Three “crisse & cook” to end the winter

In 2019, I published a small cooking special entitled “La saison des crisse & cook”. This text got me as many emails from people shocked by the phrase as it did questions about the recipes — I’m still getting emails three years later to track them down.

Chantal Guy
The Press

But I have to come back to the origin of this funny expression that we love, my friends and I, when it comes to cooking without worrying. The basic idea is that you mix ingredients and “criss” it in the oven, without having to monitor any steps afterwards. I thought my friend Élaine was the author, but it’s more the invention of her ex-father-in-law. His son, Vincent Grou, told me how the “crisse & cook” was born: “One day, my mother bought Shake’n Bake and, seeing that, my father said: ‘We shake’n bake or well we crisse and cook.” The phrase has remained a classic in the family. »

Comforting Recipes

Here is a restored truth, thank you, Mr. Grou. And here are three other comforting recipes that are in this spirit – or almost – to keep us going until the end of winter (and sanitary measures). You know, although I love to cook, I’m not a professional like Ricardo, but I really enjoyed making two or three forays into the Gourmand pages during this pandemic. My recipes, basically, are pretty simple to make, but they’re good because they’ve been tweaked over years. In this exercise of writing for Gourmand, I discovered readers passionate about food, I received photos of your dishes, requests for clarification, thanks and suggestions for variations in recipes. I found that extremely pleasant. Do not hesitate to write to me, if you have any questions!

Khyber Pass Tribute Lamb Shank

During the first confinement, I bought from the Afghan restaurant Khyber Pass a dish of Korma Chalaw which is a piece of lamb shank in a spiced tomato sauce. I love this sauce so much that I attempted to recreate it myself, through trial and error, to come up with a recipe that, in my humble opinion, almost lives up to the original. And disarmingly simple. But the opening of the restaurants will bring me back to Khyber Pass!

For 2 people

Ingredients

• 2 lamb shanks
• 1 can tomato sauce with garlic and basil
• 1 can of chicken broth
• Olive oil
• 1 chopped onion
• 2 minced garlic cloves
• 1 spoon of harissa sauce
• A little lemon
• Spice mix
• 1 good handful of fresh coriander
• 1 spoon of crushed cumin seeds
• 1/2 spoon of cinnamon
• 4 crushed cardamom seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon powdered ginger (or a fresh slice)
• Salt and pepper

Preperation

• 1. Preheat oven to 325°F.
• 2. In a bowl, mix all the spices and herbs, crushing them a little.
• 3. In an ovenproof casserole, on the stove, heat a little oil.
• 4. Sear the lamb shanks on all surfaces and set aside.
• 5. Brown the onion and garlic.
• 6. Add the spice mix to the onion and garlic, heat a little and roll the lamb shanks in it to coat them with the spices.
• 7. Add the tomato sauce so that it comes to half of the shanks and dilute it with a little chicken broth. Add lemon juice and a spoonful of harissa sauce. Bring to a boil for a very short time.
• 8. Cover and bake for about 2 hours, or until the meat pulls away from the bone.
• 9. Serve with rice (and don’t forget to eat the marrow).

Veal stew with squash and fennel

This fragrant dish is very comforting and very easy to make. The most boring step is cutting up the squash, but for the rest, it cooks on its own and smells like home. A recipe that can also be made with pork cubes, for a more economical version.

For 4 people

Ingredients

• 500 g of veal in cubes
• 1 bag small onions, peeled (about 300 g)
• 1 fennel bulb, minced
• 1 Buttercup squash peeled and cut into cubes
• 1 or 2 sweet potatoes, cubed (optional)
• 900ml chicken stock
• 1 sprig of thyme
• 1 cup of white wine
• Butter
• Plain flour
• Salt and pepper

Preperation

• 1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
• 2. Flour, salt and pepper the veal cubes.
• 3. In an ovenproof pot, brown the onions in the butter. To book.
• 4. Brown the veal cubes by adding butter as needed. To book.
• 5. Deglaze with white wine, scraping up the juices from the bottom of the pot.
• 6. Add all the ingredients: veal, fennel, squash, sweet potatoes, thyme. Pour in the entire can of chicken broth. Salt and pepper. The preparation must be completely covered (but not drowned in the broth).
• 7. Bring to a boil. Cover and bake for 2 hours.
• 8. Serve the stew, ideally with a gremolata of your taste. The leftovers of the stew are also very good on pasta!

The Vegetarian Cannelloni Everyone Loves

Well, okay, we’re not quite in the “crisse & cook” spirit here, but once you’ve done what my boyfriend calls “the stuff” for stuffing cannelloni, you can freeze it and it will make you several meals that only take 5 minutes to prepare. Because you’ll definitely eat it again — even my young nephew who hates vegetables loves this recipe.

Ingredients for the stuffing

• 1 large cauliflower
• 1 large broccoli
• Chilli flakes
• Dried oregano
• Nutmeg
• 4 minced garlic cloves
• Olive oil

Ingredients for the cannelloni

• 1 box Catelli no-cook express cannelloni
• 1 can of tomato sauce with basil, store-bought or your own
• White sauce (or cheese, if you like it decadent), store-bought or your own
• grated cheddar cheese

Preperation

• 1. Break cauliflower and broccoli into florets.
• 2. Bring a saucepan filled with salted water to a boil and blanch the bouquets for 5 or 6 minutes. Drain, reserving a cup of cooking water.
• 3. In the same pan, heat some olive oil. Brown the garlic, oregano and chilli flakes, add the vegetables, lower the heat.
• 4. Add a little cooking water. Cook over very low heat for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Leave some space with the pan lid for the liquid to evaporate. The vegetables should melt a little (add cooking water so they don’t burn).
• 5. Once the vegetables are cooked, add a little nutmeg, salt and pepper. In the saucepan, with a potato masher, mash the vegetables to obtain the desired texture. Some like it a little firmer with chunks, others a little more mashed, but it still needs to have consistency.
• 6. Here you have your “stuff”! Put it in Ziploc bags, which you will use to stuff the cannelloni. This is often a lot; freeze the extra bags to make the recipe again in a really quick way next time.

Cooking the cannelloni

• 7. Preheat oven to 350°F.
• 8. Cut a corner of the Ziploc bag filled with the vegetable preparation and stuff the dry cannelloni. Do not especially stuff them in advance, it will ruin the cannelloni without pre-cooking! Fill them generously, well packed, because the vegetables do not swell. If there is space, the cannelloni will not cook very well.
• 9. In a baking dish, line the bottom with tomato sauce. Line the cannelloni in the sauce. Cover with white sauce or cheese sauce. Cover with grated cheddar cheese (or any other type of cheese you like).
• 10. Bake for about 30 minutes, and broil at the end.