This text is part of the special Pleasures notebook
Manon Lapierre is not a chef, but her recipes make many people happy. Quebec queen of outdoor cooking and the hot air fryer (air fryer, in English), the one who started with her partner, Lionel de Souich, the La petite bette project in 2014 is followed by more than 350,000 people on its various platforms, and her books are at the top of the charts. But beyond her recipes, Manon is also the heir to family traditions, the mother of twins… and a fan of the Holidays! So, how does she prepare for it and what are her best tips to make our lives easier a few weeks before Christmas?
Manon, what do the Holidays mean to you?
I would say family, tradition and food, all mixed up. As my mother comes from a large family, when I was little, the parties Christmas brought together more than 50 people. After midnight mass, we ate and unwrapped gifts until the early morning. Then, I grew up and I met my partner of French origin, with slightly different festive traditions. Now, we celebrate December 24 in small groups with an aperitif dinner and, the next day, we have a big brunch.
However, as my mother wanted to continue our old family tradition and she did not have the space to accommodate everyone at her home, she began to organize this meal at my home. At first, she brought the dishes, the dishes, everything! I have since taken up the torch and every year, somewhere during the month of December, I receive 20 to 25 family members for a lunch gourmand.
What does your “slunch” look like?
It’s a mix of lunch and snacks. It fits my personality well, because I like to combine tradition and modernity; simplicity and chic. Concretely, my slunches happen in two stages. First of all, we gather around the kitchen island to eat a variety of appetizers: gougères, blinis, baguette croutons or my famous hot brioche breads served with foie gras, rillettes, gravlax or again with my warm cod, artichoke and spinach dip. I also have great success with my Velveeta Crab Rolls, a twist on our traditional layered sandwich bread.
Then everyone is invited to sit down for the main course, served in the center of the table. Then again, the latter is not always typical. Depending on the year, I can prepare meatball stew, ham or Lac-Saint-Jean tourtière, but I can also cook garnished sauerkraut or a Toulouse cassoulet. I think these choices are colored by my life as a food blogger, because I have to present Christmas recipes months in advance, so I’m a little saturated making them in December, ha ha! As for desserts, which are not my strength, most of the time, it is my mother who concocts them.
How does La petite bette organize itself to accommodate so many people?
By preparing as much as possible in advance! I have regretted so much in the past not enjoying my guests that I now do a lot of preparations so as not to get stuck in front of the stove on the big day. So I prepare lots of appetizers beforehand, which I reheat in the oven. air fryer at the last moment. Preparing in advance also allows me to save money by taking advantage of discounts on certain products. For example, in September I bought duck legs, which I preserved and stored in a vacuum in preparation for the holidays.
I also recommend that you plan your menu by taking a look at what you already have at home. For my part, this summer I brought back mackerel from the North Shore and lobsters from Gaspésie that I had broken up and frozen. So I’m going to use it to make gravlax and stuffed buns.
As for the big central dish, my approach is to prepare something that isn’t too delicate and can stay in the oven for 15 minutes longer without the meal being ruined. Monitoring the cooking time of a roast beef or discovering while cutting it that my salmon Wellington is not impeccable, that’s no. If you can do without a dose of unnecessary anxiety when you receive, you should do it without hesitation!
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