ingredients for lettuce

• 1/2 Boston lettuce
• 2 pearl onions

Ingredients for the endives

• 1 endive, stripped
• Dijon mustard to taste
• Lemon juice to taste
• Salt and pepper to taste
• A little sunflower oil

Dressing preparation

1. Mix the egg yolks with the salt, mustards and lemon juice.
2. Add the sunflower oil in a drizzle and whisking until a fairly firm texture is obtained.
3. Dilute with buttermilk to desired consistency.

Preparing the pecans

1. Simmer the pecans in the syrup for about 20 minutes, until tender, then drain.
2. Heat 1 L of canola oil to 165°C (325°F) and fry the pecans for about 2 minutes, then drain.
3. In a mixing bowl, toss them, adding the salt, to taste.

Preparation of the radicchio

1. Combine the liquid ingredients in a bowl.
2. Peel the radicchio, then vacuum seal it in a bag with about half of the marinade. Set aside a few minutes. If you don’t have the machine, pour the hot marinade over the radicchio leaves, then set aside for a few hours.

Preparing the lettuce and onions

1. Cut the half Boston lettuce in half.
2. Cut the onions in half and peel. Heat the rest of the marinade and pour it hot over the onions. When they are cooled, put them under vacuum. If you don’t have the machine, pour the hot marinade over the onions in a bowl, then set aside in the fridge for a few hours.

Preparation of endives

1. Strip and season in a mixing bowl with lemon juice, mustard, salt, pepper and sunflower oil.

Finishing

Place each quarter of Boston lettuce on a plate, then pour the dressing, add the seasoned endive leaves, radicchio, pearl onions and pecans. Serve.

Source: recipe by Jean-François Perron, chef at the Oregon restaurant.

Published on lapresse.ca on March 2, 2017.

Call me boss! : risotto with mushrooms and corn

Recipe for 4 people

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 25 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 French shallot, chopped
• 1/2 cup diced bacon
• 1 cup dried mushrooms
• 1/2 cup frozen corn
• 3 tbsp. butter
• 1 1/2 cups arborio rice
• 1/2 cup of white wine
• 2 cups unsalted beef broth (or veal stock)
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan
• Salt and pepper

Preparation

1. In a saucepan, brown the French shallot and the bacon. Add dried mushrooms and rice.
2. Stir gently to coat the mixture well (the rice then becomes translucent). Deglaze with white wine and reduce until almost dry.
3. Pour 1 to 2 ladles of hot broth over the rice and let it absorb completely. Repeat this process until the rice is cooked but still al dente (about 18 minutes).
4. Add corn, parmesan and butter, stir slowly. Salt and pepper.

Note for butter and bacon

A good trick is to freeze them before departure, so they will be perfect after a day or two outside.

Posted in The Press+ on May 31, 2017.

Guilty Pleasure: Grilled Peanut Butter, Banana, Maple and Fleur de Sel Sandwich

Banal, the banana? It costs almost nothing and is consumed every day all over the planet. However, it is when we cook it in the simplest way in the world that it has its most beautiful surprises in store for us.

Indeed, whether we puree it, freeze it or eat it as is, the banana helps to make our meals healthier. Moreover, it achieves this feat without taking anything away from the richness of our breakfasts, desserts and snacks.

“The banana is probably one of the most versatile fruits,” says nutrition doctor Hubert Cormier. It can be eaten raw, but also used in the preparation of a multitude of recipes: the classic banana bread, the nice cream (frozen dessert made from frozen bananas), the banana splitor even to make it a base for preparing pancakes,” he explains.

Ingredients

• 2 slices of bread
• 1/2 medium banana, sliced
• 2 tbsp. (30 ml) peanut butter of your choice
• 2 tbsp. (30 ml) maple syrup
• Fleur de sel, to taste
• 1 tablespoon (15 ml) coconut oil (or other fat of choice)

Preparation

1. Mix the peanut butter and maple syrup, then spread the two slices of bread.
2. Add the banana slices and fleur de sel, then close the sandwich.
3. Oil the two outer slices of sandwich bread and cook in a skillet over medium heat until toasted and peanut butter is melted.
4. Enjoy immediately.

Source: recipe by Maude Bergeron, from the Cuisine estudiantine blog.

Published on lapresse.ca on February 9, 2017.

Health ! : exotic apple juice

Ingredients

• 3 apples
• ½ pineapple
• ½ lime
• ½ passion fruit

Preparation

1. Place all the ingredients, except the passion fruit, into the juicer.

“The apple goes well with these slightly tart tropical flavors. It’s best to mix the passion fruit with the juice rather than running it through a blender,” recommends author and nutritionist Natalie Savona.

Source: recipe from pound of juice.

Posted in The Press+ 1^er may 2013.